PSE 6.0 Trial download available...

[troush]

I was just poking around Adobe's site, and if you log in you can download a trial version of 6.0.

-Trish

[Jan]

Wooo hoooo! Finally! Go get it, everyone!

Once you've had some time to play, come on back and tell us what you think about it.

[Priss]

And here's the Link to Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/):

[physioscrapper]

I'm wondering about the black background...is it "depressing" to look at for longer periods or does it really 'show off' the image better? I'd love your comments on it.

[estherf]

This background puts your work first and foremost. I love the receding background of darker colors.

[Jan]

Hi physioscrapper,
No, it isn't depressing at all. It just allows your eye to go right to your image, without a lot of distractions all around it. And it does tend to pop the color a lot more, which comes in handy when you're making levels and hue adjustments.

It's a good thing.... so far!

[Wendy]

Have to admit that I find it difficult to read text on the dark interface ... especially the brushes :(

Wendy

[sueboop]

Thanks for the information. I am downloading now.

[troush]

Wendy,

I played just a short time on my laptop last night, and I found that the brushes were just fine for me. I haven't installed on my desktop yet. The darker background doesn't bother me any, and I kind of like the new interface.

-Trish

[Wendy]

Hi Trish ..

Try switching the brushes palette to text only :eek:

Wendy :D :D

[troush]

Hmmm. My text shows up green on my laptop?!?! Windows XP Home. It stands out nicely. No problem reading that. I don't know if they've changed it for the trial. I'll have to try it on my desktop (XP Pro) and see if it's any different (but later - gotta finish school!)

I thought it was interesting that for the shapes/cookie cutter, they put a white background behind each shape. Should have been easy code to reuse for the brushes drop down.

-Trish

[Jan]

I've got that double tool bar, which is kind of annoying, but I know there's a way to get it into a single line. Just can't remember at the moment (possibly because I was up until 3 a.m. playing with all the features), but it will come to me!

I really liked the improved Photomerge and that awesome quick selection tool. Both are huge timesavers!

[Wendy]

Hi ..

I'm not using Windows at the moment so not sure if this works in PSE6 or not. up at the top of the tool bar there should be some little dimples ... put your cursor on those and drag it over to the left ...

Hopefully that will make it into a single tool bar for you :)

Wendy

[troush]

I can't get the single toolbar either... Not too annoying, yet.

-Trish

[pups_r_paps]

Change the resolution of your screen and you'll get the single toolbar again. I just had a computer crash and had to reinstall Adobe. I was frustrated with that double bar until I remembered the fix.

[troush]

My resolution is already 1024 x 768 on my laptop. I suspect my physical size is small. I'll try on my desktop later on.

-Trish

[MidnightChardonnay]

Hi

I've been using PSE6 since it became available for download and am very pleased with it - no complaints :)

Elements 6 is much enhanced by downloading Graficalicus' addons - they add "proper" curves, channels, layer masks etc and at the moment is the only such addon which is available for PSE6 and comes with its own installer so that you don't have to mess around trying to find out where everything goes.

Graffi's addon gives me the things which I had in CS3 and has enabled me to return to Elements as Photoshop itself is too big for my modest needs.

Oh, and if you want to know more about Graffi's offerings take a peek here:

http://www.graficalicus.com/wp/?p=337

Things like the dark background in PSE6 are subjective but I have had no problems with it.

As far as the single/double column toolbar is concerned if you see a row of dimples at the top of the bar then click and drag on them to the right and you will get a double column toolbar. If you have a double column toolbar then click on the solid grey bar at the top and drag it to the left and you will get a single column toolbar.

[troush]

I have been able to successfully add actions and layer styles, making .xml files for them so they will show up as their own menu item. It's a bit tedious, but it does work.

Actions are a bit trickier, as you need to make a .png for each action, and a separate .xml file (I just made the .png's by opening the thumbs.psd and doing a Save As for each layer in the thumbs.psd). But, you can make a group of actions show up under the same menu item if you want. I was able to do it with Grant's tools. The only one of Grant's tools that didn't work for me was the Channels RGB tool. Mostly I use his Masks Layers and Transform Selection tools (and both of those work).

If you do mess up and have to recreate the media database file, it can take a long time. In fact, task manager will say PSE is not responding. But, it did eventually finish. You don't have to recreate the database file if the dates on your actions are "newer" than the database file. So, when I created my .xml files, it looks like it forced the rebuild of the database, as all my .atn files had older dates.

-Trish

[physioscrapper]

Thanks for all your input on the darker background and other areas. I've moved from PSE 3 to 4 to 5 and am trying to decide what to do about version 6. Your comments are appreciated!