At last our friends John (Nack, Adobe Senior Product Manager for Photoshop) and Bryan (O’Neil Hughes, Photoshop Product Manager) are in the lounge and free to speak about Photoshop CS5. We didn’t even have to get them liquored up to extract secrets from them this time. No, we were freely able to quiz them about their favorite new features in the latest version of Photoshop.

(For the record, I was there, and it was the real Bryan O’Neil Hughes, and he is not a witch. As far as we know…Although he does show an uncanny capability to run very long distances and still have a giant grin on his face. Suspicious, yes, but supernatural?)

Here’s what we covered…

...in what has to be Part 1 of this discussion because we didn’t get to everything in the 27:56 minutes we had allotted for this “hour.” We probably should have locked our guests in the ‘lounge, made them live off olives and snack mix, and not let them go back to Adobe HQ in San Jose. But there’s work to be finished on CS5, so it was in our own interest to let them go. For now.

• 64-bit: Not much more to say. Better, stronger, and in this case, faster. It’s Bionic Photoshop. OK, John has a little more to say. And it’s a cool look into what is really involved in creating a new version of something as mature and labrynthian as Photoshop.
• Content-Aware Fill: The feature that is so magical that Bryan was accused of experimenting with the dark arts and possibly being an alien-clone. (Here’s a link to the video that started the YouTube conspiracy that accuses both Bryan and Content-Aware Fill of being not-1%-of-this-world.) And in the lounge you’ll hear how CAF works and doesn’t work, as Deke plays the devil’s advocate. (Do you still call it “devil’s” advocate when you’re questioning possible Alien-clone-maguses? ) Bottom line, pretty cool, but Deke will stay in business teaching his minions how to fine tune some of its limitations.
• Puppet Warp: not is not just for puppets (or turning your other worldly enemies photographically into puppets that do your bidding!) Straighten out your landscapes, manipulate your text, or turn your subjects’ frowns upside down. (See it in action in Deke’s video from last week.) It’s Photoshop distortion extraordinaire.
• HDR: So far, HDR updates in CS5 are the frontrunner for Deke’s “Feature That Used to Suck and Now Doesn’t” (previous winners were Brightness/Contrast and Dodge & Burn). Here’s Deke’s take if you missed it.

Once again another great show with our favorite Product Manager Alien Warlock Impersonators. We’ll be luring them back soon to talk more CS5, but for now, here’s the regular-quality (128kbps) audio file. You can stream, or for best results, right-click and choose Download or Save. For you audiophiles out there, here’s the link to the high-quality (320kbps) version. Be sure to download, don’t stream. And don’t forget the usual suggestion to subscribe via iTunes.

Cheers to John and Bryan and all the hard working engineers who made Photoshop CS5 possible and supernaturally interesting. Thanks for joining us and we’ll see you next week. Sláinte!