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The new Adobe Photoshop CS6 Public Beta has just been released and I’m happy to report that all Paint the Moon Photoshop Actions run through without a single hiccup. We will continue testing, but don’t anticipate any compatibility issues at all.

Download the new Adobe Photoshop CS6 Public Beta free trial here. Note that the final release of CS6 may be different and that this is a Beta version, so there is the possibility of bugs to be worked out still. The anticipated release for the official CS6 is Spring 2012.

Some of the noteworthy new features are below … (I’m focusing on the additions that are more specific to photographers – for others out there who also love design there are some fabulous new features in that spectrum as well). And just because I am covering some of these features here, and they are fabulous technology, doesn’t mean I’m behind them as a tool to use regularly (specifically the blur tools or the content aware move tool when it comes to “fixing” compositions).

Content-Aware Move Tool — See Adobe’s video at the end of this post demonstrating this new feature. You can move objects with more control using this new tool that operates similar to the patch tool, but fills in via Content Aware technology the space where your object/subject was moved from. The awesome patch tool as also been updated with Content Aware technology to work even better than before.

As with everything, getting it right in camera is SO important – I do not recommend using the new Content Aware Move Tool to go changing your composition around in lieu of properly composing in camera. What takes a few seconds to adjust and capture right at the time of your shooting will take much longer in post processing and never look as good as if you had gotten your composition correct in the first place. :) Let Photoshop be a tool to help make good photos awesome (or great photos freaking amazing)! And note that in my example I actually moved my composition from a “correct” one as shot to “incorrect” just for the sake of demonstration of the tool. ;)

Super Fast Performance – The speed increase in things like Liquify, Crop and other filters is very noticeable with near instant results and a welcome improvement. Adobe is now using the Mercury Graphic Engine to allow Photoshop CS6 to benefit more from a computer’s graphics processing unit or GPU.

Autosave – Yep, you heard me right – Photoshop now autosaves your document every few minutes while you keep working. Pure awesomeness. How many times have you had a crash and lamented all your work going down the drain? Now Photoshop saves your work in the background and you can tell it how often to do this – from every 5 minutes to an hour. No more threatening to throw my computer out the window! LOL!

New Panel Updates – The Layer Panel now includes the option to filter/search by name, type, mode, etc. I can see this being extremely useful. Also brand new is the Properties Panel which shows information about your current layer … this combines the adjustment and mask panels which were previously separate.

Informational Cursors are now called “Rich Cursors” which means they display information such as width and height, etc. and instead of just seeing the visual brush diameter you will see all the details about diameter, hardness and opacity.

Skin Tones Color Range Select – An option to select colors with the option for skin tone with the option to help detect faces and allow greater control in correcting color in only skin areas of your images.

New Blur Gallery

Iris Blur tries to simulate a shallow depth of field by letting you select your point of focus and it surrounds the area you choose with a blur in a circular shape. I can see this being an entertaining and a sometimes useful tool … just be careful you understand you can’t replace in camera skills and settings with these tools. Real bokeh from shooting with a wide aperture and shallow depth of field is a difficult thing to fake realistically. They can be fun to play with and do some artistic or novelty type edits – but don’t be fooled into thinking you can just push a button versus learning how to actually create a real shallow depth of field while shooting. Here is an example showing the faux Tilt-Shift blur.

Much Improved Crop Tool … infinitely more useful and much more control given to the user. To straighten the image just rotate the crop tool and the image rotates instead of the crop rectangle so you can view your results better. You also have the option of many different guides from the rule of thirds to the Golden Spiral.

Intuitive Controls that float on top of the image (such as adjusting the amount of blur on a filter), allowing you to keep focusing on your image rather than jumping back and forth to sliders. Excuse the blurry screen shot … enlarged to show detail better.

New Look With a Darker Interface for those who enjoy working in a darker environment … but it’s totally customizable so you can go back to just about any way you want your working space to look.

Image Resize is improved with Bicubic Automatic which will select the best resizing method for your particular photo.

Larger Brush Sizes up to 5000 pixels, including a larger Liquify brush as well.

Work With Multiple Layers – You can now select multiple layers at once and change the opacity on them together without the need for grouping as well as duplicate several layers at once with the keyboard shortcut Command (or Control) + J.

Watch a video by Adobe showing the cool new Content Aware Patch Tool.

 

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Kids never cease to amaze me. They are often wise beyond their years and see the world from a vantage point we taller humans aren’t fortunate enough to see. Being able to “see” the world through their unique perspective is amazing and inspiring … and I love sharing my love of photography and what I know about the art and science of photography with little ones. This group is just for the kids … and is created to bring families together this year, to enjoy the excitement and challenge of taking photos together, learn a little along the way as you all grow in your journey and most of all is going to be FUN!

Upon asking my six year old if she would like to participate in the Paint the Moon "Let’s Do 52" project, she amazed me by suggesting we do a kids only "Let’s Do 52." Apparently she thinks that besides herself (her words) there are some great kid photographers out there, and they should most definitely have their very own 52 week photo project all to themselves. I immediately agreed with her. So, starting this week, we are starting the "Let’s Do 52 – Kids Click Too!"

For adults who want to join the project and stretch their own creative wings … Find the original Let’s Do 52 Project for us old folks in full swing here with new members and images pouring in … and the original Flickr group here).

This project is for kids and by kids (yes, I’ll be moderating). Basically the same rules apply as the adults group … with twists for the younger set and themes picked by my daughter and other kid members of the group. There will be challenges throughout the year, and also as a few fun games with prizes as well to keep it even more exciting for the kids.

Please note that the spot for sharing images for the Kid’s Click Too project is in our Flickr group – not Facebook. Please upload and share your images in the Flickr group created especially for the Let’s Do 52 – Kids Click Too! members: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ptmkids. Feel free to post under your own account if you wish and just mark who the photo is by. Even the “moderators” there are kids … we are going to be sure everyone is encouraged and supported in their project!

Photography is obviously a passion of mine and I am thrilled to be able to share this passion with my little girls. In this group our kids can grow in their confidence level behind the camera, learn about photography and camera basics and most of all – HAVE FUN!! I’m hoping this will be an inspiring source to help in bringing parents and kids together to go on this exciting journey together … and you just might find that with their new found skills behind the camera that they are much happier actually being in front of the lens when it comes time for you to do your own shooting.

I hope you will join us! The Kids Click Too Flickr group is brand spankin’ new and I encourage you to head over and join up, then grab your kids and go take some photos together! How fun will it be to share all that quality time together while working on your fun projects together?

Here is the first week’s theme (and if you’re a little late posting this one, no worries … I know we started a little late this week!):

A few basic guidelines and pointers …

• We’ll have fun themes every week (two to choose from), but you can choose whether to follow along with the theme or go on your own.

• Post a photo each week … and feel free to join us at any time! You can find our Flickr group to post images to here. This is about fun and encouraging kids to start learning the art and science of photography, so while we encourage a photo a week, let’s keep our little budding photographers from burning out if they decide they aren’t up to the job one week here and there.

• Whatever you use to take photos for your project, it’s up to you. And no special processing necessary.

• Images will need to be approved first, so there may be a slight lag in the time you see it pop up in the pool.

• Photos may be used on the Paint the Moon blog as a Pick of the Week. Please include any information you want included in case we feature your photo.

• Be sure to keep checking in on the Paint the Moon blog for articles, inspiration and the weekly themes (for kids by kids … the Kids Click Too group will have their own themes and challenges)!

• Invite all your friends to come join us too … especially with those who have children with a passion for photography or a desire to teach their kids about photography! The more we can get to support and inspire one another the better … pros and amateurs alike. So share the info via your favorite social networks, blogs, Twitter, etc. because the more we get to play along the more fun we’ll all have!

• If there is a special meaning behind your child’s image please share it … let’s hear their stories! Encourage them to open up and talk about why they took a certain photo and why they love it.

Important links:

Let’s Do 52 – Kids Click Too! Flickr Group
Let’s Do 52 – Kids Click Too! Original Blog Post

Original Let’s Do 52 Flickr Group (for us big people)
Original Let’s Do 52 Details (again, for us old folks)

Make sure to grab a button to show off on your blog (click to go to the page where you can copy the code to easily add the button automatically)!

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