OK. I’m Sold.

11/20/2008

I’d been riding the fence on Photoshop 4 throughout the announcements and even the early shipping of the product. 3D support? Eh. New interface improvements? Eh.

But I’ve finally realized that there probably are enough reasons to upgrade and for us to install it all over campus. My favorite new features - specifically for new and intermediate users - are the improved tools for working with layer masks, embedded Kuler for making smart color decisions, and the ability to rotate the canvas itself.

There are numerous reviews and op/ed pieces throughout the web on CS4, but I thought the article from Mac|Life was particularly good if you only have a passing knowledge of photoshop. This piece also discusses all the issues I mention above…

I like PS CS4, but, to me it is almost a step backward. It is, in a way like what MS did with Office. They took a GUI that we all know how to use, and changed things around so that it looks cool, but takes some getting used to, in order to be able to use it efficiently.