Photoshop Insider

I want the crop tool to look like lightroom, with the thirds and all. Yes, I saw that tutorial with default shapes grid, but why would I want to do that when it’s so easier in lightroom?

Oh yeah, I want a ‘grunge look’ filter. something opposite of dust and scratches, one that would add dust and scratches in some random fashion so it would look old and used. and again, I know you can do it with brushes, I do it with brushes, but well, I’m spoiled

I just want one little fix. Still don’t know if it is Adobe related or Apple related. After my Leopard 10.5.3 update yesterday I was hoping there was a fix for that issue where when you switched spaces some selection tools in Photoshop start blinking between the selection tool and an arrow. It makes working impossbile, only after a restart of photoshop i can work again. Before the 10.5.3 udpate this happened always after a Spaces but now it happens after a number of Spaces switches. Please Adobe and Apple…fix this

Hi

I would like to see some NODAL logic interface, like those we can find in the high end special effects compositing package. This logic always keeps the original info, and enables you to proxy (use of low rez temporary pictures), commit (render just a part of the process for speeding issues).
It’s like a very big and powerful scripting action, on all the process.

Bat

I want the possibility to add filters (especially the sharpen filters) as an adjustment layer. I also want this filter layer to have the following options: “Always on top” and “Update only on idle CPU/update real-time”. The first one is pretty clear, the second one to avoid the risk of a computer slowing down if it isn’t a high performance machine and vice versa.

I would like to apply all the filters as adjustment layers. No, this new smart object stuff doesn’t count.

I like the idea of designing my own Tool Bar.. at least taking the existing tools and placing them where I want them.

I use Feather Edges a lot and now it’s buried even deeper than before. Please bring it out of hiding!

1.
i would like to have a UI that allows to be changed “on a file” (and on a layer) bases. one simple example: allow to change the size of each layer in the layers palette individually. if you have 50+ layers (plus folders etc), some are “more” important than others. i’d like to make some “higher”/larger, some really small. this would be saved with the file.

2.
include “virtual folders” in the layers palette. having lots of layers, it would be SO helpful to have virtual folders which show “all adjustment layers” in one folder, all “text layers” in another virtual folder etc etc. all regardless of where the real layers are and in what order they are stacked. this would allow very quick access to all adjustments (or all texts) without having any influence how the placement of the actual layers build up the final look.

3.
make file info, metatags, keywords etc a palette. this way it can be part of your workspace and much easier to access and edit.

4.
create a “smart color palette”. beside the main color palette, this additional window would automatically create color swatches based on the open image, analysing the image and creating the “top 10″ most used colors PLUS the “top 10″ most found hues in the image. another “top 10″ colors based on channel splitting.

5.
remove “smart filters” and “smart objects” and make EVERYTHING smart. being “smart” should be the default, not like today. everything should be editable, always, anytime.

6.
improve speed. used the smart blur filter lately? how about starting there. its simply tooooooo sloooooow.

i stop here, couldn’t make my mind for the other 4. i could however add another 100 - easily.

How about an attractive price for non-professionals? It’s the one thing that keeps me away from PS. I’m not saying 49,-, but something like 300 bucks would be a fair price for all.
Scott, do you really think all the people who read your books have paid over 1000 $ for a software they don’t use professionally? I am absolutely sure that Adobe could sell four times as many copies if it would cost about the same as Lightroom. Microsoft just extended their student version of Office to all private users, and it sells at 130 bucks. That makes people buy it who only had illegal copies before, because they wanted the software but couldn’t afford it.

I want only one thing:

!!! Photomerge working with SmartObjects !!!

That way, I could leave the pictures as raw and make enhancements (7-Point-System, …) after photomerging!

I am big on the filters as adjustment layers. And shadow/highlight was born to be an adjustment layer!

I would also like to see the crop feature in photoshop be more like lightroom.. rules of thirds box with alternates and straighten tool without going into lens correction.

I like Scotts ideas:
Better filters, Customizing tool bars, Filters makeover, and hire designer to make presets usable.

Also slower version release cycles would be great.

I want them to fix all network and printer issues…

I hate waiting for the connections to time out when I bring my notebook away from the network at the office without having to delete my preferences file.

I wanna be able to clear the recent documents folder when photoshop is closed.

I would like Adobe to partner with Nik (as did Nikon) and add control point technology, e.g., Viveza to CS4.

I’d like to build on your idea:

I want to be able to build my own toolbar, with only the tools I want visible, and I want to configure the size and shape the way I want it.

I want to be able to build several tool bars that save and I can change when I change my workspace.

How about being able to save defaults inside filters and layer styles, Ala if I like black stroke default to black, if I like white stroke, default to white …

And I don’t mind having to buy a copy of NoiseNinja for PhotoShop, it keeps that licensing fee out of the cost for people who don’t need it.
I do think it’s crazy for it to be not available for LightRoom yet, I love the noise reduction in Bibble Pro!

I want virtual catalogs in Lightroom. I maintain multiple catalogs instead of one giant catalog. This allows me to keep my most current photos(catalogs) on my laptop and manages backups better (I don’t need to load last years photos every time I open lightroom). This prevents me from search across all my photos so I would like to be able to open multiple catalogs at once.

10 thumbs up to have Noiseware or Noise Ninja built into Photoshop and Lightroom.

“I want Adobe to hire an absolute kick-butt high-end designer to go and replace every default Layer Style Preset, every default Action, every default shape, and every default brush with brand new, kick-butt, really usable ones.”

Do away with the dreaded RED stroke default….Small things like that would make a world of difference.

REPLACE THE DEFAULT BRUSHES!!!!!!!!!!!

SCOTT!!!!!!!

some of us use that leaf brush ya know!

In all seriousness though, the more photoshop can look and work like Lightroom the better. Since I got Lightroom I don’t work in photoshop as much because Lightroom can take care of 99% of my photography.

From a design point I still use PS and AI and ID. But if PSCS4 could operate more fluidly like LR does then I’ll be a happy camper.

I second the noise reduction idea. Many, many of the others are excellent as well.

I’d add:
-Having it store history items between closes/re-opens.
-A better print interface. Something closer to Lightroom would be great.
-A better set of default Actions. Engaging some photographers and including actions that address their retouching workflows, etc.

I would like the ability to link smart objects to layer masks. What good is it to make a layer mask for a smart object if I can’t move it in tandem with the layer mask.

I know that I can put it in a folder and make a layer mask for the entire folder, but that’s not a good solution…

Scott,

Would you and the community be interested in using an IdeaJam site to vote on ideas? The IBM Lotus community is using IdeaJam now. Have a look. We would love to host a site for you.

Bruce Elgort

I think it would be great to have all the adjustments be GPU dependent. More and more programs are moving this way.

Two things I’d like to see in the next Photoshop:

Clone/Heal on a path: Instead of the source point moving in tandem with the brush stroke, one could assign the source to a path and the source point would move along that path relative to the movement of the brush.

Luminosity adjustment layer: Pretty self-explanatory. An adjustment layer available in CMYK or RGB that gives the same result as converting to Lab and displaying only the luminosity channel.

Scott!
Great idea!
Here are 8 feature requests from my ever growing list.

1
Add + and - signs to Ranking numbers

Here’s as simple one. I’d it use everyday.
Adding + and - qualifiers to the 5 basic ranks essentially adds the ability to make/record a high (+), medium (no qualifier), and low (-) distinction within each rank.
Many times, there are images that don’t quite make the cut to the next higher number, but they’re better than the majority of the images in the lower ranks - i.e. It’s a strong 3. At other times, there are images that make the cut into the next tier but they’re weaker than others in the same tier.
Here’s an example of how you might use this. You’ve got a quota for a specific number of images; you take the 5s and only the best 4s … the 4+s.
Here’s another example. You want to sequence images from stronger to weaker. You quickly group +, no modifier, and - together. You compare images with +’s to those with no qualifier to see if you should downgrade some and upgrade others. This takes the - images out of the picture making it easier and faster.
Ranking is an essential function for sorting images (and separating the dross from gold). This is a simple way to make this essential function more powerful.

ps This would make the Ratings Filter field in Bridge longer. It’s worth it!

2
In Select by Color Range activate the Fuzziness slider for the preset colors in the drop down menu - RGBCMY, Highlights, Midtones, Shadows. It’s a great tool for making quick selections. Typically the presets don’t allow you to customize the selection so you end up using the Sampled Color most of the time. This feature request involves no change to the interface, just activating an existing function in one area for the others. (If you want to go further add a new category - Neutrals. If you want to go even further - add categories for High Saturation, Medium Saturation, and Low Saturation. Making selections base solely on saturation is extremely difficult to. Targeting color adjustments based on saturation (instead of luminosity or hue) would be dramatic evolution in color adjustment - it’s ground breaking, if not history making. This would make every color adjustment tool in the PS that much more powerful.
In Select by Color Range activate the Fuzziness slider for the preset colors in the drop down menu - RGBCMY, Highlights, Midtones, Shadows.

Select by Color Range is a great tool for making quick selections. Typically the presets don’t allow you to customize the selection so you end up using the Sampled Color most of the time.

This feature request involves no change to the interface, just activating an existing function in one area for the others.

If you want to go further add a new category - Neutrals. If you want to go even further - add categories for High Saturation, Medium Saturation, and Low Saturation. Making selections base solely on saturation is extremely difficult to do. Targeting color adjustments based on saturation (instead of luminosity or hue) would be dramatic evolution in color adjustment. It’s ground breaking, if not history making. This would make every color adjustment tool in the PS that much more powerful.

In Sampled Colors, it would also be useful to be able to specify which component(s) of color you want to select - all blues, or all midtones, or all high level saturated values, or all three. Three check boxes or three letters (HSL) that you could shift click.

Personally, I’d put the drop down menu items by the side of the mask preview (so people quickly see their options)(similar to HSL edits in ACR or the recent Black and White adjustment layer). I’d make them shift clickable to activate more than one field at a time - (select Reds and Magentas at the same time). I’d put activated colors in one color and modified colors in another (like colors for links in web browsers).

(Being able to activate multiple fields simultaneously is something I’d implement throughout all color adjustment interfaces. But that’s another feature request. Let’s stick to Select By Color Range here.)

3
List a File’s Owner in the Title Bar as an Active Link
In a file’s title bar, add the owner’s name and make it an active link that will launch a web browser and take the viewer directly to a specified url (typically the creator’s website, perhaps even the webpage that details copyright terms and usage rights or licensing information). This could be extended from individual user to any agency that licenses the image - i.e. the owner name could be changed to getty.com. Creators and corporations alike will love you. For this last feature (changing the owner), you’ll need to be able to change the data in the field specifying this (file info or metadata?). And you’ll need to be able to lock this field, so that it can only be changed by an authorized person.

This is evolving ideas from past versions of PS - the Digimarc era. Right idea. Wrong implementation. Digimarc makes my images drive traffic to them (corporation not managing rights) instead of me (individual managing rights) or my agent (my authorized agent). They don’t communicate with customers well. If Adobe made this process easier for content creators, giving creators control, they’d garner enormous good will throughout the industry.

Optionally, add a spider service (preferably Adobe) to generate usage/web whereabout reports. This would be very useful and substantially change the culture of online image usage/commerce in a very positive way. (Is there a potential connection here with Photoshop Express?)

4
A Curve for Saturation
Create a Curve for Saturation so you can target relative saturation shifts into specific tonal ranges. Saturate the highlights more than the shadows, with a specific amount and a specific transition through the midtones.
Then create another Curve that allows you to target values with low saturation separately from values with high saturation. Saturate semi-neutrals more than highly saturated values - precisely.

5
Ring Around Palette
Make a palette that simulates a ring around (like the adjustment tool Variations). This could be just a preview not an adjustment tool. Have a compact mode that shows one variable of color (H,S or B) at a time and an expanded mode that shows all three simultaneously (H,S, and B).
It could also give a variety of iterations of a specific correction type. i.e. target an adjustment layer that makes a 10 point cyan shift and see 10 point shifts in RGBCMY and optionally in Lightness and Saturation. So target an adjustment layer and generate a ring around based on that adjustment. This would be huge for users who are new to color theory and very useful for the rest of us, enabling us to quickly make decisions on our images visually rather than theoretically or numerically.

6
Improve Softproofing
Enable simultaneous comparisons of before and after states, perhaps in a softproof palette.
Make it easy to surround both versions (unsoftproofed and softproofed) with dark gray or black to make the Paper White simulation more accurate. (It’s too aggressive right now.) Like sunglasses for everything in the interface but the two images - softproofed and unsoftproofed.
Make the Simulate Paper Color check box a slider that can be customized for a particular viewing situation, making the white of the preview lighter or darker for a specific viewing environment. (Optionally, add another slider that enables the viewer to customize white balance in the preview to simulate viewing lights other than 5000K.) At a minimum, adding a full screen mode for multiple open files (hiding the desktop) would help.

7
Improve Gamut Warning
It barely approximates SWOP and isn’t accurate for any other printing situation such as inkjet.
Identify changes due to gamut compression (out of gamut) and rendering intent (in gamut but changed) with different colors.

8
3D Color Graph Palette
Make a 2D color picker you can expand to 3D. Plot multiple points on it. Combine this with Kuler’s ability to extract, specify, and analyze color palettes. Add the ability to graph images and ICC profiles within them (like Colorsync, Chromix or Profilemaker). Preview adjustments made to a file, including softproofing rendering intent. Make the preview of the graph and an image simultaneous so that you can click on either the graph or the image and see the area targetted in the other graph. Make this a palette.

Id like a brush browser. I have several brushes but I don’t want to load all of the brushes to find the one that I like.

I want to see the ability in Lightroom to step backwards and delete each change digressively.

I want the lightroom naming of each indifidual photo to be much more flexible

1) Filter optimisation and standardisation. A lot of the filters are out of date and really need modernising. Due to this it makes filters harder to use and understand for new users with the various UI changing. Also some of the filters are dog slow to use even though they give better results (Surface blur is an example). Also make all filters work in 16bit (or higher) modes.

2) Lightroom Develop module in RAW. Standardise the the RAW interface between the two applications and have history states.

3) ‘Meta-Layers’ instead of a pixel by pixel copy of each layer have a description of a layer. Think of it as Smart Layers/Objects on steroids. This way would help stop file bloat especially with higher resolution digital cameras on the market. It would also hopefully reduce RAM overhead.

4) Take advantage of GPU power in advance of AMD’s Fusion technology and leverage the power there. CS 3 seems to do some of this already.

5) Noise plug in – Agreed.

6) Dual state colour management: One who want to get the job done and one who understands the ins and outs of colour management.
7) Improve the interaction between Bridge and Lightroom especially for meta-data.

Overhaul of actions, make them able to determine LSE (Long Side Edge) for watermarking and give us more flexibility. I know a lot of this can be done with scripting but not everyone is a code guru.

9) Open Source support (Linux). With the screw up of Vista and the high costs of Mac hardware people are moving towards Linux in corporate environments. Whilst there is issues of colour management on this platform it’s something Adobe could do to bring it up to standard. A lot of compositing and 3D work is done on Linux.

10) Stack filters – Similar to what people have been mentioning. Open a filters dialogue and ‘layer’ the filters to achieve the effect then when you apply it optimises the rendering of the filters by doing it selectively to the parts that need it. Similar idea to 3D where they only render visible parts of the image.

At the risk of ruining all your fun, I’ve got this to say:

Adobe doesn’t make software for its users. It makes software for its shareholders. I’m not in charge of setting Adobe’s strategic direction, but if I was, I would run away from this idea as quickly as possible. Adobe may be a very customer focused company, but they are still out to make money. As a developer I know that if we (meaning my company) opened ourselves to delivering our customers top 10 demands carte blanche we would be bankrupt. It makes so much more sense to implement a feature on a cost vs market value basis. That is how priorities are set, because thats how stockholders want them set. It would be great if your idea was possible, but I just don’t ever see it happening.

And now back to dreaming about cool features:

A color-picker that is a seperate pallete that I can keep open and still paint on my image.
And ofcourse a handy keyboard-chortcut for this pallet so that you can pop it up and down easy.

Auto backup of your last 5 open documents!!!!!!!

“I want Adobe to hire an absolute kick-butt high-end designer to go and replace every default Layer Style Preset, every default Action, every default shape, and every default brush with brand new, kick-butt, really usable ones.”

I found that hilarious. Too bad its totally true…

“Wow. Lots of great suggestions already. Mine are more pet peeves, but would make life easier. Can we someday have control over default colors in Layer Effects to where I set them to the color I want/use normally and have it stay there? Who uses red as a stroke default color anyway?”

- Amen!

I’m not sure the top 10 consensus thing would be a good idea at all. If Adobe had followed this model from the start, photoshop would be nowhere near what it is now. The truly innovative features that seem to take photoshop to that next level are the ones you didn’t have pop into your head in an instant.

As for the feature I’d most like to see implemented - filter adjustment layers. Just a blank pass-through layer with mask (like other adjustment layers) that you can apply filter(s) to and have it affect every layer visible beneath it but leaving the layers on top of it alone.

I want to see the Metadate include what White Balance was used (ie-AWB, Sunshine, Cloudy, etc.)

1.
Instead of the default 3 sizes for the icons in the “Layers, Channels, and Paths” Palettes I want CUSTOM SIZES.

2.
A better way to mask somebody off a white background than using the “TRAGIC WAND TOOL” or any of the simple selection tools. Or masking using Channels.

3.
A “reflective” layer style.

1) I would like the slideshow for bridge to be exportable, or make the slideshow for Lightroom similar in that you have “pan and zoom” and different transitions.

2) I second what someone else said about putting Elements features in Photoshop or Lightroom, or what someone else said about making the web galleries better. They are great, but they could be better.

3.) I also agree with what everyone else said about Noise software integration and better filters.

I gotta say, I just love Lightroom but one thing that really bugs me is the Slideshow Module. Please, please, please can we export slideshows with music so that I can then put them into something like iMovie, iDVD etc and make a proper DVD slideshow out of them to show clients…please????

Did I say please????

Glyn :o)

Scott,

I love your ideas! I can’t wait to see the full list that will get voted on. I’ll also echo people’s ideas of:

1. Better noise reduction
2. Better HDR (it’s a complete joke right now)
3. Compatibility for 14 bit images (across the board), and for smart objects.
4. Better/new filters (and brushes)
5. I would also love to see a longer product cycle, but definitely with free updates along the way. It seems like having a new release every 3 years or so would allow users to “master” the program before the next one is out.

Alright, there’s also been tons of great stuff about Lightroom. Could we do another one of these “Top 10’s” for Lightroom? Maybe next week?

Thanks,
Mike

wow lots of cool ideas.

For me I use PS, LR, After Effects, Premiere, and Dreamweaver.

1)I like idea for native support for Linux

2)Full 64bit support for all OSes and 16bit for all filters

3)better HDR support/workflow to compete with software like Photomatix

4)node workflow, maybe just for aftereffects (or at least a option to-kind of like autodesk combustion)

5)a way in bridge to just have a list view, the only option now is “details” and it still caches everything….it makes things slow and it is prone to crashing.

6)many of the ideas mentioned above

randy

What a great idea Scott, Her

1. I want Adobe to buy or license a really good noise reduction plug-in from a third-party developer (like Noise Ninja, or Noiseware Professional, etc.) and replace the one in Photoshop with it. I use Noise Ninja and love

2. Better HDR, I never seem to get good results using Photoshop.

3. A new interface that looks more like Lightroom

4. Instant feedback on what you are working on. Once the file is where you like it you could click a render button and Photoshop would apply all your edits

5. How about working more like Nikon Capture NX, but still retain the ability to make intricate masks for certain projects.

6. Better paint tools, much like Corel Painter or at least Painterly filter effects.

1. More than four sample points in Photoshop. We get ten in camera raw, why only four in photoshop? For users that are color blind or have a color deficiency, the readouts from sample points are essential tools.

2. Add the option to have RGB 8 bit data instead of percentages for the color information in Lightroom. I understand where Adobe came from in making them percentages, but for practical purposes, just show me the raw RGB numbers so I can keep things straight in my head between Photoshop and Lightroom.

3. Add save indicators in the history palette. Whenever you save a file, Photoshop could add a bold line between steps in the history palette. Sometimes you forget the last time you saved something, and considering that large files take a long time to save, a quick indicator of the last save would save a few minutes per file for me, eliminating unnecessarily frequent saves.

How about an ‘Assistant’ like Microsoft Office used to have so we can have our own Scott Kelby built-in?!

1. Have something like Vervesa that can quickly edit a color in the desired part of the photo.

2. Better HDR tool. Like Photomatix.

3. Painting tools like Corel Painter X

Thanks!!

1) Minimum version: synchronize the features in Camera Raw and Photoshop - make all the extra ACR features (clarity, vibrance, superior sharpening controls incl. masking, the better ways to work the histogram in the ‘Basic’ panel, etc.) also available in Photoshop itself, where possible as adjustment layers. Given that Adobe ‘has’ them already, this should be relatively easy and cheap.

2) Selections and localized editing in Camera Raw (in line with or going beyond what’s coming in Lightroom 2.0): much easier, more powerful, and intuitive than double-processing with repeated returns to ACR (as you never see the whole double-processed picture when you edit one of its layers in ACR).

3) Maximum version: re-integrate Camera Raw into Photoshop. The current workflow for raw files requires changing programs as a matter of routine and is a little bit as if Microsoft asked us to use one program and interface for entering text and another for formatting it instead of simply giving us MS-Word. Integrate all ACR features into Photoshop; then be able to open RAW files in Photoshop itself with all those features available (again: preferably as adjustment layers) and the rest grayed out, while trying to make as many additional Photoshop features as possible available for working in raw - with the rest eventually becoming available after conversion to PSD (or to a smart object in PSD). If that required mandatory conversion to DNG, I’d be willing to pay that price. I would like one program for one post-processing workflow.

Great idea Scott!

My list is simple…maybe;

1. Better brushes - more realistic.
2. Better integration with Dreamweaver (like the way GoLive 8 and PSCS2 were) DW 9 & PSCS3 is an improvement over DW 8 and PSCS2 but not as good.
3. Offer Lightroom with PS as part of the package. Something like Photoshop Extended “Plus” - and make it part of an upgrade when one wants to upgrade from CS3 Design Premium. Keep the price less than the purchase of Lightroom as it stands today.
4. YES - make the menus like InDesign - I would like the tools to be removable as well (good idea Scott)
5. Updated canned actions - useful actions to be blunt.
6. Faster start-up

Break the print feature in Lightroom out as a sigluar module like Camera Raw is to Lightroom’s Develop feature then give the user the ability to use this print module directly from Photoshop.

Dave and Randy: I read somewhere that Photoshop CS4 will have 64-bit versions for Windows … but the Mac version will be later (Carbon, Cocoa, yadda, yadda).

- Actions to record brush strokes!! Please! I beg you!

- The ability to specify guideline positions when moving them, not just when they are created

- Angled guidelines where I can specify the angle.

- Filters should not have a directional constraint. I want wind at 45 degrees or fibers at something other than vertical. I’m constantly rotating my canvas/layer because of a filter constraint

- Cloud filter to have some settings to play with other than just holding down the alt key.

- Fractal generators

- A “Curved Line” tool. I end up using the Pen, then Stroke Path. But then I have to delete the layer and re-Stroke every time I change the curve.

- The ability to define custom brushes in color, not just greyscale.

- the ability to use a set of images for a custom brush instead of just one, so I can paint a forest using 5 various tree images, not just 1. Or grass brushes can have several blade shapes not just 1.

- Even more robust dynamic brush engine. Why can’t we control the placement, rotation, and color of that Dual Brush tip?

- No more “hidden” functions that can’t be found in the menus. like Ctrl+Alt+~ selects Luminosity, but I can’t find that in the menu and I’m constantly forgetting the shortcut.

- a “snap to” alignment function where you can select many objects and then select an object to snap those items to horizontally or vertically.

- a “center on canvas” alignment function either horizonatlly or vertically or both without having to do the ‘Select All’ trick.

Ummm, I guess I listed more than 10. But if any of these made the cut, I’d be thrilled!

1.Tone mapping and better HDR stuff
2. Seam Carving. More realistic paint
3. More noise reduction dust and scratches
4. Have photoshop work more like lightoom and CR with no progress bars
5. The ability to mask EACH smart filter
6. More non-destructiveness in any way
7. the ability to us ALL retouch tools on a new blank layer(I’m looking at you Mr. patch tool!)

Also I really want more start from scratch filters like the ones found in After Effects, there are bunch of really awesome filters like fractal noise etc. that would be really easy to put in photoshop because they have already made them for AE!!!!!!
please use the already developed features you have at your finger tips Adobe.