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Photoshop continues to be the industry leader for graphic and photo manipulation, so all eyeballs are on Adobe for delivering features and enhancements in the new version. Here are some of the top features in Photoshop CS4: Fluid Canvas Rotation This is a simple and straight-forward improvement, but it really shows that Adobe did their homework and have listened to their user base. For the most part, Photoshop users use the program primarily as a layout tool. Add text here, logo there, pictures, drop shadow, etc. However, Photoshop includes a vast tool set for painting and drawing, and many artists have made it their medium of choice. To accommodate such users, Adobe has added the ability to rotate the canvas at the artist's leisure. Brush strokes and pencil shading can be done with your hand's natural positioning, not constraining to the canvas' orientation.

3D Editing and Compositing This feature alone may persuade buyers to cough up the extra dough for Photoshop Extended. While you may not be a 3D modeler yourself, you may find yourself having to incorporate 3D objects into your composition. Imported 3D objects are can be fully rotated in 3D space. The task of mapping a logo or graphic onto 3D objects takes a few brief seconds. Select your 2D layer and select, "Merge Down" to automatically map your 2D graphic to your 3D object while properly conforming to all the contours. The 3D Postcard is a great new tool which will convert a flat 2D objects into a 3D layers that can be easily oriented to any perspective. After Effects users will find this feature similar to 3D layers.

The New Masks Panel Masks in Photoshop CS4 are re-editable, feathered, and density-controlled through the new Masks Panel. Creating and adjusting of pixel and vector masks take seconds. Feather and mask density are controlled with simple sliders, giving you pixel specific accuracy. Another new feature is Refine Mask which allows simple yet fine-grained control over the mask size and edges. Color Range has been updated letting you automatically create highly detailed masks based on single or multiple colors. (Think Sin City type color separation)

Live, Nondestructive Corrections with the Adjustments Panel The Adjustment Panel is a new interface for creating nondestructive corrections. Adding a correction will automatically create a new adjustment layer and bring up the Adjustment Panel. Now, instead of navigating through dialogue boxes, all adjustment parameters are edited through the Adjustment Panel, which is just a click away. Also, new to the corrections palette is the Vibrance adjustment, giving you greater control over color saturation while preserving delicate tones such as skin colors. Works great on portraits. Extended Depth of Field Similar to the Merge to HDR command which combines multiple images of different exposures into a single image, the Auto-Blend Layers command will do the same for depth of field. Take a picture of the same scene with varying depth-of-fields and the Photoshop will merge them into one, infinite depth of field image.