Speaking of Photoshop...

[NDC]

It looks like version 7 has been released... It appears to have some quite useful features added... The "Healing Brush", "Pattern Maker", and "Painting Engine" sounds quite attractive!

What's new! (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/newfeatures.html)

Customer Comments (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/customers.html)

[Socal]

Hmmm.. doesn't look like it's been released yet...


http://www.adobe.com/

[cyclone2]

FEBUARY 24, 2002
Photoshop 7 Coming in Second Quarter
It's been a long time coming, but Adobe has finally announced that Photoshop will be making its way over to Mac OS X. What's more, it will be a full version upgrade, one that incorporates significant new creative, editing and workflow tools, as well as--for the first time--support for AppleScript. It will also include ImageReady 7, an OS X-native update to Adobe's Web graphics creation tool. Both applications will also be available for Mac OS 9 and Windows.
from http://www.digitalmediadesigner.com/site/homeset1.htm :D

[jadison]

Hey cyclone2, welcome to XtremePcCentral!
Glad you could make it over here! :)

[madfish]

Hey cyclone. welcome.. :D :bunny:

Madfish

[cyclone2]

I've lurked about every once in a while, never registered though :rolleyes:

:D :cool: :p

[NDC]

Wohoooooo! I just got Photoshop 7 and it kicks @$$! Not only does it have some very useful features added, it's fast! I mean wicked fast compared to version 6! :)

[jadison]

Wicked fast, eh?
Well then my job as Editor is to assign you to write a little review over it including benchmark pics of the 2 versions side-by-side and any sample pics that would be pertinent to the review. :D

You have until Friday. ;)

[Socal]

:D

[NDC]

Windows/MAC 7.0 Full Version $657
Windows/Mac 7.0 Upgrade Version $152

Well, I will see what I can do, Jadison... :)

For now, I will give you changes that are noticeable as soon as you open Photoshop 7. Unlike the previous version of Photohop, the tool bar definetly got a makeover. The layout looks much neater because there aren't borders dividing each tool and the icons look more enhanced and smoother. Also, a new tool has been added to the tool bar know as "Healing Brush" and "Patch Tool". The healing brush tool lets you correct imperfections, causing them to disappear into the surrounding image. Like the cloning tools, you use the healing brush tool to paint with sampled pixels from an image or pattern. However, the healing brush tool also matches the texture, lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. As a result, the repaired pixels blend seamlessly into the rest of the image. And the patch tool lets you repair a selected area with pixels from another area or a pattern. Like the healing brush tool, the patch tool matches the texture, lighting, and shading of the sampled pixels to the source pixels. You can also use the patch tool to clone isolated areas of an image.


Healing Brush
http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/PS7-HealingBrush.jpg



Also to the top-right of the screen, a file browser has been added. This browser will allow you to view image files as you would on software such as ACDSee, Infraview, etc but on the same screen as your workspace which I've found to be very convenient. Another very good feature in this browser is theBatch Renaming Feature.

Another very noticeable feature is when you open a new document. Unlike the previous version where you always had to type in the width and height, the new version has commonly used preset resolutions and well as common print media such as Letter, Legal, Tabloid, A4, A3, B3~B5. It even has preset standard sizes for web banners (468x60). Another very convenient feature is that you can set a default monitor and print resolution for new documents which is another nice feature.

One thing I was very surprised to see in this new version is how light it runs. I think most people who migrated from Photoshop 5.x to 6.x noticed how much heavier version 6 ran. The GUI also had slight split second pause in certain tasks in the previous version. This doesn't seem to be the case with version 7. It runs very quick. Tasking such as "Save for the web", and menus pop out instantaneously. It's also very responsive when you are multi-tasking with a huge graphic file in Photoshop. I opened a file and increased the size of the image to where the file size was 853.3mb and tried multi-tasking. On the previous version, with a file size as big as this, you were clearly able to see the image scroll on the screen when zoomed into the image. However, Photoshop 7 rendered this image much quicker! Perhaps a 1 second at the most...

But among the all the added features, the new preset brushes are definetly a big improvement. You'd be surprised what you can create using this tool even if you're not a graphic guru!

Here is an example of how powerful the "Brush Tool" can be. I only used Photoshop's "Brush Tools" to make the drawings such as the leaves and the grass at the bottom. I did not do any drawing to make this image... Only plug-in I used for this example was "KPT SkyEffects". All others are default features of Photohop 7. Believe it or not, this took less than 15 minutes to create using the new Photoshop tools!

http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/autumn-breeze!.jpg




Here are also some screen shots of some of the main enhancements:

New Document Selection
http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/PS7_NewDoc.gif


File Browser
http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/PS7_Browser.gif


Preset Brushes
http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/PS7_Brushes.gif


Tool Bar
http://ndc.digitalmntsnow.com/bbs/ps7/PS7_ToolBar.gif

[Mntsnow]

Nice :)

[jadison]

Well NDC, I didn't know you'd take me seriously!:jaw:
Very NICE job. As a matter of fact, I'll start working on putting all of that into an article with all of the images included. WOW...great job. :)


Now...uhh...whaddya say about those benchmarks? ;)

[NDC]

As for benchmarks, it will have to wait since it will need to be done on the same system. I uninstalled Photoshop 6 to install Photoshop 7. I'm not too crazy the idea of running 2 versions on the same system. This is my workstation so... I will post some benchmarks on my AMD system and let you know. :)

For the time being, here's a link with Photoshop 7 in action you can watch on video!

Key Features (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/newfeatures.html)

[NDC]

Well, here are your benchmarks, people! :)

http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=32

[jadison]

Thanks! :) (give that review a 100!)

[cyclone2]

So I take it you like it ;)

[NDC]

Oh, yeah! I simply love the enhancements included in the new version. Keep and eye on the Photoshop 7 review if you're interested. It's been updated. I will continue to update that thread as I find more enhancements...

[Socal]

Good review and benches, NDC :)