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 There
are several good photo-editing programs on the market, but Adobe Photoshop has
been by far the most popular image-editing software among pro and serious amateur
photographers since its introduction some 15 years ago. Now in its ninth configuration,
Photoshop CS2 is more powerful than ever.
With CS2, Adobe has replaced the popular Browser with Adobe Bridge (File>
Browse), a more powerful tool that serves as a gateway for all the Creative
Suite applications and the images they create. Bridge lets you browse all Creative
Suite graphic formats, including Adobe’s new “universal” RAW
format, DNG. You can scale thumbnails, view metadata, use custom keywords, sort
and rank images and compare them in separate Bridge windows, process multiple
Camera Raw images while editing, synchronize color management settings of all
Creative Suite 2 applications, and even purchase images from top stock photo
sources via Adobe Stock Photos.
You can display images and thumbnails in a variety of ways with Adobe Bridge;
The Filmstrip view displays a large version of the selected image with decent-size
thumbnails below. Built-in Slideshow is also nice for reviewing and annotating
large images.
One big challenge for photographers is high-contrast subjects. It’s hard
to get detail throughout. My favorite feature in Photoshop CS, Shadow/Highlight
(Image> Adjust>Shadow/Highlight), is a big help here, bringing out surprising
detail in bright and dark areas of contrasty images. With Photoshop CS2, this
feature can now be used with CMYK and RGB images.
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Shadow/Highlight
was my favorite feature of Photoshop CS. In Photoshop CS2 it works
with CMYK images, too.
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Another boon for those who shoot high-contrast scenes is the new 32-bit HDR
(High Dynamic Range) feature (Tools>Photoshop>Merge to HDR). Many photographers
handle contrasty scenes by mounting the camera on a tripod and shooting two
or more images of the same scene, each at a different exposure, then merging
the best of each using Photoshop. With 32-bit HDR, CS2 automatically combines
the best from a bracketed series of images. You can modify the automated results
by disabling one or more of the bracketed images and checking the effect in
the preview window.
Another problem for digital photographers is image noise at high ISO settings.
CS2’s new Reduce Noise feature (Filter>Noise>Reduce Noise) reduces
the effects of high-ISO digital-camera noise (and film grain, in scanned images)
while retaining edge detail. You can adjust the effect’s strength, preserve
details, reduce color noise, and sharpen details, as well as remove JPEG artifacts.
An amazing new CS2 feature is Vanishing Point (Filter>Vanishing Point) which
provides automatic perspective adjustment, allowing you to clone, paint, and
transfer image objects while retaining proper perspective. Adobe demonstrated
this feature by cloning new windows onto both sides of a building that had only
a single window in the original image. The new windows kept proper perspective
as their size was changed, even when rolled to the other side of the building.
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Adobe
Bridge is the gateway to Creative Suite programs (via the menus
at upper left) and images (via the browser window, shown here
in the Filmstrip mode with large selected image at top and thumbnails
across bottom). You can use the slider at bottom right to make
the selected image larger and the thumbnails smaller, or vice
versa. Metadata for the selected image is at lower left.
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Other uses for this capability include cloning out distractions on perspective-obvious
items like wood-plank piers (and sides of buildings), and adding type that matches
a shot’s perspective. Image Warp (Edit>Transform>Warp) lets you
twist and wrap photos around cylinders, cubes and other shapes on screen. You
can use one of many presets, or drag control points on the warp grid to do your
own custom warp.
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