articles/Photoshop/adobecreativeuitecs4-page6
by Mike McNamee Published 01/02/2009
Image Merge
We took image sets from Paul McMullin (which readers have seen before) for these trials. The image merge facility has been improving steadily since it was first introduced several years ago. This process really tests a computer system to the limit so we pulled out the stopwatch and stitched a number of file sets. To create the 78MB file of the new Liverpool Echo Arena took just 1m20s. All eight processors, plus 10.4GB of RAM were brought to bear by the operating system. You will note that the program did not cope with the distortion in the pan.
Next we stitched an image of the Liverpool waterfront which has a particularly tricky right-hand end. The 10 images were stitched in about 3 minutes to create a file of 700MB (that's about 2 metres wide). Photoshop and AutoCAD Stitcher both failed to place the right-hand image. Stitcher in fact crashed in the attempt at manual stitching.
A more successful stitch was McMullin's set of the London Thames scene. This has more hard detail for the program to get its teeth into and a really top-class stitch was created in 1m19s. This was a 167MB file from the seven Nikon D3 files, with an inkjet print size of 76 x 24 inches, before interpolation.
Spring-Loaded Tools
Provided you know (or are prepared to learn) the shortcut letters for the tools, this can be a fast way to move about in Photoshop. Normally you have to decide to stop using a tool, mouse over to the Toolbar and select another. With CS4, you remain on the first tool and tap and hold the shortcut letter of the new tool which becomes active as long as you keep the letter key depressed. Again this is easier to do than to write about, but is very nice to work with.
PHOTOSHOP KEY POINTSSince writing the initial part of this review we have been using Photoshop CS4 in day-to-day activities. The faster 64-bit operation is a real boon, making for a very pleasant working environment. Upgrading decisions could wait unless you are able to exploit the faster operations by upgrading your system or if you need to open the latest RAW camera files. The program seems to be bug-free, we have not had any issues with machine stalls or the like.
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