Photoshop 6

You gotta check it out!

[seth_wilde]

Photoshop 6 was released yesterday and I was just playing around with it. This is a must have software for anyone serious about graphics. They've added all kinds of new features like layer grouping, vector shapes, etc... it's almost like phostoshop combined with illustrator.

[Marcia]

Seth, does 6 have the capability of browsing folders?
(Only reason I keep PSP is for the tubes and the
great browse feature)

[grnidone]

Seth:
Can you upgrade from 5.0 to 6.0?
-G

[mnw]

Adobe is silent on their website about jumping from 5.0 to 6.0 although it "looks" like you can do it. They do make a distinction between Photoshop and PhotoshopLE. They require a "different" product (and more money) to jump from LE to 6.0. I am still waiting for my upgrade from 5.5 to ship. It should be here either tomorrow or Saturday.

Edited by: mnw

[seth_wilde]

Marcia - I'm not sure if I completely understand what your asking, But 6.0 does browse through folders/files the same way as previous versions.

G - We got the full install, but I do believe their is an updgrade available

[mnw]

One thing- it looks like (from the documentation at least)that Photoshop 6 does not run on WIN95. System requirements state Windows98, Windows2000, WindowsNT4 or WindowsME. Windows95 is conspicuous by its absence.

[seth_wilde]

mnw-

Vary rarely does software have compatiblity issues between 95 & 98. I would assume that it would run without a glitch. But if youre running 95 it might be worth installing the demo before you buy the full release.

[mnw]

I agree that there shouldn't be a problem, but I was surprised to see that Windows95 was not listed on the Adobe site as an acceptable O/S. We are running Win98SE or Win2000

[seth_wilde]

Yeah I don't know what's up with that either......I don't think it's that uncommon though, I've installed and ran software on my home computer (NT 4.0) that didn't have NT listed in the documentation. Maybe it has something to do with optimal performance compared to just working :)

[Marcia]

OK..got it, thanks Seth. The other one has a browse feature that shows thumbnails when it browses a folder.

[tedster]

If I remember correctly, Photoshop 5.5 was the first version to include ImageReady. That's a nifty bit of software just in itself. I'm assuming that, because of ImageReady, there might be a problem for a direct upgrade jump from 5.0 to 6.0.

[seth_wilde]

They offered upgrades from 5.0 to 5.5 so I don't know if that will be a problem.

[tigger]

does anyone know anything about the mask pro extension ? basically I've got a load of photo's for a new site and the client wants to loose the background.

In the past I've used the lasso feature on fireworks/photoshop V5 but someone told me about an add on for photoshop which automates the process, hopefully making life a bit easier :)

or any other ideas or programs would be very much appreated.

thanks

[mnw]

The Mask Pro add-on is from Extensis. We purchased a suite of Extensis programs when we got Photoshop 5 and they worked with 5.5. I'm interested to see if they will still work with 6.0 You can get more info here [extensis.com].

We use Intellihance Pro more than Mask Pro.

[tigger]

mnw

thanks for the info in the process of downloading a 30 day trial now, why do you prefer Intellihance Pro ?

[mnw]

Not really a preference, although I'd really have to ask my resident graphics expert why she said she used IP more than MP. Advanced graphics is not my strong point - I keep them simple like "stick figures". When i get a chance, I let you know her reasons why.

[tedster]

Sometimes you can get a great background mask quickly by going to L-a-b color space and working with a copy of one the channels. When it works best, you can even get very delicate or wispy mask edges, such as hair or tree leaves, with little effort.

I find in general that L-a-b is one of the under-utilized powerhouses of Photoshop. I always take jpg's into L-a-b before returning to RGB space for jpeg compression. Because almost all the detail is held in the L channel, you can usually run a fat Gaussian Blur (2.0 to 3.0) on the a and b channels without degrading the look of the image -- the color blur really helps the compression algo.

[mnw]

Spent some time with Adobe people at Internet World 2000 today. Two quick updates. You can upgrade to 6.0 from any version on Photoshop (except the LEs) all the back to 4.0 JUST make sure you have your original disk and serial number. PS6 asks for a serial #. I spent 30 minutes looking for one in the package that 6 came in. Turns out the program is looking for the serial number of the version you are upgrading from. It also asks for the original disk.

Second issue was the WIN95 topic. The people at the show were somewhat surprised by my question. Turns out the Adobe has not QA'ed 6 on Win95 and "may" not provide tech support if you call with a problem.