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Photoshop CS3 Beta: First Impressions

I’ve been playing with the beta release of Photoshop CS3 and here are some quick notes.
New Interface
The first thing you notice is the new interface, they’ve given you the ability to collapse alot of menus, which is interesting seeing as monitors are getting bigger and bigger these days.

Adobe Device Central

When you install the application in with it’s default settings, you get an application called “Adobe Device Central” which Adobe says will enable you to “design, preview, and test compelling mobile content” I think this is going to be huge, this is a new area for Adobe to step into and since so many designers and now developers are familiar with Adobe’s applications, I really this application is going to contribute to an explosion of mobile content creation. All we need now is for mobile access to the internet to become cheaper and more readily available.

Adobe Bridge
Adobe Bridge got a facelift, a darker background inside the application which seems to make viewing thumbnails a little more pleasurable.

Apple Intel Based Systems
Anyone on a new Apple machine is going to enjoy this beta as it can now run natively on their machine. This was a nice move on Adobe’s part.

Adobe plans on releasing the full version in the spring of 2007 and there will be no updates to the beta until the full version is released. As I use CS3 Beta a little more this week I might update this post if I find anything new worth noting.

  • Stikkit I have to admit that I’m getting a little over web apps these days, there are just too many popping up to keep up with and so when I saw posts about Stikkit appear in my feed reader this morning I didn’t pay much attention. As I saw the name appear across many of the feeds that I read I decided to check it out out of sheer curiousity and I’m glad I did. If you want to read more in depth reviews on Stikkit you can go here I just want to add that Stikkit’s UI is beautiful. As a designer, the first thing I look for when playing with a new web application is the design and Stikkit doesn’t disappoint. It really does say a lot when you see a site or application that has been designed beautifully, it tells you that the people running the show actually care and that’s big in my opinion, it also just makes the whole experience of using the application fun and enjoyable. Stikkit is way more than a simple notepad for the web, it combines bookmarks, notes, to-do’s and calendar all in one. Now I currently use a variety of services for all of these funcitions, but Stikkit is the first “all-in-one” application I would actually consider using full time if they continue to develop the product. I’ve always really wanted this type of “all-in-one” type service but past attempts that I’ve used just really didn’t execute things properly. Definetly check this application out.