Adobe Photoshop's Intuitiveness Stinks!

10/10/2006 05:21:44 PM · #1

Really, for such a bloody expensive tool. Could they not put in a tiny bit of intuitiveness?

I've used quite a few graphic programs and by far Adobe's is the worst when it comes to moving around and using the help/documentation.

Yes, I am affirmed in my belief that they have done so deliberately at the request of graphic designers to ensure the "status" of photoshop users.

It annoys me, because the tools are really good. But some crap is just so assasinine that it can drive one mad!

(ie: case in point, should it REALLY be so bloody hard to simply denote a color in a .gif to transparency? should I have to spend 20 minutes and get no where. What good does telling me to go click "x" icon in the color table pallete do if that icon is not there?)

*blargh*

I so need to re-install Corel Photopaint so I have something quick and dirty.

- Saj

10/10/2006 05:24:25 PM · #2

Funny, I feel the same way when I go to any program other than Photoshop!

PhotoShop seems so intuitive to me. I tried Corel PhotoPaint and couldn't find the crop tool. ;-)

ButterflySis

Canon EOS-50D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

10/10/2006 05:26:37 PM · #3

Originally posted by scarbrd:

Funny, I feel the same way when I go to any program other than Photoshop!

Me too!

10/10/2006 05:29:27 PM · #4

Then can someone please tell me where the heck the stupid transparency icon is in the Color Table pallete?

I am trying to get what is usually a simple 30 second task which is taking me 30 minutes as I only have Photoshop to work with....(every !@#$% program I have ever used lets me save a gif and select a transparency color).

fotomann_forever

10/10/2006 05:31:08 PM · #5

Hey, just a thought... if you are working on a transparency for a gif image, you might find switching into Image Ready more intuitive. It's a bit more adept at working with this sort of thing.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

10/10/2006 05:32:16 PM · #6

*ponders* why there is a need to switch....*sighs*

Adobe (can't see the alphabet from the letters)

thegrandwazoo

Nikon D750

10/10/2006 05:36:16 PM · #7

save for web
check transparency
on the bottom of the color table, second icon from the left is the map selected color to transparency
save
done!

I think that is what you want. But I don't use .gif's much.

10/10/2006 05:36:23 PM · #8

Originally posted by theSaj:

File -> Save for Web

Change format to GIF, selct the color with the eye dropper and choose "Eye dropper" form the Matte drop down next to Transparency.

I think that is how it works. Or you can aloso create a mask and make it transparent.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

10/10/2006 05:37:16 PM · #9

Can anyone tell me how to find the above?

thegrandwazoo

Nikon D750

10/10/2006 05:37:39 PM · #10

look at my reply it tells you

mist

Canon EOS-60D

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

10/10/2006 05:40:36 PM · #11

I have to agree that at least some things in Photoshop (Elements at least) are more complicated than they need to be.

A few examples.

Select All. Copy. Now I want a new image based on what I've copied. So, I "paste as new image", right? Wrong. You can't do that. You actually have to do "file -> new -> image from clipboard". Even though the operation that I want to do has nothing to do with Files.

I've copied my image, now I want a square on it, but I don't want a filled square, I want an outline of a square with a transparent middle. In PSP I could do that easily, just select the appropriate colours as foreground and background. In Elements, how I would do that, I've no freaking clue.

I want to see how large my image is in pixels. I look at the handy size indication at the bottom of the image window. Hmm, I can see the size of the file in K, the document colour space, the dimensions (YES!) in cm (no :(), the size of the file in memory, the efficiency, timing or the current tool, but nowhere can I see how many pixels wide and tall my image is.

Some of these things are probably there, but they should be obvious.

Message edited by author 2006-10-10 17:41:32.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

10/10/2006 05:45:04 PM · #12

Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:

look at my reply it tells you

Thank you, the "Save for Web" worked for me. But how do I make colors or masked areas transparent if I am not saving for web?

Does it only appear when you "save as web ready"? I love how Adobe doesn't mention a darn thing about "save as web ready".

*shakes his head*

How discombobulated can you get?

Message edited by author 2006-10-10 17:48:07.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

10/10/2006 05:47:42 PM · #13

Originally posted by theSaj:

<---It's right there !!

Can anyone tell me how to find the above?

(look up)

10/10/2006 05:52:37 PM · #14

PhotoShop is a prepress tool, not a web formatting tool. Adobe will tell you that. They added the web stuff as after thoughts.

When you want to contraol ink densities, color seperations, dot gain, etc, there is no tool that can match PhotoShop

If you only use PhotoShop for web images you are paying way too much.

You might want to try the betaII of Adobe Lightroom. It is a photographer based workflow photograph management application. Might be more intuitive. The beta is free and very stable.

I still say PhotoShop is the most complete application of its kind.

10/10/2006 05:54:10 PM · #15

Originally posted by BradP:

Originally posted by theSaj:
<---It's right there !!

Can anyone tell me how to find the above?
(look up)

???

Other than in the "Save for Web" mode. I do not see that [x] icon/button anywhere in the Color Table palette.

10/10/2006 05:56:22 PM · #16

Originally posted by scarbrd:

I'm not only using PhotoShop for web stuff. Though I was hoping to eliminate the need for a great many tools. (I did good a very good deal on it as well as I would NEVER pay full price for it.)

That said, a lot of times I find myself butting heads with the program.

As for it not being for the web. Nothing from that era was designed for the web. Corel, Quark, Adobe, etc. all pre-date the web.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

10/10/2006 06:01:45 PM · #17

Originally posted by theSaj:

Originally posted by scarbrd:
PhotoShop is a prepress tool, not a web formatting tool. Adobe will tell you that. They added the web stuff as after thoughts.

When you want to contraol ink densities, color seperations, dot gain, etc, there is no tool that can match PhotoShop

If you only use PhotoShop for web images you are paying way too much.

You might want to try the betaII of Adobe Lightroom. It is a photographer based workflow photograph management application. Might be more intuitive. The beta is free and very stable.

I still say PhotoShop is the most complete application of its kind.

I'm not only using PhotoShop for web stuff. Though I was hoping to eliminate the need for a great many tools. (I did good a very good deal on it as well as I would NEVER pay full price for it.)

That said, a lot of times I find myself butting heads with the program.

As for it not being for the web. Nothing from that era was designed for the web. Corel, Quark, Adobe, etc. all pre-date the web.

And they are all lousy web tools, IMHO. People you do not use Quark also complain about it's lack of intuiativeness. Point is, just because a complex application doesn't have the tools you want jump out at you doesn't make it a bad application.

For the record, I use PhotoShop, Quark, Illustrator, InDesign and formally used Freehand, Corel, PageMaker and Frame.

PhotoShop by far has kept the same interface, tool bars, shortcuts, and more better than any of the others. Once you learn it, you'll never use anything else.

GIFs are very web specific, PhotoShop isn't.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

10/10/2006 06:01:55 PM · #18

Sorry Jason - was just a dumb joke..

-- It's right here !!--->

<--- It's right there !!

Like the math question with a right triangle - find X.
Kid sends paper back in with a "it's right here" and an arrow pointing to it on the paper.

fotomann_forever

10/10/2006 06:08:00 PM · #19

Originally posted by scarbrd:

GIFs are very web specific.

Not to mention GIFs are outdated...:-) Go for PNGs dude :-)

Edit: that is unless you are doing animation, then you're stuck with GIF for web.

Message edited by author 2006-10-10 18:09:29.

10/10/2006 06:14:51 PM · #20

Originally posted by BradP:

Sorry Jason - was just a dumb joke..

-- It's right here !!---> <--- It's right there !!

Like the math question with a right triangle - find X.
Kid sends paper back in with a "it's right here" and an arrow pointing to it on the paper.

LOL

(was too flustered so it went over my head...thanks for the double-take)

10/10/2006 06:18:07 PM · #21

Now now....

"GIFs are very web specific"

Sorry, I mean, yes they are commonly used on the web. But I was viewing and working with gifs well before the World Wide Web was crawling.

GIFs may not be a "production quality" format. I'll grant that. But they were being used as rough proofs for years. As they would actually fit on a floppy.

;-)

*sheesh* sometimes I hate being older than the world wide web. And I just turned 30. What do you guys who pre-date the entire internet feel like?

*ponders*

kyebosh

Canon EF 80-200mm f/2.8L

10/10/2006 06:37:43 PM · #22

go to Save for web

Change jpeg to gif, put the colors to 256 or however many you need.

Click a color in the grid and hit the little square at the bottom of the grid.

10/10/2006 06:40:57 PM · #23

Originally posted by theSaj:

Old, so very old. (47) But I have to keep up!