News

Photoshop Update 9.0.1

Adobe have released an update to Photoshop CS2 that fixes a few niggles and improves performance in certain conditions.
You can read all about it on the download pages:

Here for the Mac users
Here for the PC users

It seems a long standing tradition to bring out a 0.0.1 release for Photoshop, this one took longer than other revisions in the past. I have respect for Adobes programming skills so dont see any problems for clients updating their systems with this, it may even solve a few issues you may have.

oops… looks like I spoke too soon:

UPDATE: Adobe forums mention problems for Mac users when printing using 9.0.1 There is a problem with this update and colour management. Looks like a revised update will be coming soon. Will keep you informed.

Stephen

New ADSL Max service

I have recently upgraded my internet access account from a 2mb connection to an 8mb ADSL Max one. The new account is still settling down so Im still on the 2mb download until the equipment in the exchange decides to increase the speed.
My upload speed however has gone from the usual ADSL speed of 30KB/sec to 47KB/sec.
Which is a technical way of saying that I can now ftp a 60mb tiff out to a customer in 21 minutes as opposed to 34 minutes under ordinary ADSL.
The office version of ADSL Max when released should reduce this further to about 12 minutes.
ADSL Max performance is more dependant on distance from the exchange than plain ADSL, however most ISPs are upgrading customers to a max account for free so its worth the price…

New Gretag Macbeth Software

Version 3.6 of i1 match has been released.
This shows improvements in checking profile quality etc as well as supporting monitor calibration under 64 bit windows.

You will need to log in to get the update:

http://www.gretagmacbeth.com/mygmb.htm?

There are a few new variables in this software so give me time to work out the implications for different client requirements before installing it. Unless your need is immediate (windows 64 bit) then hold off a little while.

More memory = faster Photoshop

I recently spent just over £120 to upgrade my main retouching workstation from 2GB of memory to 4GB. Photoshop running on Windows XP can only use 2GB of memory directly (see below) but the remaining ram can and is used by the operating system as a cache for disk writes.

I did try turning some of the system ram into a virtual disk in order to set it as a Photoshop scratch disk but got identical timings to when I just left the operating system to manage the memory.

Photoshop is faster now when handling large files, filters such as lens blur appear much quicker than before. Worth the money spent.

There is an option when running XP to set a special /3GB switch in the boot.ini that enables windows to allocate 3GB of ram for applications. I managed to get this working (you need to add a command line switch to account for the memory allocation of your video card). However I found that my timings were not as good as the timmings I acheived before using the switch so I abbandoned it.

X-Rite buys Gretagmacbeth

Having used instuments from both companies Im confdent that X-Rites impending takeover of Gretagmacbeth will not cause any problems.
A company statement says that they will continue supporting existing products for a minimum of 7 years so nobody should lose out.
Having said all that it would be nicer for their customers if they didnt merge but rather competed against each other to provide the best products.
All a bit too cosy in my opinion.

Windows Tip

perhaps you already use the Windows key to get to the start menu but did you know that if you press (and hold) the windows key together with the D key you can get to your desktop (all open programs are minimised).
Pressing the same combination of keys again restores the windows. This is very useful when you have lots of programs open but need to do some file management or such.