Photoshop CS6 New Features: The 5 Best Additions
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Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.
The Photoshop CS6 new features that mattered most are five tools, and every one of them is still in Photoshop today.
They are the Content-Aware Move Tool and Content-Aware Patch Tool, the Oil Paint filter, the non-destructive Crop Tool, dashed shape strokes, and tool recording in Actions.
Each section below shows what the tool does, how to use it step by step, and where the newer PTC tutorial dedicated to that tool lives.
Photoshop CS6 was the last version of Photoshop sold as a perpetual license. Photoshop has been subscription-only since Creative Cloud.
So the old question, whether to upgrade to CS6, is gone. This post is now a record of what arrived in CS6 and a working guide to five tools you still use.
The video was recorded in Photoshop CS6. Every tool below is still in the latest version of Photoshop, which is exactly why the tutorial still works.
Key Takeaways
- The Content-Aware Move Tool moves or extends a selection and fills the hole it leaves behind. No layers or masks are needed.
- Turn on Sample All Layers with a blank layer active, and the moved copy lands on that new layer while the original stays untouched.
- The Oil Paint filter now lives at Filter > Stylize > Oil Paint, and it needs a compatible graphics card or the menu item is greyed out.
- Since CS6, cropping is non-destructive by default. Delete Cropped Pixels is the checkbox that turns that off, and you should leave it unchecked.
- An action skips your brush strokes until you turn on Allow Tool Recording in the Actions panel menu. It is off by default.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- The Content-Aware Move Tool in Photoshop CS6
- Extend Mode and the Sample All Layers Trick
- The Content-Aware Patch Tool
- The Oil Paint Filter in Photoshop CS6
- The New Crop Tool in Photoshop CS6
- Straighten an Image With the Crop Tool
- The Perspective Crop Tool, New in CS6
- New Shape Strokes in Photoshop CS6
- Tool Recording in Actions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Photoshop CS6 New Features, Still Worth Knowing
- Previous Photoshop Updates
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to move, extend, or duplicate a subject with the Content-Aware Move Tool
- How to remove a subject with the Content-Aware Patch Tool
- How to turn a photo into a painting with the Oil Paint filter
- How to crop, straighten, and fix perspective without losing pixels
- How to add dashed, gradient, or pattern strokes to a shape
- How to make an action replay your brush strokes
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CS6, the version the video was recorded in
- Any later release also works, up to the latest version of Photoshop
- A photo with a single subject on a simple background, like the woman jogging across a field in the video
- For the Oil Paint filter, a computer with a compatible graphics card
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Deselect | Ctrl D | Command D |
| Step backward through history | Ctrl Alt Z | Command Option Z |
| Select the Crop Tool | C | C |
| Commit a crop or transform | Enter | Return |
The Content-Aware Move Tool in Photoshop CS6
Retouching got a whole lot faster in CS6 with two new tools from the Content-Aware family. The first is the Content-Aware Move Tool.
It lets you make a selection and move it, or extend it, to another spot in the image. Photoshop fills the hole you left behind and blends the edges, without layers or masks. It is almost like magic.
The video uses a photo of a woman jogging across a field. Select the Content-Aware Move Tool. It shares a slot in the Toolbar with the Spot Healing Brush Tool, so click and hold that icon to find it.
Make a selection around your subject. Leave some breathing room around her, because Photoshop needs that extra space to blend the selection into the background.
In the Options bar, make sure Mode is set to Move. Then pick an Adaptation. Adaptation is how flexible Photoshop will be with its blending.
Very Strict analyzes less of the surrounding area to make the blend. Very Loose analyzes more of it. The video leaves it at Medium.
Click inside the selection and drag the woman all the way to the far right. Then let go.
Photoshop fills in the area where she was and blends her into the new background. Press CtrlD (Windows) or CommandD (macOS) to deselect and take a look at the result.
The tool has changed very little since CS6. For a closer look at it in the latest version of Photoshop, watch the newer tutorial on how to use the Content-Aware Move Tool.
Extend Mode and the Sample All Layers Trick
The other thing the tool can do is extend part of an image. Set Mode to Extend in the Options bar.
Select the top part of the woman, click and drag up, and let go. Photoshop fills in the gaps and blends the moved piece into its new background.
Do it again on her leg. Make a selection, drag it up, and let go. Photoshop extends the leg. Press CtrlD (Windows) or CommandD (macOS) to deselect.
To get back to the original image, the video presses CtrlAltZ (Windows) or CommandOptionZ (macOS) several times to step backward through the history.
Note: Since Photoshop CC 2019, CtrlZ (Windows) or CommandZ (macOS) steps back through multiple states on its own. CS6 needed the three-key version for that.
Now for a trick. Create a new layer in the Layers panel, then check Sample All Layers in the Options bar.
Draw another selection around the woman with Mode set to Extend. Click and drag her all the way to the other side, then let go.
Now you have two women running side by side, like twin sisters. Look at the Layers panel. Because Sample All Layers was on, the second woman landed on the new layer, blended perfectly, and the original layer is untouched.
Tip: That separate layer is what makes the trick useful. You can move, mask, or delete the copy later without touching the background. The video deletes the layer once it has made the point.
The Content-Aware Patch Tool
The second new intelligent editing tool is the Content-Aware Patch Tool. It sits in the same drop-down as the Content-Aware Move Tool.
Select the Patch Tool, then look at the Options bar. Under Patch, choose Content-Aware. That turns the classic Patch Tool into the Content-Aware version.
This tool is designed for the times when you want to remove unwanted content from a photo and replace it with a precise, seamless patch.
Photoshop builds the patch for you, but only after you show it exactly which area of the image to sample from. Then it uses Content-Aware technology to blend the patch into its surroundings.
Say you want to get rid of the woman completely and end up with a picture of an empty field. Draw a selection around her with the Patch Tool.
Click inside the selection and drag it to an area you want to sample from, like a clean patch of grass nearby. Let go.
Once again, Photoshop blends the selection and the background, and the woman is gone. That is the power of the Content-Aware tools.
Tip: Pick a sample area that matches the lighting and texture around the subject. The tool blends edges well, but it cannot invent grass that is not in the sample.
The Patch Tool also picked up a Structure and Color control in later releases. The newer tutorial on how to use the Patch Tool with Content-Aware covers those, along with a more detailed example.
The Oil Paint Filter in Photoshop CS6
Another great addition to CS6 is the Oil Paint filter. It can quickly give your image the look of a fine painting.
In the video, it opens from Filter > Oil Paint. As soon as the filter opens, Photoshop has already given you a great result. All you have to do is change the settings to get the look you want.
Note: The menu path has moved. In the latest version of Photoshop, the filter lives at Filter > Stylize > Oil Paint. It also needs a compatible graphics card with OpenGL, and the menu item is greyed out without one.
The filter has four brush sliders and two lighting sliders. Here is what each one controls, and where the video leaves it.
| Slider | What it controls | Video setting |
|---|---|---|
| Stylization | Length of the strokes. 0 gives very short strokes, 10 gives very long ones. | 5 |
| Cleanliness | Detail in the painting. 0 keeps the eyes and grass sharp, 10 smooths that detail away. | 5 |
| Scale | Thickness of the brush strokes. 0 is thin, 10 is thick. | 5 |
| Bristle Detail | Detail inside each stroke. It works much like sharpness. | 5 |
| Angular Direction | Which direction the light comes from. Drag it and watch the highlights move. | Set by eye |
| Shine | How much light each stroke reflects. 0 is flat, 10 is glossy. | Set by eye |
The video leaves all four brush sliders at 5 to get a neutral look. Then it drags Angular Direction and Shine until the light on the strokes looks right.
When you are done, click OK and enjoy the result.
The filter is a one-click effect. For a hand-painted look with real brush strokes, try the newer oil painting effect with the Mixer Brush.
The New Crop Tool in Photoshop CS6
The new Crop Tool lets you crop faster, with greater precision, and in a non-destructive manner. That last part was the big change.
Click the Crop Tool in the Toolbar, or press C (Windows) or C (macOS). A bounding box appears around the whole image.
Click and drag the edges of the bounding box. Photoshop puts an overlay on the image. Everything inside the box is what you keep, and everything in the greyed-out area gets cropped out.
Unlike previous versions of Photoshop, the cropped-out pixels are not deleted. If you want them deleted, check Delete Cropped Pixels in the Options bar. The video recommends leaving it unchecked so you keep the flexibility to adjust the crop later.
Note: This behavior is now just how cropping works in Photoshop. Non-destructive is the default, Delete Cropped Pixels is still the checkbox that turns it off, and the advice not to tick it still stands.
The Crop Tool also has presets for the bounding box. Pick 16:9 from the drop-down in the Options bar, and Photoshop resizes the box and locks it to that aspect ratio. The video leaves it set to Unconstrained for now.
You also get different overlay grids. Rule of Thirds is selected by default, and you can switch to Golden Ratio or one of the others. The video keeps Rule of Thirds.
Straighten an Image With the Crop Tool
The new Crop Tool also contains the new Straighten tool. Click its icon in the Options bar.
The video uses a photo of a Los Angeles street sign. To make the sign horizontal, click on one top corner of it and drag along that edge to the other side. Photoshop rotates the image so that line sits flat.
You can do the same thing vertically. Drag along the sign post, and Photoshop straightens the image to that line instead.
Click the check mark in the Options bar to accept the changes, or press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS).
Because the crop is non-destructive, you can come back later, move the crop area around, and pick a new section of the image.
Note: Straightening leaves transparent corners, and in the video you simply crop them away. Photoshop can now fill those corners for you, which is a better ending to this step. See how to use the Content-Aware Crop.
The Perspective Crop Tool, New in CS6
Another thing you can do with the new Crop Tool is take advantage of the Perspective Crop Tool. It shares the same slot in the Toolbar.
When you select it, Photoshop asks whether you want to crop your current selection. Click Don’t Crop for now.
The Perspective Crop Tool fixes the perspective of an image. To make the street sign face you straight on, draw around the sign with the tool, adjust the corners if you need to, and click the check mark.
The perspective changes and the sign now looks right at you. But click back on the Crop Tool and you will see a problem. The pixels outside the sign are gone. This tool does not keep them.
If you want the sign facing you but still want the post and the background, add one extra step. Go back to the original image and select the Perspective Crop Tool again.
Draw around the sign as before. Then, before you accept, click and drag the handles up and down to keep the same perspective but select more of the image. The video zooms out to 50 percent so it can pull the handles past the edges and grab everything.
Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS). The perspective changes, and it looks as if you took the picture right in front of the sign, with the whole scene still there.
Now switch to the regular Crop Tool, set a 16:9 constraint, and crop the result the way you like. That is the video’s favorite update in CS6.
New Shape Strokes in Photoshop CS6
One addition the video had been waiting for was an easy way to create dashed lines on a shape, much like you can in Adobe Illustrator.
Before CS6, a stroke on a shape meant a layer style, and dashes meant so many steps that it was easier to open Illustrator.
Draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool. The video sets the Fill to red so the stroke is easy to see.
In the Options bar, click Stroke and pick a color. Then make the stroke wide, around 68 points in the video, so you can really see what is going on.
Click the Stroke Options drop-down next to it and choose the dashed line. The dashes look huge only because the stroke is huge.
Click More Options to see everything in one window. Here is what you can control.
| Option | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Align | Inside, Center, Outside | Inside keeps the stroke within the shape. Center splits it half in, half out. Outside puts it all outside the shape. |
| Corners | Miter, Round, Bevel | Miter is a regular square corner. Round rounds it. Bevel cuts the corner at an angle. |
| Dashed Line | Dash and Gap values, up to three pairs | Sets the length of each dash and the space after it. Different pairs make an uneven pattern. |
Check Dashed Line. Set the first Dash to 2 and the Gap to 1 and you get many short dashes. Add a second dash of 3 with a gap of 2, and no two dashes are the same length.
The video tries one more pair, 4 and 3, clicks OK, and brings the stroke width down. Remove the extra pairs and you have a clean dashed outline, perfect for coupons.
Two more things are new. Click the Stroke swatch and you can assign a gradient, such as green to black, or any pattern you have loaded.
The newer tutorial on how to make strokes with pointy corners shows what those corner options can do on text.
Tool Recording in Actions
The last of the five additions is tool recording in Actions. An action records every step you take in Photoshop so you can replay it later.
Open the Actions panel and create a new action. The video keeps the default name, Action 1, and clicks Record.
Now grab the Brush Tool and draw a few circles. Nothing happens in the panel. Photoshop only recorded that you selected the Brush Tool, not the strokes themselves.
CS6 added a fix. Open the Actions panel menu and turn on Allow Tool Recording. Draw the circles again, and this time each stroke shows up in the action.
Note: Nothing here has changed. Allow Tool Recording is still in the Actions panel menu in the latest version of Photoshop, and it is still off by default. That is why a brush stroke does not record until you turn it on.
Click Stop. To test it, fill the background layer with white, select Action 1 in the panel, and click Play.
Photoshop remembers every brush stroke and paints them again. That was not possible in any earlier version of Photoshop.
You can also change the Playback Options in the panel menu. Watch it step by step, or run the accelerated version. The video creates a new layer, plays the action, and the circles appear on that layer almost instantly.
It might not seem like much, but it is a great improvement if you teach people how to use a tool. It also helps when you repeat the same strokes on many files.
To go further, learn how to run an action on its own whenever you open or save a file with the Script Events Manager.
Frequently Asked Questions
Five Photoshop CS6 new features stand out: the Content-Aware Move and Patch Tools, the Oil Paint filter, the non-destructive Crop Tool, dashed shape strokes, and tool recording in Actions. CS6 also brought a dark interface and big 3D changes, which this video skips. All five tools shown are still in Photoshop today.
Yes. The Content-Aware Move Tool is still in the latest version of Photoshop, in the same Toolbar slot as the Spot Healing Brush Tool. It works the same way it did in CS6, with Move and Extend modes and an Adaptation setting.
In the latest version of Photoshop, go to Filter > Stylize > Oil Paint. In CS6 it sat at the top level of the Filter menu. The sliders are the same in both places.
The Oil Paint filter needs a compatible graphics card with OpenGL. If Photoshop cannot use your graphics card, the menu item is greyed out. Check Edit > Preferences > Performance and make sure the graphics processor is turned on.
Not by default. Since CS6, the Crop Tool hides the cropped area instead of deleting it, so you can reopen the crop and adjust it later. Pixels are only removed when you check Delete Cropped Pixels in the Options bar.
Tool recording is off by default. Open the Actions panel menu and turn on Allow Tool Recording. After that, strokes from the Brush Tool and other painting tools are saved in the action and replay when you press Play.
Yes. Draw a shape with the Rectangle Tool or any shape tool, then open Stroke Options in the Options bar. Check Dashed Line and set the dash and gap lengths. You can also align the stroke inside, center, or outside, and give it a gradient or a pattern.
Photoshop CS6 New Features, Still Worth Knowing
Those are the five Photoshop CS6 new features that earned a spot in the video, and every one of them is still doing its job in Photoshop today.
None of them takes more than a few clicks. Move a subject, patch one out, paint a photo, crop without fear, dash a stroke, and record a brush.
Watch the full tutorial above to see each tool in action, and if you have a question, comment on the video.
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Keep going
Next, see how far the Content-Aware family has come with the new Content-Aware Fill in Photoshop CC 2019.
Previous Photoshop Updates
This post is the CS6 entry in the series of Photoshop version write-ups. Here are the others.
- Photoshop 2023
- Photoshop 2022
- Photoshop 2021
- Photoshop 2020
- Photoshop 2019
- Photoshop CC 2018
- Photoshop CC 2017
- Photoshop CC 2015.5
- Photoshop CC 2014
- Photoshop CC
- Photoshop CS6, this post
Note: CS6 also expanded Photoshop’s 3D tools, which the video leaves out. Adobe has since removed 3D from Photoshop. The retirement began in Photoshop 22.5 in August 2021 and completed in July 2024. The Ken Burns effect tutorial from that era is kept as a record of how those tools worked.
