Lesa Snider - Photoshop CC: The Missing Manual

Retina ready . Both Photoshop and Bridge now support Retina displays, Apples super-high resolution monitors (called HiDPI on PCs) and as such, youll spot a new 200 percent option in the View menu (which lets you see web graphics at the size theyll appear in a browser). Several plug-ins also support these mind-bogglingly crystal-clear displays including Liquify, Save for Web, Merge to HDR, Vanishing Point, Adaptive Wide Angle, Lens Correction, and the Filter Gallery. While the new Adobe Camera Raw 8 isnt yet Retina-happy, it should be soon (probably in version 8.1).

Conditional actions . This super useful new feature lets you record a conditional action (see .

Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt-Shift filters now work with Smart Filters . Some of the most useful new features in Photoshop CS6 were the Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt-Shift filters, which make creating blurry backgrounds easier than ever. Here in CC, those filters now work with Smart Filters, so you can run em non-destructively without having to duplicate your Image layer. These filters also take advantage of OpenCL, a technology found in newer graphics cards that lets Photoshop tap into the cards processing power. As a result, previewing and applying these filters to your images is noticeably faster.

Camera Raw filter and other Camera Raw enhancements . One of the most useful changes in Photoshop CC is that the Camera Raw plug-in is available as a Photoshop filter (it works as a Smart Filter, too). Camera Raw also has a new Radial filter that lets you apply adjustments in a circular fashion either from the inside of your image to its edges or vice-versa (its like a circular Gradient Filter). You can now heal areas that arent round using Camera Raws Spot Removal tool, and the new Upright feature lets you correct perspective problems. Last but not least, when merging multiple 32-bit image exposures using the Merge to HDR Pro dialog box, you can have Photoshop automatically create a Smart Object out of the result and then open it in the Camera Raw filter for fine-tuning. (Camera Raw is discussed throughout this book, but the bulk of the coverage is in .)

Shake Reduction filter . In previous versions of Photoshop, there wasnt much hope of making a blurry image look sharp (aside from using the Emboss filter). However, Photoshop CCs new Shake Reduction filter analyzes your image and traces the pattern of the blurry parts in order to eradicate it. It does an incredible job on images that are slightly blurry due to camera shake. Youll learn all about it starting on .

Redesigned Smart Sharpen filter . Rounding out the improvements in the sharpening realm is the completely redesigned Smart Sharpen filter. It sports a new and improved sharpening method that keeps from introducing halos around high-contrast edges, a new noise-reduction slider, as well as a simplified, resizable dialog box.

Faster Liquify filter that works with Smart Filters . The Liquify filter also takes advantage of your graphics cards processing power, so it runs up to 16 times faster than it used to (especially when youre working with big files). It now works with Smart Filters (), too, which lets you use it nondestructively on any kind of layer including Shape, Type, and Video layers. Its masking controls were also simplified, it sports a new Smooth tool, and the new Load Last Mesh button lets you summon the last mesh you made.

Minimum and Maximum filter improvements . Both of these filters were notorious for making round things appear square, though by choosing Roundness from the new Preserve drop-down menu, that wont happen. And when you choose Roundness, you can enter decimals into the filters Radius fields, letting you be a lot more precise when youre using em to fine-tune a layer mask.

Brand-new Image Size dialog box and interpolation method . The Image Size dialog box has been simplified and redesigned to include a resizable image preview that helps you see the results of your settings before applying em, which is incredibly helpful in choosing the right interpolation method. The new Preserve Details interpolation method sharpens areas of fine detail in your image in order to produce higher quality enlargements (this new method includes a noise-reduction slider, too). All interpolation methods now have keyboard shortcuts, and theres a handy list of size presets in the new Fit To drop-down menu.

Rounded Rectangle tool has editable properties . One of the problems with using the Rounded Rectangle tool was that you had to