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It's not difficult to predict when the next version of Photoshop is due: just check the calendar and count 18 months on from the last release. On the evidence of Photoshop 7, though, this has less to do with filling Adobe's coffers, than there being a genuine reason for updating the leading professional image-editing package.
The three big updates in this release are the completely rewritten painting engine, the healing brush, and Photoshop's new file-handling abilities. Let's start with the last of those, as it will appeal to anyone who owns a digital camera.
The file browser is similar to that found in Photoshop Elements, the cut-down version of Photoshop 6, in that there is a tab in the well at the top of the screen that opens a panelled window of thumbnails.
Graphic description
But that's not all. If the picture was taken by a digital camera then it also displays a staggering amount of information drawn from the image Exif (Exchangeable Image File) header, including when it was snapped, how long the shutter was open and the F-stop setting.
More importantly, images can also be ranked. This is more descriptive than simply scoring them from one to five depending on how much you like each one. Describe each in terms of exactly what needs doing, or whether it is a finished product, for example, and Photoshop will arrange them so that the ones you feel need cropping or lightening or enlarging will be put into groups.
The rewritten paint engine has elevated brush control to a whole new level. An extensive palette allows you to change not only the shape and size of a tool, but also how it should behave; so angle, colour variations and underlying textures can be independently defined.
The healing process
The most impressive function of all, though, and the one that will convince fashion photographers and magazine editors worldwide that they need to upgrade, is the healing brush. Shown on the tool palette as a strip of plaster, it takes the existing clone tool and updates it for the 21st century.
Cloning has traditionally been a tedious process, and if you try and hurry things along by copying great swathes of your picture from one area to another, you are likely to end up with disappointing results where you can clearly see the edges of your work. If you have ever tried to remove a spot from a photographed face and ended up with a patch of lighter or darker skin in its place, then you already understand what we mean.
To explain how the healing tool works, it's easiest to say that it takes the texture of one area, mixes it with the surrounding colour of the destination and merges the results.
The auto contrast and auto levels tools have been joined by auto colour, which often produces far more realistic results when tweaking natural objects, such as fruit and landscapes. The output is more subtle than that produced using auto levels, and our tests showed its results to be more gentle and less biased towards the colder blue end of the spectrum than auto levels can be.
Other enhancements
There is plenty here to justify an upgrade, including a new release of Imageready 7, which builds upon its existing slicing tools to make web-based layer swapping a doddle, even if it does restrict you to producing your site using images rather than text.
It also now allows for the creation of gif transparencies in soft-edged elements. Traditionally, this has not been possible, but by dithering edges, interspersing opaque and transparent pixels, you can now overlay a shadow or soft-edged graphic on a patterned page background.
It is, to be fair, still a frightfully expensive package, and so probably out of reach of most home users, but it deserves to retain its position of dominance over the professional market.
For home users, there's always Photoshop Elements, and the hope that one day we may see Photoshop 7 LE.
System requirements
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/NT with SP6, 128MB of RAM, 256-colour graphics card, 800 x 600 resolution display
Price
£528.75 (£450 ex VAT); upgrade from any version £116.33 (£99 ex VAT)
Contact
Adobe: 020 8606 4001 www.adobe.co.uk
See also:
Quite simply the best photo editing program in the history of the universe. 15 May 2002
An impressive degree of creative power at a competitive price. 22 Apr 2002
Image-editing software that not only lets you manage, correct and enhance photos, but also allows you to create and publish many types of images. 11 Apr 2002
All Image Editing & Management
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