Comments on: Photoshop CS4 Sliders

By: Thomas Edwards

Thomas Edwards — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:14:17 +0000

@Peter, you better bloody hope so otherwise I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be very annoyed. It’s very expensive software considering how poorly put together it is (or should that me, held together?)

By: Peter

Peter — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:50:03 +0000

The problem is that the code that creates these sliders was created at vastly different points in time. Some of the filters, particularly the older ones, use Carbon/Windows API calls directly, some use their own controls that were built on top of that since the engineers needed a feature the standard OS sliders were lacking, some use an outdated Adobe framework named ADM (Adobe Dialog Manager), some use parts of the UI framework that the main Photoshop uses, and some use something entirely different. It is a problem inherent in many programs that have grown over more than a decade. But basically, it is a sign that the Photoshop source code is in desperate need of some restructuring and house keeping work.

My guess is that many of the UI inconsistency problems will be solved in the process of the conversion to Cocoa since all the code that creates any kind of control widget on the screen has to be rewritten, at least on the Mac.

By: jhsindesign

jhsindesign — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:12:32 +0000

On a more positive side… I must say the new ‘Cloning Stamp’ tool is totally amazing! It gives you an alignment preview before you click. Things like that make me happy.

By: jhsindesign

jhsindesign — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 16:08:47 +0000

I’ve noticed a lot of unique patterns while using CS4 as well. I wonder if they are all just legacy elements from past versions? Time to get out the consistency bat and shake out the UI leftovers.

By: philafication

philafication — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:52:16 +0000

Me too. I am getting upset now. Big time.

By: George Egonut

George Egonut — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:44:59 +0000

Thanks. I had never thought of it before, but now this will bug me forever.

I will say that, in my opinion, two different sliders could be justified … I like the gradient slider for options like opacity and, of course, the Levels dialog. However, I’d rather see just one type than this many.

By: Prescott Perez-Fox

Prescott Perez-Fox — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:26:11 +0000

Adobe does certain things well, but consistency is not one of them. Don’t even get me started on how Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat all have massively different Print dialog windows. Ugh.

By: Robin Lundgren

Robin Lundgren — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:48:27 +0000

How horrid, no consistency.. They should stick to one style of slider and then just change around the layout of it to fit the purpose.

Good post tho, thanks!