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Milestone Release Radically Improves Creative Workflow Efficiency; Redefines Collaboration Between Designers and Developers

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oct. 15, 2008 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 product family, the highly-anticipated release of industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow. Delivering radical breakthroughs in workflow efficiency – and packed with hundreds of innovative, time saving features – the new Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, interactive, film, video and mobile.

Customers can choose from six new versions: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium and Master Collection. The combination of Creative Suite and the new capabilities of Adobe Flash® Player 10, also available today (see separate press release) deliver new levels of creativity and expressiveness across media channels. Designers using the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family will gain unprecedented creative control using the new expressive features and visual performance improvements in Adobe Flash Player 10 to deliver breakthrough Web experiences across multiple browsers and operating systems.

“Creative Suite 4 and Flash Player 10 introduce vital time-saving features, new levels of integration and the jaw-dropping innovations our design and developer customers expect from us,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president, Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe.

“CS4 continues to fulfill our promise to customers to break down more barriers in cross-media workflows, while also providing new services and collaboration tools that help them manage complex client demands.”

As part of the CS4 product launch, the largest in Adobe’s history, also available today are brand new versions of Photoshop® CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, InDesign® CS4, Illustrator® CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS4, Fireworks® CS4, Contribute® CS4, After Effects® CS4, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS4, Encore® CS4, Soundbooth® CS4 and Adobe OnLocation™ CS4.

Intuitive Workflows Improve Creative Efficiency
A simplified workflow in Adobe Creative Suite 4 enables users to design across media more efficiently by making it easier to complete common tasks and move content seamlessly among applications. InDesign CS4 includes a new Live Preflight tool that allows designers to catch production errors and a newly customizable Links panel to manage placed files more efficiently. The revolutionary new Content-Aware Scaling tool in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended automatically recomposes an image as it is resized, preserving vital areas as it adapts to new dimensions. An expanded version of Dynamic Link in CS4 Production Premium enables users to move and update content between After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Soundbooth CS4, and Encore CS4 without rendering, saving countless hours in production. With deep XMP metadata support, the production workflow is simplified, resulting in online content that gives viewers new ways to interact with and search for video, while giving content owners new opportunities to track and monetize content.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 brings 3D center-stage providing the ability to paint, composite, and animate 3D models using familiar tools in Photoshop CS4 Extended. Flash CS4 Professional now offers the ability to apply tweens to objects instead of keyframes, providing greater control over animation attributes. Also in Flash CS4 Professional, the new Bones tool helps create more realistic animations between linked objects. With a searchable library of more than 450 dynamically updated device profiles from leading manufacturers, Adobe Device Central CS4 enables users to easily test mobile content designed using many of the Creative Suite 4 products.

New and Expanded Services Extend Capabilities for Online Collaboration
Adobe Creative Suite 4 now also offers a host of services* for online collaboration. Adobe ConnectNow, a service of Acrobat.com, allows real-time collaboration with two colleagues or clients. Designers can also share color harmonies with Adobe Kuler™

Other online resources include: Adobe Community Help for technical questions; Resource Central for accessing video and audio product-related news and tutorials, as well as Soundbooth scores and sound effects; and Adobe Bridge Home, a customizable resource for tips, tutorials, news and inspirational content.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Creative Suite 4 and its associated point products are immediately available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store . Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium is US$1799, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, and US$2499 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection. To reward customers for staying current, Adobe is offering Creative Suite 3 customers moving to Creative Suite 4 a lower upgrade price than it offers to those moving from older, qualifying versions. For a limited time, a special introductory offer enables customers with older qualifying products to enjoy the same lower price with savings of up to US$200 off their actual upgrade price. For more detailed information please visit www.adobe.com/creativesuite .

Adobe Flash Player 10 is available immediately as a free download for Windows, Macintosh and Linux platforms (including new support for Ubuntu 7 and 8  ) from www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer .

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Photoshop CS3 had some mixed reviews. It didn’t have quite as many features of interest to photographers as say, previous versions of the program. I think such responses may also have been influenced by the introduction of Lightroom 1, which was definitely designed with photographers in mind. It is probably fair to say that there was a certain amount of envy among the Photoshop team to the ‘new kid on the block’. Well, Photoshop CS4 has arrived, hot on the heels of Lightroom 2 and it’s time to see how the new version of the ‘mother ship’ program shapes up.

As far as Photoshop CS4 itself goes, I think photographers will be very pleased with some the new changes here. Photoshop now has a smart dark gray interface and adopted a task-based approach to image editing and this can be seen in the way image adjustments are now accessible within their own panel. When you combine this with the ability to non-destuctively edit a layer mask, you’ll discover that the  Photoshop CS4 image editing system offers the most flexible yet for pixel image editing.

Read the full story…

Original post by Martin Evening

Unique Creative Suite 3 Video Content Available Via Adobe Media Player and New Web Destination

Press Release: SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 9, 2007 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® TV, a free online video resource for expert instruction and inspiration about Adobe products, including the company’s Creative Suite 3 family of world-class creative tools. With multiple channels, original series programming, and content from Adobe, leading training organizations and the world’s leading subject matter experts, Adobe TV delivers a virtual library of entertaining and instructional videos. Designers, photographers, video professionals, and developers will find product deep-dives, innovative tips, techniques from luminaries, and behind-the-scenes tours of the hottest creative shops and Adobe product teams.

Designed to educate, inspire, and entertain the creative community, Adobe TV is immediately available online from the Adobe Web site at http://tv.adobe.com , or as a network with multiple shows in the new Adobe® Media Player 1.0 software, also announced today (see separate press release). Adobe Media Player offers a broad range of television programming and entertaining video content from major television broadcasters and leading content publishers, including CBS, MTV Networks, Universal Music Group, PBS, CondéNet, and Scripps Networks.

“Adobe TV is the online video source for anyone with wants to see how Adobe tools are being used to create stunning work,” said Bob Donlon, executive producer for Adobe TV. “It brings together experts from Adobe and the creative community to inspire and teach how to get the most from the software that is empowering the delivery of high-impact print, online, video and mobile communications. It’s also the perfect showcase for Adobe’s broadcast video technologies in action.”

When viewed through Adobe Media Player, Adobe TV allows customers to watch programs at their convenience, save content for offline viewing, and subscribe to favorite channels to get the latest episodes as soon as they are released. Adobe Media Player can be downloaded at: http://www.adobe.com/go/mp .

Videos on http://tv.adobe.com can also be sorted by Most Recent, Most Popular and Top Rated to see what others in the community are watching. Additionally, viewers can easily share their favorite programs with others by posting them to their blogs or Web sites, or e-mailing links to friends. Adobe TV videos come with lightweight links that make it easy to spread the word about interesting content.

Rich Library of Video Content
Adobe TV features four channels, each targeting a specific audience: Photographers, Designers, Video Professionals, and Developers. Each channel features programming from Adobe evangelists, leading trainers, subject matter experts, and luminaries who pull in the crowds at industry events around the world. More than 200 videos are currently available on Adobe TV, with programming that mixes how-to information, case studies, personality-driven shows, and workflow deep-dives. The first set of videos offers secrets about Photoshop® software, podcasts and design tips for Creative Suite, techniques for Photoshop Lightroom®, tips on Adobe Flash® Professional software for beginners, approaches to taming the Web, and information about video and audio production.

“The creative community instinctively turns to the Web as a primary resource for tutorials and information on how to use Adobe products, but before now this content was scattered and difficult to find,” said Joseph Princz, CEO of the interactive agency, Wrecking Ball Media Group. “Adobe TV makes it easier than ever to search for and subscribe to Adobe video content that not only inspires new creative ideas, but also helps us to refine our skill sets and dive further into the essential tools our business depends on every day.”

Creating and Delivering a Complete Online Video Experience
Adobe TV demonstrates the power of Adobe’s leading video technologies from creation to playback. Using components of Adobe Creative Suite® 3, Adobe TV programming is scripted and storyboarded, and the graphics and imagery are developed. During production, Adobe OnLocation™ software monitors quality and records directly to disk. Visual effects are produced in Adobe After Effects® software, the audio is cleaned up or created in Adobe Audition® software and Adobe Soundbooth™ software, and then the programming is edited and output from Adobe Premiere® Pro. Adobe’s Emmy-award-wining Flash® technology, the most widely used platform for delivering interactive experiences online today, and Adobe Flash Media Server then package and deliver Adobe TV video on http://tv.adobe.com and through Adobe Media Player.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Adobe Certified Expert exams are now available for the Creative Suite 3 product line including the Photoshop CS3 re-certification and ACE exams. Additional information including Prep Guides is available on the Adobe Partners site. Prices are $50 for re-certification and $150 for the ACE exams.

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Starting April 1, 2008 the Adobe Stock Photo royalty-free image service will be discontinued. Those people who have used the service and purchased and downloaded photos should read the Adobe Stock Photos info page.

All searches should be completed by March 4th and all final purchases made by March 31st, 2008. There are standalone uninstallers for both Mac and Windows to remove the Adobe Stock Photoshop from the Creative Suite or standalone products.

Find out more about the discontinuation of service by reading the FAQ.

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

John Nack, Senior Photoshop Product Manager (and all round fun guy) took time over the holidaze to post a rebuttal of some of the web stories claiming Photoshop CS3 and other CS3 apps are “phoning home” over the Internet when launched. See his story Adobe ate me baby!!.

John says:

“According to Doug Miller from the Adobe.com team, “Omniture is Adobe’s web analytic vendor for Adobe.com. There are only 3 places we track things via Omniture anywhere in or around our products.”:

• The welcome screens (these things) in some Adobe apps include a Flash SWF file that loads current news, special offers, etc. These requests hit Adobe.com servers and are logged, like regular browser-based traffic, by Omniture.
• Adobe Bridge embeds both the Opera browser and the Flash Player, both of which can be used to load Adobe-hosted content. These requests are also logged.
• Adobe apps can call various online resources (online help, user forums, etc.), and those requests are logged. [Update: To clarify, those contacts are made only if the user requests them–e.g. by choosing Help->Adobe Exchange.]

This, as far as I’ve been able to discover, is the extent of the nefarious “spying.” If I learn anything else when more people get back on email, I’ll update this post.”

Read his original post here and a followup post here. Both blog posts have prompted a slew of comments.

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Adobe has posted a PDF outlining Adobe application compatibility for Creative Suite 3 apps as well as a host of other Adobe applications. The six page, 120KB PDF can be downloaded here.

First weekend reports around the net indicate most Adobe apps such as Photoshop CS3 and Bridge are working with no significant issues. Issues have been reported for Adobe Photoshop Lightroom version 1.2 which will be addressed in an upcoming update.

Also due for compatibility updates are Premiere Pro CS3 and Soundbooth CS3. Earlier versions such as Creative Suite 2 and former Macromedia apps are listed as being “Not Designed for OS X Leopard” and users are warned that these versions are “likely to encounter issues for which there is no resolution”.

Apple only made the final GM shipping versions of Leopard available to ADC members late last week so all sorts of software developers are scrambling to double check Leopard compatibilities this week.

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Source: CNET
Written by Martin LaMonica

People are taking a serious shine to Adobe Systems’ Creative Suite 3.

Creative professionals are buying the most recent version of Adobe’s flagship product, released in April, much faster than the previous suite, according to retail data compiled by NPD Group.

Unit volume sales of CS3 after six months were up 87 percent when compared with the first six months of sales of Creative Suite 2, which was released in May 2005. A comparison of dollar sales through U.S. retail outlets and e-commerce sites shows almost the same increase.
“This shows that the CS3 launch was an absolute success and Adobe hit one out of the park,” said Chris Swenson, an analyst at NPD Data.

He said that the strategy of linking the different products gained through the merger of Adobe and Macromedia is resonating with customers.

Read entire article

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 programs are not fully tested with ‘Leopard’.
Source: PCWorld via Reuters
Written by Jim Finkle
BOSTON (Reuters) - Adobe Systems Inc’s Photoshop, Illustrator and other Creative Suite 3 programs have not been fully tested with the latest version of Apple Inc’s operating system due out next month, which could lead to incompatibility issues.
A substantial proportion of Adobe users are also Apple Mac users, with many waiting for the new Mac OS X operating system, code-named “Leopard.”
“CS3 hasn’t fully been tested under Leopard,” Adobe Chief Executive Bruce Chizen told Reuters in an interview. “If it doesn’t work, we will make the necessary adjustments.”
He said Adobe has not received a final copy of Leopard with which to test its software.
Read entire article

Written by PhotoShop News.

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff

Adobe Media Gallery (AMG) for Adobe Bridge adds quick, powerful Web gallery creation to Adobe Photoshop CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended and the Adobe Creative Suite. AMG makes it possible to create HTML or Flash-based galleries from any of the file formats supported by Bridge; adjust the galleries using built-in preview; and export the results or upload them via FTP. (Note: requires the Bridge 2.1 Update)
AMG is available on both Mac and Windows. The download package includes both the plug-in as well as AMG templates, all of the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom default templates, as well as the Lightroom HTML Gallery.

Adobe Media Gallery Labs Page
Downloads:
Adobe Media Gallery for Macintosh
Installation instructions:
Close all applications, including Photoshop.
Click on the link above to download & open the DMG file
Open the AdobeMediaGalleryAll folder
Double click on SetUp and follow the on-screen instructions to install
Adobe Media Gallery for Windows
Installation instructions:
Close all applications, including Photoshop.
Click on the link above […]

Original post by PSN Editorial Staff