ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS4

Photoshop CS4 Astounds



The tent pole of Adobe's massive Creative Suite 4 is Photoshop, the legendary image-editing application known for its power and scope. Adobe could probably get away with resting on the heaps of laurels the app has earned over the years, but as Photoshop CS4 shows, that's not what it's doing. In both the Standard and Extended versions, everyone will enjoy the new modern, animated interface.

But in addition, some major improvements targeted at photographers, designers, and animators make this a highly compelling upgrade, although these features augur an even more challenging learning experience. But that's why there's Photoshop Elements, right?



Navigating your way around images has gotten infinitely cooler. Clicking and holding the Zoom tool (or clicking on an image while holding the Z key) causes an animated, almost cinematic zoom-in. I also like the new tabbed document inter face, which lets you easily switch between multiple open documents. Other new features include an Adjustments palette, a Vibiance adjustment layer (which successfully manipulates saturation without disturbing skin tones), a new Masks palette, a revamped Brightness/Contrast tool, and an enhanced Auto-Blend Layers (which extends the depth of field so that all areas of the subject are in focus).

Among these significant improvements, unquestionably the most jaw dropping is content-aware scaling, a feature that lets you change the proportions of an image—for example, morph an 8-by-12 photo to 8-by-10—without squashing or stretching the important image elements. The program makes a good guess at what those important elements are, but you can also add manual guidance to the feature if necessary.



Photoshop CS4 is definitely a must-have upgrade for any graphics professional. The revamped interface brings this venerable program into the 21st century, but there are plenty of guts lurking behind the glamour. The application may be a vast, sometimes unruly beast, but its powers grow more awesome every year.—Galen Fott

PC Magazine February 2009