Why is Photoshop such a piece of crap??

[Rajagra]

The #2: when I open large images, they always zoom down (33%) to fit the screen. I usually want to resize the large images by 50%, but then the view is still at 33%, so I have to click three times to get it to 100%, then maximize the window because it hasn't enlarged to fit the image. If I include the annoying percent/cm thing, I will have clicked 5 times (in 3 different places) unnecessarily. If the damn program opened images at 100% by default without zooming - or if the window automatically adjusted to image size, I wouldn't have to click once.

As a workaround, try Control 1 (forces scaling to 100%) or Control 0 (fits image to screen, zooming in/out as necessary.)

[mr_a500]

Peisd

[mr_a500]

As a workaround, try Control 1 (forces scaling to 100%) or Control 0 (fits image to screen, zooming in/out as necessary.)

I tried Control 1, but it does nothing. ("My eyes... the goggles do nothing!")

[Nighted]

You must be pretty young. When I was 12 years old, Photoshop didn't exist. (Windows didn't exist, Mac didn't exist, a "Photo shop" was a place they developed film... and so on :wink:)

lol!

When I was 12 I was learning to program on Apple II's!

[clickclack]

I think I get what you are saying now.
Well depending on your work flow or ease of movements I would try double clicking on the zoom icon in the tool bar. That will bring you instantly to 100%.
I use this quite a bit when I am on the cintiq, it's just faster for my workflow. Mapping zoom to your scrow wheel and/or touch strip is nice too if that is needed.

I just remembered you are using a mac! Raj's "control 1" should be "command 1" I think.
I use PC's mainly now so I don't remember all the Mac equivalents. try the command key instead.

=)

[Hydroid]

You must be pretty young. When I was 12 years old, Photoshop didn't exist. (Windows didn't exist, Mac didn't exist, a "Photo shop" was a place they developed film... and so on :wink:)

Yeah I'm pretty young compared to a lot of you here. ^^ I should say I started using it 7 years ago. But I have put a couple thousand hours into using Photoshop so I feel as though I know my way around at the moment, I'm just lacking in artistic talent to create good looking stuff.

[cactux]

I use Gimp in OSX and Linux boxes

[laffindude]

I'll give a very simple example. Say I want to draw a circle. On other programs I've used, I select the circle icon, pick the brush thickness (or just use the current brush), make the circle and it draws it on its own layer in the current colour (resizeable, movable). Now here's what you have to do in Photoshop (from the CS3 help):

    In the Layers palette, click the New Layer button  to create a new layer for the circle or square. Isolating the circle or square on its own layer makes it easier to work with.
    Select the Elliptical Marquee tool  or the Rectangular Marquee tool  in the toolbox.
    Drag in the document window to create the shape. Hold down the Shift key while dragging to constrain the shape to a circle or square.
    Choose Edit > Stroke.
    In the Stroke dialog box, type a value for Width, and then click the color swatch to display the Adobe Color Picker.
    In the Adobe Color Picker, locate the color range you want using the triangle sliders on the color spectrum bar, and then click the desired color in the color field. The color you select appears in the top half of the color swatch. The original color remains in the bottom half. Click OK.
    Set the location for the stroke in relationship to the marquee by choosing Inside, Center, or Outside. Adjust the other settings as desired, and click OK. Photoshop strokes the line using the color and stroke settings you set.

Yeah... that's intuitive. Who knew you used the marquee tool - which is for cutting - to draw a circle? Why would I have to select a menu item, then type a number? What if I wanted to draw it using the current brush? Why is it not resizeable? Why can't I change its properties after it's created?

I've got many more examples.

Another thing, why does Photoshop make so much use of right-click for context when Macs by default have a bloody one button mouse?

That is just example of what I talked about. Quirks of that particular person. You can select a round brush and set to the size/size of circle you want, paint 1x and you got a circle. You can draw a circle with shape tool. There is no reason to do it his way if it is not intuitive to you.

Marquee is not just for cutting. Marquee is for selecting the area you want to manipulate.

[Lanx]

i heard the mac version of photoshop has horrible menu controls as opposed to windows, idk i've only used windows and was able to navigate fine, years ago.

[fireball87]

i heard the mac version of photoshop has horrible menu controls as opposed to windows, idk i've only used windows and was able to navigate fine, years ago.

I don't really see how, I couldn't really tell the difference, one was laid out like mac menus, one was laid out like windows menus, but the contents seemed to be the same.  Better for the mac side is "help menu search", which helps a lot in finding certain things that I know the name of, but don't know the location for.

[Rumudiez]

don't call a piece of software crap unless you've actually taken the time to learn it. Photoshop was my second image editing program after PhotoImpact and it's always been very intuitive for me, but i'm also a graphic designer by profession. though i have taken classes in it, i've been able to use Photoshop and Illustrator fluidly since i first picked them up.

PS really is a very useful tool and all of your complaints are just signs that you have no idea how to use the program, so pick up a "Dummie's" book or find some tutorials online.. i mean really TT

also, i love how far off topic and how quickly this thread got there. well done, guys xD

[Barn]

Lightroom 3 for photography, Portrait Professional for airbrushing, Photoshop CS5 for design and everything else

That's what I use.

[tomten_alle]

Anyone tried Pixelmator for Mac? I'm afraid that it is just another Photoshop clone with some features getting more attention than others.

It is great! I used Photoshop for years, then I switched to Mac. Photoshop for Mac is terrible. Pixelmator is what Photoshop for mac should be. It uses native controls, great keyboard shortcuts. The only issue with it is that it does not support RAW or CMYK.

I just wish Photoshop wasn't so damn bloated.

Exactly!

[Rajagra]

don't call a piece of software crap unless you've actually taken the time to learn it.

Well there's the problem. You can use PS for years without fully understanding it. Most users are like that.

it's always been very intuitive for me, but i'm also a graphic designer by profession.

Another important point. Photoshop was never really intended for drawing/photo enhancement, but for graphical use (advertising etc.) It has bloated to include all roles, but this shows in the unintuitive interface.

find some tutorials online..

Still a problem. Photoshop tutorials are kind of wooly. Not so much "how-to"s as "how you can"s. It is hard to find actual explanations of how things work.
Specific example: layer blending modes. In PS you are expected to just try them out and pick the one you like. No explanations are given.
In contrast, GIMP not only tells you what the modes do, with examples, it even gives you the formulae used.
The PS way may be good for creative types. Not so good for us analytical types who need to understand what we are doing or we get confused.

[Malphas]

PS really is a very useful tool and all of your complaints are just signs that you have no idea how to use the program, so pick up a "Dummie's" book or find some tutorials online.. i mean really TT

Wasn't that his whole point? That you shouldn't have to buy books and tutorials to figure out out a piece of software.

[sordna]

I use gimp on linux. These fake tenkeyless came up pretty good, the black unicomp took me about 3 minutes to do, the white took 15 because of the desk and cable, and because the original edges were not the same length on the photo. After trying to shrink the right edge it still didn't look right so I ended up copying the left edge, flipping it over and pasting it to the right. It's actually a very quick operation, gimp allows you to flip a pasted selection right on the target image and you can still move it around afterwards. The desk still looks bad, could have done better with it.

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[hashbaz]

The Gimp intuitive ... lolwut?  As a novice I find Gimp incredibly opaque and frustrating.

[sordna]

Maybe. Never said it was intuitive though! I slowly accumulate skills on it, like fliping that pasted bit thing. Oh and layers are cool once you figure out you can cycle through them with PgUp/PgDown.
But yes, instead of Gimp'ing imaginary keyboards, I sometimes use a dremel instead:

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[Malphas]

I'll T-ball you in a minute, Ripster.

[hcry4]

You misspelled tea bag.

[nineteensc2]

Photoshop is rather good, you just need a bit of patience and enthusiasm to get started.