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Chapter 1. Exploring New Features in Photoshop CS4

In This Chapter

• Working with the improved panel workspace

• Experimenting with nondestructive adjustment layers

• Experimenting with 3D

Photoshop CS4 includes significant improvements to the workspace, editing tools, and 3D tools. In this chapter, you take a quick tour of some of the most exciting new capabilities. The features you see depend on the version of Photoshop CS4 that you have (Standard or Extended).

This quick rundown of what's new and exciting in Photoshop CS4 is a help to you when you start experimenting with the new tools and features.

Tip

If you really want to dive into the new features, choose Window

An Improved Workspace Helps You Find the Tools You Need

You have to give it to the Adobe Photoshop engineers; they hear the pleas of the average users and they're trying to help. Help with what you ask? Understanding the Photoshop terminology and unique names of their tools and controls. Many people who have been using Photoshop for years feel quite at ease with the unique terminology, but new users seem to have a more difficult time finding the tools and options that they want to use.

Palettes are now panels, like the rest of the CS4 applications. The panels are collapsed to a compact view and represented by space-saving icons. This workspace makes focusing on the images easier, and the tools become a natural extension of your work. ...