Usually when a software developer announces a "new version" of a product, we geeks tend to turn up our noses and say "yeah, right!"

First we look at the version number, and if it's only changed by a decimal (say version 2.0 to 2.01), we turn up our noses and completely ignore it. If the whole version number changes (maybe from 2.0 to 3), we may sniff the package and then toss it aside, but it is at least worth sniffing.

Leave it to the folks at Adobe Systems Inc. to throw me a curve ball and actually make significant changes in the new versions of Photoshop and Illustrator.

Photoshop CS2 ($649) and Illustrator CS2 ($499) boast tons of new features, most of which make the products easier to use and more user friendly.

For example, both products use an enhanced version of Adobe Bridge, which takes the browsing, selection and opening of files to a whole new level. Using the Bridge, you can preview the file before opening it and either double-click or drag-and-drop the images to move them to your workspace.

There is a caveat here. If you're using a file viewer, such as the one included in Nero 7, make sure it's disabled, or double-clicking will result in the image popping up in the viewer rather than the workspace.

Aside from that, I discovered that I actually enjoyed working with both new Adobe products (usually the words "enjoy" and "Adobe" aren't used together in a sentence) and have tossed aside my array of "dumbed down" graphics programs.

Adobe Photoshop CS2

The most significant changes in Photoshop include:

• Vanishing Point, which lets you clone objects and then, through the use of a bevy of new tools, change the way they look.
• Image Warp lets you fold, stretch, pull and twist objects just by moving your mouse.
• Color noise produced by digital cameras has never been easier to remove using Advanced Noise Reduction. You simply select and magnify the portion of the photo you want changed and click on what needs to be done.
• One-Click Red-Eye Correction and Optical Lens Correction allow you to fine-tune your images at the click of a mouse.
• There's a new animation palette that allows you to create animated Web graphics.

The list of new features goes on and on.

Adobe Illustrator CS2

As for Illustrator, in addition to a more seamless integration with Photoshop --- much of it having to do with Adobe Bridge --- it has many new features that make it much easier to use including:

• A new and enhanced control palette that is filled with new features and that allows you to access all of the tools from a single location.
• It shares a user interface with other Adobe products, further reducing the learning curve and improving integration.
• It comes with more than 270 professionally-designed templates and 100 open-type fonts that can be used to "jump start" your projects.
• You can easily select objects that share attributes using the new Magic Wand tool.
• If you really have a bad day, you can be safe in the knowledge that the program features multiple undos and redos (not just one or two).
• You can reuse designs by saving them as templates.
• Creating PDF files or creating files for the Web has never been easier --- just "export" and click.
• There's a new "Save for Microsoft Office" command that allows for easy integration into Office documents.

The list goes on for several pages.

Here's a hint for other software manufacturers: Take a tip from these guys and make your next "new version," well, actually "new."

More information on these and other Adobe products can be found at www.adobe.com.

---

 

To comment on this article, contact me here.