Digital Learning Center

It is the total knowledge and command of technical expertise that frees you to accept the image that unfolds in front of you. Each time the camera rises to your eye, all of your knowledge should flow into the moment, and nothing should be without your control. This is what gives you the freedom to see.

Links to articles on Photoshop and Digital Imaging.

To open the PDF links, you'll need Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Download the latest version of the free Adobe Reader here.

JULY 2010 NEWSLETTER

This newsletter is a little late. I had some computer issues and spent my time working around them. The end result is a new computer, and the benefits thereof along with the extra time needed to get things back to what you expect to see on the screen. That is a combination of interesting and frustrating as you can well imagine. Chief among the interesting is the upgrade to CS5 and the delight of all the new features. Of course, any installation from a disc means an instant update from Adobe which brings me to the first tip for today.

BRIDGE IS RUNNING

If you run an update from Photoshop the Adobe Update Manager will ask you to shut down any program it is trying to update. There will then be the confusing issue of closing Bridge and still getting prompts from the Manager that Bridge is running. It is not, but there is a Bridge "process" that is running and causing the issue.

In the interest of making software appear to be running faster than it really is, some programs run a process at the time you start the computer, and this makes the appearance of the program happen more quickly when you start it later. In the case of Bridge, loading the process at boot time means that when you switch to Bridge after starting Photoshop there is a smaller delay. The process continues to run even if you "close" Bridge, and this is what the Manager is complaining about.

There are two solutions to the problem depending on your preferences. First is to open the task manager in Windows, switch to the processes tab and stop the process called Bridge. In Mac OS, choose Apple menu > Force Quit, and close Bridge. That will allow you to continue with the updates immediately. If that is uncomfortable territory for you, go to Bridge Preferences, and go to Advanced and uncheck the box "Start Bridge at Login". It is on by default when you install CS5 (and CS4).You will then have to log off and log back in, or restart your computer and the process will not be running. Then the download manager will have nothing to complain about. The only downside to not having the process start at login is a brief delay the first time you start the program. No big deal.

CS5 12.0.1 UPDATE

On June 30 Adobe annouced the 12.0.1 update to the new CS5 program addressing some bugs with the 64 bit Mac. Also addressed were other performance issues and feature problems for both platforms including out of memory errors and program crashes. Be sure to get this update.

A Camera Raw 6.1 update was announced the beginning of the month.

OPTIONAL PLUGINS FOR CS5

In each version of Photoshop certain features have been changed and in some cases eliminated. CS5 is no different, but optional plugins are available to allow you to restore some features that you may find you used to your advantage. This is the link for the optional plugins.

They include the following:

* Picture Package (ContactSheetII)
* ExtractPlus (Windows-only)
* PatternMaker
* PhotomergeUI
* Web Photo Gallery (WebContactSheetII) plus presets
* Script for Layer Comps to Web Photo Gallery
* Texture presets for Texturizer
* TWAIN

Additional file formats:

* Alias
* ElectricImage
* SGIRGB
* SoftImage

Additional extensions (Mac only):

* DisableGetInfoComment
* DisableScratchCompress
* DisableVMBuffering
* Force VM Compression
* Force VM Buffering
* RememberSlowFiles
* Unlimited Clipboard Size
* Unlimited Preview Size

Additional plugins:

* HSBHSL

Don't be concerned if some of those options do not look familiar to you. Photoshop does more than most of us ever use and there are options, file formats and features that you may not have ever had a reason to pay attention to.

Adobe Updates!

Remember that all updates for Photoshop can be accessed by going to the help menu and choosing updates. The Adobe Update Manager will install the proper files in the appropriate locations for you. A special note about Camera Raw for Vista users is listed near the bottom of this page.

Photoshop CS4 Security Update - All Platforms

Please visit this webpage to read about a security issue in CS4 that can be resolved with a simple update to v.11.0.2. If you check your version of CS4 and it is v.11.0.1 you need to upgrade immediately. Details on the website.

Adobe Camera Raw 6.1 update

The original version of camera raw for CS5 has been updated to 6.1. Users can update by clicking on Update in the Help section of CS5. The update adds support for the Canon Rebel T2i and several other cameras.

In addition the update adds some lens corrections and addresses some other issues:

Camera Raw 6.1 includes new lens correction functionality that can apply profile-based corrections to accommodate geometric distortions, chromatic aberration and lens vignette effects.
Manual corrections for geometric distortion as well as vertical and horizontal perspective transforms are also available. A handful of lens profiles are included for automatic correction and more can be created by the community with the Adobe Lens Profile Creator.

This release addresses a bug on the Mac platform that could cause Photoshop CS5 to quit unexpectedly when opening a file in the Camera Raw 6.0 plug-in.

This release contains performance enhancements designed to improve the responsiveness of the controls and the scrolling mechanism relative to Camera Raw 6.0.

Photoshop CS5 release - Updated 5/3/2010

April 12th was the official release date for the new Adobe CS5 Suite of programs including the new Photoshop CS5. Full information on the individual Photoshop family of programs is available at this Adobe website. Photoshop CS5 is currently shipping (as of May 3rd, 2010).

Photoshop users can upgrade for $199 from CS2 or newer versions. Some people choose to skip a version and catch up by buying every other upgrade. CS4 was a major upgrade with serious advances in tools for the photographer. CS5 appears to have a number of similarly interesting advances, so if you are using CS2 or CS3, this would be a good time to jump on board.

Advances in Camera Raw 6 include some serious refinements to processing images. If you have ever taken one of my Camera Raw classes you know that almost all digital cameras use a means of interpreting color based on demosaicing a four pixel matrix. How this matrix is interpreted by the camera to produce a jpg file has a lot to do with the quality of the image. This interpretation is left to the program processing the file in the case of raw files, and improvements in the demosaicing process in CS5 will result in better color interpretation, lower noise, and sharper images. Combine this advantage with better low-noise capture in recent cameras and the results will be stunning, especially at higher ISOs.

Refinements to selection techniques and the masking panel will make selecting fine detail easier and more accurate. CS4 introduced content aware scaling, and now CS5 offers content aware fill, allowing you to drop out content and have Photoshop fill in the area with content similar to that surrounding your selection. You have to see these two work together to believe it.

Automatic lens distortion correction is another valuable feature, modifying the content of the image to overcome issues introduced by deficiencies in lens design. Previously, photographers would either live with the distortions or purchase third party software to deal with these issues.

HDR processing with an improved interface is a major change for Photoshop. Again, third party software designers were the best option for these techniques as previous versions of Photoshop were either less capable or far more complex to use. The new adjustments panel for HDR will make the process faster and easier to use.

There are quite a few other changes (over 100 in all) in CS5, but perhaps the most important is that CS5 will run as a full 64 bit application is you are using a computer capable of taking advantage of it. If you have a 64-bit version of Mac OS, Microsoft® Windows® 7, or Windows Vista®, you may see as much as a ten fold increase in operational speed of some features with CS5. Better workflow capabilities within the program are also an advantage for production oriented users.

Camera Raw 5.7 update - April 21, 2010

This version of the Camera Raw plug-in replaces the original one that was installed with Adobe Photoshop CS4.

Visit the Adobe Update Center, or the links below.

Camera Raw 5.7 Windows
Camera Raw 5.7 Macintosh

Lightroom 3.0

Lightroom 3 Information is available at this Adobe site. Improved performance and better noise reduction are but two of the claims for Lightroom 3. Lightroom is a powerful program, but it has a learning curve like any other major piece of software. The interface and operating philosophy are different than Photoshop while sharing the same raw processor. However, it is a data access management tool as well as an image processor and that aspect of the software differs from the folder based image control you are likely accustomed to. It will do many interesting things including being a management tool for printing and for uploading images to the web.

Lightroom can do a lot of things to improve an image but lacks the pixel pushing power of Photoshop. There are no layers to deal with, and every modification to an image is a non-destructive instruction on how to process the image. The program has grown from useful to powerful by adding a number of capabilities such as localized modifications to density, color and saturation, healing and cloning, and other enhancements, many of which have found their way into the Camera Raw processor and enhanced the functionality of Photoshop as a result. If you don't need to drastically change pixels, retouch portraits, or replace skies, Lightroom may be a tool of interest for you.

Lightroom 2.7 update - April 21, 2010

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom® 2.7 update includes these enhancements:
Additional camera support for several new camera models including the Canon 7D and the Nikon D3s.
Several corrections for issues introduced by previous Lightroom 2.x releases

Lightroom 2.7 Windows
Lightroom 2.7 Macintosh

Curious as to your Adobe product and the latest operating systems? Here is where to find out about compatibility.

Vista Users! - Instructions on how to install Camera Raw updates for Vista users and programs that will not automatically update are in this PDF file from Adobe.

Visit the CAMERA RAW PAGE for a complete list of supported cameras.

You may email me with questions on digital imaging, Camp suggestions, or to have yourself deleted from the email newsletter list.

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Digital Learning Center

Photoshop Elements News

Full information on Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 is available here
for Windows
for Mac

If you are looking to get started with digital photo editing, or move up to a more proficient and full featured program, you should check into Photoshop Elements. Still selling for $79, this Adobe program is capable of an amazing amount of control including the use of layers and masks to accomplish editing, color and contrast adjustments, and even compositing of images. You can even replace an entire sky with Elements, and you can't even do that with Lightroom.

Elements Camera Raw 6.1 Update

The Camera Raw 6.1 Update for Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8 has been released, including support for several cameras including the Canon Rebel T2i.

The Camera Raw 6.1 plug-in is not compatible with versions of Photoshop earlier than Photoshop Elements 8.0 for Windows and Mac.

• The latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in available for Photoshop Elements 3.0 customers is Camera Raw 3.6.
• The latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in available for Photoshop Elements 4.0 (Windows) is Camera Raw 3.7.
• The latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in available for Photoshop Elements 5.0 (Windows) is Camera Raw 4.5.
• The latest version of the Camera Raw plug-in available for Photoshop Elements 6.0 (Windows, Mac) and Photoshop Elements 7.0 (Windows) is Camera Raw 5.6.

Elements Camera Raw 5.7 Update

The latest upgrade for Element 7.0 is Camera Raw 5.7. Full information on the procedure for downloading and installing the update is on the web page.

Please note NEW download and installation instructions for Photoshop Elements:

Windows®:

NOTE: You must follow all of the new instructions in order to successfully install the Camera Raw Plug-in for Photoshop Elements.

1. Exit Photoshop Elements
2. Open the download file and double-click CameraProfiles.exe and follow the on-screen instructions.
3. Double-click Local Disk (C:)
4. Navigate to the following location:
Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Plug-ins\Elements 8\File Formats
5. Move the existing Camera Raw.8bi plug-in to another location (for example, a new folder on your desktop). Ensure you keep this version in case you need to revert back.
6. Copy the Camera Raw plug-in, Camera Raw.8bi, from the download into the same folder as Step 4.
7. Launch Photoshop Elements

Mac:

NOTE: You must follow all of the new instructions in order to successfully install the Camera Raw Plug-in for Photoshop Elements.

1. Exit Photoshop Elements and Adobe Bridge
2. Open the download file and double-click CameraProfiles.dmg and follow the on-screen instructions.
3. Navigate to the root of the local disk (not the user’s home folder).
4. Navigate to the following location:
Photoshop Elements 8: Applications/PSE8/Plug-Ins/File Formats 5. Move the existing plug-in to another location (for example, a new folder on your desktop). Ensure you keep this version in case you need to revert back.
6. Copy the Camera Raw plug-in, Camera Raw, from the download into the same folder as in Step 4.
7. Launch Photoshop Elements or Adobe Bridge.