Adobe Photoshop CS4 (PC) Product Description:
Product Description
Create powerful, professional quality images with Adobe Photoshop CS4--the essential digital imaging solution for professional photographers. Adobe Photoshop CS4 boasts a wide range of significant enhancements, delivering greater editing freedom, a more intuitive user experience and increased productivity for creative professionals.
Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended feature a newly refined, tab-based interface in a single, integrated window, with self-adjusting panels arranged in docked groups. Automatically keeping tools well organised and away from your work area means you get greater efficiency, less clutter, and better results, faster than before. Click to enlarge. |
Live, non-destructive corrections with the Adjustments panel--Simplify image adjustment with easy access to non-destructive adjustment tools for Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation and more with the user-friendly dynamic Adjustments panel. Gain greater control over colour saturation while preserving delicate tones such as skin colours with the new Vibrance adjustment feature. For even greater convenience, you can access a wide variety of modifiable presets for each type of change, including more than 20 new preconfigured, customisable starting points.
Fast mask creation and editing with new Masks panel--The new Masks panel smoothes and speeds the creation and adjustment of pixel and vector masks, making it easier than ever to apply effects to precisely defined areas of an image. Adjust the density and feathering of a mask with simple sliders, easily select non-contiguous objects, and experience simple yet fine-grained control over the mask size and edges with the Refine Mask feature. Automatically create powerful and detailed masks based on single or multiple colours with the upgraded Colour Range feature, with easy to use controls for the spatial tolerance and "fuzziness" of the colour sampling.
Spot colour and exposure adjustments are more natural with the improved Dodge, Burn, and Sponge tools. |
A range of shots, each with different exposure, colour, and focal points (left) automatically becomes a single, colour-corrected, expanded depth-of-field image with Auto-Blend Layers. Click to enlarge. |
Enhanced Auto-Blend technology automatically masks and blends frame edges for better results on panoramas. Click to enlarge. |
Industry-leading colour correction--Make precise adjustments with Brightness/Contrast and Curves controls, the histogram, channel lines and a clipping preview.
Richer painting and drawing toolset--Create or modify images with a wide assortment of professional, fully customisable drawing tools, paint settings and artistic brushes. Simply drag to resize brushes and adjust for hardness as you paint and preview brush strokes.
Traditional darkroom tools recreated digitally--The newly refined Dodge, Burn and Sponge tools in Photoshop CS4 take the pain and practice out of preserving tonal quality while you spot-correct exposure and colour saturation. Simply paint the area you want to adjust for advanced results in a fraction of the time.
Improved raw image processing--The industry-leading Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 5 plug-in offers non-destructive localised corrections, post-crop vignetting and TIFF and JPEG processing, with support for more than 190 camera models.
Tighter integration with Photoshop Lightroom 2--Photoshop CS4 offers improved cross-application support for automated functions, such as opening multiple photographs from Lightroom 2 directly into a layered Photoshop document, high dynamic range (HDR) image, panorama or Smart Object. Lightroom 2 and Adobe Camera Raw also share the same underlying technology, which means the changes you make with Camera Raw 5 in Photoshop CS4 are recognised in Lightroom 2, and vice versa.
Enhanced Photomerge functions--The improved automatic alignment and blending technology in Photoshop CS4, combined with new vignetting and geometric distortion corrections, helps you create image panoramas with more natural colour blending, with the ability to create 360-degree panoramas too. Other improvements include automatic detection of fish eye lenses to compensate for their inherent distortion, and the new Collage option, which rotates and scales individual images as they are combined using Auto-Align and Photomerge.
Enhanced auto-blending of images for extended depth of field--Combine a range of images, each with a different exposure, colour and focal point--with options to preserve tones and colours--into a single colour-corrected image with the enhanced Auto-Blend Layers feature. Auto-Blend smoothly blends colour and shading and automatically corrects vignettes and lens distortion.
Ultra-smooth, extra-precise pan, zoom, preview and painting tools--Photoshop CS4 fully utilises the power of your computer’s graphics processor (GPU) with OpenGL technology. Zoom down to the level of individual pixels with perfect clarity, and easily edit images at the highest magnification with the new Pixel Grid. Smoothly navigate around the largest images with no stutter or preview lag.
New Rotate View tool for fluid canvas rotation--New to Photoshop CS4, the revolutionary Rotate View tool enables you to non-destructively spin your canvas to any orientation, with automatic adjustment of your selections, grids, rulers and other tools and features to match. Now painting and drawing in Photoshop is as easy and natural as sitting down at an easel.
Quick Selection tool--Loosely draw on an image area and the Quick Selection tool automatically completes the selection for you; then use simple sliders to preview and refine your selection.
Smarter Smart Objects--Smart Object layers allow for non-destructive scaling and transformation of Photoshop layers. Apply perspective transformations to Smart Objects, work with linked layer masks, and use the new Eyedropper tool option to sample either the current layer or all of the layers in the Smart Object at once.
The new Pixel Grid appears at magnifications of 600% or higher, facilitating the finest detail editing. Click to enlarge. |
The Adobe Kuler panel makes it simple to browse, create, and share colour themes online. Click to enlarge. |
Broad file format support--Import and export hundreds of file formats, including PSD, AI, PDF, NEF, CRW, TIFF, BMP, Cineon, JPEG, JPEG2000, FXG, OpenEXR, PNG and Targa.
Next generation Adobe Bridge CS4--Find, preview and manage all of your image assets easily and conveniently with Adobe Bridge CS4. New path-bar navigation and workspace selection buttons let you instantly jump to the right display, including new Camera Import controls, visual folder navigation and a new Carousel View for larger image-group selections. In the Output workspace, Bridge now features PDF-based contact-sheet creation and web-gallery creation and uploading. Preview 3D images and panoramas created in Photoshop CS4. The new Search feature is integrated with both the Spotlight feature in Mac OS X and the Desktop Search feature in Windows Vista. You can also switch to the new, intuitive List View, with its familiar data display and sorting controls.
Creative Pro Online Services--Find fast answers to key questions with Adobe Community Help. Store and share files, create PDFs and brainstorm with up to two other users for no extra service charge at Acrobat.com. Stay up to date with what's new from Adobe with tips to make the most of Photoshop CS4 with Adobe Bridge Home. Explore, create and share colour themes with Adobe Kuler. (Internet connection required for all services.)
Other refinements in Photoshop CS4 include:
- Higher performance on very large images when using Windows Vista 64-bit
- Clone Stamp and Healing Brush live preview cursor for easier, more precise cloning and healing results
- Layer-based metadata enabling reading and writing strings to layer properties, such as recording time-stamp information for video
- Developers of specialised applications can create custom SWF-format panels that smoothly integrate with Photoshop CS4
- Extensible SWF-based File Info panel, enabling developers to add network-stored keywords and perform functions such as spell-checking
- Unique IDs per document for easier downstream tracking of assets
- CUDO technology, providing the ability to design with sensitivity for colour blind individuals via soft-proofing
- Spring-loaded keys to temporarily shift between tools by holding down a tool shortcut key
- FXG export
- Device Link colour profile support
- Notes panel to keep annotations from cluttering the canvas
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
84 of 86 people found the following review helpful.
The Darkroom for the 21st Century
By Mr. Sa Bell
Photoshop is the industry standard software for image manipulation of almost every kind and it has been for a long time now. It's true that Photoshop has several competitors, all of which are lacking in some or all the areas covered by Adobe's offering. Put simply: Photoshop is king.It's not all good though. Photoshop is a serious step up from MS Paint and whatever software came free with your printer/scanner/camera. It's a professional level tool. Because of this, you won't be able to harness much of it's endless potential without spending at least a good few months worth of quality time getting things wrong and reading books and online 'how to' guides. Although being industry standard, it is considerably easier to learn Photoshop than any of the competing packages because SO many people use it and write books and guides. Still, it's a long journey.My only other problem is the price. Obviously, it's worth the cost. Adobe wouldn't sell it otherwise. But the price that Adobe ask for Photoshop is outright extortionate. So much so that Photoshop is one of the most widely pirated software packages of all time because so many want it and so few can afford it. What's more; the price seems to go up with every version, upgrades cost as much as you'd normally pay for a whole software suite and it's even more expensive for one of the bundles that you'll probably want!Photoshop Elements isn't the answer either. It lacks many of the features that are the entire reason for buying Photoshop in the first place. Adobe need to realise that there is an enormous demographic who make no money from their art but cannot make their art without this software. But that's the way it is at the moment. If you want the best out of your work then you need the best tools and I'm afraid you'll have to pay for it, and pay you will.
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
Still at the top
By D. Brown
There are many good image editors available, but Photoshop has always been top of the pile. Whilst other software packages come and go, and fight for market dominance, Photoshop has consistently been number one. I have given this five stars, but in truth that is only applicable to you if you are serious about image editing. For the occasional user it would be closer to one star. Its value is linked to how much you use it. For those whose work or passion takes them into the world of image editing it is the number one must have application. For first time buyers it is not only the money you will be investing in this program but many hours/months/years of learning, so it makes sense to start with a program that is the recognised industry standard. For those upgrading its value will depend how much you think you would use the new features. In my opinion, CS4 is better value than previous upgrades. Simply downloading a trial version from Adobe will tell you more than any review can.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
The De Facto Standard With Good Reason
By Robert Groom
I've been using the full Photoshop CS4 for almost a year now, following an upgrade from Elements 6. Is it worth the premium? For me yes. The big feature most likely to be missed in Elements is Layer Masking. Once you've used Layer Masks, there's really no going back. Another great feature in CS4 is the ability to see what you're about to paint when in clone stamp mode. This is surprisingly useful. The whole product is just packed with feature after feature to help you tweak and tune your images to perfection. I couldn't live without it. Putting the price into context, if you own several thousand pounds worth of camera equipment, what's a few hundred spent on software which will have an equal impact on the final output? If you're a pro, then this should be your first port of call. Forget Elements. One important note however - please *do* check Adobe's supported hardware list for Photoshop CS4 as several graphically intensive features require hardware acceleration supported on only certain higher-end cards. My card is an ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB, and it works faultlessly on my PC. You can actually pick these cards up second hand for double figure sums on popular auction sites at the present time as gamers trade up to new models, so there's no need to break the bank. Of course, this product couples extremely well with Lightroom 2.0, and I'd probably recommend that if you have Elements but not Lightroom, and you're deciding whether to spend your money on Lightroom or an upgrade to Photoshop CS4, go for Lightroom. You'll most likely get a lot more use out of it, and it will totally revolutionise your workflow. I'd also recommend getting yourself a good quality monitor which has even colour mapping from edge to edge and good brightness control. You will never produce well colour balanced images if your monitor is out of whack. Happy editing!
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