Last week Adobe quietly revealed a first look at Photoshop CS6, which was received with hundreds of thousands of views…  And now we have a second look, a sneak peek which focuses on performance gains.

As images grow larger and larger in resolution and file size, even simple issues such as saving your files can slow down productivity – which has been a point of interest in Photoshop CS5. In this preview, a smooth and oft-requested Background Save capability is introduced allowing you to fully continue working while all file saving takes place in the background, regardless of size or compression.

Large images also slow down functions like Liquify… In the video, a 100MB photograph lags when loading and editing in Photoshop CS5. Now this new Photoshop (CS6 we presume) uses the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to greater effect to bring real-time loading and editing responsiveness. See how much faster and crisper the Liquify filter works, enabling effectively unlimited brush sizes:

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Late last week we received these two inquiries via our Contact page:

“Could you please provide a proposed release date for CS6 Design Premium software? I can’t see anywhere on your site where this is mentioned except for the U-turn regarding upgrade policy from earlier versions.”

“I have a budget meeting tomorrow and need to know the approximate release date and projected cost of the CS5 to CS6 Master Collection Suite upgrade.”

So, this is something people really want to know now.  And we have written about it before, giving clues in posts here as far back as March and July of last year…

But it’s clearly time for an update.

Even today, we wish we could give you exact dates and numbers for those questions, but Adobe hasn’t publicly disclosed that information – and likely won’t until CS6 is launched… However, we can make a best estimate of the possible timing for the Creative Suite 6 release window.

On Adobe’s site now there is a document referencing the new CS Release Schedule.  Here are a few of the key elements contained within this Message Summary:

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If you’d like to learn how to use Adobe’s Creative Suite tools to easily and portably create websites and apps for tablets, smartphones, and mobile devices there’s a new 2¼-hour course you’ll be interested in…

Guru Paul Trani teaches an extensive free class with 18 video chapters that will take you step-by-step on how to create portable content that will run on both Apple iOS and Google Android devices with a wide variety of screen sizes using a single code base. Basic usage of HTML5 and CSS3 is covered, as well as how to bring in Adobe’s recent additions PhoneGap (for building fast, cross-platform mobile applica­tions) and Typekit (for delivering custom web fonts).

The first half of the video series employs Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5 to develop both websites and apps, with steps on how to convert a website into a portable mobile app. The tutorials then move on to using Flash-based tools (with Adobe AIR) to build multi-platform mobile apps. We already know that Flash Professional CS5 can be used to build apps for the iPad and iPhone, but this takes it a step further. The videos guide you all the way through to how to publish your app to your device and to the Android Market (which shows immediately) or to the Apple App Store.

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The long-awaited Adobe Lightroom 4 beta release finally made its appearance last week (free download here), and has some folks pretty excited about the collection of new features. There’s a complete list further below, but some of the biggies include much better video support, soft proofing, integrated maps and photo books, and some amazing improvements to the Develop module.

We’ve got a new video here from the popular Terry White giving a fine walkthrough of what’s new and improved…  Adobe has said they expect the general featureset to remain consistent between the beta and the final release (see when that will be).

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= BREAKING NEWS =

Two months ago Adobe made a major change in the Creative Suite upgrade policy that had been in place since CS3 came out in April 2007…

Had you heard about it? If not, here’s what they said on the new upgrade policy for CS6…
In a nutshell, Adobe said only customers running Creative Suite 5 products would be eligible for discounted upgrade pricing to the new CS6 when it comes out.

Customers spoke up and reaction to the change was pretty unfavorable across the web… Results from our own poll here showed a striking 91% against the move including the company’s related business model changes to the Creative Cloud.

And now, in a stunning turnabout, Adobe says they have been listening and are backing off the new policy, in response to customer feedback…

Yes, it’s true – and just as we were one of the first to break the original story, we’re back now with the good news that the older Creative Suite versions like CS3 and CS4 will indeed be able to get upgrade discounts to CS6 in the future.

Here it is from our Adobe Partner Update:

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NEWS FLASH – Adobe has just announced a free public beta release of the eagerly-anticipated Photoshop Lightroom 4, with new tools and advancements to enhance and share your digital photograph library:

“Available as a free public download from Adobe Labs for Windows and Mac, the Lightroom 4 beta is a preview of new features and capabilities that will be offered in the final release of LR4, expected in early 2012.

The beta features refined technology for superior shadow and highlight processing, expanded management capabilities including enhanced DSLR video support and the ability to create beautiful photo books from within Lightroom. Adobe encourages photographers to try the beta release and provide feedback to the product team.”

The news comes six years to the day from the very first beta release of Lightroom 1 on January 9, 2006, where it all started…  Lightroom is Adobe’s digital photography workflow solution helping amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase their images.

And great news – some long-requested new features are here now in LR4…

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It’s been a few months now since Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 was officially released, so let’s take a look at what the reviews out there are saying…

First, for a quick overview of the new version, check out our Elements 10 Release Guide, as well as What’s New in PSE 10 vs. 9, 8, 7, or 6?

And if you’re wondering which edition of Photoshop is right for you, see: What’s the Difference between Photoshop CS5 vs. Elements 10 vs. Lightroom 3?

OK, so now on to the reviews for Photoshop Elements 10:

PC Magazine writes, “If you’re mostly concerned about doing interesting and creative things with your images, but don’t want to invest the time and money in learning Photoshop, Photoshop Elements 10 is an excellent option… Competitors don’t come close to matching Photoshop Elements’ array of dazzling photo effects, organizational tools like face tagging, and sharing and output options. Photoshop Elements 10’s tools for perfecting your digital images are unrivaled, making it our Editors’ Choice for prosumer photo editing.”

About.com says, “Each new update to Photoshop Elements has always brought strong new features to the program. Photoshop Elements 10 is no exception… Elements remains an extremely powerful and useful photo editing program for anyone who doesn’t need the graphic editing feature of CS or its high price tag. Whether you are a beginner or ‘old hand’ at photo editing, Photoshop Elements 10 offers strong tools for a very reasonable price.”

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Adobe has two major new products in free public beta right now – Adobe Edge for developing HTML5 animations (like Flash Pro but outputs HTML5) and Adobe Muse which allows designers to create websites as easily as creating a layout for print. Adobe says interest in these betas has far exceeded their expectations.

Both tools will be shipping in their first official release in 2012. And while it’s been known for a while that Muse would be “subscription-only,” we now know too that Edge will likely follow the same path. Furthermore, neither will be included in the Creative Suite.

At a recent Adobe Analyst meeting during the question and answer session, it was revealed that Adobe is planning for both new design tools to be available only via subscription or through their optional “Creative Cloud” software rental offering – and neither will be a part of CS6 – in other words, they will only be sold separately.

Here it is at the 33-minute mark of the Q&A:

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“What’s the difference between the different Photoshops?”

We’ve seen this question sooo many times, we just had to write a complete article about it.  With four different members of the Adobe Photoshop family, it can be confusing what is what and which to get…  And now that Photoshop Elements 10 has just been released, it’s a good time to look at this.

If you ask Adobe, they’ll tell you:

Q:  How do Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Extended, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Lightroom software differ?

A:  Photoshop Elements 10 (US$99) is designed for people who are just getting started with digital photo editing, and delivers powerful yet easy-to-use options that help you organize, edit, create, share, and help protect your personal photos.

Photoshop CS5 (US$699, actually CS5.1) is the professional standard for creating and manipulating powerful images, and Photoshop CS5 Extended (US$999) delivers every­thing in Photoshop plus tools for creating and editing 3D and motion-based images.

Photoshop Lightroom 3 (US$299) addresses the workflow needs of professional and serious amateur photographers, enabling them to import, process, organize, and showcase large volumes of digital photographs quickly.

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Judging by the amount of attention that Adobe’s recent upgrade policy changes have been receiving, as well as our subsequent visitor poll on the company’s model shift to the new “Creative Cloud,” this is a big and important issue…

And while this cloud model is optional, two of the persistent questions so far have been: How are the Acrobat and Lightroom products affected by all of this?

Both of these tools have historically different release schedules from Creative Suite – and while Acrobat is included in the suites, Lightroom is not.  Looking back, CS5.5 launched in May 2011, Acrobat X in November 2010, and Lightroom 3 in June 2010.

[See:  When will Adobe CS6 be released?  When is Lightroom 4 coming out?]

So first off, we can clarify: both Acrobat and Light­room are currently slated to be included in Adobe’s Creative Cloud, at least according to this slide from a recent analyst presentation – although there is a disclaimer at the bottom which states, “list of included products [is] not yet final.”

[UPDATE (January 25th) — Adobe now says that Lightroom will not be included initially, but is "planned for a future release."]

The next question then is, will either of these two popular standalone products be affected by Adobe’s new upgrade policy?

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