A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing

Although I generally like PhotoShop CS3 — the new look and feel of the toolboxes, the tabs that save space, etc. — I have one gripe: the keystrokes to get to File > Save For Web have changed.

“Save For Web” is now called “Save For Web & Devices.” The window for this function appears the same as in previous versions, including the presets for saving a web-optimized image. The biggest difference is a button at the bottom named “Device Central.” Select the  preview image with the settings you want to try, then click Device Central to start a Device Emulator. Here you can preview your image as wallpaper, screen saver, full screen and other types of content on several types of cellphones.  You don’t actually save the image in the emulator, you do that back in the familiar Save For Web window.

But previewing in a cellphone is pretty nifty, right? Sure, okay, but that’s not my gripe. The thing that bugs me is that “Save For Web” used to be Alt-F W. Now it’s Alt-F D.

I actually have two reason why I dislike the new keystroke.

#1: It’s not like Alt-F W gives you a different command now. No, it just doesn’t do anything. I suppose that’s better than the CS version where Alt-F A became “Open As” instead of “Save As,” but still. Why change the command key if nothing else is taking its place? Better yet, if you really have to tout the Device Emulator (I can’t think of any other reason to change the command key to D), let the Alt-F D command go directly to the emulator window, and let Alt-F W to go the Save For Web window.

#2: The D key is too close to the S key. I’m far more likely to accidentally hit “S” and save my file when I’m aiming for the “D” key than I ever would have aiming for the “W” key. Big deal, right? Well, it is if you’ve manipulated the image a bit from the original, and you simply want to save it as a web-optimized version while not losing the original. Hit “S” and you’ve saved over the original. Then you’ve got to go back into the History of your actions and regress to the point where you have the image you wanted to keep as the original, and save again. All because “S” is right next to “D” on that line. And, I would like to note, if you aimed for the “W” and missed, hitting “Q” does nothing, and hitting “E” only opens a sub-menu — so you wouldn’t execute a command you didn’t mean to use.

There. Rant done. Feel free to correct me if I’ve misunderstood CS3, or if there’s a magical way to change the shortcut key for “Save For Web.” And yes, there is another shortcut to “Save For Web” — Alt-Shift-Ctrl-S. But why smash four fingers together on that corner of the keyboard when I used to just use 3, in sequence, and witout cramping?