I was thunderstruck the first time I applied a '3D curl' effect to text and the app automatically generated the transparency mask for the *curled* letters. Then there are the other objects that work *exactly* like images. Plus, changes you make to source images automatically flow into the alpha document. The images you import into alpha remain untouched, and all effects you add are added to local copies. Something I didn't realize at first, but which I now wish PS could emulate is due to the way alpha works with images: it works completely non-destructive, a neat trick that looks like it was lifted from FinalCut. Plus, you can - also in real-time - change the way it combines images with whatever is beneath: multiply, subtract, dodge. No longer do I need to create a layer with a gradient and apply as mask - alpha does in real-time what I need minutes to do in PS. The real fun comes when you switch to the blend manager - there are built-in generators for almost any regular blends that work in real-time. The built-in functionality to crop, zoom, pan and distort images seem lifted straight from QuarkXPress, and work really nice. Everything in Alfa is geared towards this: you round up pictures, drop them on the canvas, and then start arranging them. It's a layout tool the likes of which I haven't seen before. It's *not* a pixel editor and I don't know why I thought it is. Once I understood the basic premise, alpha became an entirely different beast. Alpha's value comes from two unique features: it's use of real-time transparency (*blush* for not making the connection with the name for over a year), and resolution independence (this was the first thing I got wrong as a PS user): alpha can generate multiple resolutions of the same artwork in seconds - really useful for designers who need to create web, brochure, and poster art at the same time.
Alpha is nothing like PS, and I found out the hard way. Turns out, the way I used it was like using scalpel for welding. As a PS user, I was unimpressed by its anemic functionality and simply didn't understand why my friend raved about it. OK, I have to admit, I at first didn't 'get' alpha.
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