Photoshop is the World’s leader in digital imaging software. It has been the industry standard design application for years, and with each new iteration it pulls further ahead of its competitors thanks to its huge user base and professional experience.

When digital photography was in its infancy and image editing wasn’t high on many agendas, Photoshop didn’t stand out much from the alternatives such as Paint Shop Pro. More recently, however, the Adobe team has taken the ascendancy, and since version 7, Photoshop has been all about fulfilling users’ requests and prayers for a top quality graphics package. CS3 can be regarded as version 10 and adds more to the mix for photographers, designers, and video editors.

Having nailed the interface in previous versions, CS3 keeps to the same winning formula, meaning that anyone who has used Photoshop before will immediately feel comfortable. Changes come in the form of Adobe Bridge, a replacement for the file browser, more photography filters and the star of the show, the “Vanishing Point”. This filter lets you edit, clone, and retouch images while keeping the perspective; great!

Without going in to too much detail, Photoshop is a program for professionals and as such has a steep learning curve. Anyone who is willing to devote the required time to learn the basics will definitely be rewarded with a much higher degree of control over their images and will also find it easy to tap in to all the great resources throughout the web, be it in the form of tutorials or plug-ins, that will extend the functionality further. The flexibility of the program lets you customize the interface, the brushes, the fill patterns, tool presets, filters, and practically anything else you may find within the software.

With all the power that you get, it’s testament to the Photoshop team that it runs so smoothly on any modern PC, although if you start getting heavy with layers or high resolutions, there will be a noticeable hit to your system’s resources. As you become more accustomed to the operation of the program, you will pick up more efficient habits such as the multitude of keyboard shortcuts. Each one is customizable, and there are key combos for every operation to save you from time spent trawling through menus and toolbars.

Adobe’s Photoshop CS3 is another giant leap forward for digital imaging software and it remains a long way ahead of the chasing pack. It may overwhelm beginners with the sheer quantity of tools and options, but ultimately it will reward anyone that doesn’t mind putting in the ground work to learn the basics. Highly recommended for everyone with time, money and an interest in imaging, particularly photographers and designers.