New features in photoshop CS6 for better UX and faster productivity

1. New features in Photoshop CS6
for Better Ux and Faster Productivity
Devendra Shukla (Senior web designer)

2. Key
 Auto Save
 Multiple Layers
 Layer Group = Layer
 Searchable Layers Panel
 Transformation Values
Better Layer Right-click Menu
New Document Presets For Common Devices (iPhone, iPad Etc)
Lorem Ipsum Arrives In Cs6
Crazy borders
Crop Tool
Content Aware Tool

3. Auto Save
Finally, auto save in Photoshop! No need to worry about software crashes any more. Beside
auto save, there is a new background save. This means you can still use Photoshop to work
on file while another file is saving. This is particularly useful for editing large files such as
large size illustration or print design. The auto save and save in background option is
available under Perference > File Handling.

4. Multiple Layers
Photoshop CS6 now allows you change blending mode, lock, layer color on multiple layers.
You couldn't do this in the previous versions. Also, in case you are not aware, now you can
use Cmd+J to duplicate multiple layers.

5. Layer Group = Layer
Now the layer group is treated like a single layer. This means you can apply layer effects
directly on the layer group. Before CS6, you need to either flatten the layer group or convert
it to Smart Object in order to do this.

6. Searchable Layers Panel
For an average design mockup PSD, it can easily contain more than a hundred layers.
Sometimes it is quite difficult to look through the layers. The new Layers palette allows you
to filter the layers by kind, effect, mode, color, etc. or search for specific layer name.

7. Transformation Values
CS6 added transformation values which is very handy. When transforming an object, it tells
you the dimension of the object. This is useful when sizing an image on the mockup. The
transformation value can be turned off at Perference > Interface.

8. Better Layer Right-click Menu
Now the layer color can be set via the layer right-click menu. In the previous versions, it
requires 5 clicks to set a layer color (right-click on the layer > click Layer Properties > click on
the color dropdown > click to select a color > click Ok). Now it can be done with just 2 clicks
(right-click on the layer > click to select a color). That is 3 clicks less!

9. New Document Presets For
Common Devices (iPhone, iPad Etc)
It was only a matter of time before Photoshop introduced canvas presets for common
devices such as the iPhone. This is a great little feature that just saves us that little bit of
extra time. In my opinion, being a successful UI or web designer is all about creating a great
workflow and the more time savers that you have the quicker you can get the job done.

10. Lorem Ipsum Arrives In Cs6
It’s often the case that the simplest of ideas are usually the most successful and this is
certainly true of a particular new feature of Photoshop CS6. How many times have you had
to leave Photoshop to grab somelorem ipsum dummy text from elsewhere on the web? Well
now you no longer have to. You can simply paste some lorem ipsum in from the bottom of
the type menu.

11. Crazy borders
This is probably one of the most popular techniques used in modern web design at the
moment and until now it has been a long, drawn out process that involves cutting up lines or
using the ‘-’ key to create a series of “stitches”.
Well, Adobe has certainly realized this and has introduced a tool to enable us to create them
with ease and flexibility.

12. Crop Tool
In CS6, the crop grid automatically activated as soon as the Crop tool is selected (this reduces
one mouse drag). The new Crop tool allows you to rotate the image instead of the crop
handles. It also introduced some nice crop options such as constrain ratios
(16x9, 5x7, 2x3, etc.) which are great for cropping photos for print.

13. Content Aware Tool
Content Aware Move will allow you to select pixels and move or extend them to another
area of your image without the use of layers and masks. All you need to do is select some
pixels, drag them to a new position and let go. Photoshop CS6 will erase the old selection
and move your pixels to your desired location.

14. Thank You!
Devendra Shukla (Senior web designer)