I have been using intensively the Photoshop CS3 beta and Xara Xtreme Pro prior to writing review of both. I have also highlighted the return in photo finishing software to the core workflow in digital image processing – refining and color/contrast correcting original raw images. One of the common features in all these new programs is the ability to do ever wider non-destructive processing on your original images. See the previous story on Adobe LightRoom and Nikon CaptureNX. Both Photoshop CS3 and Xara are extending this beyond adjustment layers and now include smart objects that can have filters applied to them with out effecting the underlying image.
I have some problems with this trend for ever-wider non-destructive editing of original images.
Here are my beefs:
1)If you want to preserve your original image there is a simple and inexpensive way – make a copy. All my images go onto Delkin archival DVDs immediately after downloading onto my PC. In addition I always duplicate the background layer and use that copy as the point of departure whenever doing photo edits. If a tool cannot do simple layer copies – it likely does not get used by me. So preserving copies should not be the reason someone uses these non-destructive methods and tools.
2)I find Photoshop’s layers, icons and processing to be rapidly approaching Byzantine complexity. What applies when and with what precedence is becoming harder to follow than ever before. Hence the simplicity of Adobe Lightroom and Nikon Capture NX are welcome. The other vendors such as Corel with Painter, PaintShop Pro and now the Ulead Photo Impact line are sort of caught in the middle – they have layers, layer masks, and adjustment layers but not yet layer comps, conditionals and smart objects. Will they succumb to the new non-destructive layer mania ?
3) Frequently I do not want the layer operation to apply to the original, pristine image but rather to the filtered and processed derived image/layer. I now have to be careful to ensure the effect is being applied to the desired layer or composite. I have sometimes resorted to a Zone System for Layers – just to ensure exactly that.
4)I have seen colleagues build up huge 100++ layer monster images prior to meeting with an approving designer or art director – so they can immediately make changes and respond to any request made by said deities. It is usually hopeless to try to make such guesses. Hopefully over time this will be a diminishing requirement.
5)Finally smart objects are being touted as duplicatable. The duplicates will refer back to the original and follow any destructive changes made there. If you can follow the convoluted logic here I have a series of Cascading Styleheets that need fixing.
In sum, this reviewer sees mixed returns on effort for the spate of non-destructive layer/object features cropping up in graphic design and photo editing. The whole beauty of digital imaging and design was to simplify and get away from programmatic influences and complexity. Scripting languages, Actions and Animation ActionScripts a la Flash have brought programming complexity to design spaces with mixed creative results. Will ever more complex non-destructive layers and smart objects bring an equivalent hieroglyphics to graphic design tools ?
(c)JBSurveyer 2007 – If you liked this, let others know:
