As we reported last month, Adobe is working on a Lightroom-related app for Apple’s iPad – but since it may be a while before we see it being released, in the meantime here are some handy presets to export/publish your photos to the iPad for use as a presentation device or display portfolio…

On the iPad, images will look better if they are saved, sent, and displayed at the size of the iPad’s screen rather than having iPhoto or the iPad resize them down. Also the iPad won’t automatically fill the entire screen with an image if its aspect ratio is different from the iPad’s screen size – instead you’ll get black bars at the edges (similar to a letterboxing effect).

So the two free presets linked here take these factors into account, and it’s your choice which of them to use… The first preset will preserve all photos at original size and aspect ratio (and the iPad will automatically add black bars to adjust at the edges), and the second preset will fit the photos to the full iPad screen (by automatically doing a center-based crop in Light­room when it exports).

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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.

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“Adobe MAX is an experience unlike any other — an opportunity to learn from the experts and connect with thousands of the most influential designers, developers, and decision-makers in our industry.”

If you’d like to go to Adobe MAX this year in L.A. (October 23–27) and save $400 in the process, just purchase (full or upgrade) any one of the products listed below from the Adobe online store and you’ll receive a special promo code that will discount your regular full confer­ence pass price by US$400…

But since the upgrade price for many of these products is less than $400, basically you’re getting the software for more than free!

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If you haven’t upgraded to Creative Suite 5, you’re missing out on new ways to reach customers, differentiate your brand, and save your company time and money in the process. Here are five good reasons to upgrade to CS5:

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.

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Adobe recognizes that many people use both Lightroom and Photoshop, and so is offering a special deal whereby you can save 30% off Lightroom 3 if you purchase it together with Photoshop CS5 in any form. This means if you buy Photoshop CS5, Photoshop CS5 Extended, or any CS5 suite edition (which all contain Photoshop), you’ll get 30% off Lightroom when you buy them at the same time.

And it works for either buying the full version or upgrading from an older version, for either product… So if you are upgrading Photoshop, but buying Lightroom for the first time, you’ll get 30% off the price of the full version of Lightroom (e.g., off of $299/€249/£198). No promotion code is required to activate the discount, and it is valid worldwide for all Adobe Commercial store customers (Education and Volume purchases are not eligible).

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Happy second birthday Acrobat 9!

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:
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Adobe announced their second quarter financial results yesterday and during the accompany­ing conference call, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen spoke about their Flash technology and how it’s doing given the recent contro­versy with Apple. The call transcript quotes Narayen as saying:

Enabling our customers to deliver engaging experiences across multiple devices remains a focus of the company. Today we announced availability of Flash Player 10.1 for mobile devices, which delivers on the promise of enabling access to the full web across desktops and devices. We expect millions of devices to ship with 10.1 in the second half of 2010.

Flash is strategic for Adobe because it delivers great value to our customers. Approxi­mately 3.5 million Flash designers and developers are working with Flash-based solutions today, and their ranks grew by 59 percent in 2009. The new release of Flash Player creates a whole new sandbox for these millions of designers and developers to create next-generation content, advertising, games, applications and experiences.

We’ve already seen that those who have been using the new Flash Player on Android phones love it; and as devices start to ship with Flash during the rest of the year, those that don’t have Flash on their smartphones will wish they did.

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We have a new voucher to save $10/€10/£10 on Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended (full or upgrades) with coupon code: prodesigntools. Just enter this promotion code after adding the product to your shopping cart at the Adobe Store for the discount to activate.

This special offer is available in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia/NZ, and throughout Western Europe – save $10 in the US and Canada; save €10 in France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Finland; save £10 in the UK; save A$10 in Australia; save CHF 10 in Switzerland; save DKK 100 in Denmark; save NOK 100 in Norway; and save SEK 100 in Sweden.

This promo code is valid until July 21, 2010, in Adobe Commercial stores only (not Education or Volume).

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.

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With the final releases of new Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2, Adobe is hosting a new series of free webinars introducing the new multi-screen web content and applications development capabilities of the Flash Platform. You will discover the exciting new features of Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2 and learn the best practices from leading industry experts on how to create unique experiences and optimize web content, video, and applications across desktop and mobile. Here’s the session list, with detailed descriptions available on the registration page:

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

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