Photoshop CS6 = Better UX & Faster Productivity 107
I've been using Photoshop CS6 for a while and I have to say that the interface and user experience is a big improvement. Instead of releasing more new tools, Photoshop CS6 put a lot of focus on the basics — the essential tools that we use very often such as crop tool, type, layer group, and save. For example, now you can apply effects on layer group, keep cropped pixels, type styles, and save in background. These simple enhancements result in increase productivity.
Better Layer Right-click Menu
Now the layer color can be set via the layer right-click menu. In the previous versions, it requires 5 clicks to set a layer color (right-click on the layer > click Layer Properties > click on the color dropdown > click to select a color > click Ok). Now it can be done with just 2 clicks (right-click on the layer > click to select a color). That is 3 clicks less!
I think the layer color can be further minimized by placing the color icon horizontally without the color labels. The color label is not quite necessary in this case. So it would be like the Mac file right-click menu.
Crop Tool
In CS6, the crop grid automatically activated as soon as the Crop tool is selected (this reduces one mouse drag). The new Crop tool allows you to rotate the image instead of the crop handles. It also introduced some nice crop options such as constrain ratios (16x9, 5x7, 2x3, etc.) which are great for cropping photos for print.
My favorite new crop option is the "Delete Cropped Pixels" checkbox. To crop an image and keep the cropped pixels in the previous versions, you would need to manually edit the canvas size and re-position all layers.
Transformation Values
CS6 added transformation values which is very handy. When transforming an object, it tells you the dimension of the object. This is useful when sizing an image on the mockup. The transformation value can be turned off at Perference > Interface.
Searchable Layers Panel
For an average design mockup PSD, it can easily contain more than a hundred layers. Sometimes it is quite difficult to look through the layers. The new Layers palette allows you to filter the layers by kind, effect, mode, color, etc. or search for specific layer name.
Character & Paragraph Styles
For web designers who use Photoshop to design mockups, the new Paragraph and Character Styles is a big thing. Think of it like CSS styles. You can create styles for body text, headings, titles, links, captions, etc. and apply to the text layers. When you edit the styles, it will automatically update the text layers. Not only will this save time, but it also makes your mockup text more consistent.
Layer Group = Layer
Now the layer group is treated like a single layer. This means you can apply layer effects directly on the layer group. Before CS6, you need to either flatten the layer group or convert it to Smart Object in order to do this.
Multiple Layers
Photoshop CS6 now allows you change blending mode, lock, layer color on multiple layers. You couldn't do this in the previous versions. Also, in case you are not aware, now you can use Cmd+J to duplicate multiple layers.
Auto Save & Background Save
Finally, auto save in Photoshop! No need to worry about software crashes any more. Beside auto save, there is a new background save. This means you can still use Photoshop to work on file while another file is saving. This is particularly useful for editing large files such as large size illustration or print design. The auto save and save in background option is available under Perference > File Handling.
More...
There are new features in Photoshop CS6, here is a good video that summarizes everything.
Photoshop CS6 has indeed undergone some minor but Adobe still needs to step up its game. I was recently working on something in Illustrator and before I realised it an hour had passed without saving. Suddenly it crashed, but I didn’t panic too much since I was sure I’d get an automagically saved version loaded up when I opened Illustrator again. Only to realise that Illustrator doesn’t have the ability to autosave your files.
I can’t wait for CS7, when they’ll be boasting with the new Illustrator Autosave feature that requires you to pay another 600$ dollars or so upgrade fee.
I accidentally a couple of words.. I meant to say ‘minor but very useful changes’.
there is some tutorial on the web about making actions to autosave the file by itself. Actually there are already plenty of ways to get it further.
cheers,
to hard to hit cmd + s uh?
I REALLY wish the right click colors were side by side without the names. They make the menu too tall :-/
- John
You can already access the layer color properties with two clicks. Just right-click on the layer’s eyeball and the color menu pops up! :D
I agree, Adobe did a great job improving existing tools. As a photographer I’m glad they finally sort of copied their Lightroom crop tool to Photoshop. As a web designer, character & paragraph styles make it an absolute must-have.
I miss the ability to go up to the upper toolbar and select arrangement for tab layout. I used it quite a bit and it was just easier the old way (at least for me)…but overall the changes in workflow have been a big improvement. I can’t say how much I love being able to take projects to and from Photoshop to Indesign, and Illustrator!
The only thing good about PS CS6 is the crop tool. The interface is awful – particularly the dark version. For the Mac version…
Keyboard shortcuts do not jive with other Adobe apps. Command-D for example does something different in every app.
There are serious bugs in CS6, mostly involving fonts. The character panel is a constant headache for me. Font versions (regular, italic, bold) are being duplicated in the menu. In Futura I literally have 13 fonts of each style showing in my character panel popup menu. In addition, the new character and paragraph styles panels are so slow that they are unusable. I get a spinning wheel (not beachball) every time I try to make a parameter change in one of those panels. Even turning off the preview checkbox takes 8 seconds.
The layers panel is ridiculous. It actually decreases my productivity. Having thumbnails turned on when trying to nudge a layer with the keyboard arrows causes Photoshop to give me the spinning wheel again while it constantly redraws the thumbnail of every layer in the layers panel.
The shape and paths context bar at the top is a horror now. Instead of having easy one-click buttons to select the type of path I’m drawing or the union features, they are now in dropdown menus for some insane reason. This adds two extra clicks every time I want to change to a different path operation. Throughout the day this adds up – a lot.
Adobe knows about all these bugs and has done nothing to fix them yet even though Photoshop CS6 has been out for months now. I have canceled my Creative Cloud subscription and gone back to CS5, which actually works.
Adobe clearly did not let any graphic designers or illustrators beta test Photoshop CS6. They really need to.
On the upside, I used to dislike Illustrator, but not I like it better than Photoshop.
Try reinstalling your suit, I have had none of these problems, and you can also default back to CS5 shortcuts. and if you were using only the Creative Cloud there are cretin features and bugs that Adobe is working out since it is a brand new product.
I’m having the exact same issue with the character styles in PS6 for mac. It’s a 2-month-old MacBook Pro!
I hope Adobe fixes this speed issue with the character styles, and adds even streamlining features. I know we shouldn’t be using PS for layout, but as long as developers request mocks in PS, web designers will be forced to use it for layouts instead of AI.
I dont have these problems but i am running on a win 7 pc. there are major differences in how the programs are coded for each style of OS. So that could be the problem, try looking at the Adobe support forums to see if there is a ticket in for your specific problems.
I have posted the paragraph styles issue in the Adobe forums and there are a LOT of people having this problem. It is only on the Mac — not an issue in Windows (so far). Adobe employees in the forum say it’s a corrupt font issue. I don’t believe that at all because I have no issues in any other program I’m using.
Did you ever find a solution for this? I’m having the same problem!!
I had the same problem, and I was able to fix it by removing some of the third party plug-ins that i was not using, hope this helps you
CS6 is the best Photoshop I have used in years. Blows CS5 out of the water in every way.
No, it doesn’t
this is what you need, thanks for sharing!
Loibinky
color is very impressive, I want to learn. thanks
Very nice summary of some key features. I just downloaded a trial copy a few days ago. I am finding the new UX to be well thought out and user friendly. I would definitely agree that it was developed to support faster productivity as well. I’m going to buy my copy before the trial expires.
Killer write up! Love this stuff! CS6 has been an amazing upgrade!
I tried my hands on PS6 and noticed some new features and enhancements. Its too speed to handle and finally PS6 is simply awesome.
I didnt used yet. As for as I know about Photoshop CS6, the features are awesome like crop tool. Hope I use this one… :)
The first thing I noticed was the black background! I did not like this but after a few days thought it was great as it did not put much strain on your eyes by getting snow blind.
When I used the 64 bit version it took up a lot of CPU resources for running on the laptop but the normal Photoshop CS6 still worked a treat.
Great tool, a little expensive but amazing
hey guys, the fastest/productive interface is the Fireworks cs6, FOR SUREE. Adobe should extend the easy of Fireworks to their other softwares. I want to share with you my facebook page http://goo.gl/g9vcq Please like it! If you take a look you will find very interesting content, give it a shot! ;)
just downloaded a trial copy a few days ago. I am finding the new UX to be well thought out and user friendly. I would definitely agree that it was developed to support faster productivity as well. I’m going to buy my copy before the trial expires.
Photoshop is best, CS6 very very good, and use
Very informative post on best features of CS6. I did not tried CS6 yet but these new and improved features looks amazing. Thanks for sharing.
CD MultiMedia
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