New edition of one of the best, if not the best, application for processing raster graphics attended for photographers but also for graphic and web designers, is finally tested on InsideHW. One of most important technical novelties is that Photoshop CS4 will be delivered only as 64-bit version. Adobe made this decision after preliminary tests that showed that performances of 64-bit applications are better for 8% to 12% comparing to 32-bit version. True power and advantages of 64-bit version are hidden in fact that it can use large amounts of memory.

 

Novelties

Adobe Company finally made some shifts in attempts to create simpler and more user oriented Photoshop working environment. The big novelty in new Photoshop represents tabs that are appearing during work with more documents. This type of organizing working area is in a way, took over from Flash and represents significant step further and also big time saver during work in CS4. On the right side is placed new Adjustment panel (panel for different adjustments) and under its scope can be set certain adjustments for each opened document. Right on top of the working area, you can observe new tool line called Application Bar. This new Bar provides you in just one click access to some of important settings for your document, like: Grids, Rulers, Guides, Zoom … In this way it’s offered possibility to perform simpler certain corrections related to some technical adjustments of your opened documents much faster.

Certainly that function Rotate Canvas and new menu Arrange Documents should line up as novelties. All users will find this new Rotate Canvas very useful, because of new options that address earlier problems that appeared during rotation of illustration or some other raster graphics. Arrange Documents menu provides option for showing working documents in “side by side” mode which can be extremely useful during work with multiple opened documents.
When it comes to new Photoshop CS4, we can freely say that palettes are out and panels are in. Actually, in attempts to avoid “disorder”, that might arise and that has very often appeared during work with panels like Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation or some other, Adobe move to different organization approach of working area which will in great deal affect on better workspace.

 

Novelty is also new panel attended for work with masks. This panel offers numerous possibilities that make work with these masks, far more interesting and certainly more useful that it was the case until now. Better control over masks, among all, gives possibility of having influence on some of the basic parameters that create mask. Therefore you can get far more attractive effects provided by masks. Some of those parameters are: Density, Feather, Refine Edge, Mask Edge, Color Range etc. Density is parameter that affects on thickness of the mask at masked areas. By moving the slider in option Feather, you are able to influent on area affected by a certain mask and you also have influence on mask intensity. Refine Edge, option that exists from the previous Photoshop version, is additionally improved and you can perform with it certain fine adjustments that create this object more attractive. Parameter Mask Edge is used during fine definition of mask edges so that it could have softer edges than it was the case before. By adjusting the option Color Range we act on radius of mask influence. This option is additionally improved and now is far more precise than it was earlier. Under the scope of this parameter is also slider Fuzziness which controls radius and local color group, and all with the goal of achieving more refined, let’s call it sharpened looks of the object that is under mask.

One of novelties are also changes in “on-image” settings for parameters like: Curves, Black & White and Hue/Saturation. Apparently from this Photoshop version, instead of making the selection on which you want to perform some of changes, also if offered possibility to simple click and move cursor, more precisely drag, select and affect on area that you want to transform.