Photoshop CS Savvy

New Web enhancements have been added to ImageReady, Photoshop s sidekick Web-authoring software. ImageReady is bundled with Photoshop and can be accessed by clicking the Edit In icon at the bottom of Photoshop s Tool palette.

User object-based interface enhancements

• Multiple objects can be selected on the canvas or on multiple layers by clicking the Direct Select mode button.

• Multiple objects can be grouped.

• You can make noncontiguous selections on multiple layers by pressing /Ctrl.

• You can drag to select multiple objects.

• You can drag multiple layers to the trash simultaneously .

• You can drag layer and vector masks from one layer to another.

• Font settings of multiple text objects can be applied simultaneously.

• You can align selected objects or layers from the Options bar or with menu commands.

Streamlined performance

• Tools that are not used for Web production and are redundant with Photoshop have been eliminated.

• The enhanced Edit In (previously Jump To) command displays only the Photoshop or ImageReady document at one time.

• Edit In ’ ImageReady is in the Photoshop File menu and File Browser to increase its accessibility.

Flash export

• You can save to SWF Export for export to flash files.

• Vector information of text saved in SWF format is preserved.

• SWFs from ImageReady can contain dynamic text including embedded fonts.

Export layers

• You can save individual layers and layer sets as files.

• When saving, you can specify individual formats for individual layers.

• You can specify individual compression settings for each layer.

Enhanced tables

• The new Table palette (Figure 2.7) controls border, padding, and spacing values.

  Figure 2.7: Image Ready s table palette enables you to easily define an HTML table.

• Individual table cells can be specified in pixels or percent so that they will expand in a browser.

• You can specify how ImageReady generates HTML to favor COLSPAN or ROWSPAN settings.

In the writing of this book I had the opportunity to test out all of the new features in the latest versions of Photoshop and ImageReady. I found that most of these features really improved the performance of the programs. I particularly like the Filter Gallery because it eliminates the guess work in the application of multiple filters ”no more fiddling around with filter settings. It s presented in an elegant interface that quickly previews the results of filter combinations.

I ve used the Crop and Straighten automation numerous times and believe me, it is a real time saver. I also like the new Picture Package Layout Editor for creating custom layouts. In the past, I spent a lot of time matching colors from one document to the other using the old Hue/Saturation workaround that was time consuming and produced dubious results. The new Match color dialog box is a godsend. It simplifies the process and greatly improves the results.

I like the Layer comps feature for the ability to quickly review multiple versions of a document. The File ’ Scripts command that automatically exports Layers to multiple documents, saves Layer comps to Files, PDF presentations, or to a fully interactive Web Gallery are excellent automations. I ve created dozens of new key commands too and printed a list that I have attempted to memorize.

I think that you ll find that this upgrade of Photoshop is more than just a cosmetic facelift. Its automations can liberate you from many repetitive tasks . Its new or enhanced commands can endow you with more precision and unleash your creativity.

Improved rollovers and slices

• You can apply rollovers to an individual slice or you can apply them to multiple slices.

• You can create multiple slice sets in a document.

• Individual slice visibility can be toggled on and off. Invisible slices are not saved to HTML documents.

• Slices can be cut, copied , and pasted.

Better metadata

• You can embed metadata to GIFs, JPEGs, and PNGS.

• You can create sidecar metadata files to reduce file size .

Faster work flow

• ImageReady supports conditional logic in Actions. With the new Insert A Step button in the Actions palette, you can program an Action to scan for certain image characteristics and apply the Action only if the images meet the criteria.

• You can save your output settings to multiple files by using File ’ Output Settings.