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Please Help......After several years of asking for the Photoshop CS 2 and 3 programs my agency just purchased us the new Photoshop CS4 program. I was just starting to really learn the CS3 program through some classes and the trial version. I have not used CS 4 at all. I only just installed the program yesterday and have not had time to really sit down and explore the program. Can anyone tell me how much different CS3 is from 4 and I was considering purchasing George Reis' book "Photoshop CS3 for Forensics Professionals" Would the book still be worth purchasing even though I will now be using CS4 instead of 3 at work? If not will George be updating a book for CS4 users that I can wait to purchase?

thanks so much for any and all comments and responses.

Anita Todd
Odessa Police Department
205 N. Grant
Odessa, Tx. 79761
432-335-5755

CS4 is essentially the same as CS3 with a slightly modified user interface and the addition of some "adjustment" tools that can remain intact and be reloaded and modified -- something of little use to forensic users who must document every change made to the image. The best addition that I can see is the new "stack" merge which allows you to take multiple photos using a sequential depth of field and then merge them into one sharply focused image.

If you are new to Photoshop, any book from about CS2 onward could be of value. The user interface in CS4 has some annoying differences and a few better ideas, but the basics seldom change much. The only people having issues are those of us who have used the program for many editions who use function keys which have been re-mapped by Adobe to match their other programs. There are lots of video tutorials on the internet showing the new features of CS4 and the user interface. There are some performance tweaks, and if you have a 64-bit machine and OS and a newer graphics card, there are some nice speed-up features that utilize that hardware, multi-core CPUs and 4+ gigs of RAM.

I think that some differences in CS4 are significant to the forensic user.

As to the adjustment and mask panels - they actually make documentation of adjustments easier. They provide a non-modal interface for adjustment layers, providing easier access to image adjustment layers and easier adjustment of masks.

But, what may be of more significant importance to forensics users are the things that are missing. Contact Sheets and PDF Presentation are no longer within Photoshop - instead, these can be created using Bridge with the new Output module. Note, however, that PDF is the only way to save contact sheets, and that there is no way to specify an output that is uncompressed (or that uses a lossless compression), nor is there a way to control whether an image is downsampled or not. But, these features can be copied and pasted from earlier versions of PS and put into CS4 - so all is not lost. I haven't seen the packaged version of CS4 yet, but I'd look to see if these are included in the Goodies folder on the CDs/DVDs.

Another feature that isn't there, and that can't be copied from an earlier version, is the Layer Comps to PDF script. But, Layer Comps to Files is still there, so creating a multiple page PDF court display from Layer Comps now takes an extra step. First export the files, then create the PDF in Bridge (or with PDF Presentation if you copied that to your CS4 version).

A new feature that isn't actually in Photoshop, but that works with CS4, is the ability to custom make your own panels (palettes). You can place tools, menu items, scripts, actions, etc. in a panel, in any order, and really streamline your workflow. I created some sample panels, and would be happy to share them if anyone is using CS4 and would like to try them out.

And, another that I almost forgot is that Perspective Transform is now supported within Smart Objects.

It is also important to meet the minimum system requirements for CS4. I taught a workshop last week at a facility that didn't meet them, and we struggled through many things. Photoshop now takes more advantage of GPU, so having a graphics card that meets the specs will provide you with some cool new features, and better rendering of images. The new feature requiring GPU that is significant is the rotate view tool - which is a temp image rotation that doesn't write resampling back to the image, so is great for on-screen comparisons, etc.

And, if you are a Windows user and are on a 64 bit system, CS4 fully supports this, and if you work with large files you should see a performance boost with them.

If you use Bridge, you will see several new features, lots of UI changes, more stability and quite a bit more speed.

George

In the latent print world, I've never seen the reason for contact sheets or .PDF files -- images are too small to be of value unless you're photographing larger evidence items before processing. Smart objects would be the way to go since all information is retained even though the image is small if you want contact sheets. Since I've never used .PDF files in forensic work, the change doesn't affect me, though I beg to be enlightened. We supply agencies with a CD-R of all digital work in .TIF format, and use .JPEG images in PowerPoint for presentations.

mdavis:There are many uses for PDF files and Contact Sheets in a latent print workflow. But, we all have different workflows, so it may be that you'll never use these features. I'll describe some ways I find them useful. Of course, if you don't use these features, then the changes to them don't affect you - which was your point.

One key use of PDF documents in general are to create uncompressed, full-resolution images that are portable to deliver to others - such as prosecutors. You can also password protect them for opening, and attach a second password to restrict printing or editing. Another key use is for creating court charts. These can be simple, single-page charts, or they can be multi-page slide shows that can be as simple or complex as one desires or the case requires. Powerpoint has some limitations - especially regarding resolution restrictions and lossy image compression (I admit to not knowing if current versions still have the limitations). With a PDF, you can embed any resolution image, attach the color profile for a color managed workflow, and use no compression - this enables the full quality image that was used for the comparison to be shown in court, enlarged, etc. while working with a very portable format that can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat.

As for contact sheets. It is quite common for me to create contact sheets in my case work, it was common when I worked at a police agency, and most people in my workshops indicate that they also make contact sheets. If for nothing else, it's a compact way to show all images in a given case. Or, if one works in a lab and processes evidence - one may photograph an object first, then mid-range photos to show the position of prints, and finally photos of the individual prints - a contact sheet shows, on a single page, the object, the relative positions of the prints, and the prints - which is great for explaining what came from where, etc. with very little effort.

These workflows and tools are among many valid approaches in a forensic environment. I believe quite a number of latent print examiners use these tools regularly, so the changes to them are significant to many who read this forum.

George

Just a different workflow. Burning a CD-R with JPEG (or TIF if you want lossless images) is a simple and very cheap and easy way to provide all images that can be viewed as thumbnails or full size in either a Windows or Mac OS for the prosecutor or defense. It also verifies that filenames are original and not modified, consecutive, and prevents modification to files. This eliminates having to purchase Adobe Acrobat for multiple workstations if you need features not available from within Photoshop.

Thanks. Hadn't thought of using .PDF files.