The newest version of Photoshop CC is now available via the Creative Cloud update program. Just a few points to consider before upgrading:
Some useful performance improvements evident in this new release. I have not had time to go through all the changes so don’t have a full report yet, here is a rundown of the main points for working users:
Many of the changes are in areas not having much if any impact on a photographic workflow (mirrored painting etc). Aside from some speed improvements the biggest change for me is a better content aware fill which is useful for commercial images (i.e. non ethical retouching).
There are some “improvements” that can be a backward step for some, here are the main points and some workarounds:
- On a Windows PC and using a wacom tablet its no longer possible to press the Alt key, left click on the pen and move left/right for size up/down for hardness. The only way I have found around this is to map the alt key to the top pen button, pressing this returns the functionality without using the keyboard at all. You can change the button mapping in the Wacom control panel in the Windows Settings.
- Bridge has had a significant workover especially with image caching. However – even after building a 100% size preview cache of a large folder I find that only some of the images snap into focus immediately when jumping between images in full screen mode. For long runs of images Im hitting a blurred rendition followed a fraction of a second later by a sharp version. This “visual slap in the face” makes selecting from thousands of images very difficult. The only workaround I have found so far is to switch back to Photo Mechanic 5 for image selection.
- Control Z no longer does undo/redo but instead just does a series of undos going back in history (unless you use shift+ctrl+z in which case it goes forward in history. This could be considered an improvement and it does make logical sense but it does spoil the habit of doing a quick undo/redo to see the effect of a filter or adjustment. I rely on this quick before/after shortcut quite a bit so its good that the fix is easy, just select “Use legacy undo shortcuts” in the Keyboard shortcuts and menus dialogue.
If you are in the middle of a job then do not upgrade just yet. When you hit a quiet patch consider installing the new versions without removing your current version (click on the advanced options in the creative cloud update app that becomes visible once you press the update button)
Let me know if you run into any problems I have not covered here and I will have a look, in the meantime just return to using the previous version till a fix can be found.
Being optimistic – there are positive changes and perhaps a few upcoming patches eg: to fix the speed of the cache in the new Bridge app will stabilise things.