Adobe announced Photoshop 6.0, a major revamp of the imaging program, at Seybold this week.


Highlights include live text entry and editing in the main image window, greatly extended vector linework tools, and a greater emphasis on multiple, independently edited layers. However, nothing has been done to mitigate the demands of huge numbers of layers on RAM and processing cycles.


The vector tools are borrowed from Illustrator and allow complex shapes to be built. Images with vector elements can be output directly from Photoshop to PostScript or PDF. Clipping paths can be vectors, too.


A new top menu bar, with a tabbed Palette Well area, means current tool options are always visible. Preset Manager aids custom brush creation.


Effects layers are now grouped with their parent layer, and can be defined as styles for re-use. Layers are also preserved when files are saved as TIFF or PDF 1.4. Liquify is a new distortion/warping toolset.


Web tools have been extended, with tighter integration with the new ImageReady 3, which is bundled with Photoshop 6.0.


It is expected to ship at the start of Q4, with a street price of 399, 50 less than before. Upgrades are 125.
Contact: 020 8606 4001.


Story by Simon Eccles