Photoshop CS6 improvements
Photoshop CS6 improvements
The Photoshop CS6 beta is includes a ton of big and small improvements over previous versions. Here are the ones that matter to me, as an interface designer.
Layer searching
Search for layers by layer type, name, effect (layer style), blending mode, colour or by large range of attributes. Want to find all layers that have a pattern overlay layer style? Just search for effect and overlay. CS6’s improved searching should make traversing 1000+ layer documents a whole lot easier.
Vector pixel snapping
Pixel snapping behaviour has been drastically improved in Photoshop CS6, negating the need for some of the janky workflows required when editing vector points in CS5.
There’s two main settings to control everything, Align Edges and Snap Vector Tools and Transforms to Pixel Grid.
Align Edges snaps the edge of entire objects to the pixel boundary, while maintaining the relationship of non-edge points. This means crisp edges, without rounding any of the inner points. It can be found in the Options Bar and is enabled on a per-layer basis. If my description doesn’t make sense, don’t worry. It’s easier to use than it is to explain.
Snap Vector Tools and Transforms to Pixel Grid controls all vector creation and editing. All vector tools can now snap to pixel boundaries, including the pen and ellipse tools (yep, pixel snapped circles). For me, these changes alone are worth the upgrade price. Snap Vector Tools and Transforms to Pixel Grid can be found in Preferences under the General tab. My only complaint would be that the setting is pretty well hidden. It’s actionable though, so that’s exactly what I’ve done. If you’d like to enable and disable it via a keyboard shortcut, download our Bjango Actions and use F15 to enable snapping and shift-F15 to disable it.