Photoshop 6.0

Richard Price
31 October 2000

There have been so many legal writs flying out of Adobe lately I am surprised they have managed to upgrade anything, let alone Photoshop.

The last time I used Photoshop it was version 4.0, which I abandoned because it just wasn't doing what I wanted. So, let me say right now, I found the new features of Photoshop 6.0 impressive.

The most notable change is the interface. It is more streamlined and the tool flyouts now display the tool name and shortcut key, so new users will find it a lot easier to access PhotoShop's powerful features.

When a tool is selected all the options that control its behavior are easily accessible in the context-sensitive tool options bar. This bar can be docked at the top or bottom of the screen or float around.

The tool options bar also contains a palette well. This is where palettes that are not being used can be stored --- out of the way but readily available.

At long last Photoshop 6.0 supports vector graphics. What took them so long? Programs like CoralXara have been doing this for years. Presumably the Adobe legal team were going over all these changes with a fine toothcomb.

Photoshop 6.0 also comes with ImageReady 3.0. The two programs have been closely integrated and it is possible to switch seamlessly between them while working on a file.

Changes you make in one program show up in the other as you jump back and forth. There is no need to save the file as this happens automatically in the background.

I found the new vector tools in both applications useful for creating web buttons and navigation bars. Tools in ImageReady also make it a lot easier to create rollovers, image maps and other Web graphics.

Text in Photoshop 6.0 can now be entered directly onto the canvas and remains editable even after it is manipulated and distorted.

The new Paragraph and Character palettes provide more text control options and work similar to those in Illustrator and InDesign.

At long last it is possible to have more than 99 layers in a Photoshop document. Photoshop 6.0 sports a new layer dialogue box with an expanded selection of layer effects. It is also possible to apply styles to the layers. These styles can be saved in portable libraries and shared with other users.

Photoshop 6.0 now makes it a lot easier to mask intricate hard-to-define edges without having to worry about clipping paths. Smart-highlighting, mask edge and mask cleanup tools help refine the results and speed up an otherwise tedious process.

Annotation tools in Photoshop 6.0 make it possible to add production and design notes to your files. By exporting the file to PDF it can be reviewed using Adobe Reader.

Enhanced PDF support also makes it possible to export image data with resolution-independent text and shapes for high-end output.

Photoshop 6.0 is also more closely integrated with Adobe GoLive. PSD files can be dropped into GoLive, which would then request the necessary code from ImageReady. PSD files can also be used as templates in GoLive.

On-line help is comprehensive and well laid out in HTML format.

Adobe---obviously woken up by the quality of alternative programs available---has put a lot of effort into this upgrade and it shows. Even small changes like being able to alter the unit of measurement on the fly make PhotoShop 6.0 a lot easier to use.

This is one upgrade that is well worth getting.

Photoshop 6.0 is available for the Mac OS (8.5, 8.6, 8.0) or Windows (98, ME, 2000, NT 4.0).

www.adobe.com
RRP AU$1399 (incl GST); upgrade from 4.0/5.5 AU$417

By Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com

For information on getting a product reviewed email richard@energyme.com