Now we will not talk about Photoshop CS3 tutorial, but we will talk about simple things that Photoshop did. For graphics people, Photoshop is just like the main tool.

OK, beside the fact that “graphics people” isn’t the greatest term, what “they” got in this upgrade is pretty substantial. Are you ready for this? I don’t think you are. That’s because although you didn’t think you’d live long enough to see real Type on a Path come to Photoshop, you made it. You outlasted Adobe and type on a path is here — just draw a path, get the type tool, click on the path and start a-typing. This has been at the top of most every Photoshop designer’s wish list, and this is the kind of feature that has us (freaky designer types) toasting champagne (or at the very least, tossing back a few Mountain Dews).

Another cool feature for designers is “Layer Comps” which gives designers the freedom to try different layouts, and each time they come up with a layout they like, they can save it as a comp and return to it anytime with just one click. It’s not just a screen capture; your entire Layers palette reverts to the currently selected comp so if you decide to go with the currently displayed layout, you can pick up right there. It may sound a little clunky, but once you try it you’ll be hooked.

There’s also a new tool, a brush called the Colour Replacement Brush which lets you sample the colour from one image and replace an area of colour in that image, or another image just by painting over it (it’s kind of like a “background eraser” tool, but instead of erasing, it paints in a new colour, if that makes any sense).

If you’re into creative features, you’ll be into the Filter Gallery. It lets you combine, stack, reorder, and generally experiment with many of the artsy filters within Photoshop, including many of the brush stroke, texture, artistic, sketch, and distort filters, all within one dialog, which features a huge preview window where you can see your creation unfold. You don’t actually get any new filters here –just a new way to combine them in an interesting way — and you’ll be surprised (as I was) how much easier it is to develop certain looks by being able to stack and reorder filters in this fashion.

It’s hard to say whether this will wind up being a feature that falls more within the prepress crowd or the photographer crowd, but the new Shadow/Highlight tonal adjustment control is pretty slick (especially if you choose “Show more options”). It looks like it was designed for photographers, but I’ve seen some prepress people already drooling over it (not that prepress people generally drool, mind you) because it offers a somewhat more intuitive way to correct images, and lets you tweak your images in a different way that will appeal to many users.

With using Adobe Photoshop and reading the Photoshop CS3 tutorial, you will be able to become a graphic designer.
M.A.H.

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