Adobe is working on a new tool for Photoshop CC called the "Curvature Pen Tool," and earlier today the software maker released this sneak peek video to show you how it will work.
The tool—which will be added to "an upcoming release of Photoshop CC" according to Photoshop Product Manager Meredith Payne Stotzner—is very simple to use. It works by creating curved lines between points in your selection as you create a path. Each click adds a new point, clicking a point twice turns it into a sharp corner, and once your path is complete you can add, move and toggle points between rounded and sharp edges without ever changing to another tool.
Watch the sneak peek above to see how Stotzner uses the tool, first to create a custom shape, and then to create a perfect selection of a window frame.
Still not sure what its' doing... adding a default amount of curve to every click, which you... what, cannot adjust? Can only adjust by turning the curve into a corner? Can adjust using existing pen tools?
I mean, if I happen to need a curve that closely matches the amount of curvature in a perfect circle, like that window arch, great. But 90% of the time I don't, I need some odd amount of curve, like a gentle winding road or oval ellipse.
I guess people complained the pen was hard to use? I always found it straightforward.
I'm glad to see this isn't another "content-aware" tool that requires a lot of fixing when it makes questionable decisions, thus negating any time savings.
You probably never missed it because you didn't know it was possible. While you're waiting for "Ps to complete and task" you should go look at a new computer...
I understand, but it's not actually that bad in coherence mode; it's *almost* like a native mac application. The only obvious differences are visual - the fonts used in palette-windows etc. For all intents and purposes, you use the Mac OS.
I have quite a few old pieces of software that have been abandoned on the mac platform due to incompatibilities with newer OS updates; and have only been kept alive by running the Windows 7 version.
Whenever PS CC announces a new tool we can expect the following comments: 1. The tool is crap. 2. The tool is available elsewhere at a better price 3. The tool has been available elsewhere and works better 4. This is the just the sort of bone Adobe throws our way to justify its outrageous subscription fees.
I cannot comment on number one since I haven't tried the tool. I cannot comment on comments numbers 2-4 because I don't use other software.
I can comment on number four, the longest-standing complaint. I just looked over my history of using PS. I cannot trace it back to my first purchases of PS 5 but I did find the following regarding upgrades I purchased for later versions. 1. $217 in 3/09 for CS4 2. $221 in 3/10 for CS5 3. $221 in 8/12 for CS6
When I started my subscription the price per month with tax was $10.59, or $127.08 a year. That is a fair price, consistent with earlier expenditures and frankly for a much better deal that includes LR and some Cloud storage.
@Tom > the longest-standing complaint The longest standing complaint isn't the subscription fee per se. But that the subscription is locking you in with no control whatsoever what the subscription fee will be in the future. Esp. after all perpetual licensed copies ceased to work.
E.g., the photographer subscription is a special, possibly limited-time offer with today $20 being the normal subscription for a single CC program ...
If you Google "millenials love subscriptions" you'll find that younger people actually prefer paying for a service every month, indefinitely. Why tie up cash with ownership when you can rent? Um, ok. As they say, you can't buy beer; you can only rent it.
Falconeyes: I understand what you are saying and, no doubt, the fee could rise at any time. That said, I have been paying the $9,99 plus tax rate ($10.59 in PA) for at least two years now so my costs are consistent with outright purchases in the past and I do believe I get more for my money.
You paid $221 for CS 5 to 6 over a 2 and a half year span, you're now paying $127 yearly which works out to $317 over the same period.
I don't disagree that it's similar but there's two important differences, the first being the fixed cost upgrade always becomes better value over time if you don't upgrade and ever since Adobe dumped its subscription policy on us it feels like Photoshop hasn't changed as much as it did in the past.
The latter point may be wrong but the subscription model encourages Adobe to give us just enough to stick around while a whole new version had to deliver enough improvements to warrant the upgrade cost.
I think that difference will become more apparent over time.
I have no idea where you purchased your upgrades. I never paid more than 150$, did not have to upgrade every year and could skip an upgrade once in a while.
When I brake it down to monthly payments I paid no more than 5$ per month.
Currently using CS6, refusing the subscription and evaluating alternatives because the latest cameras are not being supported anymore
Most creative assets work with CS3 or later (cf. envato market). No need for CC. Newer raw formats are easily supported via LR6 with PS/CS integration.
I have to correct something in my original post, a correction which makes my points even more compelling. I looked up the details of those purchases (I keep all records) and those prices I paid included not only PhotoShop and upgrades but also (not every year) InDesign, Pagemaker and Acrobat Pro.
This tool is virtually useless unless it provides adjustment handles on the Bezier points. As usual, Adobe demonstrates a very particular case that works (just like they did with Content Aware stuff) but don't bother polishing the tool before release. The lazy Adobe Cash Cow just keeps getting fatter.
Affinity Photo, and now Pixelmator Pro. While CC has become an almost static target (per this sneak preview) easy to hit. Air is getting thinner for Adobe every month. As it appears they lost all their innovative force in the engineering department.
If only. After five years of being stuck on CS6 [last paid for version] my organisation is about to take a gulp and go with cc. As design professionals we don't have an awful lot of choice. We need to be industry standard to be compatible with any external agency we might use and Adobe have a monopoly.
It's sort of a relief we will be able to get up to speed with the rest of the industry, but I resent [even if it's not my own money] going on this extortion. Actually as I work for a public body, it is my tax money.
Adobe have calculated that some Photoshop only users will drift away or pirate. By charging huge amounts to the design industry they are still quids in.
It's mature software, so there weren't compelling reasons to upgrade often even when Adobe had that incentive. Now they have people locked in at a cost that would represent an annual upgrade fee whether there are improvements or not.
I used to love Adobe as a software company. Now they make Microsoft look like saints.
I see Adobe prevail and be profitable in the mid term. Because of their strong market position. However, it will be easy for Adobe to take that money for granted. It won't be the first market leader we see going into obsolescence within the software industry.
So, it may be a good strategy for any design company to grow a second leg early. Especially as all the innovation happens there. I have seen amazing results from some AI start ups which mimic artistic styles in their editing software, or automate parts of portrait retouching etc. At some moment in time, Adobe software will be left behind. As Adobe Premiere struggles with 4k editing, it can already be seen today.
Chris2210 : I can totally relate to your situation as I am also stuck with CS6 and now bought a few Affinity licenses for my small organization.
In some other fields there are very high quality free or even open source software are starting to appear (look at Black Magic Design's offering). But unfortunately there is no real competition (sans Affinity ) to challenge Adobe.
I prefer the Affinity approach: a single pen tool but you can quickly change the mode: Pen (bezier curvers), smart (curvature pen tool), polygon or line without interrupting the line. Those mode can be used to modify an existing path too.
Affinity Photo has most impressive selection tools that is there. The effectiveness and easiness to do complex selections for hair/fur (against busy background) or trees branches etc is just fun as results are so great.
And then when the same algorithms is applied with other tools like inpainting brushtool or content aware filling. It is amazing how complex elements the inpainting brush can manipulate with a perfect results, meaning not a stone in a greenfield but a flagpole going over building windows with lot of small window tiles, or person against brick wall.
Doing the complex selections is just painting around that window shape and basically it is done.
I'm sure some people will appreciate this new feature. Personally, I would much prefer if they got the speed/lag issues of LR sorted! LR doesn't appear to be keeping pace with the new technology and the larger RAW files. It's painfully slow on a 2017 iMac.
I agree. But with clever holding and releasing of a few keys I have been doing all of this with Breezier for years. Is this the best improvement they can do, that is my question.
This seems to me like a very minor upgrade. Does it deserve so much publicity and fanfare? I do not think so. I have been CC subscriber for a few year, the price is going up every year, not much improvements to show for....
You are basically paying for a licensing/usage fee, not for upgrades. Adobe could literally offer no upgrades, and still charge you. It's like you are renting an apartment. You are paying for the right to live there, but you shouldn't be expecting upgrades to your apartment every few months or every year. So in the case of CC, upgrades are like an added bonus. Yes, it sucks for those who are used to buying software outright, but that's the new business model.
That is not what was promissed to us when this new business model started. We we promissed that the regular and steady cashflow will allow Adobe to put more resources into developing, improving and advancing their software better than under the old regime of buying the license outright.
@T3 > but that's the new business model that's the business model some large software companies try to impose on us. We, the market, can still decline their "offer", even if they try to enforce it (like Adobe does). The more who decline it, the sooner this crazy software rental hype will disappear.
I am more than happy with CS6 and LR6, even on newest OS.
I have CS6, but ... unfortunately the newest ACR for CS6 do not support my camera, K-1. And I guess it never will. Before CC, new ACR releases were compatible with all Photoshop versions. Not so any more. Maybe there is a technical reason. But, I rather believe it to be a marketing decision. Am I angry? No, of course not. Is it annoying. Sure!
I use photoshop professionally for hours every week and the pen tool is my least favorite because its a bit tedious and time consuming on complex shapes and that adds up. Any improvement in this area will be enjoyed by people like me.
Wow this is what your high priced could subscription buys you now, trivial updates every now and then. How about some real improvements, like and entirely new RAW engine and NR engine, LR hasn't changed in nearly 2 years since it went CC based.
Also Bridge is still the slowest crap image browser I've ever come across, is it coded in VB.
Lightroom needs a major update, it not just feels old, its slow, tethering is awful, default camera calibration is lackluster, clarity slider is ugly, skin does not look as good as Capture 1 out of the box, but I'm still hanging on cause I can't get capture 1 to properly display my photos at smaller browser sizes. Finish them Adobe.
Sounds like good old-fashioned splines to me. The existing pen tool uses Bezier curves. With a spline, you just put in constraint points - it's essentially like putting nails in a board, then bending a springy ruler around the nails, except without the nasty real-world physics stuff getting in the way like it did with drawing pins and spline rulers on a drawing board in the old days (been there, did that). It's a lot more intuitive than a Bezier curve, but you need more constraint points when the curves get especially tight or complex.
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