Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers - Martin Evening [240]
Filter Gallery
To use the Filter Gallery, select an image, choose Filter Gallery from the Filter menu and click on the various filter effect icons revealed in the expanded filter folders. The filter icons provide a visual clue as to the outcome of the filter, and as you click on these the filter effect can be previewed in the preview panel area. This gives you a nice, large preview for many of the creative Photoshop filters. As you can see in Figure 10.13, you can combine more than one filter at a time and preview how these will look when applied in sequence. To add a new filter, click on the New Effect Layer button at the bottom. As you click on the effect layers you can edit the individual filter settings. To remove a filter effect layer, click on the Delete button.
Figure 10.13 The Filter Gallery.
Chapter 11. Image Management
One of the consequences of working with digital images in Photoshop is that you will soon find yourself struggling to cope with an ever-growing collection of image files. In order to address this, you'll want something more than the system folder browser with which to preview and access all the files that are stored on your computer system. At a minimum you need some kind of file browser program that allows you to preview images easily, choose which ones you want to open in Photoshop and carry out basic file management tasks such as rating the images you like best and adding metadata.
The Bridge solution
Bridge is included with Photoshop, as well as being part of the Creative Suite package. Bridge is best described as a dedicated file browser program, which also integrates smoothly with Adobe Camera Raw, allowing you to open your raw image files (assuming your camera's raw format is supported) and manage the Camera Raw settings. Bridge may not be as sophisticated as some of the other programs mentioned in the sidebar, but it does provide you with a direct way to manage the photographs you intend working on in Photoshop. On the plus side, Bridge comes free and it integrates nicely with all the programs in the Adobe Creative Suite, as well as many other programs. It also contains most of the tools you need to import and manage your images, plus Bridge allows you to work directly with the automation tools in Photoshop, such as Photomerge and the Image Processor. The interface has been much improved since Bridge CS4. It offers easy workspace switching, one-click full screen previews and revised Collections features. Not a lot has changed with the CS5 version, but there is now a separate Mini Bridge in the form of an Extension panel for Photoshop and I'll be discussing this in more depth towards the end of this chapter. Bridge's performance has been improved since earlier versions, but it still doesn't seem to perform quite as fast as some other browser and cataloging programs. There are now built-in Web and PDF output features, but these too remain as slow as ever, plus inputting metadata and keywords is still an awkward process.
Bridge alternatives
Operating systems may in future offer better image browsing tools and on the PC platform it is interesting to note how the Vista operating system contains a photo browser that offers improved image navigation for photographs. If you are using the Macintosh OS X 10.5 operating system or later, you can use the Spacebar to quickly preview selected images, or use the Cover Flow View folder navigation mode to visually inspect the contents of a folder. In the meantime, there are several dedicated file browser programs on the market that can help you manage your images better such as Extensis Portfolio™, and PhotoMechanic™. There is also Expression Media™, which is more than just a file browser; it is also a sophisticated database cataloging program that allows you to manage your images efficiently and quickly. More recently, we have seen the emergence of digital photography workflow programs such as Apple's Aperture™ and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom™, which are designed to provide a complete workflow management solution