The last time we saw the “#1 Photoshop Fan,” he was camped out all night waiting for the release of Photoshop CS5… Now he’s back (in the funny video below) and helping launch a new contest to find Adobe’s “Next Photoshop Evangelist” – and if it’s you, you’ll win a new copy of Creative Suite 5 plus a paid trip to Photoshop World in Florida next March, including the chance to demo your work at the conference, roundtrip coach airfare, lodging, and meals.

To enter: “Upload a two-minute Photoshop video tutorial demonstrating why you should be the Next Photoshop Evangelist. Your video must use Photoshop CS5, a new Photoshop CS5 feature, and, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Photoshop, incorporate the concept of ‘20′ some­where in the final image. Have fun!”

If you need Photoshop CS5 to use for the contest, you can easily download the fully-working free trial for 30 days. For choosing a new feature to use, see the list of new CS5 features for Photoshop (and all other products).

The submission deadline is August 24th and then twelve finalists will be chosen by Adobe, with the grand prize winner being selected by the Photoshop community on Facebook. All twelve finalists will be showcased by Adobe on several venues. So show off your Photoshop skills and sharing abilities and you could be on your way to Florida next winter with a new CS5 suite on your laptop and some fame to your name.

And now, here’s that entertaining video with the otherwise nameless, #1 Photoshop Fan:

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If you missed your calling as a 19th-century post-Impressionist painter, here’s your second chance… Adobe recently released the fast and free Pixel Bender Plug-in for Photo­shop CS5, which adds new image processing algorithms (filters or effects) in a hardware-independent manner. There are dozens of free filters available, including one for an oil paint effect. Pixel Bender also runs cross-platform in After Effects and Flash, so all filters and their behaviors are portable among various Adobe products.

Installation of the Pixel Bender Plug-in is easy, provided you already have Photoshop CS5 installed. If you don’t yet have Photoshop CS5, you can just download the full 30-day free trial. The Pixel Bender Gallery is initially populated with 13 filters that come with with the plugin. The one we’ll focus on today is the OilPaint filter, with two video tutorials below demonstrating detailed examples of its use. The tips and techniques shared will help you use the tools to turn an ordinary photo into something special – “makes a great gift!”

Adobe Pixel Bender Plug-in Video Tutorials

These how-to’s come courtesy of Adobe Photoshop guru Russell Brown – the first one is a two-part playlist showing how the swirling church image above was created, and the second video walks through more advanced painting methods with the Pixel Bender tools:

If you want to download more filters, visit the Pixel Bender Exchange; and if you’d like to write your own, see the toolkit and other resources at the Pixel Bender Technology Center.

Recent Photoshop CS5 Video Tutorials

• Advanced Magic with Photoshop CS5’s Content-Aware Fill
• Advanced Puppet Warping with Photoshop CS5
• Photoshop CS5 Basic and Advanced Masking Techniques

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If you’re weighing whether to upgrade to Photoshop CS5, or just want to see the best of the new features, Adobe’s got a free new seminar series for you… Digital Imaging Evangelist Julieanne Kost just gave a one-hour online session (now available on-demand) highlighting at least 10 good reasons to become a Photoshop CS5 believer:

Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Photoshop CS5 — Watch now

Photoshop CS5 is packed with features that save time, and helps you create images with the desired impact. Easily make complex selections. Remove any image element and see the space fill in almost magically. Paint realistically. Create stunning HDR images, remove noise, add grain, and create vignettes with state-of-the-art photo­graphy tools. Seeing is believing.

This is the second in the What’s New in Photoshop CS5 eSeminar Series. The first was given last month by Photoshop Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes of Content-Aware Fill fame, and is also available for on-demand replay:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers (1 hour) — Watch now

See how Photoshop CS5 gives photographers a set of breakthrough tools to help you refine your images and get superior results faster than ever before. This seminar highlights key features and the reasons why photographers should consider upgrad­ing to Photoshop CS5.

On top of that, it’s a busy week for Photoshop users. If you’re in the New York City area in the coming days, stop by one of these other free events:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Summit, Friday, June 25, 4:30–7:30 pm, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC —
Join Scott Kelby and the NAPP team for the first-ever Photoshop Summit, where you’ll see exactly how to plug the amazing new features of CS5 right into your daily Photoshop work­flow. Plus, you’ll be able to meet one-on-one with Adobe’s own Photoshop and Lightroom product managers and get your questions answered direct from the source. It’s absolutely free with some great giveaways including the products themselves.

Photowalk with Adobe Product Managers, Saturday, June 26, 10am-2pm, Midtown, NYC —
Join Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop product managers Tom Hogarty and Bryan O’Neil Hughes for an exclusive photo walk through New York City. All levels welcome, and includes a free lunch and software tips and demos. Space is limited to 50 participants, so please RSVP.

Adobe Day at Foto Care, Monday & Tuesday, June 28 & 29, 10am & 2pm, Foto Care, NYC —
Welcome Adobe specialists Bryan O’Neil Hughes and Tom Hogarty as they present Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. In these free workshops you will learn the new features and see how to use the new tools to enhance your workflow, making it easier and faster.

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• Save 30% on Adobe Lightroom 3, sans Coupon or Promo Code

Best practices in optimizing web content for Flash Player 10.1
Tuesday, June 22, 9AM–10AM PDT — Watch Free On-Demand

The quickest way to build cross-platform apps with AIR 2
Tuesday, June 22, 1PM–2PM PDT — Watch Free On-Demand

Rich Internet App development with Flash Builder 4 for Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2
Wednesday, June 23, 9AM–10AM PDT — Watch Free On-Demand

Multi-screen web content development with Flash Pro CS5
Thursday, June 24, 9AM–10AM PDT — Watch Free On-Demand

There’s also been a ton of good Flash-related news in recent weeks… Some of the best:

• A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Why Flash is Hard to Replace
• Two Pictures is Worth 2,000 Words: Flash Player 10.1 is #1 Free Download on Android
• Demos: Flash Player Now Does Hardware-Accelerated HD Video on a Range of Devices
• Add Another Screen: Google TV Integrates Flash Player 10.1 on Television Sets
• Shape Future Adobe Development by Giving Your Feedback via New Adobe Labs Ideas
• New Video Codec Coming: Flash Player Will Support On2/Google’s VP8 Video
• Goooooal! Flash Powers Live Streaming of the World Cup on ESPN Online

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We’re seeing some folks reporting problems trying to download the new Lightroom 3 using the Akamai Download Manager, which is enabled by default at Adobe.com… There are several posts on the user forums (e.g., here and here), as well as incoming visitor search queries here like “download link for lightroom 3 without akamai,” “adobe lightroom 3 direct download link,” and “how to download lightroom 3 from adobe without the download manager.”

So to complement our earlier sets of direct links for Adobe CS5 and CS4, below are the direct download links for Lightroom 3 – they are very straightforward, just one single file for each platform that covers all languages (with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions inside for Windows)…

Because we’ve also had requests for links for the Elements product line (Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8), you’ll find those further down as well – including the extra con­tent files for Premiere Elements. All of these links go to the auth­entic files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change.

Note: Very Important

You need to have a free Adobe account and be logged into it to use the links below, as Adobe sets a session cookie on your browser that allows you to access the direct download links. So please follow these instructions carefully or the links will not work!

0. Adobe recommends temporarily turning off any surfing restrictions you might have running, like site or cookie blocking, firewalls or antivirus software.
1. Visit this page and click on the “Download Now” button at the bottom.
2. If you already have an Adobe ID, then please sign in with it (checking “Remember me“), otherwise take a minute to create one for yourself.
3. Close/cancel any windows that may pop up.
4. Now that you’re logged in at Adobe with the trials cookie set, you can instantly download from the links below. Just make sure you have enough disk space available.
5. Download the files either by clicking directly on the DDL links, or by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As…” on the popup menu – and save all files to the same place.
6. Then follow the product installation instructions here.

Lightroom 3 Direct Download Links

Adobe Lightroom 3 – Windows (160.5 MB):   File 1
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese

Adobe Lightroom 3 – Mac (74.9 MB):   File 1
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese

Elements 8 Direct Download Links

Photoshop Elements 8 – Windows (1.1 GB):   File 1   File 2
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese

Photoshop Elements 8 – Mac (1.3 GB):   File 1
English, French, German, Japanese

Premiere Elements 8 – Windows (1.2 GB):   File 1   File 2
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese

Premiere Elements 8 – Additional content:   File 1   File 2

For Elements on Windows, each program consists of two files, an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

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With the official release of Lightroom 3.0 looking to be just around the corner here!, it’s time to launch our June contest… This month we’re giving away 3 free upgrades to Lightroom 3, and all you have to do for a shot to win is enter your email address in the “Adobe Special Offers” box in the sidebar to the right for our free occasional e-newsletter. That’s it.

It’s open worldwide with one subscription per person and submissions end at 11:59pm EDT on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010. Then on July 1st we’ll choose three new subscribers at random, and if you’re one of them we’ll ship you a shiny new shrinkwrapped upgrade to Lightroom 3 for free! (Or if you’ve already purchased your upgrade by that time, just send us the bill and we’ll reimburse 100% of your cost via PayPal.) We’ll contact you via email just to get your address for shipping, and then follow up back here announcing your first name and hometown. It’s that simple, no kidding!

If you like, you can find out more about our newsletter – it typically covers select Adobe-related news plus the latest specials and promo codes. And of course you can easily unsubscribe from the bottom of any issue. Natu­rally we’ll never spam you or share your email address with anyone else, ever. So enter your email today and spread the word – someone has to win and there’s nothing to lose…

See Terry White’s new video, My Top 5 Favorite Lightroom 3 Features.

Speaking of giveaways, we’re also pleased to announce the winners of our Best CS5 Books Free Contest last month… Thank you all for the wonderful entries – there were so many good ones that it was very difficult to choose and we wish everyone could have a free book! The new CS5 Classroom book series just came out and the ten commenters who will be receiving them are:

1. Jonathan from Springdale, AR, chose CS5 Design Premium Classroom in a Book
2. Kenneth from Albany, NY, chose Photoshop CS5 Classroom in a Book
3. Heidi from Petaluma, CA, chose Photoshop too
4. Steven from Conway, AR, chose Photoshop also
5. Jami from Sheridan, IL, chose Photoshop as well
6. Jason from Cambridge, MA, chose InDesign CS5 Classroom in a Book
7. Thomas from London, England, chose Dreamweaver CS5 Classroom in a Book
8. Andrew from Lansing, MI, chose Illustrator CS5 Classroom in a Book
9. Jon from Vancouver, Canada, chose Flash Catalyst CS5 Classroom in a Book
10. Druyan from Santa Barbara, CA, chose Premiere Pro CS5 Classroom in a Book

Thank you again for participating and good luck this month!

[UPDATE (July 14th) – Congratulations to our three winners of a free upgrade to Lightroom 3: Warren from Coquitlam, BC; Chester from Chester, SC (really); and Becca from Pittsburgh, PA — and thanks to all who entered.]

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[UPDATE (6/11) – Get Lightroom 3 or Elements 8 direct too.]

Following our popular post last week with the direct download links to the official trials of CS4 and CS3 for those who need them, by reader request we are doing the same for all CS5 products here… In theory the Akamai Download Manager that Adobe uses is a good thing, intending to reduce download times and provide a ‘resume’ capability in case of interruption. But despite their best efforts, some folks are still encountering problems downloading CS5 with Akamai’s presence, so we thought we’d provide a complete set of direct download links for all Adobe Creative Suite 5 software (Windows and Mac), for instant easy access and to assist in these cases…

Below is a table for CS5 trial downloads in major languages. These links go to the auth­entic CS5 files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change. For Windows, each program consists of up to two files, an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

The supported languages vary by product. The Western Euro­pean languages can include Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. To see which product supports which languages, visit the main Adobe trials page and then click on the selection menu for whichever product(s) you’d like to try – it will tell you which languages are currently available.

Note: Very Important

You need to have a free Adobe account and be logged into it to use the links below, as Adobe sets a session cookie on your browser that allows you to access the direct download links. So please follow these instructions carefully or the links will not work!

0. Adobe recommends temporarily turning off any surfing restrictions you might have running, like site or cookie blocking, firewalls or antivirus software.
1. Visit this page like you want to try Photoshop CS5, and click on the “Download Now” button at the bottom of that page.
2. If you already have an Adobe ID, then please sign in with it (checking “Remember me“), otherwise take a minute to create one for yourself.
3. Close/cancel any download windows that pop up for the trial of Photoshop CS5.
4. Now that you’re logged in at Adobe with the trials cookie set, you can instantly download any of the software below. Just make sure you have enough disk space available.
5. Download the files either by clicking directly on the DDL links, or by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As…” on the popup menu – and save all files to the same place.
6. Then follow the product installation instructions here.

Note there is no separate trial download for CS5 Design Standard – you go with the bigger CS5 Design Premium and then decide which version you’d like to keep at time of product purchase… The same goes for Photoshop CS5 – the trial is always the Extended version (having all features including 3D), and then you choose later.

It is suggested to use a browser other than Internet Explorer to download any of the files above. They can be quite large and sometimes IE has difficulty with the file or the download. Using Firefox or Chrome will work better.

Did these links work for you? Hope they helped you out; please let us know in the comments below…

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Did you know that people spend over $7 billion each year printing, faxing, and overnighting documents just because a signature is needed? Adobe has just introduced a free solution aiming to crush those expenses… It’s called Adobe eSignatures™ and it’s live now, a new online service allowing you to electronically sign contracts, NDAs – any Acrobat PDF document that requires a signature.

If you already have an Adobe.com ID or login, you’re good to go – just sign in and start signing (electronically)! If you don’t yet have an Adobe ID, just take a minute to create one; it’s easy and free. Then it’s a very simple guided process that allows you to upload your document, enter the email address(es) for all parties, and click to sign. You don’t need any special tokens or smartcards. Once signed, the final eSignatures document is certified by Adobe to ensure that no one has modified it, providing an authentic copy that is protected against alterations. And it’s entirely legal, valid, and lawfully accepted, being used to sign everything from real estate and sales contracts to judicial orders.

Adobe actually has a lot of experience in this area, with a big, well-established business pro­viding a highly-secure digital signature capability into large banks, the military and a number of governments. In fact, the first digitally-signed judicial order was executed using Adobe technology, and the FY 2011 U.S. Federal Budget was electronically certified using the same technology that underlies eSignatures. They’ve been a market leader in digital signatures for over a decade, and are now extending this service out to the rest of the world for everyday documents… (Read how it works.)

Did we mention it’s free?

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Even though Creative Suite 5 is out and is a phenomenal release, some folks still need the earlier versions for various reasons: 32-bit vs 64-bit (e.g., After Effects and Premiere Pro), compatibility with other software or systems owned, the rest of your class or company is still on CS4, you need to reinstall but no longer have your original disks or download file, etc… But this older software is now hard to find – Adobe doesn’t publicize or provide a web interface for it. So if you’ve been searching high and low all over the Internet to find the official Adobe trial downloads for CS4 or CS3, well your search is over!

Below are two tables for CS4 trial downloads in major languages. These links go to the auth­entic CS4 files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change. For Windows, each program consists of two files, an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work once the .7z package is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

There are also optional “extra content” downloads included here for most products that consist of one or two additional files, which you can install separately after the main product is installed.

Note: Very Important

You need to have a free Adobe account and be logged into it to use the links below, as Adobe sets a session cookie on your browser that allows you to access the direct download links. So please follow these instructions carefully or the links will not work!

0. Adobe recommends temporarily turning off any surfing restrictions you might have running, like site or cookie blocking, firewalls or antivirus software.
1. Visit this page like you want to try Photoshop CS5, and click on the “Download Now” button at the bottom of that page.
2. If you already have an Adobe ID, then please sign in with it (checking “Remember me“), otherwise take a minute to create one for yourself.
3. Close/cancel any download windows that pop up for the trial of Photoshop CS5 (you can do a full trial for it later).
4. Now that you’re logged in at Adobe with the trials cookie set, you can instantly download any of the software below. Just make sure you have plenty of disk space available.
5. Download the files either by clicking directly on the DDL links, or by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As…” on the popup menu – and save all files to the same place.
6. Then follow the product installation instructions here.

And for other countries, here are the CS4 trial download links for most Western European languages, including French/Français, German/Deutsch, Dutch/Nederlands, Italian/Italiano, Spanish/Español, and Portuguese/Português:

We suggest using a browser other than Internet Explorer to download any of the files above. They can be quite large and sometimes IE has difficulty with the file or the download. Using Firefox or Chrome will work better. IE has also been known to drop the extensions (.exe and .7z) from the filenames, so you may have to restore or rename them back.

For CS3 or CS4 in any language, see this page which deserves much credit for laying the groundwork here. All of the same instructions above would apply, for downloading direct from Adobe servers. If you’re looking for CS2, CS, or an even earlier release, you can try exploring directly on Adobe’s FTP server for older products (recommended for advanced users only).

It is strongly advised not to use unknown sites or sources to download Adobe software, as increasingly these files are being used to deliver viruses and trojans onto users’ computers.

Did these links work for you? Hope they helped you out; please let us know in the comments below… And please see our companion page if you want the same thing for any CS5 product.

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Our last giveaway went so well that we’re launching a new one for the month of May – we’re giving away ten copies of some of the best CS5 books coming, Adobe’s popular “Classroom in a Book” series! The books will be published in early June, just after the contest ends… They sell for up to $59.99 and include companion DVDs for Windows or Mac with bonus content including lesson files and video tutorials. Our winners can choose a book for whichever product you’d like: Photoshop CS5, Dreamweaver CS5, Illustrator CS5, InDesign CS5, Flash Pro CS5, Flash Catalyst CS5, Premiere Pro CS5, After Effects CS5, Fireworks CS5, or CS5 Design Premium.

To enter, all you have to do is add a comment below describing what you like about CS5 and how you’ll be using it, in up to four sentences – that’s it! The contest runs until 11:59pm EDT on Monday, May 31st, 2010, when we’ll choose the ten entries we like the best. One entry per person please, and if two submissions are similar, the first one will count. The contest is open to residents of the USA, Canada, U.K. and Ireland, and the winners will be chosen and books shipped out next month. Be sure to give an accurate email address as we’ll be contacting ten commenters via email to get shipping information, and then follow up back here announcing first names and home­towns.

Speaking of giveaways, we’re also pleased to announce the winner of our big Photoshop CS5 Giveaway last month… The lucky fellow who won the drawing is Dayne from North Lincoln­shire, England, and he will be receiving a shiny new shrinkwrap­ped box of Photoshop CS5 for free!

It turns out Dayne is a talented young artist who after­wards sent us some work he did with Photoshop CS4, which we’d like to share with you here…
Congratulations Dayne, and we’ll look forward to seeing what you do with CS5. And thanks again to everyone who entered for your participation and enthusiasm.

Adobe has some more great product releases coming up, so we expect to be running one new contest each month for a while to come… And since we have a full ten new Creative Suite 5 books to give away this month, if you enter now plus facebook and tweet your friends and colleagues, hopefully one of you will get one!

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Note there is a single trial download for Photoshop – it’s Photoshop CS5 Extended, which includes the Standard version. You decide which you wish to activate at the time of purchase.* The same thing goes for CS5 Design Premium and Design Standard – you get the bigger one and choose later. Also, the trials for the suites do not bundle Acrobat 9 Pro – so it must be downloaded separately.

If you’re upgrading to CS5, you can install a trial and then buy an upgrade to convert your trial into a purchased version. What’s more, a single CS5 purchase may entitle you to install and activate the software on two systems with certain restrictions. No serial number is needed to download or run the trials. For more information on these and other questions, refer to the full CS5 Trial FAQ.

See also: The complete CS5 Product Matrix, CS5 Price Sheet & CS5 System Requirements.

* Note that for Adobe’s Education (Student and Teacher) Editions, there is only one version of Photoshop offered or available – the top-of-the-line Photoshop CS5 Extended. The good news is you’re getting 80% off the regular price!

[UPDATE (May 25th) – If you prefer you can use the direct download links for CS5. If you need the free trials for earlier Adobe releases like CS4 and CS3, they're available for download here.]

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[UPDATE (June 7) – Also see our new contest!]

Less than a week to go now until the big Global Online Launch of Creative Suite 5, if you haven’t signed up yet … We’ve talked a lot here about Photoshop CS5, so here’s your chance to win it for free! All you have to do is enter your email address in the “Adobe Special Offers” box in the sidebar to the right for our free occasional e-newsletter. That’s it.

It’s open worldwide with one subscription per person and submissions end at 11:59pm EDT on Friday, April 30th, 2010. Then on May 1st (right before we think CS5 is released) we’ll choose one new subscriber at random, and if it’s you we’ll ship you a shiny new shrinkwrap­ped box of Photoshop CS5 for free! (up to $699 value) We’ll contact you via email just to get your address for shipping, and then follow up back here announcing your first name and home­town. It’s that simple, no kidding!

If you like, you can find out more about the newsletter you’ll be receiving – it typically contains select Adobe-related news items plus the latest discounts and great coupon codes. And of course you can easily unsubscribe from the bottom of any issue. Naturally we’ll never spam you or share your email address with anyone else, ever. So enter your email today and tell your friends – someone has to win the giveaway and there’s nothing to lose!

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You may have heard of the new releases today of Flash Builder 4 (formerly Flex Builder), and ColdFusion Builder…

And we’ve written about this particular offer before, but it bears repeating now that we have major product refreshes for both Flex and ColdFusion.

Adobe will give you full versions of these premium develop­ment tools ($249 – $1,299 values) absolutely free if you qualify! And if you don’t, you might know someone who does and could benefit…

Free copies of Adobe Flash Builder 4 Standard are given to (a) students, faculty and staff of eligible educational institutions, or (b) software developers who are affected by the current economic conditions and currently unemployed.

The ColdFusion products are also available for free to educational customers, to use for learning purposes only and not for production use. Complimentary installation support is available, and if you are a teacher and would like ColdFusion 9 for multiple systems in your lab, you can ask for up to 30 education serial numbers in a single request.

So if you can certify yourself for any of these categories, go ahead and download your free software here.

New video out too: Creating Interactive Web Experiences with the Flash Family of Tools.

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For example, if you register your CS4 product, you can choose from one of these bonuses: 30 days of free training at Lynda.com, free or discounted books or magazines, or access to download 16 free fonts.

Doing the same for Acrobat gets you similar choices, or a 5% discount coupon for anything at the Adobe store. CS3 users can qualify for benefits as well.

Note that to get these gifts you need to use “in-product” registration (the easiest)… Typically this is offered at the time of installation of the application, when a screen prompts you to register by completing just a few fields. Or, if your software is already installed, you can register at any time by selecting Help > Registration from your application’s menu toolbar.

Also BTW, with any product registration, you also get on the list to receive invitations to Adobe events. Just another reasonable benefit.

(It should be noted that complimentary benefits do vary by region and product and are subject to availability.)

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Adobe has just started a new program of giving away full versions of some of its premium development tools ($699 – $1,299 value) absolutely free if you qualify…

If you are an educational customer or an unemployed developer, Adobe would like to lend a hend. Simply certify you are a student, faculty or staff of an eligible education institution, or currently out of work – and the software is yours to download for non-commercial use.

Get your free products here.

UPDATE (March 22nd, 2010) – With the two new version releases out today, the products now available for free at this site are ColdFusion 9, ColdFusion Builder, and Flash Builder (formerly Flex Builder) 4.

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• Win a Free Upgrade to Adobe Lightroom 3

Not all are aware, but Adobe is now offering free trials of virtually any product that works without restriction for up to thirty days… The best part is you can immediately download the software for most products and have it up and running on your computer within minutes!

For the larger packages such as the suites, Adobe will send you software DVDs for a nominal charge of $10-15 (UPDATE, February 2010 – new policy – you can now directly download any of the suites too if you desire, for free, including the top-of-the-line Master Collection). In any event, all products and all suites remain fully functional for up to a month (no “demo mode”), and the trials can be installed on multiple or successive systems if desired.

In all cases you can test drive whatever you like, or get the work you need to get done for the duration of the period. And if and when you are ready to buy, you can easily convert your product trial for permanent unrestricted use without reinstalling the software in most cases.

Lastly, you can download as many individual CS4 CS5 apps as you want, including Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Contribute, Elements, etc.

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• Direct Download Links for Lightroom 3 and Photoshop Elements 8
• Adobe CS5 Direct Download Links, sans Akamai Download Manager
• Download Adobe CS4 and CS3 Free Trials Here
• Adobe CS5 Free Trial Downloads Now Available
• Free Update to Adobe Lightroom 2.7

Here’s a great one. How would you like a huge menu of absolutely free video training, tips, and tricks for most all of Adobe’s major products?

A large selection of helpful segments from the experts you can run and view at any time from the comfort of your home or office, covering everything from “getting started” tutorials for beginners to advanced “how-to” guides for thirty different products…

Well, it’s here – check it out and learn all you want at the new “Adobe TV.”

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• Free New Video Tutorials for All Adobe CS5 Products
• 5 Hours of Free Tutorials for Photoshop/Premiere Elements 7 and 8
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• Get the Best Adobe CS5 Books, Free!
• Adobe Creative Suite 5 Is Now Shipping!