09.08.10
Guy Gowan answers your Photoshop Questions
Q+A Guy sheds some Light on your Photoshop queries
Q Mini Bridge is a new feature in CS5, what are the benefits for my workflow in using it?
A At first glance Mini Bridge can look just like the original file browser and the Bridge is an application evolved from the file browser. So the difference between the file browser and the Bridge is that the former is an integral part of PS and was a palette or a feature which then evolved to become a separate application called Bridge. Now Mini Bridge has become an integral part of PS again, but with the features of the Bridge. So ultimately all that people are really going to use this for is as a way of selecting images visually rather than by a name through the normal open interface within PS. I wouldn’t say this has a huge impact on workflow but it’s nice to have the feature back within PS as Mini Bridge and not as an independent application. My experience tells me that many people that I come in contact with don’t even realise that Bridge exists, because it’s a separate application outside PS. I spend a lot of time educating graphic designers and photographers about the benefits of using the Bridge and they are blown away by its impact on their work. So for anyone who has never used the Bridge a great deal, to have it back in PS as Mini Bridge is a really good thing. It isn’t anything new to be able to open up images via icon from within PS. Anyone who has used PS for a long period will remember the file browser so it has come full circle, but it’s a nice feature to have back within PS.
Q Will Content Aware Fill remove a watermark?
A This is a difficult one – ultimately the answer is yes, but whether it will look good or convincing depends on many factors, such as the image itself, where the watermark is on the image, and the size and intensity of the watermark etc. I have seen many images with watermarks on them that can be cloned out easily, but using Content Aware Fill will also do a good job here and quickly. If, however, the watermark is over a large portion of the image at a reduced opacity then CAF will struggle. So it all depends on the image and the placing and size of your watermark. I think CAF is quite a useful piece of technology but you don’t need to worry too much about people using it to remove a watermark. It is a good piece of technology but not quite that sophisticated.
Q What are the differences between Photoshop CS5 and CS5 Extended as it relates to photographers?
A There are many differences – CS5 Extended has a number of additional features which are very much multi-media based. They would be more design orientated, for web design, cross-media or interactive designers – people designing content for Smart phones and stuff like that. There are extra 3D capabilities and lots more graphic-design orientated stuff. The video feature may be of use/interest to photographers who are shifting into video but that wouldn’t be enough to make you feel, as a photographer, that you have to have the extended version. Adobe itself actually positions PS CS5 for photographers and graphic designers. I like to get the full application because I enjoy exploring all the possibilities of the extra software. I can see why a photographer might be interested in the 3D features and mapping images around a 3D object in PS, as exploring and coming up with new ideas is an important part of photography. It depends on what you want to do with PS – on a feature-by-feature comparison, if you use PS simply to do cutouts, enhance your images and do the odd composition, the CS5 is more than adequate.
Q Are the major Photoshop plug-ins compatible with CS5, or will new versions/upgrades be needed?
A Having just had a quick look at onOne and Nik software, both of these sellers are offering new versions/upgrades to CS5 users. So upgrades are required, probably to take advantage of the 64-bit usage within Photoshop.
Q I would like to know how I can save a PSD file as a Jpeg and maintain the colour of the image which can be viewed on a computer screen.
A There are two solutions, the first of which is simply to bypass the ‘save for web and devices’ interface as we used to do, change the resolution of your file by using ‘image size’ or ‘fit image’ or any other of the many ways and save it as a Jpeg. As long as you make sure to include the ICC colour profile in the Jpeg interface, then in my experience your Jpegs will always match faithfully your file from PS, whether that be PSD, Tiff or whatever. However, many people like to use the ‘save for web and devices’ because you can change image size, change colours, change colour format, file format etc, all within one interface. In its default position ‘save for web and devices’ is not set up to embed colour profile but to convert your colours to sRGB, so if you have a bright colourful image in Adobe 1998 color space and you reduce the colour space down to an sRGB you will get a shift in colour. In this case all you need to do to maintain the image is make sure you include ‘imbed colour profile’ in the interface for ‘save for web and devices’ and turn off ‘convert to sRGB’. Then in the preview underneath ‘convert to sRGB’, instead of saying ‘monitor colour’ you can put it in ‘document’. Use the document profile and this will give you accuracy and maintain the colour consistency of the image. It is a simple question to answer when you understand that how you are viewing the image depends on ICC colours. So it is important to embed this and you won’t have any problems.
Streaming Seminar with Guy: Guy Gowan’s seminars offer photographers, designers and web media creatives a fantastic opportunity to gain a new perspective on working with Photoshop. He is organising a free live seminar streaming event for fans on Monday 21 June. For more details visit Guy’s website at www.guygowan.com
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