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Adobe Releases Updated Creative Suite
jonknee writes "MacMerc just noted that Adobe has dropped the motherload and updated most of its core non-video apps in a bundle called the Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, InDesign and InCopy (a new product).It looks like Adobe PR popped the press releases a little early as not much is up on their site yet. The official debut will be tomorrow at a press event that looks to have a webcast."
Couldn't Adobe have purchased traditional advertisement space?
using namespace slashdot;
troll::post();
They released the MX 2004 versions of all their tools a week or so ago.
http://www.macromedia.com/software/mx2004/
For example Dreamweaver now supports CSS Layout.
What's my Linux alternative to Adobe Illustrator, out of interest?
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
I don't know what a "motherload" is. Is that about two toddlers, three bags of groceries, a purse, keys, coffee mug and cellphone?
It also occurs to me that perhaps we're talking about a mother lode, taken from gold mining and referring to a specific area of rich quartz veins, and now used to indicate "striking it big" or discovering a wealth of materials or information.
...
While I agree with the DMCA issue, please understand that you are comparing apples and oranges. Try doing alpha channels, and hexachrome separations from any MS product. You will find that for production work, Adobe products are the best, and pretty much the only, option.
I would love to see a competitor come along that could challenge Adobe, but for now, we are stuck. But, their products are decent, and get the job done very well, so things could be worse.
The interesting thing is that Abode is having exactly the same problems as Microsoft. That is, of application maturity.
Photoshop as a tool is completely mature. It has been for quite a while now. For many people that use it, there is no reason to upgrade. This is also true of Microsoft Office, and to an extent some of Macromedia's tools such as Dreamweaver.
The sad thing about all of this is that these companies are trying to find ways of forcing people to upgrade. Macromedia is especially guilty to this I think - it is trying myriad ways of squeezing more money out of the purchasers of their software. Well, I for one am not playing their game - I don't like being strong armed into purchases.
In the long run, I think these companies are going to die out, because they can't improve their applications much more but OSS solutions are going to evenutally catch up and become equally mature. Still, they've got a few years yet. I give them a decade.
Apple's first page points to this article about the new tools.
Don't be painting *Microsoft* as clean either!
Microsoft abuses it's power in order to attempt to invade new markets.
Microsoft believes strongly in vendor lock; good for them, not for the customer.
Microsoft encourages a monoculture as well as a monopoly, and in doing so weakens and damages all of us.
If you want an alternative to Adobe, even if slightly crappier, there is Macromedia, Quark, and Corel. Microsoft is the *last* company I would willingly invest with my cash and give any more power than they can force out of me.
GPL Deconstructed
No, really, it's just as good as Illustrator!
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
One of the areas that Linux has gained a lot of ground is the VFX industry. It's a right pain having to have NT/Mac boxes around just for the texture artists - it'd be a lot easier if we could just run Photoshop on Linux natively.
Adobe don't seem to be interested though.
Please provide me links to a product that provides press-ready output in CMYK, with consistent color management, support for postcript fonts, and that can provide files that are supported by most printers, and I will gladly give up Adobe's tools. In the meantime, as a graphic designer, i'm stuck using them. Believe me, I'd switch to linux and drop the PC as a graphic design platform, but until those issues are resolved, I'm stuck in the adobe/macromedia/quark vortex...
Office XP. Dreamweaver MX. Mac OS X. And now Photoshop CS. I miss the days when version numbers let you know exactly how long it had been since you upgraded. It gets worse when they have to add numbers to the letters, a la "Dreamweaver XP 2004" or "Mac OS X 10.2". You practically have to hire a geek just to know if you still need to upgrade or not.
What's the next version of Windows supposed to be called, again? Is it "Windows XP 2005" or "Windows XP 6.0"?
Now on to the meat of the matter, as has been discussed here numerous times before (albeit with the GIMP). Show me the CMYK and spot color handling (with licensed PANTONE libraries, no less) in these MS applications. Show me the fast super-high resolution image editting that these apps provide. Show me the strict adherance to the PostScript Level 3 file specifications. Show me a job house that will be able to take output from these consumer level applications and do anything worthwhile with them.
waiting...
Thought so...
And that is just for a replacement to Photoshop. Now provide me with software on par with InDesign. After that go find equivilents for Premiere Pro, Audition, After Effects, and Encore DVD.
Some Russian company built a circumvention device for Adobe's (arguably laughable) eBook encryption, yes. They sold it in the US. They got called on it. They were acquited. They stopped making it. If I were to catch someone using my copyrighted works in improper/illegal ways I'm pretty certain that I would pursue the matter to the extent of my abilities. Stealing is stealing. The DMCA, as written, gave Adobe the powers they used. Are the circumvention and reverse engineer portions of the DMCA wrong? Probably. Is that Adobe's fault? no. Your anger should be directed at the lawmakers that passed the DMCA and yourself for not asserting yourself to your representatives and ensuring that they understood that you didn't want it passed.
Care to tell us how many letters & phone calls you made to your senators and representatives against the DMCA?
Sadly, I still think Photoshop beats the Gimp for high end photo editing. Is there anything available for Linux that uses colour profiles and allows on screen proof previews using those profiles?
Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
I checked out the site and Photoshop CS requires activation a la Windows XP.
Initially only the windows version will get the DRM, but it's coming to Mac soon according to the Adobe FAQ : here
--is not to be confused with user #672982 - Bame Flait
Now with Product Activation
http://www.adobe.com/activation/main.html
I know a dozen professional graphic designers, each of whom had a 4-year university degree. Every one would think you're an idiot if they read this. You really have no idea what you're talking about. Someone please mod the parent as a troll. He is definitely not insightful.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
But when will they actually release an updated SVG Viewer?
The currently released version is just wbout 2 years old. The preview of version 6 is better, but won't get installed anywhere until its actually released officialy and bundled with Acrobat reader.
And corporate muppets won't roll out preview releases.
I have to wonder how commited Adobe is to SVG. Their preview release of ASV6 is good enough to discourage competitors (it would take quite an effort to match it in a ~2 year timeframe), but won't get installed anywhere until release. Are they scared that SVG will eat PDF as well as Flash?
Is gimp 1.3.20. It is a million times better than gimp 1.2. Complete with easier to use GUI, more filters, CMYK support and support for more image formats..
If you wanted to switch to linux but you couldn't because the gimp sucked, try it again. You will be inpressed. Its a development version, so its not included in most distros, but its well worth a look.
Alot of people have animosity towards Adobe, myself included over various issues, but there is one thing that Adobe has that nobody else can hold a candle to:
Photoshop.
This one software package is single-handedly keeping me from migrating to Linux. For those who say "But what about Gimp? It's just as good..."
Those people have also never done professional graphics for print, video or even the web. The toolset within Photoshop is unrivaled, it's color acuity precise, and it's workflow caters to multiple mind sets. For every one way to do something there is a handfull of other, equally successful methods to achieve exactly the same result. It is an artist's tool.
Mature? Nope. There are dozens of features that the community has been begging to have integrated for years, and slowly but surely Adobe has listened. I can understand not implementing every little widget and gizmo that has been suggested by crackpot users over the years into their flagship product line, and each new upgrade offers something useful that can either save me time or opens up a new realm of creative flexibility. Photoshop has many years to grow, become better and more refined. Most people just don't see it because a histogram is this wierd spikey deal that screws up an image, filters are normally reserved for creating 'L3nZ FL4r3s', and the layer effects were the perfect time saving device for all those bubbly drop shadowed graphics with glowy mouse-overs your client is begging for.
There is no alternative, and by glancing at the top 10 new features, it seems that Adobe has not forgot that Photoshop is not a toy program. I didn't see any "Improved Applesque Button Creation" feature.
(yet)
Look it's even easy to click!
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/
Karma Eats
Sorry, but have you actually tried to use Photoshop 7.0 to process images from a digital SLR like the Canon 10D? I have, and I can tell you I'm eagerly awaiting Photoshop 8.0.
Adobe has no built-in support for RAW image processing, you have to buy their $99 add-in, and even that doesn't support the Canon 10D without gross hacks. With Photoshop 8.0 this should now be included and cleaned up.
Photoshop 7.0 still only has rudimentary support for 16-bit editing. Try going and applying the vast majority of the filters when working with a 16-bit image. Sorry, out of luck, need to drop back to 8-bit.
Want to resize your picture to a specific inch dimension and resolution so you can print out your digital print at your favourite Costco or on your home printer? Sure, it's possible, but it's not exactly obvious how to do it.
Photoshop 7.0 went a long way to helping web designers use Photoshop for web content. Hopefully Photoshop 8.0 will go just as far to make it a valuable tool for digital photographers.
Those who think that Adobe software is overpriced clearly are hobbyists, not professionals. If you bill by the hour, this stuff pays for itself in a couple of days.
For example, one single feature of Photoshop CS would make it worth the full purchase price for me, let alone the upgrade price, let alone the other new features:
Native non-square pixel support!
Since video doesn't have square pixels, it's always been something of a pain to author graphics in Photoshop. Getting this to work right will save me 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. At $300/hour, I only need to use this feature three times for it to pay for the upgrade!
For those who aren't professionals, the cheap Photoshop Elements is a great alternative at fraction of the price.
My video compression blog
Great article at http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-5083087.html dealing with the issue a little more in depth than the listed ones.
Everyone here seems to be missing the point of this release. This is Adobe's attempt to kill off Quark. With InDesign, Adobe has arguably a better product than Quark, but most design houses have been slow to even give it a look. By selling the products design houses already use (Photoshop, Illustrator) as a package, and as a reasonably priced package ($1200 whereas Quark alone is $1000), they're going to put InDesign on the desktop of every graphic designer. Most will at least take a look, and many will probaby switch over. The production flow management tools are also a bonus.
You can run Photoshop easy in WINE... It works great too! Seems to run just as fast in most areas, I was very impressed!
(It should also be noted that I tried it with Crossover Office, haven't used it with the regular version of WINE)
I've heard many claims that GIMP is trying to be just as good as photshop, but not there yet. I've heard claims that there are one or two things GIMP does better, while overall it is worse. I've heard that it is a good start, but still not there yet. I've heard that "EVERYONE", or "a friend of a friend" claims it is better. I've never actually heard someone claim it is better.
If you are an artist, you should check it out, it might do one or two things that you need. It might be something to put on your todo list for one year from now to see if it is better. Because it is free (beer) you can check it out anytime. Don't do it when you have a big deadline, but most artists are having a hard time finding work now, if you have downtime with no leads check it out.
Oh, that's easy:
:-)
cat > important_graphic.eps
%!
0.5 0.2 0.7 0 setcmykcolor
100 100 moveto
200 100 lineto 200 200 lineto 100 200 lineto closepath fill
showpage
^D
What could be easier than that?
On stereophonic equipment, the monaural sound obtained through multiple channels will enhance your listening pleasure.
a good rundown of the impact of Photoshop CS on those using it to tweak digital camera photos is at DPReviews hopcsreview.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0309/03092903photo
a generally useful site for digital photography news
*What bundling? I run three Windows boxes and have yet to see where I was explicitly forbidden from using a third-party mail client, Mozilla browser, instant messaging tool and office suite.
And how many people did Microsoft jail on DMCA premises, by the way?*
The better question is, *why are you posting as an anonymous coward on a subject relating to jailing people on DMCA issues?* Are you afraid Microsoft might make you a test case? And how can you deny the bundling issue after years of the antitrust case? Do you not remember how many times Microsoft has updated Windows to cripple competing software? I seem to remember several times where Netscape was cripped versus performance gains by IE, and it wasn't because of shoddy Netscape coding. What about people fined and jailed for modding their Xboxes because of DMCA prohibitions on reverse-engineering?
And please do not equate a grandmother running internet access on a 56k dial-up as one of your "stupid people" examples when it comes to bundling. For the longest, Microsoft prohibited OEM manufacturers from bundling competing web browsers and plenty of older folks who didn't know better used Internet Explorer instead of checking out the competitors because it came standard on the PC they purchased. Do you expect your own grandmother (if she is still alive) to build her own PC and install all the programs independently? For gosh sakes, if it wasn't for the Antitrust Case, Windows XP wouldn't run Quicktime or AIM... Are you oblivious to this or are you typing from a cubicle located in Redmond, Washington?
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
According to Adobe's product activation information page (emphasis mine):
What happens after I activate Adobe software?
Q:
What effect do you expect activation will have on Photoshop customers?
A:
Most users will see no change in their ability to use the software the way they always have done. Adobe recognizes that software license activation systems can create a few more steps for the user and has worked hard to minimize customer inconvenience. The Adobe activation process supports installation on a primary and secondary PC as well as most system upgrades (e.g. operating system, motherboard, memory or processor). In most cases, customers can change computing environments without needing to contact Adobe Customer Support or needing to re-activate any installed Adobe software.
Alternatively, you might consider that not everybody knows when to start looking for their new software on Kazaa.
Y'see, media professionals and photographers, the main target group for Adobe's lines of software, such as myself, are probably already on Adobe's mailing list.
The Mini Repository - more links
Courtesy of Digital Photography Review. They go into all the new features that apply to digital photography, and have samples of how they work with real-world photos.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/adobephotoshopcs/