Adobe Creative Suite 4 details emerge
Adobe next week will unveil Creative Suite 4, a new version of its media design bundle set to ship the following month with features such as enhanced options for working with 3D objects in Photoshop, new Flash document exports from within InDesign, and a new animation model for Flash, AppleInsider has learned.
The San Jose-based software developer has confirmed the package to include new versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Flash Player, InDesign, Photoshop, and Soundbooth, but will also bundle minor updates to the suite's remaining components.
Nothing revolutionary
People privy to private demonstrations of Creative Suite 4 say the update will generally be minor, with only a few new features tacked on to each application. "The lack of compelling new features has been the discussion among many employees and customers that are testing the software," one of those people said, "with many relating CS4 to a maintenance release rather than a complete new version."
Photoshop CS4
Photoshop's new 3D feature, which allows 3D objects to be imported as wireframes, stands to benefit only a small group of users such as architects, engineers, and package designers, according to those familiar with the software. Some also describe the application's new interface (shown below) as a step backwards. Information from entire screens and dialog boxes is now fitted to a small palette with the goal of making the interface look consistent with the other applications, they say.
The new version of Photoshop will also feature a Flash services panel, natural canvas rotation, content aware image resizing and deliver 64-bit support for Windows users.
InDesign CS4
One of the big features of InDesign CS4 will be a new Flash export option, but those familiar with the product say the feature is somewhat impractical, given that text can only be edited one line at a time after it's exported. InDesign files exported to Flash may also not contain any multimedia content such as movies because they'll get stripped out in the conversion process and need to be re-added using Flash.
Unlike the new Photoshop interface (detailed below), InDesign CS4 uses a more conventional layout, with a standard document window and Office-style floating palette menus.
Flash CS4
Among the new features of Flash CS4 are a completely new "and proper" timeline dubbed Motion Editor, as well as a new object-based motion tween model. While some have praised the Flash's new animation model as "the best thing" to happen to the software, others believe it may present a new learning curve that further fragments the Flash community.
"The reengineered file format means that the Flash community, still split between ActionScript 2 and 3, will now be split with new source file formats," one person said.
Screen Sharing
Another big push behind CS4 will be collaboration. Leveraging its web conferencing business and Connect software, Adobe has built a new feature into all CS4 applications that will allow users to initiate a screen-sharing sessions from the File Menu.
Kuler Correction
Kuler, Adobe's color creation and sharing product, will also be available across all the CS4 programs, and each product in the suite will ship with a feature called Adobe Drive to help share files between programs.
New Tabbed Window Interface
The user interface for each application will also see minor changes. The most notable differences include a tabbed interface to switch between open documents, and a workspace switching menu to choose which menus and palettes are displayed.
Also somewhat controversial is Adobe's effort to rework the title bar on both Windows and the Mac to a new design that doesn't follow the human interface guidelines of either, although this is only carried forward in specific applications in the suite.
In a confidential note to beta testers, Adobe wrote "the advantages of this new unifying App bar are: On Windows, it saves vertical real estate by combining title bar, main menu bar, and windowing controls in a single row; emphasizes task-based workspaces; up-levels and exposes commonly used View controls (currently hidden in bottom status bars or in menus); allows for cross-suite common controls such as UI Search and Multiple Monitor controls; unifies user experience across the CS applications."
"On the Mac," Adobe said, "the main menus are not moving to the Application bar but instead remain at the top of the main monitor."
Photoshop CS4 (below) shows the new title bar with tools adjacent to the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, as well as the tabbed document interface, 3D menu, and other pulldowns.
Pricing
People familiar with Adobe's plans say the company will continue to offer multiple versions of the Creative Suite, continuing with the same suite configurations. Upgrades for the most popular suite, Design Premium, are expected to be priced at $699. (Update: CS4 is now available here)
The San Jose-based software developer has confirmed the package to include new versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Flash Player, InDesign, Photoshop, and Soundbooth, but will also bundle minor updates to the suite's remaining components.
Nothing revolutionary
People privy to private demonstrations of Creative Suite 4 say the update will generally be minor, with only a few new features tacked on to each application. "The lack of compelling new features has been the discussion among many employees and customers that are testing the software," one of those people said, "with many relating CS4 to a maintenance release rather than a complete new version."
Photoshop CS4
Photoshop's new 3D feature, which allows 3D objects to be imported as wireframes, stands to benefit only a small group of users such as architects, engineers, and package designers, according to those familiar with the software. Some also describe the application's new interface (shown below) as a step backwards. Information from entire screens and dialog boxes is now fitted to a small palette with the goal of making the interface look consistent with the other applications, they say.
The new version of Photoshop will also feature a Flash services panel, natural canvas rotation, content aware image resizing and deliver 64-bit support for Windows users.
InDesign CS4
One of the big features of InDesign CS4 will be a new Flash export option, but those familiar with the product say the feature is somewhat impractical, given that text can only be edited one line at a time after it's exported. InDesign files exported to Flash may also not contain any multimedia content such as movies because they'll get stripped out in the conversion process and need to be re-added using Flash.
Unlike the new Photoshop interface (detailed below), InDesign CS4 uses a more conventional layout, with a standard document window and Office-style floating palette menus.
Flash CS4
Among the new features of Flash CS4 are a completely new "and proper" timeline dubbed Motion Editor, as well as a new object-based motion tween model. While some have praised the Flash's new animation model as "the best thing" to happen to the software, others believe it may present a new learning curve that further fragments the Flash community.
"The reengineered file format means that the Flash community, still split between ActionScript 2 and 3, will now be split with new source file formats," one person said.
Screen Sharing
Another big push behind CS4 will be collaboration. Leveraging its web conferencing business and Connect software, Adobe has built a new feature into all CS4 applications that will allow users to initiate a screen-sharing sessions from the File Menu.
Kuler Correction
Kuler, Adobe's color creation and sharing product, will also be available across all the CS4 programs, and each product in the suite will ship with a feature called Adobe Drive to help share files between programs.
New Tabbed Window Interface
The user interface for each application will also see minor changes. The most notable differences include a tabbed interface to switch between open documents, and a workspace switching menu to choose which menus and palettes are displayed.
Also somewhat controversial is Adobe's effort to rework the title bar on both Windows and the Mac to a new design that doesn't follow the human interface guidelines of either, although this is only carried forward in specific applications in the suite.
In a confidential note to beta testers, Adobe wrote "the advantages of this new unifying App bar are: On Windows, it saves vertical real estate by combining title bar, main menu bar, and windowing controls in a single row; emphasizes task-based workspaces; up-levels and exposes commonly used View controls (currently hidden in bottom status bars or in menus); allows for cross-suite common controls such as UI Search and Multiple Monitor controls; unifies user experience across the CS applications."
"On the Mac," Adobe said, "the main menus are not moving to the Application bar but instead remain at the top of the main monitor."
Photoshop CS4 (below) shows the new title bar with tools adjacent to the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, as well as the tabbed document interface, 3D menu, and other pulldowns.
Pricing
People familiar with Adobe's plans say the company will continue to offer multiple versions of the Creative Suite, continuing with the same suite configurations. Upgrades for the most popular suite, Design Premium, are expected to be priced at $699. (Update: CS4 is now available here)
Comments
If Im on Windows, that new Photoshop UI is welcoming (more screen space is always good) although it might need some learning curve but if Im using Mac which I am, no way I will be using that new UI, guess I can safely skip the next version of CS4 and ain't Adobe planning to drop the CS name?
Lets hope Adobe next CS version will be in Cocoa and it will has a nice and user friendly interface.
Adobe next week will unveil Creative Suite 4, a new version of its media design bundle set to ship the following month with features such as enhanced options for working with 3D objects in Photoshop, new Flash document exports from within InDesign, and a new animation model for Flash, AppleInsider has learned.
The San Jose-based software developer has confirmed the package to include new versions of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash, Flash Player, InDesign, Photoshop, and Soundbooth, but will also bundle minor updates to the suite's remaining components.
Nothing revolutionary
People privy to private demonstrations of Creative Suite 4 say the update will generally be minor, with only a few new features tacked on to each application. "The lack of compelling new features has been the discussion among many employees and customers that are testing the software," one of those people said, "with many relating CS4 to a maintenance release rather than a complete new version."
Photoshop CS4
Photoshop's new 3D feature, which allows 3D objects to be imported as wireframes, stands to benefit only a small group of users such as architects, engineers, and package designers, according to those familiar with the software. Some also describe the application's new interface (shown below) as a step backwards. Information from entire screens and dialog boxes is now fitted to a small palette with the goal of making the interface look consistent with the other applications, they say.
The new version of Photoshop will also feature a Flash services panel, natural canvas rotation, content aware image resizing and deliver 64-bit support for Windows users.
InDesign CS4
One of the big features of InDesign CS4 will be a new Flash export option, but those familiar with the product say the feature is somewhat impractical, given that text can only be edited one line at a time after it's exported. InDesign files exported to Flash may also not contain any multimedia content such as movies because they'll get stripped out in the conversion process and need to be re-added using Flash.
Unlike the new Photoshop interface (detailed below), InDesign CS4 uses a more conventional layout, with a standard document window and Office-style floating palette menus.
Flash CS4
Among the new features of Flash CS4 are a completely new "and proper" timeline dubbed Motion Editor, as well as a new object-based motion tween model. While some have praised the Flash's new animation model as "the best thing" to happen to the software, others believe it may present a new learning curve that further fragments the Flash community.
"The reengineered file format means that the Flash community, still split between ActionScript 2 and 3, will now be split with new source file formats," one person said.
Screen Sharing
Another big push behind CS4 will be collaboration. Leveraging its web conferencing business and Connect software, Adobe has built a new feature into all CS4 applications that will allow users to initiate a screen-sharing sessions from the File Menu.
Kuler Correction
Kuler, Adobe's color creation and sharing product, will also be available across all the CS4 programs, and each product in the suite will ship with a feature called Adobe Drive to help share files between programs.
New Tabbed Window Interface
The user interface for each application will also see minor changes. The most notable differences include a tabbed interface to switch between open documents, and a workspace switching menu to choose which menus and palettes are displayed.
Also somewhat controversial is Adobe's effort to rework the title bar on both Windows and the Mac to a new design that doesn't follow the human interface guidelines of either, although this is only carried forward in specific applications in the suite.
In a confidential note to beta testers, Adobe wrote "the advantages of this new unifying App bar are: On Windows, it saves vertical real estate by combining title bar, main menu bar, and windowing controls in a single row; emphasizes task-based workspaces; up-levels and exposes commonly used View controls (currently hidden in bottom status bars or in menus); allows for cross-suite common controls such as UI Search and Multiple Monitor controls; unifies user experience across the CS applications."
"On the Mac," Adobe said, "the main menus are not moving to the Application bar but instead remain at the top of the main monitor."
Photoshop CS4 (below) shows the new title bar with tools adjacent to the close, minimize, and zoom buttons, as well as the tabbed document interface, 3D menu, and other pulldowns.
Pricing
People familiar with Adobe's plans say the company will continue to offer multiple versions of the Creative Suite, continuing with the same suite configurations. Upgrades for the most popular suite, Design Premium, are expected to be priced at $699.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
I now go out of my way to avoid Adobe's products in day to day work. I use Preview for PDFs, and only use Acrobat when I need to stitch PDFs together. I dropped Dreamweaver 2 years ago and now use Coda, TextMate and CSSEdit for my website development tools. For non-legacy work, I use Pixelmator now. The only app I find myself going back to still is Fireworks, because no Mac developer has produced a tool that will allow you to slice up a comp easily for web graphics. I'm hoping they add this to Pixelmator soon, or better yet, someone else produces a Mac app for this.
I've been looking forward to CS4 but now that it is getting closer and more info is leaked out, I am rethinking it. Even Adobe doesn't seem that excited for it.
I hope the 3D thing isn't being touted as THE major new Photoshop feature - as the article points out, very few would have the need for it.
I've already moved to AS3 for everything in Flash, so I suppose I might get a trial and see what all the new timeline fuss is about. But, one thing I thought was fantastic about Flash CS3 is that they had released the Flash Player 9 months before, so there was already decent penetration by the time CS3 came out. If they are reverting to releasing the new player at the same time as Flash, then there is no point using it for web work anyway for a while.
Flash Export in InDesign sounds like a load of useless crap. For an app that doesn't support a RGB HEX colour picker input (and a load of other web-oriented features like Illustrator does), why on earth do Adobe think people will use it for web content creation?
No Illustrator news? (or more InDesign?) They would need quite a few useful updates/new features (aside from application layout tweaks) to justify spending $700 on an upgrade.
Also, I hope the new suite installation is cleaner. I hate that I have a crappy old version of Opera on my computer (which for some dumb reason seems to keep stealing association for .torrent files), all because Adobe felt the need to include it their install package for use by some random compontent (Never mind all the other crap they also bundle!).
Adobe are seriously slowing down. They are reminding me of Microsoft and Internet Explorer 6, and seriously need a competition kick up the ass.
Illustrator? CS4 should have incorporated the best FreeHand goodies into AI. But instead, they'll go the MM route and let AI languish like FreeHand. Way to go, Adobe.
SKIP
Of course, one can never tell what it will be until the unveiling, but from the looks of this article, it could be a very underwhelming day come the 23rd of this month.
Adobe has lost the touch.
Even though I regularly waste money keeping apps up-to-date in a useless attempt to prevent having to pay even more for a future update that has some significant value, this won't fly. This sounds like a $129 or $159 update to individual applications, not $699 for the Suite (although I would probably still pass on it since the features don't offer value for my work).
Did Tim Gill buy Adobe without anyone reporting it?
Looks like the old braintrust from Macromedia has successfully infected Adobe with their unfocused product strategy.
Illustrator? CS4 should have incorporated the best FreeHand goodies into AI. But instead, they'll go the MM route and let AI languish like FreeHand. Way to go, Adobe.
SKIP
As a huge fan of Freehand, I'd love for AI to adopt a great deal of Freehands features. AI does most things better but freehand has some big advantages. I still feel it's easier to draw with Freehand than AI. I still use it for the more complex illustrtions.
As a whole I'm dissapointed with what I see for CS4, I'll be using it because the Army will get me a copy but I'll hold off for it at home untill I'm sure It's worth it.
I guess the upcoming release of Painter 11 (6 months or so) is where I'll look for spending my cash.
Who that uses InDesign as a serious print/pdf design tool gives a flying eff about flash?
Perhaps they believe companies who are too cheap to pay for real Flash developers will be able to get extra work from print designers. Or maybe some print designers who long to make things move will ask for the upgrade so they can back into Flash. Maybe they just want to offer it since Quark offers options to deliver interactive media.
Who knows? Just a thought... I know I tried Flash a while back, and even produced some content for my firm (CD-delivered executables that replaced a product VCR tape), but I quickly discovered I didn't have the chops to do it professionally.
As for the rest of CS4... I can't wait! For CS5