Photoshop^R CS5 ships with some new 3D enhancements. If you remember, Photoshop began introducing 3D objects with the addition of a new 3D Menu and commands such as New 3D Postcard from Layer and New Shape from Layer. With this new upgrade, Photoshop has gained some nice 3D features via the new Repousse dialog box.

From the 3D Panel, it's easy to convert a 2D artwork into a 3D Repousse Object. When the new Repousse dialog box opens, you have several Repousse Shape presets to choose from which you can refine with the extrusion properties such as Depth, Scale, Bend, Shear, Twist and Inflate. This technique is good for tasks such as creating 3D text.

For a more realistic 3D object, you can "apply" materials onto the surface. You have several textures/materials that ship with Photoshop CS5 and you can download more (3D – Browse 3D Content Online). You can even edit existing presets or load/create your own. Starting with a generic looking 3D model, you will first want to use the Materials section of the 3D panel to "apply" one of the Material presets onto your model. For example, if we started with a laptop 3D model, it would be a bland, gray color. To make it look more realistic, we can apply different materials to parts of the model such as the frame around the screen, the screen itself and the keyboard. These materials will replace (or cover) the bland gray with realistic textures such as silver-colored plastic for the frame around the screen and black plastic with white letters for the keys of the keyboard.

But applying materials to the surface of your 3D model is just the beginning. Next, we will need to add lighting to our model via the Lights section of the 3D panel. By controlling the position, direction and other characteristics of the lighting we can affect the look of the materials that we just applied to the model and create shadows, creating even more realism. Another new feature in Photoshop CS5 is the ability to use images as a source for the 3D lights. This is a great feature for creating realistic reflections.

*Adobe provided a review copy to me free of charge.

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