New Adobe CS6 Student and Teacher Editions – How to Save 75%
May 3rd, 2012 71 comments
Let’s face it, Adobe’s normal product prices can seem expensive, especially if you’re on a student’s budget. The regular prices for Creative Suite 6 range run from $399 for Dreamweaver through Photoshop Extended for $999 and up to $2,599 for the Master Collection suite, which contains every CS6 product available – nearly twenty in all. As great and powerful as this software is, it could be hard to afford these prices when you’re in school.
Fortunately, Adobe offers deep discounts for education customers – up to 75% off. So the price for Dreamweaver becomes almost a third of what it was, $149 – while for the Design Standard suite (containing Photoshop + Illustrator + InDesign + Acrobat Pro) it drops by two-thirds, to $449. For most products the price cut is similar – for example, Photoshop CS6 Extended (the top-of-the-line version) goes from $999 to $349. The top-selling CS6 Design & Web Premium suite becomes $599 instead of $1,899. And Flash Builder 4.6 falls from $249 to free – yes, FREE for students and educators…
In addition, it’s not just the Creative Suite products that are available with the savings. You can also get Lightroom 4, Acrobat XI, and Photoshop or Premiere Elements 11. For example, Lightroom 4 for student photographers costs $79 instead of the normal price of $149, while Acrobat XI Pro is $119 instead of $449.
If you want it all, and all in one complete (and fantastic) package, then Adobe is now offering the new Creative Cloud at a 60%-off discount for students and teachers (just $19/month) – and that gives you the entire CS6 Master Suite and more – basically, all the best products that Adobe makes.
What Are the Differences in Photoshop CS6 vs. CS5 — What’s New?
April 5th, 2012 23 comments
[UPDATE (May 7th) – CS6 is now shipping!]
At Photoshop World last week, we had the chance to sit down with Adobe Senior Product Managers Bryan O’Neil Hughes and Zorana Gee for hours of in-depth walkthroughs of the new Photoshop CS6 release. And all we can say is – on top of what we already knew and experienced – this is the Photoshop version you’ve probably dreamed about…
And with over one million downloads in record time, clearly we’re not the only ones thinking that. The reviews are in: Gizmodo calls it, “The best update in recent memory, I’m in love” … PC Magazine says, “The future of creative image editing is upon us – this new version will thrill nearly all categories of users, from photographers to designers” … USA Today writes, “Having lots of fun with the new tools – the beautiful and streamlined new interface is a huge improvement, and the images really do look sharper and more pronounced.”
For expediency we put together a quick “cheat sheet” below of the top differences and new features in Photoshop CS6 as compared to PS CS5. Naturally if you’re still on CS4, CS3, or earlier, then you’d also need to add in the differences between CS5 vs. those older versions.
But really, it’s also a fit and polish thing – with two years since the last major release (and having no architectural challenges to worry about), the Photoshop team had plenty time to hone this into a smooth and polished product. This is reflected in the 62% more new features added in this cycle contrasted to the previous one, and nearly twice as many JDI requests (user-focused “Just Do It” items) addressed.
What’s New in CS6: Premiere Pro, After Effects & Audition Features!
April 12th, 2012 3 comments
[UPDATE (May 7th) – CS6 is here!]
We’ve got the scoop on the new video features and software coming soon in Creative Suite 6 — and the go-ahead from Adobe to reveal them!
In particular, we can sneak peek and show you everything that’s going to be in the CS6 Production Premium video suite: Premiere Pro CS6, After Effects CS6, Audition CS6, Story CS6, Adobe Media Encoder CS6, Encore CS6 – plus two new applications, Prelude CS6 and SpeedGrade CS6!
The company is planning to make a really big splash with these new tools at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas next week.
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 delivers a sleek, professional user interface; a powerful playback engine; and a host of fantastic creative features. Quickly stabilize shaky shots with Warp Stabilizer. Natively edit anything from low-resolution to RED EPIC 5K and ARRIRAW footage, finesse your work with dynamic timeline trimming, handle more multicam angles, and correct rolling shutter artifacts. Get flexible audio tracks, powerful color workflows, Adobe Prelude software integration, and more.
Adobe CS6 Volume and Site Licensing Now Available for Multi-User
May 7th, 2012 59 comments
Creative Suite 6 was released today – and is now available through Adobe’s Business Store, which was formerly called the Volume Licensing Store…
But this online store is not just for businesses or big volume – it’s for anyone who would like to run more than one copy of the CS6 software at one time, or has multiple concurrent users. The standard licensing for Adobe’s off-the-shelf retail products permits only a single user running on up to two installed computers – which is usually not enough for most members of a company, group, office, team, school, or enterprise. And it’s occasionally not enough for some homes!
Regardless, the benefits of going with an Adobe CS6 volume license even for a simple or small purchase are numerous and clear:
Sneak Peeks at Illustrator CS6: New Gradient & Pattern Features
April 18th, 2012 13 comments
[UPDATE (April 23rd) – Creative Suite 6 is out!]
With a barrage of Photoshop sneak peeks plus many for other CS6 products, you knew that finally Adobe Illustrator was bound to get more love of its own… Adobe has now slipped out two cool looks at the new Illustrator CS6, the next generation of the industry-leading vector graphics tool.
Similar to Photoshop, it’s been two years now since a major new version was released – and similar to Photoshop CS6, the new edition of Illustrator will also have a redesigned user interface that is both darker and more modern. The idea here is by making the background darker and the controls more streamlined, the content itself will more readily shine through and stand out.
Here below AI Product Manager Brenda Sutherland shares two quick peeks into a bit of what’s new for Illustrator CS6 as part of the upcoming Creative Suite 6 – a terrific new Gradients on Strokes feature that lets you create artwork that looks complex but is easy to edit, plus an exciting new way to create seamless, repeating vector patterns… check them out:
Adobe CS6 Was Announced April 23, but When Is the Release Date?
April 24th, 2012 12 comments
[NEWS (May 7th) – CS6 has been released!]
As you may have heard, Creative Suite 6 was announced on April 23rd with a big launch event that’s being webcast worldwide… So we’ve learned about what’s new and different, but we can’t use or download the software yet – for that we have to wait further until the actual release date. When will that be?
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen has previously said this regarding availability:
“I know there’s been some confusion about what we mean by ‘launch’ versus what we mean by ‘ship.’ On the launch date, we’ll talk a lot more about the new features and functionalities of the suites, the various product configurations, and what we’ve done with pricing. We have some new products which will factor into the pricing moving forward. And then traditionally, within 30 days, you tend to ship the software products themselves. The early feedback has been very positive.”
The time window now also means you can preorder the software, but you might not want to actually do that. Why? Because you could save a good bit of money by ordering CS5.5 from Adobe’s site instead (at lower cost), in which case you will be eligible for an automatic free upgrade to CS6 when it comes out…
Watch a Replay of the CS6 Global Online Launch Event [VIDEO]
April 25th, 2012 Leave a comment
Missed the big event? No problem! You can watch a full replay… It’s about an hour and twenty minutes in length, and available on-demand below. Creative Suite 6 offers hundreds of new capabilities and focuses on four main areas: Application Performance, Enhanced User Interface, Efficient Development for Multiple Devices, and Killer Features. The launch event illustrates these themes through the true story of a fashion designer and how her company benefits from the new features added in CS6.
Adobe says it’s taken more than 10,000,000 person-hours to produce this version… If you assume salary, benefits, office and other expenses come out to around US$50/hour, then that’s $500 million invested into Creative Suite 6 – and onto your desktop!
If you want to just watch the 22-minute segment with demos of CS6, without the intro pieces or coverage of the Creative Cloud, it’s the second video below. For more details on the release such as product adds/drops, suite configurations, system specs, upgrade paths, plus pricing and availability, see our CS6 Launch Guide. Or check out a detailed product-by-product breakout of what’s new in every CS6 application.
Meanwhile, the free CS6 trials will be available soon, but if you’d like to get started with Photoshop right away, just download the Photoshop CS6 beta release. You can also enter to win Photoshop CS6 for free…
Adobe CS6 Global Launch Will Be Monday, April 23rd, 2012
April 16th, 2012 26 comments
[UPDATE (April 23rd) – Creative Suite 6 is unveiled! Learn when it will ship.]
The wait is over, the date is set! After months of hints and “sneak peeks”, Adobe has just confirmed they will be officially launching Creative Suite 6 on Monday, April 23rd, 2012…
This lines up well with our earlier forecast for the announce date – and we continue to expect the shipping date to come in early May, as suggested by the current CS6 Grace Period Offer.
The Creative Suite 6 Launch Event will be webcast worldwide on Monday at 10am PT / 1pm ET and 5pm GMT – and naturally it will be recorded so you can watch the video on demand thereafter.
Naturally there are a lot of details left to unfold but here are some of the earliest… Be sure to tune in here:
Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition CS6 FAQ and Highlights
April 14th, 2012 4 comments
[UPDATE (April 23rd) – Creative Suite 6 is out!]
On Thursday Adobe surprised everyone with an “early reveal” of the new CS6 video products just in time for the NAB 2012 show in Las Vegas kicking off today…
If you missed it, we have coverage of the new features in Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition, with a CS6 vs. CS5.5 version comparison – as well as the same for the CS6 Production Premium suite, taking a look at what’s new and improved.
These video tools are loaded with new features and performance improvements, and are already getting solid reviews. Lynda.com writes, “Workflow, speed, and efficiency make for a strong CS6 update to veteran production applications Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects.”
And PC Pro Magazine gives its verdict on Premiere Pro CS6: “A significant interface overhaul, both in appearance and day-to-day operation, makes this sophisticated, powerful editor more tempting than ever… Adobe’s video-editing flagship completes its transformation from a clunky and unresponsive behemoth to a smooth, efficient professional tool.”
Here now are some Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) on the products, and a bit further down are some helpful video demos for each of the three.
First Look: Adobe CS6 Production Premium Suite — What’s New?
April 12th, 2012 4 comments
[UPDATE (April 23rd) – Creative Suite 6 is out!]
Wondering what’s coming soon in Adobe’s world-class video suite CS6 Production Premium, before it comes out next month? Read below for the latest details on what’s new and improved in CS6, and what’s different compared to CS5.5…
This information is being revealed in advance of the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas next week, where the company is planning to make a really big splash with these new tools.
Adobe CS6 Production Premium introduces a sleek, fresh editing environment in Premiere Pro – the hub of your post-production workflow. Freely iterate creative ideas with the new Content-Aware family of technologies in Photoshop Extended and with new 3D advancements in After Effects, where the Global Performance Cache lets you work as fast as you can think. New components – Adobe Prelude, a logging and ingest tool, and Adobe SpeedGrade, for color grading and finishing (originally published by Iridas) – offer superior solutions to common production challenges. Adobe Audition adds dozens of enhanced editing features and support for control surfaces so you can produce audio more efficiently. From planning to playback, CS6 Production Premium gives you tools that help your workflow.
