★ Beginning the Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current and primary market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. It has been described as "an industry standard for graphics professionals" and was one of the early "killer applications" on the Macintosh.

Photoshop CS4, the current eleventh iteration of the program, was officially announced on 23 September 2008 and released on 15 October 2008. "CS" reflects its integration with other Creative Suite products, and the number "4" represents it as the fourth version released since Adobe re-branded its products under the CS umbrella.

CS3

Smart Layers display the filter without altering the original image (here on Mac OS X)

Photoshop CS3 is marketed with three main components of improvement over previous versions: "Work more productively, edit with unrivalled power, and composite with breakthrough tools." New features propagating productivity include streamlined interface, improved Camera Raw, better control over print options, enhanced PDF support, and better management with Adobe Bridge. Editing tools new to CS3 are the Clone Source palette and nondestructive Smart Filters, and other features such as the Brightness/Contrast adjustment and Vanishing Point module were enhanced. The Black and White adjustment option improves users control over manual grayscale conversions with a dialog box similar to that of Channel Mixer. Compositing is assisted with Photoshop's new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools and improved image stitching technology.

CS3 Extended contains all features of CS3 plus tools for editing and importing some 3D graphics file formats, enhancing video, and comprehensive image analysis tools, utilizing MATLAB integration and DICOM file support.

CS4

Photoshop CS4 features additions such as the ability to paint directly on 3D models, wrap 2D images around 3D shapes, convert gradient maps to 3D objects, add depth to layers and text, get print-quality output with the new ray-tracing rendering engine, and enjoy exporting to supported common 3D formats; the new Adjustment and Mask Panels; Content-aware scaling (also known as seam carving); Fluid Canvas Rotation and File display options. On 30 April, Adobe released Photoshop CS3 Extended, which includes all the same features of Adobe Photoshop CS3 with the addition of capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D, and high end film and video users. The successor to Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS4, is the first 64-bit Photoshop on consumer computers.

Language availability

Adobe Photoshop CS3 is available in the following languages: Arabic (Middle Eastern version), Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew (Middle Eastern version), Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

Specific features for Arabic and Middle Eastern languages

The Middle Eastern versions are specifically developed for Arabic and Hebrew languages.

Text Settings

Photoshop Middle Eastern versions come with special settings for typing and laying out Arabic or Hebrew text, such as:

• Possibility to use Arabic, Persian or Hindi digits
• Use kashidas for letter spacing and full justification
• Set vowels/diacritics positioning
• Ligature option
• Justify text in three possible ways to get the results you want (Standard, Arabic, Naskh)

Additional fonts

Photoshop Middle Eastern versions support most fonts shipped with the OS as well as a large number of third party fonts widely used by graphic designers in the Middle Eastern regions. Photoshop Middle Eastern versions install one additional font that facilitates your work in Middle Eastern languages: WinSoft Pro, which is available in four styles: Medium, Medium Italic, Bold and Bold Italic.

Bi-directional text flow

In Photoshop Middle Eastern versions, the notion of right-to-left behaviour applies to several objects: Paragraph and Character. You can easily mix Right-to-Left and Left-to-Right Words and Paragraphs in a document.

Dictionary and hyphenation module

Photoshop Middle Eastern versions come with a comprehensive dictionary for Arabic allowing you to spell check Arabic text with a choice of rules, like Strict Aleef Hamza, Strict Final Yaa, both or none.

Find/replace

You can search for and change specific occurrences of Middle Eastern text. Photoshop Middle Eastern versions include an "Ignore Accent" option. When checked, the user can search for a string of text whether it contains some accents or not.

Save for Web

Special encodings have been added to allow this option to work with Middle Eastern languages.

Contact Sheet II / Picture Gallery / Smart Quotes

These options have been adapted to work correctly with Middle Eastern languages.