no separate airbrush tool in photoshop CS. WHY!

[jigsaw_merge@adobeforums.com]

Just to chime in, reading this thread has helped a bit with my disgruntlement that started with Ps7 and was continued with CS. CS is definitely better than 7 - being able to lock in certain aspects of the brushes has helped considerably with the way I work - but I still think 6 was and is the better choice. I will continue to work at it though (CS that is).

My one question (at this time anyway) on the "opacity/flow" issue is why not keep "opacity" as the single numeric keystroke such as the other brushes (in addition to the continuity that it would have had with Ps6) and make "flow" the shift+number? Hitting shift+number is cumbersome at best and really has taken away efficiency while creating masks. If I could reverse that in a preference (or...), I certainly would.

[Ann_Shelbourne@adobeforums.com]

Shift number is for Opacity if you have the Airbrush selected and
for Flow if you have the ordinary Brush selected.

AND

Just number is for Flow if you have the Airbrush selected and
for Opacity if you have the ordinary Brush selected.

You WILL get used to it eventually. Really!

[jigsaw_merge@adobeforums.com]

I was looking for the "why" in my posting. I figure I will get used to this new way eventually, but that doesn't mean I will like it. The main reason is that I prefer "opacity" regulation over "flow". That is why I asked the question of "why" the numeric key stroke for opacity couldn't be consistent for all brushes, including the airbrush. I am glad to know that it has an option, shift+number, because I was initially pretty steamed about the total loss of numeric opacity control with the airbrush. Now I am only miffed. So it seems that you need to use the regular brushes for "opacity" and the airbrush for "flow" if you want to work quickly - hmmm, we shall see...

[progress@adobeforums.com]

chris the hoops are as follows...correct me if i am wrong

hoop 1 : you cant have a different setting for the airbrush and the paintbrush without selecting a preset each time

hoop 2 : before the opacity controlled both the brush/airbrush, now we have seperate controls for both flow and opacity because the behaviour of the tool is no longer defined by the tool but by the brush

hoop 3 : instead of setting up ONE brush shape, you now have to set up a brush for BOTH tools if your interested increase in speed over how slow the ui has now made things

hoop 4 : count how many more steps there are between the airbrush and the brush either by setting a preset up or just manually adjusting as compared to simply switching the tool as before

and as ann points out, keyboard shortcuts change as per the tool your on..! (consistancy of shortcuts anyone???)

if its so great if its so wonderfull, why do we have all the brush tools, the dodge, the burn, the clone, the history etc etc as mere options like the airbrush is...wouldnt that be wonderfull?

[Mike_Ornellas@adobeforums.com]

I'd like to know why the application still generates different sizes of brushes between tools. (AKA reference the last tool used for that tool and not have a constant brush for all brush related tools.

It's like asking a painter to pick up 6 different brushes when creating a art piece, when in fact, most of the time, a painter uses one or two brushes, but mixes the paint to their liking.

Think about it.

at least make it a check box to toggle a feature of such.

[progress@adobeforums.com]

thats kind of handy in one way, i use different brushes on my eraser than on my paintbrush and different again on dogde/burn

the airbrush/brush sort of gets around that because of the checkbox which enables the airbrush/brush state, but then theres the flow/opacity thing to then change as well...everytime you use them...

checkbox wouldnt do any harm though

[CouponBoy@adobeforums.com]

I'm a graphic designer/photoshop artist/retoucher, work 10 hours a day in Photoshop. I agree with Progress that version 6's tool controls were far more user friendly. I have PS6 at work, and I have PS 7 and CS at home. I've spent hours trying to figure out the new brush controls and "rebuilding" my standard set of brush types and sizes. Not an easy task.
In PS6 all I need to do is press J or B to switch from my "flat color fill in brush" to my "soft touch using wacom" airbrush. I use the pen buttons to switch brush sizes. Mostly all I ever use is round brushes, airbrush brushes are 100% soft, and brush brushes I set to full hard round. Occasionally I may swap the type depending on my need, but my different options boil down to maybe 4 or 5? In PS7 and CS there are so many brush options. And having the brush/airbrush be combined into 1 hinders its 1-letter shortcut usefulness (what Progress is saying).
Chris Cox: you are invited to my office for a full day or two and you can watch me work and the rest of my department, contact me privately if you'd like.

Chris

[Chris_Cox@adobeforums.com]

nsnape - you're not reading what I'm typing.
I am listening, but I'm also answering questions where I can. I haven't ruled out much.

And I know the tools do work identically (and recently spent a few minutes verifying it, again), so it has to be something that you're doing wrong. But I can't read minds, so I don't know exactly what you're doing wrong.

Yes, most of the (real) brush/airbrush problems boil down to missing the one letter switching. In theory you can do the same thing by clicking different presets, but it's not always as fast. Someone is looking into that.

Coupon - that's a dangerous thing to offer. We've got a lot of people here who want to do customer site visits, pick apart how you work, grill you for your photoshop knowledge, etc. If you're serious, contact me via email (ccox@adobe.com).

[progress@adobeforums.com]

cool chris, thanks for the feedback and thanks for lending an ear...might drop you a line.

[nsnape@adobeforums.com]

Not that there is any way to get back to the Airbrush tool of Photoshop 6 other than running Photoshop 6, Katrin Eismann just posted a very useful PDF on the imagerevue site.
In the PDF there are some good tips but you may find this part the most interesting for getting used to as Anne said , the new presets;

Select OtherDynamics > Pen Pressure from the Controls popup menu under the Opacity Jitter slider control.

You have to click on the lock to the right of Shape and Other Dynamics. Otherwise you'll have to set these for each and every brush as they will default back to the original value each time a new brush is activated.

She also says that she has to reduce the flow a lot and then reduce the opacity to get a light airbrush. This is what I find and why I prefer the old Airbrush without flow.

Chris: the CS brush works at higher brush opacities as the old but when you reduce the opacity without modifying flow it just doesn't work as in Photoshop 6. The only way to do this is to recreate the brush presets with quite a few flow settings. Not ideal for doing certain types of work that were a lot easier before with the upfront control of opacity only.

[Chris_Cox@adobeforums.com]

nsnape - one more time: it functions identically. Just don't confuse opacity and pressure/flow. (hint: the airbrush never had an opacity control, and defaulted to 50% pressure/flow)