Adobe Photoshop CS3

Photoshop CS3’s interface has undergone a dramatic transformation. The toolbox at far left defaults to a space-saving one column mode, though you can switch it to the familiar two columns with a single click. Palettes now reside by default in docks, and can collapse down to mere icons, like the History palette in the figure.

One excellent feature in Adobe Bridge’s overhaul is the new Filter pane. From the list of file types found in the active folder, you can place checkmarks to limit the types of files Bridge displays.

With the addition of a Photo Downloader, Adobe Bridge joins the long line of photo software ready to spring into action the minute you connect a camera or card reader to your computer.

The Adobe Camera Raw window boasts many new features designed to help you get the most from your raw formatted images.

The Background image in this figure was first converted to a Smart Object. From that point onward, filters applied to the image become Smart Filters, ready to be re-edited or turned off altogether with convenient implementation in the Layers palette.

Like Photoshop Elements’ "magic" selection tools, Photoshop CS3’s new Quick Selection tool lets you "paint" on your image to create a selection. For easy-to-select subjects, this tool can be a great timesaver.

The Quick Selection tool is usually best followed with an application of the new Refine Edge command. The tools here can help you smooth and perfect a ragged selection, and there are five helpful options for viewing the selection-in-progress.

Knowledgeable Photoshop users have long used the Channel Mixer to artfully convert color images to black and white. The new Black and White command makes the process easier. You get exacting control over the amount of influence various color ranges have on the final black and white image.

The new Auto-Align Layers command analyses the content of layers in a document and does the necessary adjustments to knit the two layers into a seamless photo. Any differences in exposure can be overcome with the indispensable Auto-Blend Layers command.

Useful for defining three-dimensional planes in an image, the old version of Vanishing Point was restricted to planes meeting at 90-degree angles. This restriction has been lifted, letting you define any angle with the tool. In this figure, the varying angles of a folded blank piece of paper were defined with Vanishing Point, and a photo was then mapped onto the paper’s surface.