Image Ready Web Enhancements | Photoshop CS Savvy

New Web enhancements have been added to ImageReady, Photoshop s sidekick Web-authoring software. ImageReady is bundled with Photoshop and can be accessed by clicking the Edit In icon at the bottom of Photoshop s Tool palette.

User object-based interface enhancements

Multiple objects can be selected on the canvas or on multiple layers by clicking the Direct Select mode button.
Multiple objects can be grouped.
You can make noncontiguous selections on multiple layers by pressing /Ctrl.
You can drag to select multiple objects.
You can drag multiple layers to the trash simultaneously .
You can drag layer and vector masks from one layer to another.
Font settings of multiple text objects can be applied simultaneously.
You can align selected objects or layers from the Options bar or with menu commands.

Streamlined performance

Tools that are not used for Web production and are redundant with Photoshop have been eliminated.
The enhanced Edit In (previously Jump To) command displays only the Photoshop or ImageReady document at one time.
Edit In ’ ImageReady is in the Photoshop File menu and File Browser to increase its accessibility.

Flash export

You can save to SWF Export for export to flash files.
Vector information of text saved in SWF format is preserved.
SWFs from ImageReady can contain dynamic text including embedded fonts.

Export layers

You can save individual layers and layer sets as files.
When saving, you can specify individual formats for individual layers.
You can specify individual compression settings for each layer.

Enhanced tables

The new Table palette (Figure 2.7) controls border, padding, and spacing values.

Figure 2.7: Image Ready s table palette enables you to easily define an HTML table.
Individual table cells can be specified in pixels or percent so that they will expand in a browser.
You can specify how ImageReady generates HTML to favor COLSPAN or ROWSPAN settings.

MY FAVORITE NEW FEATURES

In the writing of this book I had the opportunity to test out all of the new features in the latest versions of Photoshop and ImageReady. I found that most of these features really improved the performance of the programs. I particularly like the Filter Gallery because it eliminates the guess work in the application of multiple filters ”no more fiddling around with filter settings. It s presented in an elegant interface that quickly previews the results of filter combinations.

I ve used the Crop and Straighten automation numerous times and believe me, it is a real time saver. I also like the new Picture Package Layout Editor for creating custom layouts. In the past, I spent a lot of time matching colors from one document to the other using the old Hue/Saturation workaround that was time consuming and produced dubious results. The new Match color dialog box is a godsend. It simplifies the process and greatly improves the results.

I like the Layer comps feature for the ability to quickly review multiple versions of a document. The File ’ Scripts command that automatically exports Layers to multiple documents, saves Layer comps to Files, PDF presentations, or to a fully interactive Web Gallery are excellent automations. I ve created dozens of new key commands too and printed a list that I have attempted to memorize.

I think that you ll find that this upgrade of Photoshop is more than just a cosmetic facelift. Its automations can liberate you from many repetitive tasks . Its new or enhanced commands can endow you with more precision and unleash your creativity.

Improved rollovers and slices

You can apply rollovers to an individual slice or you can apply them to multiple slices.
You can create multiple slice sets in a document.
Individual slice visibility can be toggled on and off. Invisible slices are not saved to HTML documents.
Slices can be cut, copied , and pasted.

Better metadata

You can embed metadata to GIFs, JPEGs, and PNGS.
You can create sidecar metadata files to reduce file size .

Faster work flow

ImageReady supports conditional logic in Actions. With the new Insert A Step button in the Actions palette, you can program an Action to scan for certain image characteristics and apply the Action only if the images meet the criteria.
You can save your output settings to multiple files by using File ’ Output Settings.