March 2007 — News

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Pre-Release Report: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended

by Dave Nagel


The new version does, however, offer the ability to extrude 2D images into 3D space through the expanded Vanishing Point feature. The previous version of Vanishing Point allowed for some 3D-like capabilities, but these were designed primarily for image retouching. Now the 3D planes created in Vanishing Point an be used as 3D data within Photoshop or exported to the DXF and 3DS file formats.

On top of that, Vanishing Point extrusions can also be exported to a new After Effects-compatible format called .vpe, allowing motion graphics artists to bring in pre-designed 3D objects generated from 2D objects on After Effects-native 3D layers.

Measurements and analysis
Beyond the new creative features, PSCS3 Extended also adds several new tools for measurement and image analysis.

On the measurement front, it includes the ability to create correlations between pixels in an image and distances represented. For example, a user can set a pixel to represent a yard, then conduct measurements with the new Measure tool to determine real-world dimensions of elements in an image.

Users can also use selection tools and measure the area, perimeter, and other parameters of a selection. Measurements are then logged and can be exported to the .csv format.


(Click for larger image.)

And the rest
Photoshop CS3 Extended also inherits all of the new features in Photoshop CS3 Standard. We've gone over these in some detail in the past, so I'll just touch on them briefly here:
  • New interface, including dockable palettes;
  • The ability to use non-destructive, live filters on 2D layers;
  • Improvements to Vanishing Point, such as the ability to manipulate the angles of the perspective planes interactively;
  • Black and white conversion;
  • Improvements to Curves adjustments;
  • Adjustable cloning with a preview overlay;
  • Adjustable healing with a preview overlay;
  • A new "Quick Selection Tool" for masking;
  • A "Refine Edge" function for improving selection outlines, including feathering, contraction and expansion, mask previews and other features;
  • Automatic layer alignment and blending (for compositing and for merging photos)
  • Enhanced "Merge to 32-bit HDR"
  • A streamlined interface, with collapsible palettes;
  • An update to Camera Raw;
  • Integration with Photoshop Lightroom;
  • Device Central for exporting to mobile formats;
  • A new version of Adobe Bridge, which includes support for filters and the stacking of images, a new loupe tool and previous of Flash content; and
  • Improvements to printing.
On top of all that, CS3 Extended also adds support for DICOM and MATLAB files for medical applications. These files can be imported as stacks as well, for applications like animating the layers of a brain scan.

Pricing and availability
Photoshop CS3 Extended will be out soon as both a standalone application ($999) and as part of four different CS3 suites, including Design Premium, Web Premium, Production Premium, and the Master Collection.

Pricing for the licenses, which include 500 seats of a given suite edition, is as follows:

  • CS3 Design Premium site license: $7,499;
  • CS3 Web Premium site license: $7,499;
  • CS3 Master Collection site license: $12,499.

The site licenses are available only to K-12 public and private qualifying schools at a single address and include: teacher home use rights and student computers that are owned or leased by the school. Dtails on whether or not the Production Premium edition will be offered in an education site licence package have not yet been released.

In addition, Adobe will also offer education pricing for the boxed applications for individual users. More information about education pricing and site licenses will be available soon on Adobe's K-12 site, linked below.

Upgrade pricing and site licenses are also available. See Adobe's site for more information on additional price configurations.

Photoshop CS3 Extended supports Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher running on Intel or PowerPC hardware, as well as Windows Vista and XP.

We will continue to bring you more in depth articles covering the applications in Creative Suite 3 over the course of this week. Stay tuned!

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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.

Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.