Adobe has released Photoshop CS6 as a beta for free. Good chance to grab a look at it and test, and also to sneak in some use for a current project if you don’t already have it.
I’m testing it now and I’ll post a review soon (probs tomorrow).
Have you downloaded it? Tried it? Thoughts?
~TehYoyo
Photoshop CS6 Review
~TehYoyo
I’d like to just hit on some points that sort of stuck out to me while going through the CS6 beta.
The Good:
The first thing that I notice (and, I imagine, is most apparent to anyone viewing the Beta is the aesthetical change. The entire workspace has been remade with a more modern black/gray color scheme, a welcome change from the drab gray that dominated CS5 and below. The color scheme and design is most comparable to Adobe After Effects CS5 (if you’ve ever used it). When I first opened up AFX, I was immediately impressed (having come from Photoshop). I am equally impressed (although accustomed to it as a user of AFX) now. All of the scrollbars now have rounded corners, the tool icons off to the left (in default) have been changed slightly, and the only color throughout the entire design is the blue, iconic Ps icon in the top left. They've also changed the default cross-hairs icon from CS5.
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[b]KULER!!!!!!!!![/b] has been brought into Photoshop! It is now integrated natively through a normal window just like any other. As a Kuler fanboy, I love this integration. Probably my most favorite Adobe tools/programs – in one. :D Yay! Full functionality of Kuler has been added.
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Info has been added right next to your cursor now. As you drag a layer w/ your move tool, an icon appears, displaying how far the layer has been moved. Similar information has been added to the marquee tool and other such tools. Think of it as the info panel/window, just right next to the cursor - very useful.
The bad:
In relation to integration, Adobe has also integrated a sort-of ‘mini-Bridge’. It is a default window/panel that launches Bridge inside of Photoshop. This may have been a response about annoyance in relation to Bridge launching an entirely new window – and slowing everything else down while doing so. Personally, I’m not a fan of Bridge. Never have been, never will be. To me, it’s just Windows Explorer – but in Adobe form. Not a fan. Not to mention it didn’t even work for me – dynamiclinkmanager.exe, a program that allows transfer between (in CS5) various video editing suites without rendering files. This, obviously, would make the program faster (if it works). A similar error occurs often and has been reported frequently when running After Effects CS5 and Premiere CS5. Obviously, this issue has not been resolved. If anything, it has been amplified as it is now a problem in Photoshop.
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Another change that is quite interesting are the various view items. Adobe has now added a full screen option (at least, added it to the main toolbar) and a fullscreen option w/ menu bars option. Full screen is typical fullscreen - just you and the canvas and that's all (plus rulers). To me, there's no change between full screen w/ menus and standard viewing...the panels and rulers are rearranged (everything undocked), but other than that, nothing doing. Kind of unnecessary. Also, full screen mode is something that I can't imagine being useful - the time it takes to slide your mouse over to the side to make the menus/panels show just wastes too much time. In a program where not a lot of time is spent using just one tool or just one effect, it's not very useful, in my opinion. The transition is also very sketchy and shaky, coming out slowly and fragmented.
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Ugh. The icon is ugly. Like the new Windows 8 logo, it has been simplified into two colors (that don't look very good together) and is just a plain symbol. Not a good change, in my opinion. After viewing the Bridge logo as well, it seems that this is the new theme for CS6.
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Go check it out! I like it (after 20 minutes 
) and hope that you will too. For an easy way to catch the changes, change your workspace setting to ‘New in CS6’. Upon clicking on any of the menu items, new features will be highlighted.
~TehYoyo
any idea about full version release!
Nope. Adobe’s also published PDFs detailing ‘what’s new’ for their other products. I imagine they’ll drop in a couple of months. Maybe a Christmas release?
~TehYoyo
does anybody know for how long CS6 beta will be active? I assume that once the retail version launches the beta will stop working, right?
Yes - when the actual version is active, the Beta won’t work. I’m sure that Adobe have something to stop it. (As well as it becoming illegal)
~TehYoyo
Note: Just saw the release date - 5/7/2012.
~TehYoyo
The release came out this week. Earlier than expected or false release date to intentionally just throw everyone for a loop. Adobe has done something extra creative with this release. You can actually get this version on subscription basis. So, if you only need it for a semester or for a project you only have to pay for that time frame. CS is out of the range of most people’s budget so I’m glad to see that this option is available.
I think they did that for at least the Master Collection in CS5. Do you ever use that?
Although, frankly, I think that most people who are using it are using it for a job or for life. Maybe it’s to encourage extensive trying if the trial isn’t long enough, especially for the Suites of multiple programs.
~TehYoyo
I hope that CS6 is better than CS5. I feel like CS5 was performance heavy and slow. It had some great features, but decided to go back because of the speed issues.
I’m wondering if I should even switch over at all - resetting my presets, etc. will be a hassle…oh well. Guess I just need to suck it up 
~TehYoyo
Gosh, that sounds a lot like… the GIMP! 
Undocked tools seems to be Photoshop peoples’ biggest whinge about the GIMP (which, the 2.8 coming out of Gimp now has the option to dock everything to the canvas, kinda like GimpShop), and here it looks like they’re letter people who like loose toolbars like Gimp to have that here too.
I will admit though that because I like access to one toolbox while editing, that I almost never fullscreen my canvas… one exception is when making a path, where I want to be zoomed in as far as I can yet have access to as many pixels as I can… then I’ll full-screen it. I can imagine it’s similar with some other tools too.
Is there some kind of upgrade option where as many of your settings are kept as possible? Like when browsers are updated?
Hmmmm…I don’t know - I imagine that there should be…cross fingers and hope, eh?
Hello TehYoyo
Working with Adobe Photoshop is real fun , it brings magic to a file . Kuler is among one of my favorite application , so waiting eagerly for its release. Do you have any idea about its release date ?