There are actually two new versions of the new software (plain and peanut?) The plain version—Photoshop CS5—is for print and Web publishing used by designers, printers and photographers. The peanut version—Photoshop CS5 Extended, who’s splash screen is shown in Figure 1—has additions for 3D motion graphics, and interactive programming.

 

Figure 2: Content Aware Fill replaces pixels of selected areas with sampled pixels from the image.

CONTENT AWARENESS

The CS4 version included a feature for content-aware scaling that magically sizes less important background elements while leaving critical image content untouched. In an extension of content awareness, Adobe has included a Content Aware Fill feature as the center-piece of the new software (see Figure 2). Content Aware Fill replaces image detail with matching pixels from surrounding areas. I’m sure the Adobe geeks put in many long hours cooking up this technology, which perfectly matches lighting, tonality, color and noise. The results can be extraordinary as the selected content vanishes and is seamlessly replaced.

 

Content Aware Fill applies an algorithm that samples pixel information from the entire image rather than just the immediate surrounding areas. For example, unwanted elements from panoramic landscapes can be eliminated with relative ease, avoiding labor-intensive cloning, matching and retouching. A good portion of editing time can be eliminated and the results are usually quite good although a bit of additional retouching is usually necessary. And speaking of retouching there is also an additional Content Aware radio button on the Options bar for the Spot Healing brush for refining the image after content aware fill is applied.

 

Figure 3: The Mixer Brush is interactive and simulate realistic paint strokes.

MIXING BRUSH

The new interactive brush tools are another big addition to the program. The nature and quality of brush bristles can be controlled and colors can be readily mixed directly on the painting. The brushes behave more like actual paint-brushes with controls to precisely effect the wetness, amount, mixture and flow of the “paint” (see Figure 3). When the Mixing Brush tool is selected, an animated brush graphic is displayed that shows you the characteristics and position of the brush bristles. All of these features produce realistic looking brush strokes that are visually indiscernible from real paint. The new Mixing Brush blends colors directly on the canvas (like actual paint). The new brushes are useful for applying strokes and textures to photographs to transform them into more painterly images.

 

Figure 4: Reshape image elements with the new Puppet Warp feature.

DIGITAL PUPPETRY

For a long time, the capabilities to warp and distort and even liquefy images have been available in Photoshop with its image distortion features like the Distort and Warp transformation commands and the Liquefy filter. With the new release and the addition of Puppet Warp, elements can be bent and repositioned at will without distorting their basic appearance. It’s as if the elements are made of rubber and contain a wire armature within. Use the Puppet Warp feature to easily bend an arm or leg from an awkward position for more balance or to straighten and align elements and correct their orientation or angle. To warp an element, it should be isolated on a separate layer. When Puppet Warp is selected from the Edit menu, a grid is displayed over the layer content. The preciseness of the grid can be controlled in the Options bar. Anchors are placed on the grid by clicking. These anchors serve two purposes; when they are unmoved they stabilize the image content, when they are dragged with a mouse or stylus they bend or stretch the image content between the anchors as in Figure 4. There are also controls to place content in front of or behind other content on the same layer.

 

Figure 5: Edge detection makes it easy to select ambiguous areas.

EASY SELECTIONS 

There are several methods for isolating an image with fuzzy, complex, or ambiguous edges from its background. One of the most common techniques involves duplicating the color channel with the most contrast, applying several filters to the new alpha channel to further increase its contrast and painting the border between foreground and background very carefully with a soft brush. This technique works for images with ultra-fine edge detail, but it can be extremely labor intensive and have you tearing out handfuls of your own hair while trying to paint individual hairs on the model’s head. The new Edge Detection slider and the Refine Radius tool—which is found in the Refine Edge dialog box shown in Figure 5—replaces the tedious work around. Intricate image elements, such as hair are easily included in the selection with much less labor. Background color around the selection edges is eliminated, and selection edges are varied in opacity to create perfect masks. 

 

HDR HANDLING

High dynamic range images have been the rage for some time now. Photographers like the detail that can be gained in the highlight and shadow areas. The images have a crispness that exceeds the capabilities of 24-bit images. The previous Merge To HDR automation was cumbersome, difficult to use and produced so-so results. The new version has been improved to easily combine multiple bracketed exposures into a single HDR image with tons of detail and clarity. Photo-realistic or surreal images can be created with speed and accuracy, and ghosting is automatically removed. There are also controls for tonal-mapping and color adjusting. Even HDR-looking single-exposure photos are possible with this new feature.

 

AUTOMATIC LENS CORRECTION

Another neat feature aimed at photographers is the Lens Correction filter, which corrects lens distortions, chromatic aberrations, and vignetteing. This filter will correct the horizontal and vertical distortions that wide-angle lenses produce as in Figure 6. Photoshop CS5 accesses the image files EXIF data to make precise adjustments based on the type of camera and lens used. The interface is quite flexible and enables automatic and manual adjustments.

 

Figure 6: Wide-angle lens distortions can be corrected with the Lens Correction filter.

CAMERA RAW PROCESSING 

Camera Raw 6 is the new plug-in that nondestructively edits images prior to opening them in Photoshop. The Camera Raw Plug-in has existed for quite some time, but there are big improvements to version 6. To name a few of the improvements; color noise can be removed without altering color and detail; film grain can be added to make digital photos look more like film and vignetteing can be applied and precisely controlled after the image has been cropped.

 

Figure 7: Adobe Repoussé extrudes type and artwork into 3-D graphics.

3D EFFECTS 

Adobe Repoussé is an entirely new feature that is supported by the Extended version only. It transforms flat content from text layers, selections, paths, or layer masks into 3-D graphics (see Figure 7). The content can be extruded, twisted, rotated, beveled, and inflated to create dynamic 3-D logos and artwork from your designs. The 3D Layers feature has also been improved to create more realistic looking objects. 3-D objects and designs can be enhanced with shadows, lighting, and materials like glass and chrome. Depth of field can also be controlled to produce realistic 3-D images. 

 

I should mention here that there are several new or upgraded features that streamline workflow, enhance navigation and optimize performance. You can see the entire list at www.adobe.com. Follow the link to Photoshop CS5. 

 

CONCLUSION

As always at the end of a “What’s New” article such as this, I pose the important question, Do you need this software? Should you fork over $349 for the upgrade, or $999 for the full version? First of all, if you are going to buy software, I recommend that you purchase the Creative Suite CS5 that includes other related graphics software like Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, plus other applications depending on the package you choose because you’ll increase your capabilities and save money in the long run. 

 

If you are on the fence you can go to: www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended and download a 30-day trial version to see if CS5 is what you need. It’s got a lot of great new features and it delivers smooth performance in Mac and Windows platforms.