New Features and Enhancements
Photoshop CS4
Interface Improvements
Application bar
Quick access to hand and zoom tools, view options, Bridge, arrange document menu,
worksapces and screen mode options. The Default workspace is renamed Essentials.
Full Screen Mode
This is an improvement to move this option from the bottom of the toolbar to the
Application bar. It should help folks not get trapped in full screen mode by accident.
When choosing Full Screen mode this helpful dialog explains how to get out of the view
using Esc or F. Check “don’t show again” once you have this shortcut memorized.
Tabbed documents
Open multiple files and they appear as tabs at the top of the window, with an asterisk to
show unsaved work. Tear off the tab if you wish to drag and drop or do anythig viewing
multiple files. Drag the tab back into the upper dock to restore the tabbed view.
New Preferences
Arrange Document
The Arrange Document menu appears at the top of the window in the Application bar.
Smoother Panning and Zooming
Ultra smooth zooming and panning, maintain clarity as you zoom, and easily edit at the
highest magnification with the new Pixel Grid.
Fluid Canvas Rotation
Now just click to smoothly turn your canvas for distortion-free viewing at any desired
angle (no more tilting your head in the middle of painting and drawing.)
Retouching, Color, and Photography Features
Vibrance Color Adjustment
Image menu > Adjustment > Vibrance… or choose Vibrance as an Adjustment Layer.
Camera RAW support
Enjoy superior conversion quality as you process raw images with the industry-leading
Camera Raw 5 plug-in, which now offers localized corrections, post-crop vignetting,
TIFF and JPEG processing, and support for over 190 camera models.
Adjustments Panel
Simplify image adjustment by easily accessing every tool you need to non-destructively
adjust and enhance the color and tone of your images; on-imge controls and a wide
variety of presets are also included in the new live and dynamic Adjustments panel.
New Masks Panel
Improvement to the interface: use the Mask panel in addition to your layers palette when
using layer masks. Quickly crete and edit masks from the new masks panel. This panel
offers all the tools you need to create editable pixel- and vector-based masks, adjust mask
density and feathering, easily select noncontiguous objects, and more.
Smart Objects (enhanced)
Perform nondestructive scaling, rotating, and warping of raster and vector graphics with
Smart Objects. Even preserve the editability of vector data from Illustrator. Smart Objects
now supports linking layers and vector masks.
Improved Dodge, Burn, and Sponge Tools
Enjoy dramatically enhanced color correction with reengineered doge, Burn, and Sponge
tools that now intelligently preserve color and tone details.
Brush Tool Improvements
Simply drag to resize brushes and adjust for hardness as you paint and preview brush
strokes.
Clone Tool and Healing Brush Enhancements
Retouch images more easily and precisely by previewing source pixels within the cursor
of the Clone Stamp and the Healing Brush.
Content-Aware Scaling
Use the new and revolutionary Content-Aware Scaling feature to automatically
recompose an image as you resize it, smartly preserving vital areas as the imge adapts to
its new dimensions. (Edit menu)
Extended Depth of Field
Easily create a single image from a series of shots that have different focal points with the
enhanced Auto-Blend Layers command, which smoothly blends color and shading and
now extends your depth of field, automatically correcting vignettes and lens distortion.
Auto-Alignment of Layers Enhanced
Create accurate composites with the enhanced Auto-Align Layers command. Move,
Rotate, or warp layers to align them more accurately than ever before. Or use the
spherical alignment to create breathtaking panoramas.
Color Blindness Proofing
View menu > Proofing > Color Blindness.
This feature is also included in Illustrator CS4 to ensure legibility and usability.
Online Services
Adobe Community Help
Access the power of an online search engine from within Photoshop CS4, but with more
targeted results. Searchable content includes in-depth Photoshop Help, plus additional
Adobe and third-party content chosen by experts at Adobe and in the design and
production communities.
Adobe ConnectNow from Acrobat.com
Acrobat.com is a set of online services you can use to create and share documents,
communicate in real time, and simplify working with others. Thanks to the ability to
access one of the Acrobat.com services, Adobe ConnectNow, from within Photoshop
Extended and other Adobe Creative Suite 4 components, you can meet live over the web
and share your screen with up to two online guests for no charge.
Adobe Kuler
Explore, create, and share color themes with Adobe Kuler. The online Kuler community
is accessible from the new Kuler panel within Photoshop Extended CS4. Browse and
search for thousands of color themes, download directly into your Swatches panel, and
even upload your own themes to share.
Adobe Bridge Home
Stay up to date on what’s new at Adobe and get inspired by the design, web development,
and audio and video production communities at large when you visit this online channel
available in Adobe Bridge CS4. Watch Creative Suite 4 video tutorials, listen to podcasts
from your favorite designers, and learn about training events in your community.
Adobe Bridge
Create web galleries and Adobe PDF contact sheets.
Filter menu > Browse Filters Online
Adding this menu command to the Filter menu will help photoshop users find plug-ins.
Comprehensive 3D Image Editing: Edit 3D and Motion Based Images
3D Object Painting
Paint directly on 3D models without having to unwrap textures.
3D Object and Property Editing
Edit, enhance, and manipulate 3D images in a streamlined inerface without dialog boxes.
Adjust lighting, meshes, and materials. Easily orient objects and position the camera
using 3D axes and a ground plane.
2D Conversion to 3D
Wrap 2D images around common 3D geometric shapes, such as cylinders and spheres,
with easy-to-use presets. Even convert gradient maps to 3D objects.
Volume Rendering.
Add depth to pixel layers, text, 2D shapes, and DICOM frames with volume rendering.
3D and 2D Image Compositing
Combine 3D layers into a single scene, or incorporate 3D content into 2D composites.
Support for popular 3D format lets you import and export OBJ, U3D, KMZ, and Collada
models, as well as import 3DS models.
3D Object Animation
Create 3D animations by controlling object movement, camera position, render settings,
and cross-sections, and even animate textures.
3D/Video Support
Use video layers as textures to turn any 3D object into a video display zone.
High Quality Output
Create outstanding print- and presentation quiality 2D and 3D composites with a new
ray-tracing rendering engine, which also lets you print lenticular 3D images and generate
interactive 3D PDF files.
Efficient Collaboration
Collaborate on 3D content more easily through tight integration with Acrobat Pro
Extended software and Adobe After Effects software. Convert to the robust U3D
interchange format, enhance models, and imbed 3D models into PDF files for review.
Use 3D layers from Photoshop in After Effects projects.
Vanishing Point with 3D Support
Edit in perspective on multiple surfaces – even those connected at angles other than 90
degrees – with Vanishing Point. Measure in perspective, wrap graphics, images, and text
around multiple planes; and output planes as 3D models to use in After Effects.
Video
Single-key shortcuts let you move through and edit video layers faster and more
predcisely than before, and new controls enable you to preview and export auido tracks in
addition to exporting frame comments. Paint, add text, and clone over multiple frames of
an imported video sequence using Movie Paint.
Rotate View Tool (in application bar and in toolbar hidden below the Hand Tool)
Measurement, Counting and Edit-Tracking Tools
Quantitative Data Extraction
Easily calibrate or set the scale of an image, including setting measurements to the scale
information in the header of DICOM files. Use selection tools to define and calculate
distance, perimeter, area, and many other measurements. Record data points in a
Measurement Log and then export the data, including histogram data, to a spreadsheet for
further quantitative analysis.
Scale Markers
Easily add scale markers to any image or series of images for presentations or
publication.
To use Measurment Scale Markers:
Analysis menu > Place Scale Marker
Improved Count Tool
Easily and accurately tally objects or features in scientific images with the Count Tool,
which eliminates the need to perform manual calulations or rely on visual assessments of
changes from image to image. Save even more time by performing multiple counts in a
single images. Use separate colors for each count and save your counts in the file.
Count anything using the Count Tool or go to the Analysis menu and choose Count.
Click with the mouse to place numbers in the photo area and view the option bar for a
total count. View menu > Show > Count to hide the counting numbers.
Edit Tracking
Automatically track all editing steps within your files with the Edit History Log. Export
steps to a text file or save them as part of image metadata for easier documentation of
your work, file audits, and more.
Notes Panel
It’s easier to track multiple notes (made by the Notes tool) with the new Notes Panel.
These notes are retained when saving your .psd filein .pdf format (they area really
Acrobat comments!)
Use View menu > Show > Notes to hide or show the view of the note icons.
Support for Manufacturing, Medical and Scientific Workflows
Image Stacks
Quickly render a stack of related images into a single view using a variety of rendering
calculations, such as medium and maximum. Photoshop Extended automatically analyzes
and combines the images while preserving the originals. Image Stacks are extensible, so
third parties can write their own render modes.
DICOM Image Support
Import, correct, annotate, analyze, and create animations from DICOM images.
Automatically remove confidential patient data from DICOM metadata and batch save
JPEG files for presentation.
MATLAB Support
Pass image data directly between photoshop Extended and MATLAB with the ability to
call Photoshop Extended directly from the MATLAB command line. Visualize results of
MATLAB algorythms in the software, and combine MATLAB processing with
Photoshop Extended image editing to render, test, and refine algorythms for image
processing, analysis and more.
DICOM Volume Rendering
Volume render a DICOM image stack into a 3D anatomical image that can be viewed
and explored from all angles and depths.
REMOVED FEATURES
Several features were retired in CS4. Some of these lost features can be loaded back into
Photoshop CS4 as plug-ins*. Try using the new Bridge feature, Output, to make PDF
contact sheets.
Retired Featues:
Picture Package*
Contact Sheet*
PDF Presentation
Web Photo Gallery*
Photomerge User Interface*
(UI: the interface allowing you to drag and drop to determine the order
manually. Now Photomerge is more automated.)
Pattern Maker Filter*
Extract Filter*