Regardless of the application involved, the day of the blockbuster update is past. In the early days, Adobe or Corel or Xara would release a new version that contained amazing never-before-seen features. That was the 1980s and 1990s. Today we occasionally see big new features, but new versions today generally improve reliability or speed, or they improve an existing function. Adobe has certainly done that with the 2017 version of Photoshop.
Several versions back, the "content-aware" features began to be added and each subsequent version has improved existing content-aware features or added new ones. That's true in the 2017 version, but other enhancements appear in what you might consider mundane areas.
What could be more mundane than that?
The File menu will display thumbnail images of files you've recently worked on so that you can open an existing file, but the real power of the new menu becomes apparent when you choose New from the File menu.
Some people hate change. If you're that person, you can turn off the new file menu by visiting the Preferences menu, opening the General tab, and then selecting "Use Legacy 'New Document' Interface".
The Recent tab in File-New will display Photoshop's default size templates, any templates you've downloaded, and settings you've created and saved. For example, if you frequently create images that are 1200 pixels wide by 800 pixels tall, save a template and you can also include the color space, background, orientation, and more. In addition to saving time when you create a new document, this ensures that you always have the right color space, background, orientation, color profile, and pixel aspect ratio you want.
On the Photo tab of the File-New menu, you'll find a variety of effects and templates that you can download and use. Some are free, but expect others to be added so that you can purchase them.
I downloaded a photo collage template. It's a single file, but it contains a nice variety of templates that are designed for use with multiple images.
The template sections are smart objects and if you're not familiar with how to use a smart object, you might be frustrated at first. Take some time (maybe 15 or 20 minutes) to review some of the on-line tutorials from Adobe or elsewhere so that you understand how to insert images into the objects.
Once you've mastered that, it takes just a few minutes to put together a fun collage as I've done here with a few of my friends.
This might be the 2017 version's WOW feature, but first you have to notice it's there.
The Properties dialog should be part of your default layout. It's context sensitive so that the information provided is appropriate to whatever you have selected.
I selected a type layer and the Properties dialog offers the most common attributes: Typeface, X and Y coordinates, size, alignment, and color. If you need more, click the Advanced button for access to the full Character format tab.
Oh, and speaking of typefaces (I was just doing that), you can now type emojis. Select the typeface EmoiOne or Segoe UI Emoji, select the character, place it, and then make it any size you want.
Do you need emojis every day? Probably not, but when you do, Photoshop makes including them easy.
I mentioned content-aware features at the beginning of this segment and that brings us to ...
Face-Aware Liquefy isn't new. It was introduced last year, but there are worthwhile improvements in the 2017 version. For one thing, it's faster than before, but the primary new feature is the ability to work on each eye individually.
To see what it could do, I selected a face that could really use some liquefication: Mine.
Handsome devil that I am, you might notice that my right eye (the one on the left in the image) appears smaller because of my squint. I'd like to fix that.
But first, let's see if I can remove a few pounds. Here I've narrowed the face a bit. This can be done by dragging the white line. Photoshop does all the heavy lifting. Those who are more comfortable with sliders or entering numbers manually can do that instead of dragging the line.
In the previous version, the eyes were linked. Changing one eye changed the other. Now it's possible to modify each eye individually. That's what I've done here, in addition to making my slightly demented smile a bit more demented and narrowing my nose.
Here are the images side by side.
Notice the right eye, the smile, the nose, and the overall width of the face. These are the kinds of changes that can be made -- if you're a portrait photographer -- that may please your subject.
If you're an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, you already have all these new features, and dozens of other updates, improvements, and tweaks. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to work them all into your daily workflow.
(Apologies to the original Mission Impossible.)
Pushing further into hardware territory, Microsoft has introduced Surface Studio, Surface Dial, and an upgraded Surface Book. The Surface Studio might be seen as an effort to push further into Apple's territory by appealing to developers.
The Studio transforms from a workstation into what Microsoft calls a "digital canvas" with a thin LCD monitor that offers ultra-HD 4.5K screen resolution on a 28-inch screen. It has 63% more pixels than a state-of-the-art 4K television and works with pen, touch, and the new Surface Dial, an input that allows users to compose and create by placing both hands on the screen.
Just over the horizon, there's an update to the Windows operating system, the Windows 10 Creators Update that will be released early next year. The update is intended to make it possible for users to work in 3-D and mixed reality. The Edge browser will be updated, too, and will support 3-D images.
Mixed reality blends the real-world images with virtual images. Microsoft and Houzz created a proof of concept by developing an application that uses Microsoft's Edge browser on HoloLens to allow homeowners to preview products in their own home before they buy.
The Studio's 28-inch display has 13.5 million pixels and a "Zero Gravity Hinge" (Microsoft's term) allows the screen to be adjusted for various uses. In vertical mode, it's a standard desktop computer, but when the screen is adjusted to studio mode, it sits at a 20-degree angle like a drafting board for sketching, writing, and designing.
Surface Studio starts at $3000 (or in Microsoft terms, $2,999) and is currently available for pre-order today in the US through Microsoft Stores, MicrosoftStore.com, and BestBuy.com. A few units should be shipped before the end of the year. If you want a functional computer, plan on spending more than $3000. Perhaps a lot more.
Microsoft Surface Studio edited by Bill Blinn on Vimeo. Original video provided by Microsoft.
You might want to buy a Dial to go with your new Studio. That's another $100 (Microsoft says $99). The Dial integrates with Windows 10 to enable new ways of scrolling, zooming, and navigating. Placing the Dial directly on the screen displays a set of digital tools specific to the app that is open. For example, changing the color or size of a brush tip without moving the pen away from the screen. The combination of Dial, pen, and touch creates a more tactile experience.
The Surface Studio is clearly aimed at artists, designers, and maybe even architects. Many of these people would use Macs or possibly a Wacom Cinqiq drawing tablet. For that reason, the $3000 base model price tag isn't out of line.
But that's for a computer with a 1TB internal drive and an Intel Core i5 CPU with just 8GB RAM and a 2GB graphics processing unit. Unless expanded substantially, that's a machine that will sorely disappoint the intended market.
For $3500, users can step up to an Intel Core i7 CPU with 16GB RAM, but still with just a 2GB GPU. If you're willing to spend $4200, you'll have a 2TB internal drive, 32GB of RAM and a 4GB GPU.
More internal storage is nice, but hardly essential. This is a computer that's going to spend most of its time on a desk, so it can be attached to a virtually unlimited amount of storage on external drives.
If you're not in Microsoft's target market, buying a Surface Studio would be an unnecessary expense. If you are in the target market, this could be an ideal computer for you. Drawing on the screen beats learning how to coordinate eyes and hands between the screen and a separate drawing tablet.
But just as Microsoft made a mistake by not including the keyboard and protective cover with Surface Pro tablets, that mistake has been repeated with the Surface Studio: The Surface Dial is critical to the machine's operation and yet Microsoft chose not to include it, but to make it a $100 "option".
Who makes decisions like these?
A new Surface Book ("with Performance Base") has also been released. Three new Surface Book models feature 6th Generation Intel Core i7 processors and longer battery life (Microsoft claims 16 hours "for local video playback", which probably means you'll have turned off Wi-Fi and other power-hungry features).
Surface Book with Performance Base starts at $2400 (Microsoft says $2,399) and is available now in stores in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Windows 10 Creators Update should be available "early in 2017". In Microsoft terms, that usually can be taken to mean "first quarter". It includes a new version of Paint that works in 3-D, hence the name "Paint 3D".
Microsoft is partnering with Trimble to bring the 3-D modeling program Sketchup — and its millions of creators and creations from 3D Warehouse — to Remix3D.com. This could potentially create some friction with Adobe, but Adobe's applications typically have far more capabilities.
To learn more about 3-D in Windows 10, visit Microsoft's Remix3D site.
Windows Insiders will be able to preview the Windows 10 Creators Update through the Windows Insider Program.
It's only a coincidence that Patch Tuesday (second Tuesday of every month) coincided with a presidential election day (second Tuesday of November every 4 years) and it was a busy one. Microsoft patched 68 vulnerabilities spread across Windows, the Office suite, the Windows 10 browser (Edge), Internet Explorer, and Microsoft's SQL Server.
Microsoft issued 14 security bulletins to describe the changes, 6 are critical and 8 are important. One involved cooperation with Adobe to upgrade the Flash Player in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. You're on your own if you're still using Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows XP.
Tech-savvy youth could plug a widening skills gap as employers seek to combat the growing threat of cybercrime and avert mass disruption to public and private lives according to Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab. The industry is failing to provide a clear path for young people to find work, hone their skills, and serve society, the company says. Instead, they are being tempted to exacerbate cybercrime, rather than prevent it.
In a wide-ranging new survey of 12,000 consumers and IT professionals from across the US and Europe, Kaspersky Lab found those who are under 25, highly skilled, and highly impressionable are already inured to the shock of large-scale cyber hacks. Their concern only marginally outruns their curiosity, and even regard, for these types of crimes.
The bad news: More than half of those under 25 consider hacking to be an "impressive" skill and only a third feel uncomfortable about people who have such skills. Although about a quarter have considered a career in cybersecurity and about half say it would be a good use of their talent, many others admit that they would use their skills for fun, secretive activities, and financial gain instead.
Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, says: "Industry and education must do more to recruit the younger generation of cyber professionals and the warning signs are clear. The frequency and profile of teenage cyberattacks is growing with each generation's competency, as well as with the ready availability of 'malware as a service'."
Whether directing these exploits or serving as foot soldiers in the pay of criminal gangs, teenager hackers have been linked with many high profile cybercrimes in recent years, including attacks on Sony and Target.
Kirill Slavin, of Kaspersky Lab says that organized cybercrime is no longer just a boardroom headache. "It's increasingly a very personal one that threatens to disrupt, and potentially embarrass, private individuals in their homes." Recent attacks on Sony Entertainment and Ashley Madison exposed very private data.
Today's young IT enthusiasts could hold the key to plugging the widening cyber skills gap, but they need to be encouraged to use their skills in the fight against cybercrime. Frost and Sullivan's latest Global Workforce Survey predicts a shortage of 1.5 million information security professionals by 2020 if current trends continue.
Kaspersky says that the education system must play a key part in equipping young talent with the necessary skill levels. President Obama pledged $4 billion for computer science in US schools in January 2016 and the UK government has announced a plan to put more focus on digital skills in higher education. The European Commission has set out steps to improve digital skills in Europe as part of its journey toward a "Digital Single Market".
Kaspersky Lab says that more must be done at an employer level to encourage young people to enter cybersecurity careers. The company recently launched Talent Lab, an international competition for university students and young professionals aged 18-30 that encourages talent to find innovative solutions to various cybersecurity challenges. The top prizes include a $10,000 grant towards further education, participation at Cannes Lions, and an invitation to the Security Analyst Summit.
