Adobe Photoshop CS4 Adds Multi-Touch Trackpad Support

[MacRumors]

As graphics professionals figure out the changes found in the recently announced Adobe Creative Suite 4, Wired.com points out one Mac-specific feature of Adobe Photoshop CS4 that's been otherwise unmentioned.

Adobe has added support for Apple's multi-touch trackpad that is found in the MacBook Air and newest MacBook Pro laptops.

The big Mac-specific feature is support for the multi touch pads found on the MacBooks Air and Pro. You can pinch to zoom in and out, twist the image and also "throw" the picture across the screen: if you hold the space bar down, click and drag the image when it is zoomed in and then let go, the picture will continue to move before slowing and coming to rest. It's very similar to the scrolling on the iPhone.

Apple introduced the multi-touch trackpad into the MacBook Air at its release in January and has since added the feature to its MacBook Pros. Apple is rumored to add a glass trackpad to the upcoming MacBook revision.

While Apple provides basic multi-touch support in its own applications such as Safari and iPhoto, one 3rd party application called MultiClutch (beta) allows you to add custom keyboard shortcuts to multi-touch gestures on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.

Article Link

[Kebabselector]

It's mentioned in the comparision between normal and extended photoshop

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/compare/

Do they promote Superior performance on very large images, using additional RAM - usage requires a 64-bit version of Windows and a 64-bit capable computer.

[longofest]

Mac users may not get 64 bit, but we do get multi-touch.

Don't know whether its a fair tradeoff or not, but at least it's something.

[arn]

multi-touch trackpad is something you get very used to. I find myself using it safari all the time and miss it when on a laptop without the multi-touch.

I use the back (3-finger swipe) and zoom (pinch) features more then I would have thought.

[amac4me]

This would surely serve to help productivity and solidifies the argument that those who work on Macs are more productive.

[InLikeALion]

When I saw the 'throw' ability on a demo video, the first thing I thought of was the iPhone-like features of the newer trackpads. That is really exciting that Adobe built in interaction that is so natural.

I've been thinking that due to lack of 64bit code I would skip this release, but subtle features in this and other programs make it seem like I might end up with an upgrade sometime in the next year or so.

[The Tall One]

Nothing like a little style!

[KingYaba]

It feels like CS3 came out yesterday. And here we are with #4.

[SilentCrs]

Kind of bothers me that there's still such a focus on Photoshop on sites like this. Hasn't the majority of the userbase swung from "graphic artists" to "ordinary users"? There's been more articles about CS4 in the last week than the number of articles about Mac Spore EVER. I could honestly care less about an overpriced graphics program (that apparently, at this point, is more efficient on PCs anyway).

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

I don't bother with a mouse when I'm working with Photoshop or Illustrator on my laptop.
I'm able to control everything just fine. The trackpad is precise enough.

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of bothers me that there's still such a focus on Photoshop on sites like this. Hasn't the majority of the userbase swung from "graphic artists" to "ordinary users"? There's been more articles about CS4 in the last week than the number of articles about Mac Spore EVER. I could honestly care less about an overpriced graphics program (that apparently, at this point, is more efficient on PCs anyway).

So don't read the articles.

[SilentCrs]

Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande

So don't read the articles.

Kind of hard not to. I don't see a way to turn them off.

I just wish MacRumors (and other Mac-related sites) would understand that the userbase has changed and we're honestly not interested in advertising, publishing or graphic design work.

[InLikeALion]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of hard not to. I don't see a way to turn them off.

I just wish MacRumors (and other Mac-related sites) would understand that the userbase has changed and we're honestly not interested in advertising, publishing or graphic design work.

Just because their user base now includes you, doesn't mean it doesn't still include me and other designers, videographers, and photographers anymore. Quit whining. This "string" of Adobe news is nothing in comparison to iphone news, and by far not all mac users have iphones. I guess they should only have articles about macs themselves, but not any applications or peripherals, as not everyone is interested?

Again, quit whining. This stuff is the tools by which I can afford food and shelter for my family. Many other mac users like me are interested.

[TwinCities Dan]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of hard not to. I don't see a way to turn them off.

I just wish MacRumors (and other Mac-related sites) would understand that the userbase has changed and we're honestly not interested in advertising, publishing or graphic design work.

I wasn't going to say anything but this retort is silly...

There IS a way to turn them off, right at the top of your browser there is a "http://" feel free to type something else in there...

Apperently "the userbase has changed" and ALL mac users disregard news about productive apps and we ALL want to read countless articles about relevent topics like games...

[nelmat]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of hard not to. I don't see a way to turn them off.

I just wish MacRumors (and other Mac-related sites) would understand that the userbase has changed and we're honestly not interested in advertising, publishing or graphic design work.

You personally might not be, but a great deal of us are - those that invest large amounts on mac hardware and regular updates do tend to be business customers, and a large section of mac users are still in the design and media section - if i've got to put up with constant wittering about that phone, you can soon skip the articles about the one of the biggest software companies in the world.

[Eric5h5]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of hard not to. I don't see a way to turn them off.

Skip over them and don't make any comments. How hard is that?

we're honestly not interested in advertising, publishing or graphic design work.

"We"? Don't ever attempt to speak for anyone else but yourself. And you are wrong.

What do you think Apple makes a larger margin on: the millions of Macs out there or the 100+ million iPods/iPhones?

The Macs, obviously. Macs account for 61% of Apple's total revenue, and have higher profit margins per unit, and have much higher growth these days since iPod sales flattened due to market saturation.

I'd suggest that you cease being such a whiny baby and deal with it.

--Eric

[Sayer]

Apple is the one to blame for no 64-bit Photoshop. Apple dropped 64-bit Carbon (HIToolbox) from Leopard in what can only be described as a deliberate (political) change to force apps to Cocoa. A lot of legacy APIs (now apparently all of Carbon) were dropped completely from 64-bit leopard. Granted its been long enough for apps to drop QuickDraw in favor of CoreGraphics, but dropping so-called modern HIToolbox from 64-bit Leopard had no technical merit other than forcing 64-bit apps to Cocoa only.

Adobe could rework their apps to use 64bit-native in separate components and leave the UI as 32bit, but then they'd fragment their codebase for the Mac even more. They could rework the UI in a Cocoa app and leave the core processing in cross-platform, but with the same fragmented code base problem.

Adobe had enough trouble reworking their entire dev process to move to Xcode to support Intel Macs which explains the limited advancement on the Mac recently.

Then Adobe bought Macromedia and started integrating Flash into everything, which again took time away from improving the Mac products (moving to Cocoa or 64-bit).

Reality stinks, but we have to live with it.

[brad.c]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of bothers me that there's still such a focus on Photoshop on sites like this. Hasn't the majority of the userbase swung from "graphic artists" to "ordinary users"? There's been more articles about CS4 in the last week than the number of articles about Mac Spore EVER. I could honestly care less about an overpriced graphics program (that apparently, at this point, is more efficient on PCs anyway).

Kind of bothers others that there's been so many iPhone stories on a site named Macrumors. (Emphasis mine, of course.) But it's Arn's site to do as he pleases, and I'm happy to be here, reading what interests me.

Besides, Photoshop is as relevant to the Mac today as it was 18 years ago. It's Mac history, and will be around for years in the future.

[Trajectory]

Originally Posted by SilentCrs

Kind of bothers me that there's still such a focus on Photoshop on sites like this. Hasn't the majority of the userbase swung from "graphic artists" to "ordinary users"? There's been more articles about CS4 in the last week than the number of articles about Mac Spore EVER. I could honestly care less about an overpriced graphics program (that apparently, at this point, is more efficient on PCs anyway).

Then don't read the threads. Just because you're not interested doesn't mean others aren't.

[Cubert]

"if you hold the space bar down, click and drag the image when it is zoomed in and then let go, the picture will continue to move before slowing and coming to rest."

Shouldn't this happen with the shift key (not the space bar) like other visuals in OS X? (for those who don't know, minimize a window while holding down the shift key; also works for Dashboard and many other things)

[InLikeALion]

Originally Posted by Cubert

"if you hold the space bar down, click and drag the image when it is zoomed in and then let go, the picture will continue to move before slowing and coming to rest."

Shouldn't this happen with the shift key (not the space bar) like other visuals in OS X? (for those who don't know, minimize a window while holding down the shift key; also works for Dashboard and many other things)

No. Spacebar is what activates the "hand" tool in PS, which lets you click and drag your screen view around your canvas. Now instead of click-drag, click-drag, it is click-fling, click to stop or let fake friction slow it to a stop.

[klittle32]

I personally find working with a mouse in PS much easier than on a track pad, and I doubt that the multitouch features thrown into CS4 will change my mind on this. Prior to reading through the posts, I thought most serious photoshop users were of the same opinion, but my sense now is that it is really a mixed bag out there.

Other than nifty or fun features added onto PS (like multitouch), are there any [i]major[i] or [i]serious[i] enhancements to the PS interface (or the entire CS lineup for that matter) you would like to see made?

[cleanup]

I don't really see the practicality in the "throw"ing objects around the canvas. If I'm using Photoshop, I'm using a mouse, or a tablet. That being said, it's much easier to use Command+Scroll wheel to zoom instead of reaching over for my trackpad. Maybe the rotation function might help, as it's easier than accessing the Rotate Canvas menu, but only in limited circumstances.

[Can]

The best thing in this news item was the link to MultiClutch !

Thanks a lot :-)

[840quadra]

No 64 bit support is a real bummer and a total letdown. Ever since the days of the G4, apple appeared to work closely with Adobe to ensure stellar performance with photoshop. It feels like Adobe resents (somewhat) apple switching to intel. Ever since their releases have been slow, an somewhat lacking in innovative features.

Multitoich is a great thing to have, however I will take processing speed over that any day! I guess we will not be seeing any photoshop demos ( lassic speed tests) in an apple keynote anytime in the near future!


840quadra from iPod Touch

[hob]

now all I need is a new MPB to run it on

I hope Oct. 14th is the day - 'cos I'm getting desperate now.

No 64-bit for CS4.... hm. Multitouch I can see being fairly useful, but 64-bit would be moreso, I think...