Preserved Topic: taking the plunge...PS 6

Okay, so I finally decided to try out PS 6.0 after prying my hands off of 5.0

The new interface is a bit daunting since I had the 5.0 interface branded into my brain and I am so used to working with it, but times are a'changing.

My question is, what are the major differences in the new version? (I'm too lazy to RTFM, so I thought I'd pick you guys' brains )

i havent been able to look at it long enough to know the differences, every time i use it i try to find the things i would be using in 5.5 and if they arent in the same place i just take it back to 5.5...its like trying to get used to a new car, you walk by it in the parking lot the first few times but then you get used to it...what was i talking about again?

They put the 'fade' option no longer under the [filter] menu, but now it's at the [edit] menu. Annoyed me at first, but now I'm really used to it.

I have a question about PS6, and rather than start a new thread..

I was wondering if PS6 can save out *.iff files? (Amiga file format). This is something I absolutley need and I have been able to do it since PS4.0. A friend of mine across the country has PS6 and says he can't find the filetype in the save as list, but I was hoping he is wrong.

Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks much!

-Electro www.badsun.com

I took a look around and couldn't find it....Sorry.


[This message has been edited by mbridge (edited 05-13-2001).]

Bah! Bah I say! Oh well, no PS upgrading for me. You just saved me money, thanks

-Electro www.badsun.com

why do you need the amiga file format? only thing that comes close in ps6 is .tif. i looked up .iff in my computer & internet terms dictionary (1998), and the file format wasnt listed (youd be surprised as to what is).

i had wondered where that silly fade filter option had dissapeared to. my favorite part of ps6 is the text layers/rendering and the layer folders. of course, the layer styles are also really nice. oh, and the tool options at the top are nice too.. less palettes cluttering my workspace makes 800x600 doable (my monitor is really bad and the refresh rate is horrible at 1024x768).

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this rose has a thorn...

You know, the funny thing is I'd rather spend twenty minutes looking for, say, the brush size options (i found it, woohoo) than spending five minutes with the manual.

Guess that's just me.

And having the tool options on the top is really cool. Still getting used to everything though.

The 6.0.1 update lets you right click to change brushes. The brushes pallette opens at your cursor, no going back and forth to the brushes pallette. That`s nice...ummm, If you run at 1024x768 or higher , you can dock pallettes it the tool bar and keep them handy, but out of the way...The new text stuff is nice..Layer styles can come in handy, they`re sorta like visual actions..The shape tool and pen tool combine to do neat stuff with vector shape( does 5.x do this ?)

Not sure about other differences, as I`m not that familiar with 5.x. In short, get used to the interface, you`ll love it.




If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done ?

I use IFF for all of my textures in Lightwave. Lightwave was originally an Amiga program so it uses IFF's really well. The file sizes are decent, they maintain their color depth and the fact I have hundereds of textures in IFF, I would like to keep that consistant.

Thanks again.

-Electro www.badsun.com

Finally feel that I might have something to contribute even if it is only an observation.

The PS6 interface is getting closer to PhotoPaint by "C"... and am I ever glad. I have PS5.5 I think it is... and there's no question that Adobe is a superior program. The UI however drives me nuts! I've d/l'd all of Doc's tutorials and I sometimes get close to desired results... but I spend most of my time figuring out how to change the size of this or that.

The UI on PS6 is *getting there* IMO. But perhaps even more friendly in PhotoPaint are the keyboard shortcuts. Let's say you want to zoom in or out on an image... simply a case of holding down 'shift' and rolling the mouse wheel... forward or back.

When it comes to switching between 2 different tools... it's the space bar. Say you are using the airbrush and the smudge tool and you're going back forth between the 2... just hit the space bar.

The one short-cut I really like is sizing or resizing a tool. Depending on the tool it's either 'shift' or 'alt' then holding down the left mouse button and roll the mouse back and forth... any size brush nib eraser whatever... right now.

The way PS6 handles text is waaay better. If I'd been doing something in PS5 and wanted to add text I'd move it over to PhotoPaint... just because it was easier. don't have to do that anymore!

"C" recognizes the adobe format.. layers & masks so it's really a snap to go between the 2. I freely admit I'm *up* for easy when it comes to *use*. would much rather spend my time trying to learn techniques.

As for what I mostly *do* with 'both' pgrms is photo manipulation... nothing particularly special... but I do enjoy it. eg. recently attended an old 'rock'n roll re-union and the boys brought out all their old hotrods... I snapped a bunch of photo's scanned them and then dropped them in front of one of the old restaurants we used to hang out at. "twisted" the restaurant a bit <BG>

Anyway... like I said... PS is far superior and now that it's easier to use... I'm using it more... and like... who was it back up there says use it... you'll learn to love it... I just hope Adboe grabs a few more ideas from. "C"

back to the rocker...

NJ

As far as the interface goes, NoJive, I think it's all a matter of preference. Once you get used to an interface it's really hard to break old habits. The problem applies even with the same interface. Take PS 5.0 for example. I know that interface and the keyboard commands like the back of my hand almost. But if I try to use it on a Mac, I get lost because the keys are in different positions.

I think your preference for the Photopaint UI is because you're more familiar with that. I, however, am not. So, clicking the spacebar to switch tools seems weird to me and not much of an advantage to knowing all the keyboard shorts for each tool.

However, you do bring up some good points about intuitive interfaces. Too bad everyone's intuition isn't the same.

Anyway, I'm going to go back and wrassle with PS 6.

They had to go and change the 'hide guides' shortcut keys didn't they.

Bastards.

Macromedia Suck!

I'am not sure but I believe Adobe still includes the IFF plug in I have it on 5.5 for Mac. It is a manual install. Check you CD for an extras or additions folder and drag-n-drop it into your /plugins/fileformat/ folder.

jstuartj

on the ps 6 cd, goodies >> file formats does have the amiga iff plugin

whats wrong with ctrl + h? that actually seems logical to me, unlike "o" for burn, dodge, and sponge or "r" for smudge, blur, and sharpen or "j" for air brush.

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this rose has a thorn...

You know, what I am interested in is there is a major issue with the Color Format stuff... I dunno what it is, but channels, etc are not rendered the same way and i jsut CANT figure it out. Not to mention, you can't run two versions of photoshop side by side anymore. You ahve to use one or the other, so it means you have to DIVE into PS6 if you want to learn how to use it.

-=