[UPDATE (April 23rd) – Creative Suite 6 is out!]

Similar to how they did before the launch of CS5.5, Adobe has been quietly slipping out a bevy of “sneaks” (now numbering 16 videos including those for Photoshop CS6) for new features that may be in a forthcoming release of the Creative Suite…

“Check out what new technologies, features and innovations the Adobe product teams are working on behind the scenes.  Stay tuned to get an early glimpse of what could be next from Adobe.”

The latest CS6 products previewed include: Dreamweaver, InDesign (2), Premiere Pro, Audition, Flash Profes­sional, Illustrator (previously), and of course Photoshop.

The drumbeat has been getting louder with plenty of news lately about Creative Suite 6:

• We now know when Creative Suite 6 is likely to ship,
• …as well Adobe’s official grace period for free CS6 upgrades.
• The free Photoshop CS6 beta release is out with its lengthy list of what’s new.
• Not to mention, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Audition CS6 being revealed early!
• And we’ve even got chances for you to win Photoshop CS6 for free.

So things are starting to get a little exciting.

Here now are some of the significant new preview demos… For the complete set, please see the Adobe Technology Sneaks 2012 page.

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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.

If you don’t own the Adobe software yet but would like to use it to follow along with the training, you can easily download the free trials, which will be fully-functional for 30 days. The tutorials also include downloadable sample files to use as you go along, so be sure to look for those.

The CS5.5 Web Premium suite is used in the demonstrations – which coincidentally we’re also giving away for free!

Here’s the 2¼-hour course:

And here is the first segment (the Overview chapter) to get you started:

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So, it’s a helpful and complete background and introduction for getting started with HTML, CSS, Spry, JavaScript, XML, and rich media content such as Flash, video, and online maps. Some of the many fundamen­tal topics covered include images, fonts, layout, hyperlinking, navigation, menus, panels, templates, animation, testing, and uploading. But note that this class is not just for beginners – even experienced Dreamweaver users are learning some­thing new here… (see reviews below)

Basically, if you’re looking to get going with website design and development, this is a nice way to get your feet wet (or expand your existing knowledge) with the industry-standard product in just three hours for free – regardless of whether you keep using it. If you want or need a free copy of Dreamweaver CS5 to walk through during the training, you can just download the fully-functional 30-day free trial.

Here is the new course:

It just came out this month and has already been rated five stars by most viewers…

Troy says, “This is a great tutorial series. I use Dreamweaver to build and keep up our depart­ment’s web site, and have for many years, but I learned many new things watching this series. The instructions are very, very clear and easy to follow.”

Wes writes, “I really enjoy and appreciate this entire series that Adobe has put together. I had no knowledge of HTML or Dreamweaver, but even this introduction series has excited me about continuing to learn the language and Adobe’s other products. Great job!”

Manu comments, “Simply superb! Easy to learn with clear visual aids! I’ve gone through a few others to learn but this tops the most!”

So go for it and watch it now – it’s completely free. There are also sample files to download that go along with the course.

If you prefer training in written form instead of (or after) the above, here is an excellent and extensive six-step visual tutorial for Dreamweaver CS5 on building your first website: setting up your site and project files, creating the page layout, adding content to pages, adding the main image text, adding the Spry menu, and publishing your website.

As a next step, if you’d like to learn how to make a site which draws its content dynami­cally from a database (using Dreamweaver, PHP, and MySQL), see this three-part guide on creating your first dynamic website: setting up the site and database, developing the back end (including activating the forms to insert, update, and delete records), and displaying content from the database on a changing news page.

Each of the three series above include downloadable sample files to use as you follow the instruction, so be sure to look for those.

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The fine folks over at Que Publishing, who have over thirty years of experience writing good books about software and technology, have put out a free sampler edition of their new series of books on learning Adobe Creative Suite 5… This “CS5 on Demand” e-book runs 172 pages (11.3 MB to download, in PDF format) and includes five full chapters on Photoshop, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Illustrator, and Flash Professional.

This collection has been designed to teach CS5 through step-by-step tutorials with easy-to-follow instructions, to be rich in illustrations for those who want to learn visually, and to be complete and in-depth references for those seeking a trusted desk resource to quickly provide the answers you need.

Topics covered in the free downloadable ebook include Using the Paint, Shape Drawing, & Eraser Tools in Photoshop CS5, Creating an Interactive Document in InDesign CS5, Viewing the HTML Behind the Page in Dreamweaver CS5, Working with Objects in Illustrator CS5, and Developing iPhone Apps with Flash Pro CS5.

So if you’ve been meaning to learn more about Creative Suite 5, here’s a good opportunity…
If you don’t have the software itself yet, you can just download and run Adobe’s free fully-working trial (any or all products) for 30 days, and then follow along with that. If you then decide to purchase it, you might save some money with their currently running specials.

These Que books are well-reviewed and highly rated – each of them receiving up to 4½ stars on Amazon.com (“Excellent and easy-to-follow,” “Useful for veterans and novices alike,” “Great CS5 reference books”) – so if you want to find out more, click for the details of each individual volume:

» See also: Over 17 Hours of Free New Online Video Tutorials for Adobe CS5

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Back about six months ago (before CS5 was released), there was a lot of buzz surrounding sneak-peek videos about multiscreen authoring with HTML5 and CSS3, plus a new “Smart Paste” capability between Illustrator and Dreamweaver. These features are now becoming realized with some pretty cool tools to create and place inter­active vector-based content in live web pages across multiple devices and screen sizes, without the use of Flash or Silverlight. All that’s needed is HTML5 canvas support along with JavaScript.

The best thing you can do to get a sense of the new capabilities is watch the 17-minute video tutorial below. Then, here is a collection of helpful resources for getting started, with more to read below the video:

• Download the Illustrator CS5 HTML5 Pack (with installation instructions & user guide)
• The Official Adobe Press Release
• The User Community Discussion Forum

So put it all together and the implications here are several. First, Illustrator has now effectively become a HTML5 authoring tool for rich web content, bringing designers and developers closer together. Second, this continues the ongoing trend of integration and convergence amongst different products within the Creative Suite 5 toolset. Third, Adobe is serious about these open standards when they said, “We’re going to make the best tools in the world for HTML5″… Lastly, regardless of where things go with the “Flash Wars,” Adobe looks intent on staying on top of the design & development tool world for the future, placing and maintaining bets on all comers and participants.

The company itself has written:

Adobe makes money selling tools, not distributing viewing soft­ware. Those tools must address customer needs. If Flash Player is the right choice for some projects and HTML/CANVAS for others, no problem: we get paid to help you solve problems, not to force one implementation vs. another.

The HTML5 Pack for Dreamweaver that came out in May was officially incorporated into the Dreamweaver CS5 11.0.3 Update released two weeks ago. Expect the same thing to happen with this new Illustrator CS5 HTML5 Pack, after some evolution and incorporation of feedback. Note that you need to be running at least Illustrator CS5 version 15.0.1 to successfully install the add-on pack. Or if you don’t own the product yet, you can just download the full and free trial of the latest version of Illustrator (or Dreamweaver) CS5.

Note: Although the HTML5 and CSS3 specs are still being finalized, HTML5 and CSS3 can be used with any browser that currently supports them. 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.

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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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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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Over the past three days Adobe has quietly released several “preview” videos of future technology in Dreamweaver… Now just as with the sneak-peek Photoshop videos posted last week, there are no assurances on exactly which version of Dreamweaver or when – but considering that CS5 could be coming out fairly soon, we could be seeing some of these new technologies in CS5. But even if not, they are rather impressive…

The first video below covers a very cool new “Smart Paste” command that makes it a snap to bring vector designs (such as artwork from Illustrator) directly into HTML – as simple as copy and paste.

The second one delves into support for multiscreen authoring with HTML5 and CSS3, and so might be considered more in the “emerging” department… This one is a big challenge for designers especially as varied mobile devices become increasingly more prevalent on the web.

The last video comes from the new “CSbuzz” hub site that launched last week, and is a little tease on significant improvements when working in Dreamweaver with dynamic material such as PHP, which historically hasn’t been as handy.

For best viewing, click the expand icon after pressing play on each thumbnail for full-screen HD:

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