With each new release of Photoshop, Adobe manages both to satisfy the expectations of existing users and to pull a few magic features out of its hat. Version 6 is no exception. Powerful vector editing and masking, improved layer controls, layer styles, incredible typographic control, new Web publishing tools, and a cleaner, more accessible interface are already making version 5.5, itself a groundbreaker, look like ancient history.

Photoshop's new vector features provide even more control when compositing photographic images. You can use the vector drawing tools simply to create polygons and custom shapes, but they can also act as layer clipping paths--vector masks that hide or reveal image areas in underlying layers.

Editable layer effects such as drop shadow and glow were introduced in version 5.5; in version 6, they have been renamed layer styles. New options include satin, stroke and color, gradient, and pattern overlay. The layer styles dialogue box provides much more control--bevel and emboss has five style options, as well as adjusters for technique, depth, direction, size, soften, angle, attitude, gloss, contour, highlight mode, opacity--and that's not all of them. As the name suggests, layer styles can easily be saved and applied to other layers.

You can enter and edit text directly onto the layer and set style attributes from the new tool options bar. Photoshop 6 seems to have benefited from some of InDesign's superb typographic tools, with character and paragraph palettes providing precise control. Web imaging tools have been revamped, with layer-based slicing now available from within Photoshop itself, and a major overhaul of ImageReady introducing weighted optimization, rollover styles, and tweened animation.

If you want the best image editing software that money can buy, look no further. --Ken McMahon

Adobe Photoshop 6.0 software introduces the next generation of image editing with powerful new features that offer something for every user. Delivering a broad and productive tool set, Photoshop helps you explore your creativity, work at peak efficency, and achieve the highest quality results across all media. Combine vector drawing tools and new layer design features that greatly enhance your creative options, output razor-sharp text and shapes from Photoshop, and take advantage of an expanded web tool kit that includes the new ImageReady 3.0 software for advanced web processing. Use text warping and image distortion tools to manipulate and experiment. Photoshop's time-saving features help you break new ground and still beat your deadlines. Master the power of Photoshop faster with user-interface enhancements that help you to get to work quickly and make it easy to take full advantage of the comprehensive tool set.