Excerpt from Dynamic Learning - Photoshop CS3
Camera Raw improvements
Camera Raw is a file format option for many digital cameras. Camera Raw file formats can vary depending on the camera manufacturer and model, but Photoshop CS3 can handle most Camera Raw files. The Raw format is gaining popularity, especially among serious photographers, because it stores the largest amount of original digital image data—almost no processing occurs in the camera. This means that you have a lot more information to work with when you make adjustments, such as lighting, sharpening, and color changes.
Photoshop’s improved Camera Raw processing
Photoshop has supported Camera Raw files in the past, but Photoshop CS3 is faster and supports more than 150 different versions of the Raw file format.
Photoshop CS3 now supports opening Raw, JPEG, and TIFF images in the Camera Raw Plug-in. By simply selecting a file from Adobe Bridge (see Lesson 4, “Using Adobe Bridge”) or choosing File > Open, you can open most Raw files. The Camera Raw interface in Photoshop CS3 allows you to make incredibly precise adjustments to an image. It includes new Fill Light controls, which are used to reduce the contrast of a scene and provide illumination in the shadows, and Vibrance controls, which are used to enhance or diminish the intensity of the colors in less-saturated areas of an image.
In this exercise, you’ll open a Camera Raw file so you can investigate the capabilities of working with these files using Photoshop CS3.
1 Choose File > Browse, or select the Go to Bridge button ( ) in the options bar.
2 Double-click on the image named ps0104.CR2, a Camera Raw image from a Canon EOS Digital Rebel camera. The Camera Raw window opens.
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The Camera Raw window. |
3 Click and drag the Recovery slider to the right to a value of approximately 50. Notice that the detail is recovered in the sky. You will learn more about working with Camera Raw files in Lesson 6, “Creating a Good Image.”
4 When you are finished experimenting, click Open Image to open the Camera Raw file in Adobe Photoshop.
5 While you could continue to edit this file using Photoshop, you will not be performing additional edits at this time. Choose File > Close. If you are asked to save the changes, choose No.
Understand the improved Vanishing Point filter
You can now edit images in perspective with more creative options using the enhanced Vanishing Point feature. You can create multiple planes in an image—areas that are built in perspective—connect them at any angle, and then wrap graphics, text, and images around them. This is especially useful for package designers.
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Artwork pasted into multiple perspective planes, such as the fence on the left which was added to the image. |
The painting tools also work in perspective, allowing you to clone and to take advantage of retouching tools for healing. You can learn all about using the Vanishing Point filter in
Lesson 12, “Using Adobe Photoshop Filters.”
Photoshop CS3 vs. Photoshop CS3 Extended
If you purchased the Creative Suite 3 Design Premium Suite, Web Premium, or Master Collection Suite, you have Photoshop CS3 Extended. If you purchased the Design Standard Suite, you have Photoshop CS3. You can find out easily which version of Photoshop you have by choosing Help > About Photoshop (Windows) or Photoshop > About Photoshop
(Mac OS). The version of Photoshop is listed in the welcome screen. Photoshop CS3 Extended is for multimedia and video professionals, as well as other users who have a need for extended capabilities to analyze data and build 2-D images from 3-D files. The features discussed below are available only in the Extended version.
Create animation with the Animation palette
With Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can use the new Advanced Timeline palette to create animation from a series of images, such as time-series data. The animation can then be exported to QuickTime, MPEG-4, and Adobe Flash Video (FLV) formats.
If you are working with video, you can now open video files in Photoshop, where it is opened as a Movie layer. Using the Timeline controls, you can select footage and retouch video
frame-by-frame using Photoshop’s painting and editing tools. Find out more about the timeline in Lesson 13, “Creating for Web and Video.”
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Movie layer. |
Advanced Timeline palette. |
3-D compositing and texture editing
Using Photoshop CS3 Extended, you can also render and incorporate rich 3-D content into 2-D composites—and can even edit textures on 3-D models directly within Photoshop, and immediately see the results. Photoshop Extended supports common 3-D interchange formats including 3DS, OBJ, U3D, KMZ, and COLLADA, so you can import, view, and interact with most 3-D models.
2-D and 3-D measurement tools
If you work in the architecture, construction, engineering, manufacturing, or health care industries, you can use the new measurement tools in Photoshop CS3 Extended to extract quantitative information from images.
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New measurement tools in Photoshop help you to extract quantitative information. |
With the new measurement tools, you can easily calibrate or set the scale of an image, and then use any of the Photoshop selection tools to define and calculate distance, perimeter, area, and other measurements. You can also record data points in a measurement log and export data, including histogram data, to a spreadsheet for further analysis.
These advanced features are not covered in this book, but look for the Photoshop CS3 Expert Answers book and the Dynamic Learning training videos for more information.
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