Rangefinder Magazine
May 2005

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First Exposure by Jack and Sue Drafahl
Photoshop CS2

Over the years we have developed what we thought was a good formula for reviewing software programs. We would describe the intended use of the program or new version, show how it works with images, and highlight some of its newest features. That approach seemed to work well until now.

With the introduction of Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 2, we had to totally change the way we approach software reviews. We have closely followed Adobe’s 15-year growth as we have been Beta testing Photoshop versions from 2.5 though CS2. Although each new version featured innovative changes worth the price of upgrading, none has offered improvements with such impact as this one.

The truth is that after Beta testing CS2 for three months, we found so many reasons for the upgrade that it was hard to pick just one. As we prepared for this article, we compared our list with Adobe’s and compiled more than 30 reasons to upgrade.

	The new CS2 Bridge program works with all new CS2 products and reads a wide variety of file formats from each. The bridge program can be loaded by itself or accessed from inside each CS2 program. Folder directories, upper left; expanded view in left middle; EXIF info in lower left, and thumbnail index at right.

With the introduction of CS, Adobe went to a similar registration process as used by Microsoft, where you must log onto the Internet and register with Adobe, or your program will not function. The problem was that with CS, if your computer crashed, and you restored it with Windows Restore or a third-party program, you had to re-register Photoshop with Adobe. This was a big problem if you were on location with limited Internet access. The new CS2 uses a better system that keeps the registration key on your computer even if it crashes. It even has a system where you can transfer the registration from one computer to another when you upgrade computers. This feature alone is worth an upgrade if you travel with Photoshop.

When you first start CS2, you will notice that Photoshop uses a new type of external file manager called Bridge that can interface with all new Adobe CS2 programs like Illustrator, GoLive, InDesign and Image Ready. This new Bridge program can be used to open the correct editing program or you can just drag the files to the appropriate program icons. Bridge is a very powerful program that allows you to batch process RAW files, scale thumbnail previews, view images in slide shows, view all CS2 file formats, search the Web for Adobe Stock photos, and flag or label images for easy image searches.

A new very sophisticated image manipulation tool called Vanishing Point (see article on page 8) can be found under the Filter pull-down menu. This feature allows you to select sections of an image, and then paste them onto defined planes in the image to provide perspective. You can create new siding for a house, repave your driveway, add labels to the side of a 3D box, and move selected objects to provide perspective.

Under the Edit > Transform pull-down menu you will find the new Warp command. When you select Warp, a grid will appear on the surface of the area you want to warp. You can select just a section or the entire image use node points or a Bezier-type handle to tweak your adjustment. There is also a set of preset warps and numerical data fields that can help you warp selected images around a variety of 3D objects.

Whether you shoot film or digital, you will really like the new Reduce Noise found in Edit > Noise > Reduce. When this menu opens, you have the option of working on all channels or individual channels to reduce digital noise or film grain structure. There is also a box at the bottom that will reduce the level of JPEG artifacts in the image. Additional sliders allow you to adjust the sharpness of the image and maintain different levels of fine image detail.

When Elements 3 was first introduced, the spot healing brush was added to the toolbox, and it is now included in Photoshop CS2. This tool only requires that you click once on the small artifact you want to remove, and then Photoshop will replace the area with new data carefully matching lighting and texture. This is a great tool for digital SLR shooters who end up with small black particles due to dust gathering on the camera sensor. Just set the brush size to slightly larger than the particles, and they will be quickly retouched away.

Smart objects allows you to reduce and expand with the transformation command without losing image quality. Original object at top was reduced in size with transformation command. Vase in lower right was enlarged from a smart object version, while the vase in the lower left was enlarged from a normal layer version.

If you are constantly finding yourself removing redeye, it just got a lot easier thanks to the new redeye tool. No more selecting or setting colors. Just click on the eye, and in a couple of seconds the red area is gone. If you find some of the red still showing, just click on the second area and the red will be gone for good.

Another great reason to upgrade is the new Filter > Distort > Lens Correction menu. This is the Swiss army knife of lens corrections tools. When you first open the menu, a grid will be placed over your image so you can correct barrel distortion, pincushion, and perspective distortion. If you also find that your image has vignetting due to the use of long or wide lenses, this menu can help smooth out the image from edge to edge. If your camera lens exhibits chromatic aberration, there are a couple of sliders to take care of that too.

One of the more difficult tools to use and understand is the unsharp mask. If you are having problems using it, you should try your hand at the new Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen pull-down menu. When it opens, you are presented with sliders to adjust the amount and radius of the image sharpness. The advantage of this tool over the unsharp mask is that you have additional controls to independently adjust both the highlight and shadow sharpness. You can also remove different types of blur—whether from camera motion, lens blur or Gaussian blurring problems.

	Same layer was reduced and enlarged using the transformation command. The layer in the upper left was converted to a smart object first, while the object in the lower right was not.

If you are an advanced image editor and are competent using layers, then you are going to love the new Layers > Smart Objects command. Previously, when you used the transform selection command to size down a selection or layer, your selection was scaled down to match the new size. Now with CS2, if you convert your selection to a smart object, Photoshop keeps the object’s original size, even though you scaled it down. If you decided to scale it back up later, the full resolution of that object is still available.

Another nice feature with layers is the use of the smart guides. If you have several layers you want to align, just bring them next to one of these smart guides, and the object will jump right next to it. It seems to anticipate your every movement.

Digital camera shooters who use RAW files are in for a real treat with the new RAW File interface. It can do just about everything with a digital camera RAW file that you can imagine… and maybe even a few more. The histogram is at the top, and just below that you have a setting that includes custom, RAW file defaults and previous conversions. You then have your choice of all the white balance settings, color temperatures, tints, exposures, highlights, shadows, contrast and saturation controls. Additional tabs allow you to tweak sharpness, color noise, color fringing, vignetting, curve adjustment and full color calibration.

JPEG reduction command was used to reduce jpeg artifacts from this high compression image.

One interesting feature is the size box. With this pull-down you can take your 3- to 17-megapixel image and scale it up as high as a 25 megapixels. Many of these features were available in CS, but in CS2 you can open multiple RAW file images and apply the same settings to all the images. You can also save your settings and use them later as a batch processor for groups of RAW file images.

	Digital camera bracket set was imported into new HDR merge screen and blended into a single 32-bit extended range image. Image could then be converted to 16-bit or 8-bit image and still hold wider range of image detail than is found in the original images.

Also new to CS2 is the High Dynamic Range (HDR) function. With this command you can open several exposure-bracketed images and combine them into a single image with an extended dynamic range in 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit colors. You have the option of selecting images already loaded, or loading new images from the file manager. If you did not use a tripod, you can check the register box to realign the images in the sequence. The preview screen shows the HDR image and those images use to create it. If you don’t like the results, you can uncheck one of the images to see if the HDR image is improved by not including that specific image.

As we said, there are so many new features in Creative Suite 2 that we just can’t do it justice in the space allotted. Several of the new items we can’t cover are the animation palette, exposure controls, 32-bit channels, shape blur, surface blur, a half dozen new layer controls, a new PDF interface and presets, preview and export video, and more. If you get a bit overwhelmed by the amount of new features, you can turn on a special workspace designed to highlight all the new or improved features in blue so you can locate them easier.

There are advantages to being a Beta tester for Adobe, since you get to test some the latest, greatest software. The disadvantage is that because we sign a non-disclosure document, we can’t tell anyone. Boy is that hard to do! Finally, now we can shout it out loud—run quick and get your hands on Creative Suite 2!

The vanishing point filter found under the filter pull-down can align flat images on angled planes that have perspective. A grid is setup in advance to tell each image how it will be applied to a surface selection.	Top image is the original, and bottom is with a new brick

If you still have questions about this great software, log on to www.adobe.com to see features and samples from the entire CS2 products line.

Creative Suite 2 is compatible with MAC OS X v.10.2.8 through v.10.3.8 and Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or XP with Service Pack 1 or 2. The upgrade to Photoshop CS2 is $149, and full price is $599. The Premium version features all the new Creative Suite 2 products and is available for $1199 and $549 for an upgrade.

Jack and Sue Drafahl are freelance journalists/photographers living in the Pacific Northwest. They have owned and operated a custom lab and service bureau, Image Concepts, for many years. They can be reached at: digitalduo@jackandsuedrafahl.com. The Drafahls new web site is: www.jackandsuedrafahl. com/.