I have been pretty impressed with the latest features to be in the new photoshop. Having been a avid user since version 5 I have seen the program evolve and develop.
First off, the loading screen…lovely! I have always been a fan of the loading screens as you start the program (and the irony of whether the developers actually used photoshop to create it) and this doesnt dissapoint.
I may have missed this in CS4 (as I have come straight from trusty CS3) but the layouts seem vastly improved for working on multiple files and the fullscreen option is always a nice touch if you are pretty handy on the keyboard shortcuts.
New to CS5 I belive is the workspace layouts, in particular notice the 3D layout. 3D is now a big part of Photoshop, despite the program still being known more for image editing. Photographs and 3D do not really have a connection. I will write a post about the 3D section once I have had the chance to use it!
I have been particulary impressed with the content aware fill tool, okay the image above isnt very complex but it has surprised me with some of the results produced on other images. Any skilled photoshopper should be able to do what this tool can do manually, but for quickness, this helps out alot.
This is a nice feature to have particulary for the digital artists out there. There is a seperate mixer brush as well as the standard PS brushes. The mixer brush works like a real life watercolor brush so digital paintings or photos can have that real life painting effect to them. I expect this tool to be used in some creative ways in future artworks.
So thats photoshop CS5 in a nutshell. Im impressed. New methods for creation, better workflow and faster prodction. Thumbs up.
