» Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.2 for Mac (a free update to Lightroom 3.0)
 » Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.2 for Windows

 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 for Mac (a free update to Photoshop CS5)
 » Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.2 for Windows

While it may seem Adobe skipped a version with no Lightroom 3.1, this was done just to align the point release number with Camera Raw (ACR 6.2), which shares the camera-related features. Since the initial “Release Candidate” for LR 3.2 was posted earlier this month, Adobe has fixed more bugs (including an issue with the new Facebook-publish feature), supported more cameras, plus added direct publishing to SmugMug.

Now, Lightroom 3.2 has new or improved RAW support for 16 additional cameras, including the Canon EOS 60D, Sony SLT-A33, and Fuji FinePix HS10. A total of 126 new lens profiles were also added (see the full list of all Lightroom-supported cameras), and 76 bugs fixed.

The result is a very solid-looking final release and a recommended update to Lightroom 3 that is available for immediate download. If you don’t already own Lightroom 3, Adobe’s free trial download has also now been updated to version 3.2.

Lightroom 3.2 is available in English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified).

Installation Notes

For computers with previous versions of Lightroom currently installed:
1. Download the Lightroom 3.2 update.
2. Open the folder, double-click the updater file, and follow the onscreen instructions.

For computers without a previous version of Lightroom installed, there is no need to install any previous versions of Lightroom before installing Lightroom 3.2.
1. Download the Lightroom 3.2 update.
2. Open the folder, double-click the updater file, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: Lightroom 3.2 will automatically remove the previous Lightroom 3 executable and replace the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom folder with the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.2 folder.

64-bit Installation

The Lightroom installer contains both a 32-bit and 64-bit version of the application. By default, the 64-bit version will be installed only on Windows Vista and Windows 7 64-bit operating systems. All other operating systems will install the 32-bit version by default.

Note that Camera Raw 6 is not compatible with Photoshop CS4 or earlier. The last release of Camera Raw for Photoshop CS4 was ACR 5.7 on 4/20/2010.

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Two months ago we studied the likely release dates for Adobe Acrobat 10 and concluded, “it looks like Acrobat 10 (or Acrobat X) will be shipping sometime between mid-October and late-November this year.”

At a financial conference presentation last week, Adobe’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Garrett was quoted as saying, “Acrobat 10 ships later this year, the next cycle in the Acrobat product family – which will continue to drive Acrobat growth and penetration going forward.”

Adobe’s fiscal year ends in late November 2010, so this lends credence that the release is on track for availability within our estimated timeframe.

But if you can’t wait until release day to see (and try) a copy, register your interest in the forthcoming Acrobat 10 public pre-release program. There are no guarantees on being accepted when it opens, but it’s free and easy to sign up so it’s worth a try. The application is open for Acrobat, Adobe Reader, or both. Adobe’s goal with the program is to receive feedback on new features and learn about possible bugs to help produce a release that’s better for everyone.

Acrobat Webinar Series

In the meantime, there’s still plenty to learn about Adobe Acrobat 9 – here’s a list of 11 free presentations to help get more out of what you’re using today… These were recorded earlier and are now available on-demand:

• 30 Super Tips and Tricks for using Adobe Acrobat 9
• Adobe Acrobat 9: Security
• Adobe Acrobat 9: Portfolios
• Adobe Acrobat 9: Optimize Your PDF Workflow
• Adobe Acrobat 9: An Essential Complement to MS Office
• Acrobat 9 Creating and Distributing Forms
• Acrobat 9 for Design Professionals: Authoring Interactive PDFs
• Administration and Productivity with Acrobat 9 Pro
• Why Upgrade to Acrobat 9?
• Top New Features of Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro
• The Basics of Adobe Acrobat 9

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Adobe has just made available for free download its Release Candidate for the first update to Lightroom 3, which will be called Lightroom 3.2… This new release has dozens of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one new feature – and thus far looks like a winner and a welcomed update by the Lightroom community. But you don’t even need to own any version of Lightroom to get or use it.

The download is in the form of a ZIP file for both Windows and Mac and is not just an update nor a trial – but a full version that will work until it expires for all users. These Release Candidates are more like betas in that Adobe is looking to see how a poten­tial new version performs in the field (and welcomes your input, feedback, and bug reports on it) – but Lightroom 3.2 shouldn’t be confused with Lightroom 3 beta 2 (which was the last available beta version of Lightroom 3.0 before its final release). And although Release Candidates are fully-working free versions that don’t require serial numbers, typically they have an expiration date to stop functioning within two calendar months of issue – meaning Lightroom 3.2 RC will probably expire by October 31, 2010.

So what happened to Adobe Lightroom 3.1? There actually wasn’t one – they are calling this first update “3.2″ to align the point release numbers with Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), which has a new Release Candidate of its own – Camera Raw 6.2. The Camera Raw plug-in is not required to run Lightroom — it goes with Photoshop instead — but Adobe adds new camera and lens profile support to both programs at the same time. So the release number syncing is to avoid confusion on which version corresponds with which.

With Lightroom 3.2 RC, we have an impressive list of 68 bugs fixed plus support for 12 new cameras and 57 new lens profiles added or improved. Performance is also generally reported to be significantly boosted all around. And lastly there is the addition of direct publish func­tionality from Lightroom to Facebook.

The new cameras supported are: the Casio EXILIM EX-FH100; Leica S2; Panasonic DMC-FZ100, DMC-LX5, DMC-FZ40/FZ45; Pentax 645D; Samsung NX10, TL500 (EX1); Sony A290, A390; and Sony Alpha NEX-3, NEX-5.

So, should you update? Adobe says, “The ‘release candidate’ label indicates that this update is well tested but would benefit from additional community testing before it is distributed automat­ically to all of our customers.” If you’ve had any issues or reservations with the initial release of Lightroom 3.0, or have been waiting for the first “bug-fix release” before buying, we recom­mend giving this a free and easy try. You don’t need to log in or provide any information – you can immediately download and use it free for a couple months.

Installation is straightforward, with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions included:

Working with Lightroom 3.2

• Mac: The Mac Lightroom 3.2 release candidate can be installed alongside Lightroom 3.0.
• Windows: By default, the Lightroom 3.2 release candidate will remove or over­write your existing Lightroom 3.0 installation. If you wish to return to Lightroom 3.0 after installing Lightroom 3.2, simply reinstall Lightroom 3.0 from your original download after uninstalling Lightroom 3.2 using the Windows add/remove program utility.

Both versions of the application share the same catalog format allowing your catalogs to be opened by either version without complications.

And when the final version of Lightroom 3.2 is eventually released, it will be a free update for all current Lightroom 3 owners and at that time you can just install that version over this 3.2 Release Candidate and continue on with your work.

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In our earlier article on LR3 tutorials and other resources, we covered what Expert Reviews said: “The new lens correction and noise reduction tools make Lightroom 3 a must-have upgrade from previous versions (just $99 for the upgrade edition), while its powerful management tools remain as good as ever. For many people Lightroom 3 will be the only bit of photo-editing software they need, but even those that have to turn to Photoshop for more-advanced image effects will find Lightroom 3 an invaluable management and pre-processing tool.”

Bright Hub gives the software a perfect 5 out of 5 overall rating and concludes, “It is easy to end this Lightroom 3 review with full marks for Adobe. This product stands head and shoulders above the competition in an increasingly crowded sector. It is a great choice for professionals and advanced amateurs who are looking to for the best way to improve their digital workflow, and it has an appropriate learning curve for those who are new to this series of editors. In short, it may be all you ever need.”

Digital Photography Review (DPReview) writes, “In its original incarnation, Lightroom was little more than a sophisticated file organizer attached to an image manipulation and RAW conversion engine. Four years on, and Lightroom 3 remains primarily a workflow tool, but what sets it apart from other, purely organizational software (and increasingly its predecessors) is its impressive image manipulation capabilities. Lightroom 3 is a very good piece of software. During the time that I have been working on this review, I have more or less replaced Photoshop CS5 for my personal photography with Lightroom 3. Far from feeling handicapped I have been surprised by how much more efficient my workflow has become.”

PhotoRadar renders its verdict: “Lightroom 3 is truly a photogra­phers’ tool, packed with a range of new features, including advanced tools for lens correction and noise reduction. Photographers who need nothing more than speed and quality should seriously consider using it as their primary software. It’s more than accelerated speeds and impressive quality that make it stand out – it is a total workflow solution and creates a compelling argument to ditch Photoshop CS.”

Wired Magazine says, “Lightroom 3 is reworked from the ground up to create a fast, proficient and generally awesome photo editing experience. Adobe rewrote much of the underlying code and it shows the minute you fire it up. Everything about Lightroom 3 is really freaking fast when compared to Lightroom 2. There’s greatly-improved noise reduction and lens correction, and if you’ve got a RAW-capable point-and-shoot camera that is capable of high ISO settings, Lightroom 3 is worth the money for the noise reduc­tion alone. While not without its shortcomings, Adobe Lightroom 3 secures Lightroom’s place as the Cadillac of RAW editors and is more than worth the modest upgrade price.”

Lightroom 3 will run well on 32-bit or 64-bit computers, and is designed for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Mac OS (see full system requirements). It can be installed side-by-side with earlier Lightroom versions without difficulty or interference.

Want to try it out for free yourself? Just download a fully-working free trial and you can be up and running in minutes.

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With our post last week for five hours of free tutorials for Elements 7 and 8, it begged the question – when will Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Premiere Elements 9 be available?

Adobe historically ships a new version of Elements every year, in the fall – but when exactly? Let’s do some digging and find the release schedules for recent versions:

Funny things happened in 2008 with the launch of CS4 happening around the same time (September 23) – but if you exclude that occasion then the trend is definitely for the Elements release date happening in late September, just after back-to-school. Also, Adobe has shipped both Mac and Windows versions for six out of the eight Photoshop Elements releases, and lately Adobe has demonstrated increasing Mac support in other products, so we believe we’ll see both platforms supported again for Photoshop Elements 9.0.

So put it all together and we forecast that Photoshop and Premiere Elements 9 will ship on or about September 22, 2010, with PSE9 available on both Windows and Mac OS.

One question remains: what is likely to be in the new products? The current Elements 8 was largely inherited from CS4, so with CS5 out now we should see some nice innovations. Some have wondered if we might be so lucky to see “wow” additions like Content-Aware Fill or Puppet Warp coming in Photoshop Elements 9 – but our sense is these new features are a bit too fresh and flagship to move down to Elements at this time, and Adobe will likely keep them as “must-have” functions in Photoshop CS5 at least until CS6 and Photoshop Elements 10, which could arrive together in the fall of 2011.

To see the feature addition history for the last three releases of Elements, you can compare the different versions of: Photoshop Elements for Windows, Photoshop Elements for Mac, or Premiere Elements. What would you like to see in PSE 9 and PRE 9?

We’re giving away free copies of Photoshop Elements 9 – win yours! Or check our track record for forecasting other major Adobe product releases like CS5, Lightroom 3, and Acrobat 10.

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With that in mind, there are three new performance studies out for Adobe CS5 products from the independent technology research firm, Pfeiffer Consulting. The time savings are impressive – on average, CS5 is two to three times faster than CS4 for 21 features and 130 performance benchmarks tested in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, After Effects, and Premiere Pro.

The full reports with results:

1. Adobe Creative Suite 5: How Key Design Applications Increase Your Productivity
2. Adobe Photoshop CS5: 64-bit Performance and Efficiency Measures
3. Adobe CS5 Production Premium: New Efficiencies for Today’s Production Realities

Here are some of the major findings:

• The productivity of Photoshop CS5 with benchmarked operations such as Content-Aware Fill is significantly boosted over techniques available in previous releases, almost five times faster. Some other features like straightening images are nearly 4x as fast.
• InDesign CS5 offers a new Selection tool that makes object modification significantly faster than with previous releases. Working with multi-column text or multiple page sizes is much easier and faster than in the past. Grid-enabled tools speed the creation of multi-element designs.
• Productivity features introduced with Illustrator CS5 include variable-width strokes, enhanced arrow-creation options, faster ways of joining paths, among others, which provide significant measurable productivity gains.
• Cross-platform native 64-bit support of several key CS5 applications allows multiple pro­grams running in parallel to share available memory in a highly efficient way, and provides creative professionals with new ways of harnessing the power of modern computing hardware and system software.
• Photoshop CS5 running in a 64-bit environment was up to 15 times faster compared with CS4 running on a 32-bit system in some of the benchmarks for this project.
• Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 introduces the Mercury Playback Engine, a set of technologies that can significantly increase productivity in high-definition production workflows.
• Processing of H.264 video from popular DSLR cameras was over five times faster with Premiere Pro CS5 than with CS4.
• 64-bit support allows After Effects CS5 to work with extended memory configurations, and significantly increases the number of frames of a composition (by up to 20x) that can be previewed from memory.
• After Effect’s new Roto Brush automates and redefines a particularly time-consuming task of the modern post-production workflow – clocking up to 11 times faster than traditional rotoscoping techniques, while producing a cleaner result.
• The hardware acceleration, parallel processing and other performance improvements introduced in Adobe CS5 Production Premium provide a very significant and in some cases spectacular increase in performance and efficiency.

Premiere Pro CS5 and After Effects CS5 are 64-bit only applications. Photoshop CS5 comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. If you need 32-bit versions of Adobe After Effects or Premiere Pro, see this page.

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Adobe Captivate 5 has just been released and it’s already been called a “must-have update” by Learning Solutions Magazine… Captivate is Adobe’s industry-leading rapid authoring tool for eLearning solutions, used to create software demonstrations, interactive simulations, branch­ing scenarios, self-running presentations, and randomized quizzes without programming. Perhaps the most notable change with Captivate 5 is Adobe broke from the code history of previous versions to add Mac OS support and in so doing, took the opportunity to completely rearchitect the application from the ground-up – and it clearly shows.

Overall, the performance, interface, and usability improvements from the rewrite make this much more than a simple upgrade, it’s more like a brand new product. The new user interface is similar to the Creative Suite 5 interfaces, and is well-integrated with other recent Adobe tools. And because the product now runs (and works the same) on a Mac – plus uses the same files – you can now create software simulations of Mac applications. You can instantly download a free trial for either platform, although first double-check the minimum system requirements.

Here’s a quick list of some of the other new features:

Captivate 5 is part of two larger suites from Adobe: the eLearning Suite 2 and the Technical Communication Suite 2.5. Both are freshly updated and integrated for the arrival of the new version of Captivate, yielding significant roundtripping performance gains. eLearning Suite 2 is the complete toolbox for efficiently creating professional eLearning content end-to-end, and combines Captivate, Flash Pro, Dreamweaver, Photoshop Extended, Acrobat Pro, Soundbooth, and Presenter, with additional tools and services. TCS 2.5 is the essential solution for author­ing, managing, reviewing, and publishing technical content and documentation, and includes Captivate, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro Extended, RoboHelp, FrameMaker, and Presenter, with supporting tools and services.

The price for Captivate 5 is US$799 for the full version, and $299 to upgrade from Captivate 4 or 3. Teachers and students can grab the full education version for just $299, or 63% off. Languages available include English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and Korean.

The eLearning Suite 2 is $1,799 for full, from $599 to upgrade, and $599 for education, and the Technical Communication Suite 2.5 is $1,899 for full, from $299 to upgrade, and $749 for education.

Learn more or instantly download a free trial of Adobe Captivate 5, or eLearning Suite 2, or TCS 2.5; see the Captivate 5 customer quote sheet, watch the on-demand seminar “What’s New in Captivate 5,” or check out the new eLearning Video Channel from Adobe TV.

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Productivity

CS5 brings quantifiable efficiency to users (see just-released benchmarks) through its optimi­zation for the latest hardware and operating systems and its focus on reducing common prod­uction tasks from days to hours and from hours to a few mouse clicks. For example, CS5 users can work up to 10X faster with large Photoshop images, get jaw-dropping video-editing speed, and perform numerous work­flow-specific production tasks in a fraction of the time.

Differentiation

CS5 introduces rich new creativity features for print, web, interactive, mobile, and video professionals to produce compelling content and stories that make brands stand out in a crowded marketplace. For example, companies can incorporate cutting-edge 3D objects and motion graphics into their creative thanks to new Repoussé technology in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended.

Reach

CS5 helps you capitalize on the pervasiveness of the Flash platform and the latest digital publishing trends to better reach, retain, and deliver value to customers wherever they are. For example, CS5 enables you to prepare content for the latest mobile devices such as the Apple iPad, Google Android, RIM Blackberry, Amazon Kindle, Sony eBook Reader, and Barnes & Noble nook.

Optimization

CS5 introduces integration with Omniture web analytics for closely tracking ROI and fine-tun­ing the spend in an enterprise digital strategy. Current Omniture customer can adopt CS5 to streamline and control costs in A/B testing and allow designers and developers to instrument Flash content directly within their creative workflows without manual tagging. And long-term CS users can add Omniture analytics to an effective digital strategy (requires separate investment in Omniture tools as well as in CS5).

Innovative Industry Leadership

Only Adobe CS5 offers comprehensive, industry-leading tools for print, web, interactive, mo­bile, video, and application development – all of the touchpoints in an effective digital strategy. The tight integration among these tools enables teams to share assets and collaborate more effectively across disciplines. Adobe CS5 continues Adobe’s long history of innovative solutions that address pressing business needs.

For over a dozen more reasons to upgrade, see this page.

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Yes, it’s true – two years ago today Adobe officially released Acrobat 9:

Adobe Acrobat 9 Software Now Available

New Version Receives Accolades for PDF Portfolios, Real-time Capabilities and Support for Adobe Flash Technology

SAN JOSE, Calif. — June 25, 2008 — Adobe Systems today announced the immediate availability of Adobe® Acrobat® 9 software, a significant upgrade that transforms the process of creating and sharing electronic documents… [continues]

So considering Adobe usually runs on two-year product release schedules, give or take, what does this imply for when Acrobat 10 will be coming out?

In early May, we reported here that “Acrobat 10 is going to launch in the second half of this year” – but now we have more precise information…

On Tuesday, Adobe’s top dog gave a presentation and Q&A to financial analysts in which he talked about CS5, Acrobat, and business in general. He said some great things, and here are the highlights for when Acrobat 10 will be available and its new features:

Shantanu Narayen – President and CEO, Adobe Systems:

In our Acrobat business, the strength we experienced in the fourth and first quarters continued through the second quarter. Enterprise licensing was particularly strong, demonstrating the Acrobat and PDF value proposition continues to resonate with large customers. We are on track to deliver a new version of Acrobat late in our fourth quarter that will focus on enabling knowledge workers and enterprises to collaborate across critical document workflows. [Ed. note – Adobe's fiscal fourth quarter ends in late November 2010.]

Michael Olson – Piper Jaffray:

Just one quick question, with Acrobat 10 coming in Q4, people may wonder what kind of additions can you make to a product like Acrobat – and I realize you may not want to give away specific new features, but can you just talk about in general what kind of things you can do with products like Acrobat to improve the new version?

Shantanu Narayen:

Mike, what we are seeing is a lot of Acrobat usage right now within enterprises to do what we call critical document workflows. The integration of Acrobat and acrobat.com is ripe area of innovation and opportunity for us to continue to deliver value to custom­ers. Delivery of PDF files across mobile devices is becoming an increasing use case for us. So, multiple innovations are on the drawing board and we are excited about the new version that as we said will come out later this year.

So there you have it – from what the CEO says, it looks like Acrobat 10 (or Acrobat X) will be shipping sometime between mid-October to late-November this year. If you’d like to give feed­back for what you’d like to see in the new version, please feel free to share your thoughts at the Acrobat Feature Request forum. Or, you can enter a comment below…

In the meantime, join the free online Acrobat Webinar Series where Adobe experts share tips, tricks, and insights into Acrobat, plus answer questions – the most recent session is this afternoon at 1pm Eastern time, and available on-demand thereafter.

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Creative Suite 5 contains hundreds of new or enhanced features and func­tions across the 15 point products that comprise it. So the easiest way to look at it is by major product… For example, Photoshop CS5 Extended con­tains 18 new features that CS4 didn’t have, plus a further 14 more that have been enhanced. The numbers are similar for other products and even greater over CS3 of course – although generally speaking CS5 has significantly more improvements and innovation compared to CS4 than CS4 had over CS3.

CS4 was certainly a capable release (we used it here every day), but some folks have com­mented that CS5 is really the release they wanted when CS4 came out and that CS5 is a game-changer over both previous versions… On that account, we haven’t seen a bad review of CS5 yet.

So for the breakout by individual product, here are the CS5 vs. CS4 vs. CS3 comparisons:

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Yes – Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.2 is just out and now shipping! Pretty much on the time­frame we forecast, you can download a free trial today… And the new product will work side-by-side with any previous releases of Lightroom you own. If you have an earlier version installed, Lightroom 3 will ask if you’d like to upgrade your catalog and move everything over.

The price remains US$299 for the full version, and $99 to upgrade from either LR1 or LR2. Students and teachers can grab the full education version for just $89, or 70% off. Languages available today include English, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, and Chinese.

Moments ago Adobe also refreshed their longstanding special offer where you can get 30% off Lightroom when you purchase it together with Photoshop – only now the versions are Lightroom 3 with Photoshop CS5 (or any suite containing Photoshop CS5). No coupon or promo code is required for the discount.

Lightroom 3 will run well on 32-bit or 64-bit systems, and is designed for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, or Mac OS (see full system requirements). It’s sold as multiplatform software, meaning it can be installed on either Mac OS X or Windows and will deliver the same features and functions on both. And similar to CS5, you may be able to install Lightroom on up to two computers, subject to the terms of the software license agreement.

What’s new in Lightroom 3?

With the benefit of nearly two years of product development since the previous version, plus two full beta periods under its belt, this third-generation digital darkroom is looking like a very smooth and polished final release.

Learn more, download the new LR3 datasheet, or watch Terry White’s new video, My Top Five Favorite Lightroom 3 Features. If you need the direct download links for Lightroom 3 to access the software without the Akamai Download Manager, we have posted them here.

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[UPDATE (June 8th) – Lightroom 3 is now shipping! Win a free upgrade.]

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Since we started offering the direct download links for all CS5 product trials last week, there have been some inquiries on Acrobat’s absence from Adobe’s suite downloads, and it also seems to be a common question out there on the Net…

Acrobat 9.3 Pro is the version that is officially part of Creative Suite 5, but it is not included in the trial versions of any of Adobe’s CS5 suites… So if you would like it, Acrobat Pro must be down­loaded separately (in English, French, German, or Japanese), with its own 30-day trial period – although note that Adobe offers an Acrobat 9 trial for Windows only.

If you decide to convert your trial and purchase any CS5 suite edition on either Windows or Mac (except for Production Premium), you will receive a full working copy of Acrobat 9 Pro. Please note – very important - you need (and should make sure to receive) a separate serial number from Adobe for Acrobat 9 Pro – the main CS5 key you get for the rest of the suite will not work for Acrobat.

So, why did Adobe separate Acrobat 9 from the rest of the CS5 suite, for trials and activation? We suspect it’s because Acrobat 9 will be celebrating its second birthday soon and the release of Acrobat 10 is due out later this year – and so by creating separate packages and license keys, it will make it much easier to swap the new version of Acrobat into Creative Suite 5 when it arrives…

At that point we’ll probably see a point release of CS5 that includes the new Acrobat 10, say for example Creative Suite 5.3 (similarly to how CS3 became CS3.3 when Acrobat 9 was announced and incorporated in June 2008) – and current CS5 users will easily be able to upgrade if desired.

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With May wrapping up it’s time to take another look at a question we first wrote about two months ago, “when is Lightroom 3 coming out?” Back then we concluded, “with luck we expect to see general availability of Adobe Lightroom 3.0 in June, 2010.” Since then, the evidence has grown that we could see the final LR3 quite soon, perhaps only a matter of weeks…

First, the current Lightroom 3 beta ver­sion will expire at the end of June, and remains free to download and use until then. But come June 30th this beta will stop working, and it seems unlikely that Adobe would ask its hungry Lightroom userbase to hold on for a third beta or a further extension before our beta work­flows are switched to the final release – even moreso considering it’s been nearly two years since Lightroom 2 first came out.

Second, this week there’s been a big publicity push surrounding the launch of Scott Kelby’s new Lightroom 3 book, which is now on preorder… The consensus around the web is this means the final product must be getting close.

Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, is the upcoming expiration date of a longstanding Adobe special offer whereby you can save 30% on Lightroom 2 by buying it together with Photoshop… This popular deal has been in place since Lightroom 2 launched on July 29, 2008, and it’s now ending on June 7th. So after almost two years, perhaps one can speculate – why would such offer terms now be wrapping up? Could it be because Lightroom 2 may soon no longer be available for purchase, possibly, and replaced with something else? Nobody outside of Adobe can say for sure of course, but we’ll soon find out how meaningful this might be – and if the LR2 offer could be followed by a similar one for a future version.

So put it all together and we could be looking at only a question of weeks now until the final release and delivery of Adobe Lightroom 3… One can hope anyway, and with a bit of luck the upgrade price will stay at $99.

[UPDATE (June 6th) – A new user report in the forums could be confirming: "Lightroom 3 is going to be annouced this monday or tuesday (7th or 8th of June). heard it from the adobe spokesman from pma australia 2010. he confirmed it when demonstrating Lightroom 3 Public Beta 2."]

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While HTML5 and CSS3 won’t be finalized for some time, this extension provides initial support in Dreamweaver CS5 for a set of currently-implemented functions, helping you easily create HTML5 pages and CSS3 styles. It introduces great features like multiscreen preview (which lets you see what your web page will look like on phones, tablets, and desktop computers simultaneously within Dreamweaver), HTML5 and CSS3 code hinting, video and audio tag support in Live View, and even a few HTML5-compliant starter layouts to get you up and running with HTML5 layouts quickly.

If you’ve been tuned into the technology news lately, you’ll know these sorts of improvements mark a great advance for Dreamweaver users working in this fast-changing world of smart­phones and other portable devices. Although their specifications are still being finalized, HTML5 and CSS3 can be used with any browser that currently supports them. The most recent ver­sions of the leading browsers (Safari, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer, Chrome) support at least some (a few support many) HTML5 and CSS3 features.

Here’s a complete list of available resources for these new capabilities, available immediately:

• Download: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 HTML5 Pack
• Article: Using the HTML5 Pack for Dreamweaver CS5
• Discussion Forum: The Dreamweaver CS5 HTML5 Pack
• Demo Video:

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 ◊ Photoshop CS5 delivers exceptional power and creative control with the next generation of advanced tools for outstanding image manipulation and superior compositing. It redefines image editing with a strong focus on photography, including breakthrough selection capabi­lities, content-aware fill options, state-of-the-art processing of raw images, advanced creation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery, automated lens corrections, extraordinary new painting effects, and a sweeping range of workflow and performance enhancements that boost productivity.

 ◊ Photoshop CS5 Extended takes it even further, as a superset of tools and features made for professionals who want to push the boundaries of digital imaging. It delivers all the editing, compositing, and painting capabilities of Photoshop CS5 plus powerful new features for creat­ing stunning 3D artwork from selections, graphics, and type with direct control over lighting, materials, and meshes.

And here’s what the reviewers have to say about it:

“When was the last time software changed the way you think and see? Photoshop CS5 will.”
  — John Paul Caponigro, photographer

“Each new version of Photoshop has included many exciting enhancements, but Photoshop CS5 is the most amazing technological jump I’ve seen since I started using the software.”
  — Ira Block, Ira Block Photography

“The Content-Aware Fill feature in Photoshop CS5 got a wow from me when I first used it. It is very good at replacing areas where you would otherwise need to use more strokes and time to clone or heal out a distracting element in a photograph.”
  — Dianne Taylor-Misztela, TM Photo

“The new Puppet Warp feature in Photoshop CS5 will be a great tool for making adjustments that so many times are needed to make images look more realistic than reality – like small changes in the position of arms and legs. This tool has a great potential within all compositing work and is a great complement to the Liquify and Transform tools.”
  — Jann Lipka, photographer

“The Edge Detection controls in Photoshop CS5 are at least twice as fast as the old tricks we used to use to remove an object from one background and place it on another. We can quickly make selections and then move on to the more creative work that our clients expect. This is Photoshop at its best!”
  — Francisco Camberos, The Visionaire Group

“Content Aware Fill in Photoshop CS5 will save you hours, if not days, of retouching. It might even change the way you think about composing your images.”
  — John Paul Caponigro, photographer

“Adobe has always had the best 32-bit merging capabilities with the ability to merge raw files. With HDR Pro in Photoshop CS5, Adobe knocks it out of the park with really smart, anti-­ghost­ing and auto-­alignment technology.”
  — Colin Smith, founder, PhotoshopCAFE

“Seeing the new capabilities of Photoshop CS5 software had me immediately thinking about what I can do with them. New features like Puppet Warp and Content-Aware Fill make things that are difficult for me easy, and things that were impossible possible!”
  — Stephen Marc, photographer

“The new Mixer Brush in Photoshop CS5 is a welcome advancement in the simulation of painterly brushwork. Expressive digital natural-media tools are quickly becoming an adjunct to photographic imagery, enabling a new visual vocabulary. Combined with the expert control over photographic imagery in Photoshop, the effect is like dipping your paintbrush into a photograph.”
  — John Derry, photographer

“The Bristle Tips feature in Photoshop CS5 and the Bristle Brush tool in Illustrator CS5 will make an immediate impact on the design world. Without a doubt, the amazing new brush stroke effects they create will be a staple in both student portfolios and the advertising industry.”
  — Kevin McMahon, graphic design and video production teacher

“Adobe Repoussé in Photoshop CS5 Extended will make my life so much easier, especially when I need to mix 3D elements with my 2D workflow. I can create 3D objects and 3D text inside Photoshop CS5 Extended using Adobe Repoussé instead of having to import artwork from a 3D application or emulate the effect using perspectives and vanishing points. This will save me so much time and help me add unique 3D elements to my work.”
  — Fabio Sasso, Zee Design

“Adobe clearly knows where the future is going in terms of 3D integration into a graphic designer’s workflow. With Adobe Repoussé in Photoshop CS5 Extended, graphic designers who make their money creating 2D logos can extend their capabilities to include transforming logo art into 3D objects for web and print, making them more valuable to their clients.”
  — Stephen Burns, Chromeallusion.com

“Whenever I’m photographing interiors, I’m always backed into a corner wishing I had another ten feet to work with. The new Lens Correction features in Photoshop CS5 provide me that extra perspective and allow me to present an image the way I saw it, not just the way the camera captured it.”
  — LaNola Stone, photographer

“Sending high resolution images over e-mail is always challenging. Adobe CS Review in Photoshop CS5 is incredibly helpful because I can look at images with my clients in real time – even in the middle of a shoot – so my clients get the shots they want every time.”
  — Theresa Raffetto, photographer

“The benefits of the customer-inspired productivity enhancements in Photoshop CS5 are exponential. Saving time adds up like compounding interest, and each time-saver yields a more efficient workflow, which yields more productivity, which ultimately yields better imagery and better business.”
  — Jerome Ferraro, photographer

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Yes, CS5 is out! It looks like a phenomenal release, and we have full coverage – including new products, pricing, configurations, system reqs, videos, “what’s new” feature lists, and more:

• Creative Suite 5 Product Overview  
• CS5 Full Product Configuration Matrix
• CS5 Complete System Requirements
• CS5 Pricing for Commercial and Education
• What’s New in Photoshop CS5  
• What’s New in Dreamweaver CS5  
• What’s New in Illustrator CS5  
• What’s New in InDesign CS5  
• What’s New in Flash Pro CS5  
• All About New Flash Catalyst CS5  
• What’s New in Contribute CS5
• What’s New in Premiere Pro CS5  
• What’s New in After Effects CS5  

ALL CS5 products are immediately available for purchase and instant download, with free shipping on all Adobe orders over €500/£350 in Europe and the U.K. (no coupon or promo code is required)…

On Adobe’s site: If you’re considering upgrading from your current software, here’s a helpful upgrade guide. Also new is an excellent FAQ covering purchasing policies and key product changes… The online documentation for all CS5 products also just went up.

Lastly and importantly, the CS5 free trial downloads and Student and Teacher Editions
(up to 80% off) are also now available!

[UPDATE (May 13th) – Adobe CS5 is now shipping and downloadable in 16 languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Russian, and Korean.]

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Adobe’s Creative Suite 5 could be released as soon as next week. What’s more, the free trial downloads and Student and Teacher Editions will be available on the same day. That’s the latest word from Terry White, Worldwide Design Evangelist for Adobe Systems, at an online Q&A session yesterday afternoon…

Here’s the dialogue:

Question: When will CS5 hit the shelves? When I called Adobe, they said the release date would be April 30th. Terry, can you confirm this?
Terry White: I can’t confirm or deny it, but if that’s what they told you…
Terry White: The official answer is mid-May. In any event, April 30th – if it’s April 30th – would be the time it would leave the doors of Adobe, not arrive.

Question: How about the official date for CS5 trial versions?
Terry White: Previously the release of the trials has lagged. However I’m pleased to announce that whatever the official release date is, the free trial downloads will be available the same day.

Question: And the Student (Education) Editions? Will they lag again as they did in CS4 or be out at the same time? Thank you.
Terry White: Everything should be available at the same time.

So this represents a much improved release calendar over CS4, which as we’ve previously noted wasn’t available until about four weeks after its announce­ment date, with the free trials and Education versions following a month after that… For CS5, the April 30th date above is con­firmed anecdotally by other reports here and here, and would mean everything potentially being available within eighteen days of the April 12th launch.

A ship date of next Friday also means there’s only one week left to buy/download CS4 from Adobe and get a free upgrade to CS5, as well as only one week left in our free Photoshop CS5 giveaway!

The “Ask a CS Pro” session above lasted for over an hour and there was plenty of other great information shared which we’ll be covering in a new post next week.

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[UPDATE (June 8th) – Lightroom 3 is out! Win a free upgrade.]

We think we know when Lightroom 3 is going to ship, but while we’re waiting Adobe yesterday released a new update to Lightroom 2, bringing the popular photo management package now up to version 2.7… Adobe has added support for new and additional cameras, plus some enhancements and corrections for issues in previous releases. There were also changes to improve compatibility with settings in Lightroom 3 beta 2, and lastly the Camera Raw cache limit was increased to 200GB. New camera models added include the Canon EOS 550D, Sony A450, and Panasonic G2 and G10 (see full list of Lightroom-supported cameras).

If you already own Lightroom 2, then the update to 2.7 is free and can be downloaded here for Windows or here for Macintosh (in English, French, and German). If you still have Lightroom 1 those same links can get you to version 1.4, though a full upgrade to version 2.7 is only $99. Or you can try it out first for free.

As is customary, Adobe has released new versions of Camera Raw and DNG Converter at the same time, versions 5.7 for both Windows and Mac.

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(click at the bottom right for full-screen HD)

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