Adobe to unveil latest Photoshop software suite April 12

Consumer Reports News: April 07, 2010 01:38 PM

On April 12, Adobe will introduce the latest version of its Creative Suite, a software package that includes a variety of applications, among them Adobe's flagship photo-editing app, Photoshop CS5.

At the moment there are few details of what will be included in the suite, but Adobe has released several videos on YouTube highlighting a feature called "Content Aware Fill." (Its code name, which is worthy of the movie "The Matrix", is called "White Rabbit.")

As both videos reveal, what this feature lets you do is remove a subject from a scene seamlessly. For example, the White Rabbit video shows that you can remove a man standing in front of a brick wall with a very intricate pattern. (This feature starts around 1:30 into the YouTube video.) The software analyzes the pattern that surrounds the subject and treats it as a set of puzzle pieces to fill in that gap.

(Both videos are embedded at the end of the post, after the break.)

This feature will also be useful for other purposes. For example, in the Content Aware Fill video, around the 4-minute mark, the demo shows how to extend the sky and landscape in a panorama. Again, the software uses a puzzle-piece technique to fill in the gaps around the edges of the image.

However, CS5's price tag, generally around $600, may be a bit steep for many beginning photographers and enthusiasts. But such features are likely to trickle down to less expensive photo-editing apps, like Adobe's Photoshop Elements and competitors like Corel's Paint Shop Pro, ACDSee's photo-editing apps or Picasa.

What features would you like to see in the next version of Photoshop, or in the image-editing software you use?

—Terry Sullivan