Review: Photoshop 4
Product Information
Published By: Adobe Systems
Phone: (800) 492-3623
Web: <http://www.adobe.com>
Street Price: $560
Upgrade: $180
System Requirements
Macintosh with 68030 or greater
8-bit (or greater) color display
System 7.1 or later
16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended)
25 MB hard-disk space
Adobe Photoshop is the world leader in photo-retouching and manipulation. Since its first release, it
has been the preferred program for many designers worldwide. Now, in its fourth release, does it keep
up with its own reputation?
Preeminent programs can sometimes suffer from their own dominance. Companies occasionally use the
monopoly of their market share as an excuse to launch lower quality products. An example of this is
Macromedia's Freehand 7.0, which is big and sluggish compared to version 5.5. However, this is not
the case with Adobe Photoshop 4.0, a product definitely in its best form.
I have been an avid Photoshop user since its first release. I must admit that I found version 3.0 so good
that I was reluctant to upgrade. It was enough for my requirements, or at least that's what I thought
until I used version 4.0. I know I sound a bit overboard with all this. However driving Photoshop 4.0 is
like driving a car; once you try it, you can never look at walking in the same way.
Photoshop customers are one of two types: those who can't afford it and those who are looking into
upgrading. Potential buyers are rare, because anyone who is serious about their design will already
own Photoshop. Taking that into consideration, I will discuss whether Photoshop 4.0 is a worth the cost
to upgrade from a previous version.
The All-new Gadgets
Photoshop 4.0 has been radically upgraded inside-out. Many code portions have been rewritten, and
while they do not affect appearance, they do affect speed. Thus, I will try to be as detailed as possible
about the improvements.
Support for 16 bits / Channel images: This won't affect every user, but it means that images
can be 32 bit (i.e. billions of colors instead of the millions).
Image caching has been recoded for better performance and new controls have been added to let you
adjust the trade-off between speed and memory usage.
Appending File Extensions: OK, this is not the most creative new feature of the bunch, but having
the 3-character extension of the file type automatically appended will be appreciated by anyone who
does a lot of cross-platforming.
Guides have finally been implemented in Photoshop. Goodbye to using Illustrator and exporting paths for guides!
Multiple Transforms: This is definitely the best new feature of version 4.0. Remember how we
used to rotate and scale an object? We used to rotate, apply, scale and apply again. Now we can do all our
transformations, then hit "apply" to implement everything in one step. This procedure saves time and
gives better quality (because interpolation happens just once).
Selecting: You can now drag selections without dragging the image inside because the algorithm for
manipulating images has been modified slightly.
Tip: In version 3.0, you do can accomplish this by Command-Option-dragging.
Tool Tips: This option gives you a brief description of each tool simply by moving the mouse over a
tool button. Very helpful for beginners.
Actions: This feature is still in its infancy. Think of Actions as "Macros for Photoshop." For example,
as a designer, I can make a collection of actions, each action applying a different effect (soft shadow,
chroming....etc.). Then I can save them to a diskette. Afterwards, any "newbie" with minimal
Photoshop skills can open a picture and simply run any saved Actions. Imagine Kai converting his chops
(channel operations) into Actions...
Gradients: Photoshop's native gradient tool is improved to handle multiple colors. Although it does not
even come close to the gradient designer it Kai's Power Tools, it is a significant improvement over
previous versions.
Adjustment layers: Remember how once you applied several curves to an image, you couldn't undo?
Well, with these new types of layers, all the adjustment and color information about an image can be
stored separately. It can achieve very impressive results.
New Filters: These are not an improvements per se, nonetheless they represent a very bold move. All
the 33 plug-ins previously known as "Adobe Gallery Effects" are incorporated within Photoshop
itself, giving the application a more "painty" feel. Furthermore, a slew of new plug-ins and formats
were added.
If these are not reasons enough to convince you to upgrade (purchase) Photoshop 4.0, how do the
Navigator palette, Muli-processor support, Polygon tool and Interface enhancements sound?
Cons
Power hungry: Photoshop 4.0 uses approximately 60 MB of hard-disk space and a minimum 16 MB
of RAM. However, for best results, assign as much RAM and hard-disk space as possible. (I have 256
MB RAM and 2 GB hard drive and still find them confining—get my point?)
Awkward at first: In 4.0, Adobe changed some short-cuts and concepts underlying the working
interface. Lots of actions, such as cut & paste and the Type tool, create new layers instead of acting on
the existing layer. It feels awfully strange at first, even for seasoned Photoshop users. Nevertheless,
once you get the hang of it, you will love it!
Layer Previews: When you have multiple layers containing white elements, you cannot recognize
where each object is using the layer thumbnail previews.
Plug-in manager: With the huge range of plug-ins available, it is time for Adobe to incorporate a
plug-in manager. This will definitely improve Photoshop's performance. In the interim, you can use
Conflict Catcher to manage Photoshop's plug-ins. Check out the review in this issue of ATPM.
Rounding It Up
Photoshop 4.0 is to designers what System 8.0 is to the Mac OS. Many tools need some fine-tuning, but
on the whole, the product looks better than ever. If you've read this far, my only suggestion is to stop
reading and upgrade now!
Copyright © 1997 Jamal Ghandour, <jghandour@atpm.com>. Reviewing in ATPM
is open to anyone. If you're interested, write to us at <reviews@atpm.com>.
Reader Comments (4)
I found a copy on eBay. Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated.
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