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by Mike Swope
Part One
Adobe's Web Capability Story (as this Designer/Reviewer
Sees It). There was a time when Adobe lacked a vision
concerning the Internet. Or its vision was so narrow
and/or limiting it might as well not have existed. Adobe
developed PageMill, a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What
You Get) web page editor, rolled SiteMill into version
2.0, and then allowed the package to languish at version
3.0. At the same time, Adobe's flagship product, Photoshop,
offered few if any improvements in its web abilities
between version 3.0 and 5.0. Photoshop users could save
images in GIF, GIF89a and JPEG formats but couldn't
effectively preview compressed images for either quality
or file size before saving them. To produce quality
web images, Photoshop users relied on trial-and-error.
During this time, Adobe's competition began to challenge
Photoshop for superiority in web graphics. Corel
PhotoPaint 8, bundled with Corel's popular and capable
Draw software, offered web graphics previews and displayed
file sizes, while providing many other features comparable
to those found in Photoshop. Deneba
Canvas 6, too, offered many of the same features as
Photoshop, but also produced better or comparable quality
images at smaller file sizes than Photoshop, though
no preview. Macromedia,
Adobe's staunchest competitor, released Fireworks, its
web graphics image editor, to compete where Photoshop
was failing.
Adobe's shortsightedness about the Internet also created
a niche market for 3rd party plug-in developers, who
responded by writing plug-ins which offered previews
and superior compression over Photoshop's built-in capabilities.
Perhaps the most notable of these are the plug-ins from
Digital
Frontiers and BoxTop
Software. Digital Frontiers developed the HVS ColorGIF
and HVS JPEG plug-ins, which I recommended to every
web developer I knew during this time. BoxTop Software
developed the PhotoGIF and ProJPEG plug-ins. Offerings
from both companies were a dramatic improvement over
Photoshop's built-in web graphics capabilities. Digital
Frontiers and BoxTop Software continue to develop and
market these plug-ins, as well as other web tools.
For a time, it seemed that web developers who wanted
professional results either had to purchase these plug-ins
or others like them to use within Photoshop, migrate
to another image editor, and/or drop PageMill and purchase
a professional-level WYSIWYG HTML editor as Adobe failed
to provide adequate web development tools and appeared
to fall farther and farther behind the competition.
These possibilities were not lost on Adobe, and Adobe
began to strengthen its position in the web software
marketplace. Adobe developed and released ImageReady
1.0, a package to create web graphics. Adobe also purchased
GoLive CyberStudio 3.0, a professional WYSIWYG HTML
editor much more advanced than PageMill, renamed it
GoLive, tacked on a few cosmetic changes to identify
the product as an Adobe product, and released Adobe
GoLive 4.0.
Great strides had been made, but at this point Adobe
was forced to face disappointed web developers using
Photoshop. These developers didn't want to purchase
a separate program, namely ImageReady, to have professional-level
web graphics tools at their disposal. After all, Photoshop
was the industry standard image editor, and they had
already invested heavily in the product and its future
development by purchasing the product. For these reasons,
ImageReady had received a lukewarm if not altogether
cold reception. For Adobe, ImageReady's adoption was
disappointing.
Rather than let the development that had already gone
into ImageReady be for nothing, Adobe wisely decided
to provide ImageReady's powerful web capabilities in
Photoshop. If Photoshop was to remain on the computers
of web developers, Photoshop had to offer web capabilities
equal to if not better than its competitors. And Photoshop
had to offer these capabilities quickly. The best way
to provide these capabilities was to include ImageReady
with Photoshop. Development on ImageReady continued,
and ImageReady 2.0 was patched into Photoshop. Photoshop
5.5 was born.
Photoshop 5.5 is a testament to Adobe's renewed commitment
to its users and the revolution of the Internet. If
Adobe hadn't a vision for the Internet, it undoubtedly
does now. Shortly after the release of Photoshop 5.5,
and dropping ImageReady as a separate product, Adobe
also announced the impending release of GoLive 5.0 and
began to market the pair as a complete web development
solution. Adobe's web product line is stronger than
it has ever been, and Photoshop is destined to remain
the industry standard for image editing, especially
with web developers.
Photoshop 5.5? Why not 6.0? Several reviewers
have expressed dismay at Adobe's decision to release
the new Photoshop at 5.5 instead of 6.0. Many other
companies, they note, would have released it at 6.0.
I wondered at this myself for a time, until wrestling
with the Adobe web capability story above. Though Adobe
has not made any official comment, I believe that Photoshop
was released at 5.5 for two reasons.
- The changes to the Photoshop application itself
are relatively minor as far as full upgrades go. While
there are several promising new features in Photoshop
5.5 in addition to its new web capabilities, these
features are in their infancy. One in particular does
not work as well as I personally would have hoped,
despite my best efforts. Photoshop's new web capabilities,
however, are surprisingly robust, easily outpacing
most if not all of its competition.
- ImageReady, although no longer offered in separate
packaging, remains a separate application and has
received a new version number. Users decide during
the Photoshop 5.5 installation whether they wish to
install ImageReady 2.0 or just Photoshop 5.5. Of course,
users can install ImageReady 2.0 at a later date if
necessary, and vice versa. For these reasons, I have
referred to ImageReady as a patch to Photoshop 5.5,
rather than being incorporated into Photoshop 5.5.
Stay Tuned: Part 2: The Photoshop
5.5 Difference
Mike Swope
is publisher of inetreviews.com,
a site that will shortly be launched and also the
vice-president of MacWichita
Macintosh User Group in Wichita, KS. He runs his
own graphics design business, Swope
Design, that provides professional and affordable
graphic design, printing, and consultation services/training
to businesses, organizations and individuals.
| Product: |
Photoshop |
| Publisher: |
Adobe
Systems |
| Version: |
5.5 |
| Price: |
US $609 MSRP | US $129
Upgrade from Photoshop 5.0 or ImageReady 1.0
| US $199 Upgrade from Photoshop 4.0 or Earlier
|
| Target
Audience: |
New and established graphic and web
designers |
| Rating: |
(out of 5) |
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