Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Codenamed Stonehenge 1st look

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 08:21 AM

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Adobe is set to release the next generation of its professional image editing software and will release first details about the software today. TG Daily had the opportunity to play with the beta version of CS4, code-named Stonehenge, for several days and we have to admit that we are deeply impressed. It is the first commercial software we are aware of that leverages GPU acceleration, which dramatically improves the performance of certain components of the application. Features such as Camera Raw support and image blending were improved, 64-bit and 3D support added and components such as Bridge thoroughly reworked. Read our impressions of the CS4 beta for Windows here.

Introduction

I have been using Photoshop since version 2.0 and CS4, the 11th generation of the image editing software, will be the sixth version I am reviewing. With every new version, there is a clear anticipation of finding new features and determining the value for users. Over the past 15 years, Photoshop’s focus has changed and continues to depart from print-focused features (they are still there) to cater to the needs of an increasingly digital world, but it remained the application of choice for anyone who depends on image editing as a professional or enthusiast user.

Any such application faces an evolutionary challenge – what do you improve, add or change to create a reason for customers to upgrade? There were several releases of Photoshop that offered too little new value to justify the price for upgrade and Adobe occasionally had a tough time adjusting the software to emerging needs of graphic designers.

A few months ago, we had a tiny clash with Adobe when we reported that the software would be called CS4, that it would include GPGPU acceleration and that it would be announced in early October. Adobe reacted upset, which was surprising to us since the information was based on a press demonstration provided by the company, and I wasn’t particularly happy either that the company accused us of negligent reporting. That clash has been resolved and today we know that we were right on target on all three claims. Most importantly, the key feature we were excited about – GPGPU acceleration – in fact made it into the final. But let’s look at the user interface first.

Look & feel: A thorough overhaul

Adding new features always brings the challenge of re-organizing and updating the interface of the application to avoid increased complexity and avoid an application with overloaded menus. The GUI of Photoshop CS4 won’t win any beauty contests with its very simplistic and grey-themed layout that stands out from your average Windows Vista application. But it is much more lightweight than CS3 and improved in key areas. For example, multiple image files are now organized in tabs in the main window – much like you are using tabs in a web browser. It takes some time getting used to, but switching between full-size windows simply via tabs is a very effective addition and I don’t want to miss it anymore, even if Adobe could have gone all the way and included tab grouping for users who may open dozens of images at the same time.

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Workspaces have been expanded with a few new options (you can create your own workspace as well) and include a “What’s new” option that makes it easy to find the new features you may not be familiar with. If you have used a recent version of Photoshop, you will feel right at home in a matter of a few hours, even without studying the help file. That may seem a lot, but let’s not forget that Photoshop is an extremely complicated software.

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Essentials workspace.

GP GPU acceleration only applies to certain components of CS4, but I noticed that CS4 loads about 20% faster on my Gateway GT5628 (Core 2 Quad Q6600, 3 GB memory, 1 TB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 8500GT) than CS3, which indicates that the program code has been overhauled. Some components, such as image blending, also worked noticeably faster.

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 08:24 AM

Cont'd

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Key new features

There are several dozen new features, many of which I will not touch in this article – such as an updated Bridge, Camera RAW integration with more flexible image editing features. Here are the most noteworthy changes in CS4.

1. GPU acceleration and 64-bit. Depending on your view, this new feature may be exciting or disappointing. The bad news is that only canvas rotating and zooming support GPU acceleration. Adobe said it will make additional features available, such as the “Pixel Bender” component, which did not make it into the final version. The good news is that we finally see GPGPU acceleration in a commercial application and see more horsepower to deal with those huge image files. Combine this feature with 64-bit support and lots of RAM and you could see dramatic performance improvements beyond a factor of 10. Adobe, by the way, said that both AMD/ATI and Nvidia graphic cards will provide (OpenGL-based) acceleration, as long as a graphics card has at least 128 MB of memory.

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Our review was limited to the 32-bit version, but the performance jump was obvious. We used an 80 megapixel (22.300 x 3600 pixels) picture with a file size of 720 MB and found that zooming worked as smooth as it does in a 3 megapixel image, while it was painful to do the same in CS3. Canvas rotation saw some delay, usually two to three seconds. However, this performance translates into a 6x improvement over CS3. We were told that a GPGPU-accelerated filter called Pixel Bender with GPGPU support will be offered as a free download from Adobe Labs for CS4 in the near future.

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Rotating an 80 megapixel image.

So far, GPGPU acceleration doesn’t go far, but the potential is clear. Adobe noted that CS4 is a first step into that direction and additional features that support GPGPUs are likely to be added down the road.

2. Animated Zoom, flick-panning and Pixel Grid. Handling especially high-resolution images is much more convenient with a new zoom package. Users can now keep the zoom function pressed and Photoshop will zoom into the picture dynamically until the mouse button is released. At zoom levels greater than 500%, Photoshop now shows a pixel grid which makes it much easier to analyze and edit individual pixels. Moving around within a large image has been accelerated with flick-panning, much like iPhone users scroll through web pages or email lists: The image appears to be floating and can be “thrown” in any direction using the hand tool.

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3. Image Blending, Stack Blending. Adding image blending to enable the creation of panorama pictures was one of the big additions in Photoshop CS3 and Adobe has extended this feature set significantly. New options are spherical, and collage blending, while the interactive layout option is gone. New output options include Vignette and Geometric Distortion Correction, which creates much more realistic blended files.

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One of the most impressive new features that conceivably will result in dramatic picture creations is stack blending. The same picture with different focus levels can be layered on “stacked” to create a photo without areas that are out of focus. Adobe demonstrated this feature with a macro shot of an ant, which left me breathless.

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I personally was not able to test the new blending and stacking features, as the beta kept crashing during the blending process. Keep in mind this was a beta and bugs or installation problems are to be expected. I will wait for the final to revisit the new blending features.

4. Content-Aware Scaling. When you are resizing and cutting a picture and prepare the file for publication – either for the Web or Print – you can often run into issues that a file isn’t high or wide enough. A little help is provided by CS4 with the Content-Aware Scaling feature. In contrast to the simple scaling feature, which squeezes the entire picture regardless of content, Content-Aware Scaling excludes focus areas of a picture from the scaling process. It does not always work well and often requires a mask to mark focus areas, but Content-Aware Scaling can be a great help especially in those cases where only minor adjustments are necessary.

5. 3D. The largest feature addition is the enhanced and much more integrated support for 3D files within Photoshop. Combined into one menu, common 3D files can be imported and directly edited with Photoshop tools. Image files can also be wrapped around a provided (and extensible) set of 3D shapes, such as cubes, pyramids, hats or soda cans. Animating 3D files is substantially easier than in the CS3.

It is important to note that creating 3D files from the included features isn’t as intuitive as the editing of imported files, which conceivably will simplify the creation of much more sophisticated 3D presentations and animations.

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 08:25 AM

3rd page incoming shortly.

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 08:41 AM

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Also noteworthy …

I shouldn’t forget that there is a boatload of small new feature additions, such as Vibrance settings for images, new Adjustment Layers that carry modifications to a layer without being actually integrated in that layer, a much more useful Save for Web tool, an upgraded Refine Edge feature, the addition of much more comprehensive file information and lots of new functionality in the Bridge image file manager, which now allows users to create HTML slideshows of an image selection with a few mouse clicks.

Camera Raw is much more integrated and offers much more flexible editing features.

The updated Save for Web window.

The updated Bridge component.

Camera Raw 5.0.

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Photoshop CS4 is more than a solid upgrade. The streamlined interface and arrival of GPGPU acceleration make it a big milestone in the history of the software. Especially professional and enthusiast digital photographers are getting an upgraded toolset that makes working with large image files easier and enables the creation of dramatic digital art.

The upgrade price of $199 ($699 for the full version) is a tough pill to swallow, but I feel comfortable recommending the upgrade to CS4 from any previous version.

According to Adobe, Photoshop CS4 will be shipping sometime in October.

**97TurboDSM** · 09-23-2008, 12:42 PM

but seriously, that looks fuckin awesome. i'll stick with cs3 for now

**Vissionary** · 09-23-2008, 12:43 PM

<---still on CS2

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 12:48 PM

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Originally Posted by 97TurboDSM

but seriously, that looks fuckin awesome. i'll stick with cs3 for now

Clif notes = CS4 is going to roxxor your soxxor

**tjf** · 09-23-2008, 12:49 PM

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Originally Posted by Vissionary

<---still on CS2

lol me too and i still cant use it

**Vissionary** · 09-23-2008, 12:55 PM

I can draw smiley faces, bitches love smiley faces.

**Vertabreaker** · 09-23-2008, 01:35 PM

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Originally Posted by Vissionary

I can draw smiley faces, bitches love smiley faces.

Omg you sent me a smiley face. I LOVE smiley faces!

09-23-2008, 08:25 AM	#3 (permalink)
Vertabreaker SOT N3rd Mod +1 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: The phone booth across the street Posts: 10,357 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 59^th	3rd page incoming shortly. __________________ Every man dies, not every man really lives.

09-23-2008, 12:43 PM	#6 (permalink)
Vissionary SOT Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal Posts: 45,064 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 43^rd	<---still on CS2 __________________ SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

09-23-2008, 12:55 PM	#9 (permalink)
Vissionary SOT Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: SoCal Posts: 45,064 gXboxLive Leaderboard: 43^rd	I can draw smiley faces, bitches love smiley faces. __________________ SOT - We'll pull your endocrine system out of your body and make a hat out of it.

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09-23-2008, 12:42 PM	#5 (permalink)
97TurboDSM SOT Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,837	but seriously, that looks fuckin awesome. i'll stick with cs3 for now