Let's make this real simple: Don't do Photoshop without PhotoTools from Extensis.
   Don't think about it. Don't consider it. Don't even cogitate. That is because PhotoTools 2 will save you so much time (and, therefore, money) that it is simply a no-brainer.
   And if you think I am just "whistlin' Dixie," go to Extensis' home page, download a demo copy of PhotoTools and once that demo (fully-functional, time-release) expires, you'll buy it.
   This is not an ad, but, truly, PhotoTools changes the ease-of-use in Photoshop so dramatically, it is difficult not to make it sould like one. We give a top rating of five stars to a product, but PhotoTools would deserve a sixth.

   To start with, PhotoTools gives Photoshop menu bars like the one at the top of this review. That particular menu bar is, of course, customized. And you can have any number of them, all customized. You never have to go searching through the menus again. To give you just an idea of the time-savings here, see those lassos above? They represent the coomands to select none, invert select, add to selection and take away from selection. Think about clicking on oue of those guys as opposed to clicking on Select in the Photoshop menus and then mousing down the list to the appropriate commands.
   What this does, of course, is keeps your eyes and attention on the work you're doing. You can stay focused. The menu bar addition (and there is nothing, including your own made-up commands, you can't put into a menu bar) all by itself is worth the price of PhotoTools. But there's more. Much more.

the necessity of losing control of all the nifty text attributes you are used to using in other programs. PhotoText brings them to Photoshop – including a couple unavailable elsewhere, like the shadow text illustrated above). Kerning, line spacing, width controls. It is all available in PhotoText, which can also transfer your text to your Photoshop graphic either with or without anti-aliasing!
   No kidding.
   Whether you're doing Web stuff or normal illustrations, there is a whole package of other special things PageTools does. PhotoButtons let you fiddle with special buttons to your heart's content; PhotoGlow gives you (what else) glowing outlines; and PhotoBevel and PhotoEmboss give you some really nifty, dandy effects. All of them have so many options you'll have fun just fiddling with the possibilities.
   Finally, there is PhotoShadow. We're not talking just drop shadows, here, but shadows which are cast like they do in front of you while trekking in from the beach after a long day in the sun! Cast 'em any way you want, in any color, with any kind of fuzziness (maybe its cloudy). This is awesome.