A New Photoshop: CS4

Usability and Performance Enhancements in New Photoshop CS4 Edition

It's time for another improved version of Photoshop, and this new version's full name is "Adobe Photoshop CS4".

Photoshop CS4 is part of Adobe's new Creative Suite 4 product line. This line includes various Adobe creative programs that spread across print, web, mobile, film, and video production. It is also Adobe's biggest software release to date which encompasses 13 products, 14 integrated technologies, and eight services! Wow, that's a lot of creativity, but let's get back to the new Photoshop CS4.

My first thoughts upon hearing about a new Photoshop edition were “What could they possibly do to make it better? It already has everything.” While it seems that way to me, Adobe was able to subtly, but noticeably, improve on their flagship product with several convenience and performance enhancing features.

Photoshop CS4 has many new features, some subtle but appreciated improvements, and, as always, a few frustrations. To me the most important change was how Adobe completely renovated the way adjustment layers work. Instead of being tucked away in dialogue boxes, they are now in an adjustment layer panel. Also, they are easier to reach, much more intuitive, and include an important new adjustment layer called "vibrance”, which provides subtle color enhancement.

Another very useful change now allows Photoshop to make use of your onboard graphics processor (customarily found in video cards of high-end machines) to facilitate faster image rendering, as it sends some of the heavy-duty image processing to the graphics card leaving your CPU free for other chores.

Mask adjustments have also been improved with a new "Mask Panel" which allows you to make nondestructive adjustments (i.e.: no pixels are permanently altered) until you're satisfied and ready for the photograph to render.

I was impressed with the tremendous improvement that the last version of Photoshop (CS3) offered with its "Photomerge" tool and CS4’s new Photomerge tool has been improved yet again. This time it can automatically remove vignetting and geometric distortion if you allow it to do so.

Bridge is included as an integral part of Photoshop, and this new version offers faster performance along with improved stability, navigation and searching. As you can see, there have been many tweaks made under the hood of Photoshop. For heavy-duty users, the release of CS4 in both 32 and 64 bit versions (all previous versions were 32 bit only) will be a must. Users who have a system capable of handling the 64 bit version will notice much faster loading and far less “processing” time, adding up to a smoother and more fluid Photoshop experience. Further, with the almost unlimited additional RAM the 64-bit edition can utilize (the 32 GB version is limited to 4 GB) even the largest files are easier to work with.

The decision of whether or not to upgrade, of course, rests with the individual user. What is undeniable is that Adobe has managed to improve the best!

John Lentz, Jr.