BetaNews has learned that Adobe is planning to announce a major upgrade to its popular Photoshop image editing suite next Monday. Details slipped out in an accidental early posting of a press release, which has since been removed.
Dubbed Adobe Photoshop CS2, the new release promises better tools to fix common image problems such as red eye and blemishes, as well as updated support for raw, or uncompressed, images. The software is expected to start shipping in May.
Adobe says it added numerous features to Photoshop CS2 in response to requests from users and the changing needs of the digital imaging industry.
A new spot healing brush will fix blemishes, red-eye and distortion from camera lenses. Users will also be able to scale images with less quality loss than previous Photoshop versions.
A tool known as Vanishing Point will allow the user to recolor and transform objects in an image without altering its perspective. Image Warp, another new tool, enables a user to easily twist, warp or skew an image cleanly using preset functions, or with custom points.
A new version of Camera Raw, Adobe's plug-in for manipulating uncompressed images from digital cameras, supports modifying multiple raw files simultaneously. Adobe has also added batch processing that can be done without launching the Photoshop executable.
In an effort to more tightly integrate its Adobe Creative Suite components, Photoshop's File Browser has been renamed to "Adobe Bridge." The tool will allow a user to seamlessly move an image file between Adobe's various programs.
Adobe Bridge will also provide access to a new service called Adobe Stock Photos, which offers access to royalty-free stock images from five different providers.
The standalone version of Photoshop CS2 will cost $599 USD, with an upgrade available for $149 USD.
Adobe representatives were not available for comment by press time.
