For PS8: Will there be a Photobars "CS" supplement to Phototools?

designer

Oct 2, 2003

Thanks Daryl, your photobars are an essential piece of photoshop for me – can’t imagine being without them!

wrote in message

Hello all,

With the news of the impending release of Photoshop CS (PS8), I am

beginning to receive e-mail asking if I will be providing a Photobars CS supplement for use with the Extensis Phototools 3.06 plug-in. Although I have updated my website to answer that question, I’ll repeat that answer here: Yes, I do hope to provide a Photobars CS supplement but no, it is not available yet.

Unquestionably, the changes in Photoshop CS (PS8) will introduce new menu

items that will make most if not all buttons in Photobars 7 invalid for accessing the desired commands. I do not know how quickly I’ll be upgrading to PS8, but once I do, I will certainly explore whether or not Extensis Phototools 3.06 and Photobars 7 will function correctly in PS8. "Function correctly" as I describe it simply means that changes in PS8 do not block out the Extensis menu from appearing and that access to the Photobars from that menu remain available. If the Extensis menu is not available, there may be a workaround solution that is less elegant but workable, or there may be no solution at all. If Photobars is functional in PS8, then I will again work toward developing a fully remapped set of toolbars and buttons for Photobars, inclusive of new buttons as appropriate to address new menu items in Photoshop CS. If Photobars is non-functional in PS8, then a solution to providing a Photobars supplement becomes dependent upon Extensis providing an update for Phototools that in turn benefits salvaging Photobars once again. Obviously, that will further delay a release of Photobars CS. If Extensis chooses not to continue providing updates for their aging Phototools product, then those of us who prefer toolbars to keyboard shortcuts may have seen the last of Photobars.

Current users of Photobars 6 and 7 will be notified by e-mail if Photobars

CS becomes a reality and again, that information will also be available at <http://jazzdiver.com/photoshop>.

Thanks,

Daryl

pope

Oct 2, 2003

Thanks, Daryl, for the info. Hope the Photobars work.

Robert_Barnett

Oct 2, 2003

I still can’t believe they didn’t put in a button bar feature in Photoshop CS. It has to be one of the very few commercial applications without one. It would be nice to have though. Well Maybe Photoshop CS 2005.

Robert

Daryl_Pritchard

Oct 3, 2003

Robert,

While I give kudos to Adobe for broadening the flexibility of Photoshop by introducing user-definable keyboard shortcuts, I too agree that a toolbar feature would have been very welcome and would further expand Photoshop’s user-friendliness. As we both know, opinions on toolbars are broad and varied, but I think one can become and even more efficient Photoshop user by employing both keyboard shortcuts and toolbars in their workflow. I’m keeping my hopes up that Phototools 3.06 will remain fully functional in PS8 so that Photobars 7 can be updated and also remain useful.

Regards,

Daryl

Robert_Barnett

Oct 3, 2003

You also, can hope that maybe now that Extensis has a new owner and that they have been adding and updating other Photoshop plug-ins that they will start updating PhotoTools. One could hope.

Robert

Daryl_Pritchard

Oct 3, 2003

Robert,

I wasn’t aware that Extensis has a new owner, but it would certainly be nice to see them take interest in restoring Phototools to its full original capability, while also fixing features that don’t work…namely custom buttons for keystroke sequences. With that feature fixed, Photobars could offer even greater flexibility by allowing those who favor buttons to assign keyboard shortcuts to a button and placing it onto a toolbar.

Daryl

hanford_lemoore

Oct 4, 2003

I still can’t believe they didn’t put in a button bar feature in Photoshop CS.

It looks like they added a customizable button bar to GoLive CS:

<http://www.adobe.com/products/golive/newfeatures.html>

Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before Photoshop gets it.

~Hanford

Robert_Barnett

Oct 4, 2003

The company that created the technology for their SmartScale plug-in has them now. So I see a strong possibility that we will see more updates.

Robert

Daryl_Pritchard

Oct 8, 2003

Robert,

I see that Celartem is the parent company that owns Extensis now, so let’s hope there is an influx of interest and capital to keep PhotoTools alive. However, today I received an e-maill from a fellow PS user in England who wrote that he called the Extensis office there to see what their plans were regarding Phototools. They told him they have no plans for a Phototools update.

Now, whether that is firm or not, I’m not sure. It may be the usual response of "no update is planned" until sometime after the retail release of Photoshop. If there are any conflicts with Phototools not working in PS8 that only require updating a few library files, perhaps Extensis will continue to provide those fixes/updates.

It would be nice to hear if any beta tester of PS8 has tried intstalling the most current version of Phototools 3.06 to see if it works with PS8. Even if it did, that’s no guarantee with regard to the final retail release if what I observed with PS7 is any indication. I’m assuming also that a beta tester can’t report whad does/doesn’t work with a beta of PS.

Regards,

Daryl

Robert_Barnett

Oct 8, 2003

To be honest I think our efforts would be better used if we kept after Adobe to add a button bar and customizable one to the next version of Photoshop. It really could use one and it would be really useful. The rest of the stuff in the PhotoTools package is next worthless as most of it has already been added to Photoshop. Maybe this is why Extensis doesn’t want to update the package they consider it a waste of time. But, I would rather see a button bar built-in. It is about time Photoshop had one too.

They tell you to create an action and assign it to an F key but that only goes so far and I think it is a sloppy way of doing it. Besides it takes up valuable palette and F key assignments that can be and are usually needed for something more important that calling the image resize dialog box or whatever.

We need to get together and post our request in the new features forums.

Robert

Daryl_Pritchard

Oct 24, 2003

UPDATE: The changes in Photoshop CS (PS8) have introduced new menu items that again drive a need to remap the buttons previously developed in Photobars 7, as many are now invalid for accessing the desired commands. I expect to upgrade rather quickly to PS8 so that I can finalize efforts currently underway to develop Photobars CS. Presently, it appears that Photobars will work with PS8, without any further need for Extensis to update essential files from Phototools 3.06. However, note that this is based upon a PS8 release candidate (beta) and not the final retail release; hopefully Adobe will make no changes in the PS8 retail release that corrupt the usability of Photobars. This is second-hand information from a PS8 beta user as I have no experience yet with PS8 myself.

Regards,

Daryl

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