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Lightroom 3 is Out!

ProDesignTools — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 04:08:23 +0000

Yes – Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.5 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?

Accelerated performance
World-class noise reduction
Automatic lens correction
Support for DSLR video files
Image watermarking
Tethered shooting

Flickr integration
Slideshow videos with music
Easy image importing
Perspective correction
More flexible print layouts
Film grain simulation

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. See also the top 12 reasons to upgrade to Lightroom 3.

If you need the direct download links for Lightroom 3 to access the software without the Akamai Download Manager, we have posted them here.

Get 50% Off Adobe Lightroom 3 Now for Customers Worldwide

ProDesignTools — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:16:22 +0000

There’s an amazing deal out that’s just been expanded for Adobe customers worldwide (in US/Canada, Europe/UK, Australia/NZ, and South Africa) – you can get the full version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 for half off the regular price: now US$149, £99, €125, or A$124 – plus free shipping:

Quickly process and manage your images for less.

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 software helps you bring out the best in your photographs, whether you’re perfecting one image, searching for ten, processing hundreds, or organising thousands. Read more »

Save 50% instantly on a full version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, plus free shipping.

Get this deal now for: N. America – Europe – UK – Australia – New Zealand – Africa

* Receive a savings of 50% off the standard price of a full version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 when purchasing directly from the Adobe Online Store from 19 January 2012 until 5 February 2012. Offer is limited to one discount per customer. Free shipping also applies. The discount will be applied automatically in your shopping cart, no coupon code is necessary. The 50% discount will be taken off subtotalled amounts prior to calculation of tax. Allow 2-3 days for software delivery. Special is not valid for subscription products, OEM bundles, or education versions of software. This promotion is subject to availability and to change or withdrawal without notice.

Note this reduction is not available for upgrades to Lightroom 3, which still cost US$99 from any previous version. And while this deal originally rolled out for international customers only, it is now being offered in North America as well.

Meanwhile, students and teachers worldwide can continue to benefit from deeply-discounted educational pricing to buy a full copy of Lightroom 3 for just US$89, which is more than 70% off the regular price.

So if you’ve been thinking about making the jump to this well-regarded product, here’s a great entry… If you prefer to try before you buy, you can immediately download the fully-functional free trial, and then just convert it to permanent within the offer period above.

To hear about future Adobe promotions, subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter or Facebook… You can also just enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your inbox.

Three Hours of Free Tutorials for Lightroom 3, plus Other Resources

ProDesignTools — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:29:18 +0000

Adobe Lightroom 3 is only days old, yet it’s quickly getting rave reviews across the net… Expert Reviews gave it five stars, writing: “The best just got better. Whether you’re a professional photographer or enthusiast, Adobe Lightroom has quickly become the must-have managing and pre-processing software. With version 3 just released, there’s even more reason to rush out and buy it. The powerful lens correction profiles and amazing noise reduction, combined with excellent management make this a tool that all photographers should have.”

And there is already a wealth of free learning resources available… Here are some good ones:

Also out is an excellent in-depth series of free online Lightroom 3 video tutorials, approaching three hours in running time and produced by Adobe Lightroom expert Julieanne Kost. There are ten chapters with a range of topics and techniques covered:

Getting Started with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
Ch	Topic	Runtime
00	What is Adobe Lightroom?	02m 05s
01	What’s New in Lightroom 3	33m 02s
02	Be Organized	16m 32s
03	Select, Rate and Prioritize Your Images	18m 46s
04	Lens Correction and Perspective Correction	11m 15s
05	Create Stunning Images	17m 21s
06	Converting Images to Black and White	15m 12s
07	Moving Between Lightroom and Photoshop	14m 41s
08	Publish a Slideshow	11m 22s
09	Print the Perfect Image	17m 37s
10	Share Images on the Web	12m 53s

Win your upgrade to Lightroom 3 absolutely free this month in our THREE-LR3-FREE Giveaway!

What are the Top 5 New Features in Adobe Lightroom 3?

ProDesignTools — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:57:50 +0000

We think the final release of Lightroom 3 could be coming soon, from reading all the signs… These two new videos from Terry White and Adobe TV build the momentum and anticipation:

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

Save 30% on Adobe Lightroom 3, sans Coupon or Promo Code

ProDesignTools — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:35:42 +0000

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).

Lightroom with Photoshop – Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop?

Lightroom is an end-to-end photography solution designed expressly for digital photographers, helping them work faster and more efficiently with one image, an entire shoot, or a large image library. Photoshop is the industry standard in digital image editing, with advanced tools used by photographers, graphic designers, and other professionals for detailed, pixel-level editing and compositing.

Why should I use Lightroom if I already have Photoshop, or vice versa?

Lightroom is designed to boost your efficiency by handling the essential tasks a digital photographer faces in one intuitive environment. And it includes the widest range of advanced tools for efficiently processing entire shoots, managing photo libraries, and showcasing images. When you need it, tight integration between Lightroom and Photoshop lets you easily take advantage of the power of Photoshop for more complete creative control, high dynamic range photos, and panoramas, all with pixel-level accuracy and precision.

Is Lightroom included in Adobe Creative Suite?

No. On the whole, Lightroom and Adobe Creative Suite address different audiences. Creative Suite is primarily focused on design and the delivery of rich creative experiences while Lightroom addresses the needs of advanced amateur and professional photographers.

What is Adobe Bridge, and what is the difference between Bridge and Lightroom?

Adobe Bridge is a file browser and file management application that is included with Photoshop CS2 or higher and Adobe Creative Suite. Bridge is designed to work with a wide variety of graphics, image, and video file types to manage files in varied workflows involving all the applications in Creative Suite. Lightroom and its file management functions are tailored specifically for the digital photography workflow. Lightroom unites your key photography essentials, including image editing, in one intuitive application. Lightroom uses file importing and a database structure that speeds up searches and enables Lightroom to store information about as well as display images on offline media. Bridge cannot display offline images.

To learn more, see the Complete Photoshop Family page.

Direct Download Links for Lightroom 3 and Photoshop Elements 8

ProDesignTools — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 04:25:59 +0000

We’re seeing some folks reporting problems trying to download the new Lightroom 3 using the Akamai Download Manager, which is enabled by default at Adobe.com… There are several posts on the user forums (e.g., here and here), as well as incoming visitor search queries here like “download link for lightroom 3 without akamai,” “adobe lightroom 3 direct download link,” and “how to download lightroom 3 from adobe without the download manager.”

So to complement our earlier sets of direct links for Adobe CS5.5 and CS4, below are the direct download links for Photoshop Lightroom 3 – they are very straightforward, just one single file for each platform that covers all languages (with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions contained inside for Windows)… Languages offered below include English, French/Français, German/Deutsch, Dutch/Nederlands, Italian/Italiano, Portuguese/Português, and Spanish/Español.

Because we’ve also had requests for links for the Elements product line (Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements 8), you’ll find those further down as well – including the extra content files for Premiere Elements. All of these links go to the authentic and original files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change.

[UPDATE (9/20/2011) — Elements 10 is now shipping - get the direct download links.]

Note: Very Important Instructions

Other Direct Download Links
CS5.5
Acrobat X
Elements 10
Elements 9
Captivate 5

You need to have a free Adobe account and be logged into it to use the links below, as Adobe sets a session cookie on your browser that allows you to access the direct download links. Otherwise, you will receive an “access denied” or “resume your download” message preventing the connection. So please follow these instructions carefully or the links will not work!

Adobe recommends temporarily turning off any surfing restrictions you might have running, like site or cookie blocking, firewalls or antivirus software.
Click «here» to visit this page and then select the “Download Now” button at the bottom.
If you already have an Adobe ID, then please sign in with it (checking “Remember me“), otherwise take a minute to create one for yourself.
Close/cancel any windows that may pop up.
Now that you’re logged in at Adobe with the trials cookie set, you can instantly download from the links below. Just make sure you have enough disk space available.
Download the files either by clicking directly on the DDL links, or by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As…” on the popup menu – and save all files to the same place.
Then follow the product installation instructions here.

Adobe Lightroom 3 Direct Download Links

Adobe Lightroom 3 – Windows (185.2 MB): File 1
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese

Adobe Lightroom 3 – Mac (79.6 MB): File 1
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Korean, Japanese, Chinese

Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Elements 8 Direct Download Links

Photoshop Elements 8 – Windows (1.1 GB): File 1 File 2
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese

Photoshop Elements 8 – Mac (1.3 GB): File 1
English, French, German, Japanese

Premiere Elements 8 – Windows (1.2 GB): File 1 File 2
English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Chinese

Premiere Elements 8 – Additional content: File 1 File 2

For Elements on Windows (both PSE 8 and PRE 8), each program consists of two downloaded files: an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z).
The .exe file will only work (and install) once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

If you need them, please see the links for other versions of Lightroom or Photoshop/Premiere Elements in the comments below.

Adobe Working on Lightroom App for Apple’s iPad

ProDesignTools — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:02:36 +0000

The buzz is building that Adobe is hard at work on a new version of Lightroom custom-built for Apple’s iPad… In his blog review of the iPad Camera Connection Kit in late April, Adobe’s Terry White dropped the following hint:

I know what you’re thinking: Wouldn’t it be cool if we had Lightroom for the iPad? All I can say on that one is…… ;)

Then a week ago, Photoshop’s Principal Product Manager John Nack penned a post entitled, “Of Lightroom, iPads, and muffins,” where he talked about “building a great iPad app for mobile photo review, editing, and sharing” – and welcomed feedback on photography workflow apps generally, either LR or non-LR.

Finally this week Terry White echoed similar sentiments, asking, “what people might want in an Lightroom-type app for the iPad?” He goes on to outline a couple different options for how to adapt Lightroom and its five modules to work best on the iPad, and again requests reader input and comments. But he finishes with the following caveat:

By the way, there are no promises here. There are lots of technical limitations to overcome and even then if such an app were to be built, it would still have to be approved by Apple. So keep that in mind. For those of you thinking, “how hard can it be?” you might want to take a look at this post.

So it’s clear now there is definitely work going on to build a version of Lightroom for the iPad – but the question remains as to if and how it can be done, and what it would cost… If you have thoughts on the matter or ideas on how you’d like the potential product to work, please feel free to share them by commenting on one of the two Adobe posts mentioned above, either via John Nack or Terry White.

Adobe Lightroom 3 Review & Rating Roundup – June 2010 to Date

ProDesignTools — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:41:01 +0000

It’s been over a month now since Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 completed its beta program and the final version was released, so it’s time to see what most of the reviews are saying out there…

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.

Adobe Lightroom 3.5 and Camera Raw 6.5 – Final and Free Updates

ProDesignTools — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:02:49 +0000

Adobe Lightroom 3.5 and Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 are now available as final releases, and are free for all current Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 users…

These updates include bug fixes, performance and stability improvements (20 for Lightroom and 9 for Camera Raw), plus support for 27 new lens profiles and 24 new cameras, including the Nikon Coolpix P7100, Olympus E-PL3, and Sony SLT-A77 – and could be some of the last revisions before Lightroom 4 and CS6 come out.

» Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.5 for Mac OS (a free update to Lightroom 3)
» Download the Final Adobe Lightroom 3.5 for Windows

» Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 for Mac (a free update to Photoshop CS5)
» Download the Final Adobe Camera Raw 6.5 for Windows

Read more details about the update including the 29 fixes that were made as well as the new cameras supported, or take a look at the complete list of all Lightroom-supported cameras.

Lightroom 3.5 is a recommended update and is available in 12 languages: English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified). If you don’t yet own Lightroom 3, Adobe’s free trial download has also now been moved up to version 3.5.

To confirm that the updater has run successfully, launch Lightroom and verify that the version number on the splash screen shows current as 3.5.

Camera Raw 6.5 also works with Photoshop Elements 9 plus the new Photoshop Elements 10 just released – see the full compatibility chart. Note that Camera Raw 6 is not compatible with Photoshop CS4 or earlier. The last release of Adobe Camera Raw for Photoshop CS4 was ACR 5.7 on 4/20/2010.

Save 30% when you buy Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5 together, no coupon code needed.

Watch more: Three Hours of Free Tutorials for Adobe Lightroom 3

Lightroom Presets/Settings: How to Export Photos to the iPad

ProDesignTools — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:07:22 +0000

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).

The difference can be seen in the photos below… When installing the presets, be sure to follow the instructions carefully. [Via]

Acrobat & Lightroom: Impact of Creative Cloud and Upgrade Changes

ProDesignTools — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:22:23 +0000

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?

Adobe tells us: No, these two applications will continue with their current policies of discounted upgrade pricing for up to three versions back, instead of the planned “one version back” for all of the CS6 products.

In other words, based upon what we are hearing now, both Acrobat and Lightroom will remain on their independent release cycles and existing upgrade plans.

Here is the exact statement they sent us (and we subsequently confirmed the same applies for Lightroom):

With the announcement of Adobe Creative Cloud, there have been many questions about how Acrobat will be treated. Please note, the Acrobat upgrade policy has not changed, Acrobat customers may continue to upgrade to the current version from three versions prior (currently 7, 8, and 9 for upgrading to X). Details about this policy are outlined in the Acrobat Customer FAQ.

As an extra, we can also confirm for you that Adobe’s Elements line – Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements – will also remain “as is,” with the separate version and upgrade system that exists today.

However, there is no word yet on the status or impact to Adobe’s Student & Teacher Editions (if anything)… Hopefully they will continue with the current setup, whereby educational users can receive discounts of up to 80% off the regular prices (although with the limitations that these products cannot be upgraded to other academic versions).

So we hope that helps put these questions to rest! Any others? Please ask away below and we’ll do our best to answer…

To follow this story going forward, subscribe to our RSS feed or like us on Facebook or Twitter… You can also just enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your inbox.

Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Photoshop CS5

ProDesignTools — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:12:32 +0000

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.

On top of that, it’s a busy week for Photoshop users. If you’re in the New York City area in the coming days, stop by one of these other free events:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Summit, Friday, June 25, 4:30–7:30 pm, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC —
Join Scott Kelby and the NAPP team for the first-ever Photoshop Summit, where you’ll see exactly how to plug the amazing new features of CS5 right into your daily Photoshop workflow. Plus, you’ll be able to meet one-on-one with Adobe’s own Photoshop and Lightroom product managers and get your questions answered direct from the source. It’s absolutely free with some great giveaways including the products themselves.

Photowalk with Adobe Product Managers, Saturday, June 26, 10am-2pm, Midtown, NYC —
Join Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop product managers Tom Hogarty and Bryan O’Neil Hughes for an exclusive photo walk through New York City. All levels welcome, and includes a free lunch and software tips and demos. Space is limited to 50 participants, so please RSVP.

Adobe Day at Foto Care, Monday & Tuesday, June 28 & 29, 10am & 2pm, Foto Care, NYC —
Welcome Adobe specialists Bryan O’Neil Hughes and Tom Hogarty as they present Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. In these free workshops you will learn the new features and see how to use the new tools to enhance your workflow, making it easier and faster.

Free Adobe Lightroom 4 Giveaway! Two Copies for You to Win ($600)

ProDesignTools — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:15:37 +0000

Anybody interested in some free copies of new Adobe Lightroom 4?

We’ve got them. Adobe says the 4th release of this very popular photography solution is due to ship fairly soon – however if you want to try it out and get your feet wet before then, you can just download and run the free LR4 beta version, though this shouldn’t be used for production or permanent work.

In the meantime, did you know that Adobe just extended an unprecedented deal on the current full version – Lightroom 3 – for half off the regular price of US$300, save 50% worldwide? Yes, it’s true, and never been done before – but you can take advantage of that here. And you’d still be eligible and welcome for the free giveaway of version 4 by entering below.

So, we’ve got two brand new boxed copies of the final official Lightroom 4 product all lined up and would love to give them away to our faithful readers… It’s easy to sign up. The contest is open to residents of North America, U.K., Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa – and all you need to do for a chance to win is one (or both) of the following:

(1) Leave a comment below answering one of these questions:

Do you plan to buy or upgrade to Lightroom 4, and what version are you running now?
Have you run the beta or checked the new features in LR4? Which is your favorite?
What do you plan to do with Adobe Lightroom 4, how would/will you use it?

= and/or =

(2) Enter your email for our free exclusive Adobe Special Offers e-Newsletter in the sidebar to the lower right (with news and coupons, once in a while, never spam, and unsubscribe at any time)… Current subscribers can just re-enter their address.

That’s it! Each of these actions counts as a single entry into the drawing – so if you do both, you’ll receive a two chances to win the prizes. Be sure your email is correct and current so we can contact you. One entry per reader for each method, but please do share and tell your friends and colleagues who would like the software as well.

Submissions are open until 11:59pm EST on Saturday, March 3rd, 2012. The winners will be drawn at random from all valid entries, and contacted via email – and we’ll announce the lucky recipients (first names only) right here the following week. If you’re one, we’ll ship you a shiny new box of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 the moment it’s out, for free… Good luck!

» Email this to a friend

For Lightroom 3, the Current Release

Fast Facts: Our LR3 Release Overview
Compare Adobe Products: Photoshop CS5 vs. Lightroom 3
Three Hours of Free Tutorials for Lightroom 3, plus Other Resources
Demo: What Are the Top 5 New Features in Lightroom 3?
Lightroom Presets/Settings: How to Export Photos to the iPad
Lightroom 3 Review & Rating Roundup
Adobe Working on Lightroom App for Apple’s iPad
Lightroom 3 Free Trial: Direct Download Links

Terms & Conditions

Contest is open to residents of USA, Canada, Europe, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, with up to two entries per person as outlined above. Participants whose names are drawn must respond to email notification within 72 hours after sending. The prize will be the full, upgrade, or education version of Lightroom 4 as appropriate. Estimated maximum retail price of all prizes is approximately US$600. By entering, all entrants agree to release ProDesignTools.com (the Sponsor), and its employees from all liability and claims relating to participation in the contest. No substitutions or transfer of prize or cash redemptions permitted by winners. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, suspend or alter the rules and parameters of the sweepstakes. Sponsor also reserves the right to substitute a prize or prizes as Sponsor deems suitable in the event that prize becomes unavailable for any reason.

All federal, state and local taxes, as well as any customs duties, other taxes, fees and/or surcharges will be the sole responsibility of the prize winners. Winners under the age of 18 (as of winner announcement date) must have their parents’ and/or legal guardians’ consent to accept prize. By acceptance of prize, the winners agree to release ProDesignTools.com from any and all liability claims or actions of any kind whatsoever for damages. Offer void where prohibited, regulated or restricted by law in a manner inconsistent with the purposes and rules hereof.

What Are the Differences in Adobe Lightroom 4 vs. 3 – What’s New?

ProDesignTools — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:02:13 +0000

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).

This “public beta,” so that means it’s not done yet – it’s a beta product, it’s not been released… so therefore you should proceed accordingly. This is not “ready for prime time” nor ready for for production work. However, as a public beta you can freely download it, install it side-by-side with any earlier versions of LR you may have, begin testing it, try out the new features, and check out what’s in store – and more importantly give Adobe feedback on what you’d like to see in this version or in future versions.

How does Lightroom 4 compare vs. Lightroom 3?

First off, we should mention something a little controversial regarding older computers: Adobe is dropping support for the ten-year-old Microsoft Windows XP with this release… The official LR4 system requirements call for Windows Vista or 7, or a 64-bit capable Mac OS. And if you’re wondering why they did this, Adobe has just put up a new post explaining why.

For the rest of what’s changed, we had planned to put together an detailed, comprehensive overview with the details and screenshots for every new feature and function – but then we found Ian Lyon’s excellent and comprehensive review which already did exactly that…

So here’s the punch list of top-level new features in LR4:

Library & Workflow:	Native video support including basic editing
	Manage images by location (geotagging) with the new Map module
	Enhanced DNG support

Develop:	New Process Version 2012 (PV2012)
	Simplified Basic Adjustments (tone controls)
	Per-channels Curves adjustments
	Updated Clarity adjustment
	Additional local adjustments
	Automatic Chromatic Aberration correction
	Soft Proofing

Output:	Integrated Photo Book production (Blurb) in the new Books module
	Enhanced output model for storing settings applied in Web, Slideshow, Print and Book modules
	Video publishing via Publish Collections
	Email directly from within Lightroom
	Adobe Revel (formerly Carousel) export

And for more details and the best coverage we’ve found, check out [via] Ian Lyon’s page.

Adobe Lightroom 4 Beta Release is Here! Now Available Free to Public

ProDesignTools — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:52:13 +0000

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…

New Features in Lightroom 4 Beta

Highlight and shadow recovery brings out all the detail that your camera captures in dark shadows and bright highlights.
Photo book creation with easy-to-use elegant templates.
Location-based organization lets you find and group images by location, assign locations to images, and display data from GPS-enabled cameras.
White balance brush to refine and adjust white balance in specific areas of your images.
Additional local editing controls let you adjust noise reduction and remove moiré in targeted areas of your images.
Extended video support for organizing, viewing, and making adjustments and edits to video clips.
Easy video publishing lets you edit and share video clips on Facebook and Flickr.
Soft proofing to preview how an image will look when printed with color-managed printers.
Email directly from Lightroom using the email account of your choice.

LR4 Beta Download Availability

The free Lightroom 4 beta program is open and available to the public. Anyone with an Internet connection can download and test it out in full. You do not need to own (or have tried) a previous version of Lightroom, and there is no serial number required. The Lightroom 4 beta will not overwrite or interfere with any existing installation of Lightroom 1, Lightroom 2, or Lightroom 3.

You can download the beta immediately and use it freely until the product expires at the end of March. Please see this detailed post for the minimum system requirements and installation instructions, as well as more information on the new features and known issues. One possible hiccup for some users is that Lightroom 4 is not supported on Windows XP systems.

Also be sure to give your feedback to the Adobe developers…

Introduction to Lightroom 4

And here’s a great video series on what’s new and to get you started… Afterwards, explore more on the differences between Lightroom 4 vs. Lightroom 3.

For Lightroom 3, the Current Release

Fast Facts: Our LR3 Release Overview
Compare Adobe Products: Photoshop CS5 vs. Lightroom 3
Three Hours of Free Tutorials for Lightroom 3, plus Other Resources
Demo: What Are the Top 5 New Features in Lightroom 3?
Lightroom Presets/Settings: How to Export Photos to the iPad
Lightroom 3 Review & Rating Roundup
Adobe Working on Lightroom App for Apple’s iPad
Lightroom 3 Free Trial: Direct Download Links

Compare Photoshop Editions: CS5 vs. Elements 10 vs. Lightroom 3

ProDesignTools — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 19:40:23 +0000

“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.

And indeed they do nicely summarize all the different versions on one page.

So that’s a good starting point, but let’s dig a little deeper. Here’s another way of looking at it, functionally:

Photoshop CS5 – The latest-and-greatest “flagship” (or regular/standard) version of the breakthrough industry-standard tool – the world’s leading pixel manipulation program.
Photoshop Elements 10 – A scaled-down, simpler version for hobbyists and home market, with fewer features, functions, and options – it offers “elements” of the full program.
Photoshop Lightroom 3 – Not really “photoshop” or a pixel-level editor at all, but rather a non-destructive image workflow system for serious and pro photographers.
Photoshop CS5 Extended – The “top of the line” with everything: it takes Photoshop CS5 and adds editing for both 3D and motion (video!) content, as well as image analysis.

That captures the essence, and we have in-depth comparisons below. But if just from reading that you’re unsure which one is right for you, Adobe offers free downloadable trial editions of all four editions which are fully-functional for 30 days. So you can get any one (or multiple, or all) for tryout to see which work(s) best.

But it’s not “either/or” – many folks actually end up buying two of these: Lightroom together with one of the CS5 editions (or Elements) – they are complementary and integrated to work well together, in fact Adobe offers a 30% discount when those products are purchased at the same time.

All four products are available for both Windows PC and Mac OS – and in fact all of them can be run on both platforms, with the ability to install on up to two computers for each tool. If you own a previous release of the same product, then you may qualify for the Upgrade version which costs less ($US79 for Elements, US$199 for Photoshop CS, and US$99 for Lightroom), otherwise you’d get the Full version.

Compare Photoshop CS5 vs. Photoshop CS5 Extended

OK, we’ve actually written a whole separate article on just that question – the differences between Photoshop vs. Photoshop Extended – so please see that related piece for more details there…

Importantly, note that in almost all of Adobe’s suites, and in all of Adobe’s education versions for students & teachers, the edition of Photoshop is Extended. That’s a good thing.

For the other three editions (Photoshop CS5 vs. Lightroom 3 vs. PSE 10): What are some of the features in one version but not the other(s), or unique to each?

Compare Photoshop CS5 vs. Photoshop Elements 10

As mentioned earlier, most would say that Photoshop Elements 10 is a stripped-down version of the full Photoshop CS5 with significantly fewer features, options, and controls. On the other hand, PSE is targeted towards the consumer market and Adobe has designed it to be easier to get started with and learn to use.

There is a long list of features it does not contain as compared to the full Photoshop CS5. Here are a few that Photoshop CS has, but that Photoshop Elements does not have:

Puppet Warp
Pen Tool (vector drawing & selections)
Content-Aware Fill
64-bit support (for performance)
HDR Pro
Paths Palette
Vanishing Point Tool
History Brush
Curves
Full 16-bit RGB
Creating custom Actions
Smart Objects, Smart Guides
Color Balance and Match Color
Channels Palette and Mixer
Automatic lens correction
Warp Transform Tool
3D objects & text
Pixel Bender plug-in
CMYK and Lab color models
Truer Edge detection technology
Adjustments & controls for everything

That said, because Photoshop Elements is meant for home use, there are some features it contains that Photoshop CS5 does not have – for example, templates for photo books, slideshows, greeting cards, email, print calendars, scrapbook pages, and online albums, as well as drop-in frames, backgrounds, and artwork, plus online sharing options for Facebook, Flickr, etc. Elements also offers more user assistance through aspects like Guided Edits and shortcuts like Quick Fix mode, the Smart Brush tool, and Cookie Cutter tool.

For keeping track of images, Photoshop Elements includes the Organizer to manage photos and videos, which is considered to be simpler but slower than the Bridge media browser that comes with Photoshop CS5. However, most users feel that Lightroom’s smooth library and cataloging functions are superior to both, and especially better when you have a large number of images.

Note that for students and teachers, Adobe gives a much bigger discount on Photoshop Extended (80% off the regular price) than on Photoshop Elements (only 20% off).

Compare Photoshop CS5/Elements vs. Lightroom 3

So, how is Lightroom different from all of the above? Lightroom 3 an intuitive digital darkroom and efficient assistant designed for advanced amateur and professional photographers. LR3 lets you manage, edit, and showcase all your photographs – and do it quickly, powerfully, smoothly. It’s a complete photo and data management solution that was built from the ground up by Adobe to streamline workflow productivity for photographers.

Lightroom has the library and cataloging functions to work with a large collection of images easily and process them rapidly in groups or batches, with a sophisticated database for very fast search, keyword tagging, and previewing functions – even when your image files aren’t accessible on your computer. It has built-in RAW processing (also works with .JPEG, .TIFF, and .PSD images) and can make corrections based upon the camera and lenses you use. LR has terrific tools for “developing” like correcting exposure, adjusting tone, lighting, white balance, contrast, color, saturation, sharpening, and noise reduction, which are state-of-the-art. There’s also a local adjustment brush for dodging and burning, graduated filters, and so on.

And all of it is nondestructive, meaning you can go back and simply undo or redo changes to any image at any time, even years later. This is much like film, where photographers can always return to their original negative – whereas in standard Photoshop, once you change and save an object, you permanently change the pixels.

Lightroom is not for performing detailed pixel-level editing, compositing multiple images, using layers, cloning & healing, adding text, drawing shapes, editing objects out of a photos, or many of the other capabilities Photoshop has. However, many thousands of serious photographers use Lightroom very efficiently every day for 90% of their needs, and then pop out to tightly-integrated Photoshop for the rest (retouching and post-processing).

Lightroom is an end-to-end digital photography solution so it also includes features to showcase your work in customized print layouts, slide shows, and web galleries, and on popular photo-sharing sites.

So if you want the photographer’s workflow to manage thousands of images with ease then you’re talking about Lightroom, but you want to perfect a single image with the “gold standard” professional editing & finishing tool then you’re talking about Photoshop. The two products complement each other and together comprise a complete image processing system.

Adobe has an excellent FAQ on Lightroom and more on the differences between other tools.

This short video answers the question “What is Lightroom?” for new users of the product. Lightroom unites your digital photography essentials in one fast and intuitive package and gets you there with the tools you need to create great images, manage all your photographs, and showcase them with style and impact.

Adobe Camera Raw (ACR)

Interestingly, all products in the Photoshop family share the same underlying image processing technology to ensure consistent and compatible results across applications that support raw processing. This is called the Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) plug-in and it’s packaged in with Photoshop CS, Photoshop Elements, and Lightroom. This is the interface where support for new camera models and lens profiles is added, so Adobe updates this plugin on a regular basis (about every 3-4 months).

You can get access down to the powerful ACR features from within Photoshop CS or Elements, while Lightroom essentially takes Camera Raw and centers a full-featured application around it with all the streamlined workflow and cataloging benefits described above.

Free Tutorials and Training

Learn how to use these tools! As mentioned above, you can download a free trial of any or all of them to get started, and then:

Have any other questions about the differences between these Photoshop products? Just ask them below and we’ll answer!

If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to our RSS feed or follow us on Facebook or Twitter… You can also just enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your inbox.

Win Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 or Elements 10 Bundle, Free!

ProDesignTools — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:10:16 +0000

[UPDATE – Also see our new Lightroom 4 Giveaway!]

We’ve given away a lot of products over the past couple years, but haven’t yet offered Adobe Lightroom… So here, now, we’re giving away Adobe Lightroom 3 (value US$300) with a new camera bag! Second prize is the Photoshop & Premiere Elements 10 Bundle (US$150), and for third place we have an Adobe-branded prize pack with T-shirt, pen, lanyard, and other surprises.

Actually, all three winners will receive one of those prize packs, so much the better. The free copy of Lightroom is graciously sponsored by Adobe, and should do nicely until Lightroom 4 is released. Photoshop and Premiere Elements 10 are brand new, out five weeks ago.

The goal of the contest is to learn from our readers worldwide:
What would you like to see in the next release of your favorite Adobe product?

It could be any one – CS6 (any application), Lightroom 4, Acrobat 11, Photoshop Elements 11, and the rest. What do you hope for, want Adobe to add/do/change, what’s on your wishlist?
Just share it in a comment below and/or on Facebook, and you’re entered. Please be sure to include the name of the future product you’re talking about (for example, “In CS6 I’d like …”).

To double your power and effectiveness, then copy and paste the same comment into Adobe’s Official Feature Request form to let them know directly. Here’s your chance to make your voice heard, and win some nice products doing it.

Then, at the end of the month, we’ll choose the three best comments posted to receive these three prize packages. Multiple comments per visitor on different applications are okay, but be reasonable and be sure to share and tell your friends and colleagues who’d like a chance to win and express their feedback as well – it’s good karma!

Submissions will be open until 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011. The three winners will be contacted via email – and we’ll announce the lucky recipients right here in early December. Good luck and please spread the word!

» Email this to a friend

» Download free trials: Lightroom 3 or Elements 10

» Many hours of free tutorials: Lightroom 3 or Photoshop Elements

» ”Sneak peeks” from Adobe MAX 2011: Photoshop – InDesign – Premiere Pro

Terms & Conditions

Contest is open to residents of North America, Europe, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Participants whose comments are chosen must respond to email notification within 72 hours. The opinion of our judges is final. By entering, all entrants agree to release ProDesignTools.com (the Sponsor), and its employees from all liability and claims relating to participation in the contest. No substitutions or transfer of prize or cash redemptions permitted by winners. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel, suspend or alter the rules and parameters of the sweepstakes. Sponsor also reserves the right to substitute a prize or prizes as Sponsor deems suitable in the event that prize becomes unavailable for any reason.

One Day Deal: Save $150 on Adobe Lightroom 3 Today – Half Price!

ProDesignTools — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:05:32 +0000

[UPDATE – Also see our new Lightroom 4 Giveaway!]

Adobe is continuing its “Deal of the Day” program and the next big deal is a healthy $150 (or 50%!) off one of their best selling products, Lightroom 3… Version 3.5 was just released on September 28th, and this brief special means you can now get it for just $149 instead of the regular price of $299.

The $150 instant discount is valid for full versions of Lightroom (not upgrades, which cost $99), and no coupon or promotion code is necessary. The offer is available only on purchases made directly from Adobe by retail customers in North America on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011 by 11:59pm PDT. The discount will be reflected in the shopping cart just prior to checkout. Pricing is available only through the Adobe Store. Education, OEM, and licensing customers are not eligible.

Meanwhile, students and teachers worldwide can continue to benefit from deeply-discounted educational pricing to buy Lightroom 3 for just $89, or over 70% off the regular price.

So if you’ve been thinking about making the jump to this well-regarded product, here is a terrific entry! If you prefer to try before you buy, you can immediately download the fully-functional free trial, and then just convert it before midnight with the special link.

This savings are not available anywhere else and is the best deal with the lowest price Adobe has ever offered on an external promotion for Lightroom! Don’t miss out on this great opportunity before it expires.

To hear about future Adobe promotions, subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter or Facebook… You can also just enter your email and have new articles sent directly to your inbox.

160+ Hours of Free Training and Tutorials from Adobe MAX 2011

ProDesignTools — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:01:56 +0000

Just back from Adobe MAX 2011 and it was sensational… The keynote presentations were larger than life and filled with news and demos of new Adobe software and initiatives. The hundreds of diverse product sessions were incredibly educational. The show floor was a buzzing activity of experts, partners, and vendors… And the renowned “MAX Bash” party did not disappoint.

But perhaps the best part for those who weren’t there is the majority of the sessions were captured on video and are now offered online for free… In other words, pick your favorite Adobe product(s) and you can learn the latest tips, tricks, and techniques from the top instructors in the field from the comfort of your desktop. There are three major tracks below (Design, Develop, and Envision) with scores of different topics; most sessions are about an hour long and the collection runs to over 160 hours of video in total.

As for the two conference keynotes, those are also available for online viewing as well, and broken up into segments according to theme… The first day highlights included the unveiling of Creative Cloud, a membership-based collection of creative applications and services, the announcement of the Digital Publishing Suite Single Edition for smaller publishers, and the introduction of Adobe Touch Apps, including Photoshop Touch.

Day two covered the company’s latest HTML5 and CSS3 developments including the new Adobe Edge product, as well as Flash Player 11 with 3D, AIR 3, and Adobe’s acquisition of PhoneGap.

But without further ado, here are the best training and tutorial sessions direct from MAX, now free to watch… 160 hours – that’s 20 eight-hour days worth of content! Dig in…

MAX 2011 Design

Dive into the art and science of designing across media, including web, interactive, video, mobile, and print. Join us to expand your skills and be inspired.

Acrobat for the Web Designer
Adobe Illustrator: Secrets to working faster, smarter and more creatively
Advanced Audio Restoration and Editing
Advanced Integration Techniques for Muse (codename)
Advanced Interactivity and Real-World Integration with Adobe Edge
An Introduction to Creative Photographic Imaging on Tablet Devices
Beautiful Typography: A Crash Course
BrowserLab: An Online Service for Cross-Browser
Building Adaptive, Multiscreen Websites with Business Catalyst v3
Building Tablet Applications Using InDesign and Digital Publishing Suite
Building Workspaces of the Future – Today
CEM and the Studio: How your Digital Agency Fits into the Puzzle
CSS Takes Over the World
CSS for Web and Mobile Design
Case Study: Buck Creative Agency
Case Study: Give Your Web Design Agency a Boost with Business Catalyst
Creating Accessible Documents More Efficiently with InDesign CS5.5
Creating Dynamic Ads, Banners, and Rich Apps
Creating eBooks for Distribution on Digital Devices with InDesign CS5.5
Creative Sweet: Little-Known Features Found in Creative Suite
Deploying Content to Mobile Devices with the WEM Content Sync Framework
Deploying Flash Professional Content across Screens
Design Better Experiences with Fireworks by Understanding How People Think
Design websites without writing code with Muse (code name)
Designing Game Interfaces
Designing More, Stressing Less with Creative Suite
Developing Accessible PDF Content for LiveCycle with Designer
Dynamic, Cloud-Based Localization for Adobe’s Mobile Applications
Easy 3D Content Creation and Workflow for Flash & Stage3D
Editing Video from HDSLR Cameras in CS5.5 Production Premium
Everything You Wanted to Know about Adobe Edge
Expressive Painting and Illustration in Photoshop CS5 with Jack Davis
For Creative Professionals: Adobe Mobile Apps and Why You Should Use Them
For Creative Professionals: Create Anywhere. Customer Panel Discussion
For Creative Professionals: Working with Adobe Mobile Apps + Your Desktop
For Web and UI Designers: Work in New Ways with Mobile Apps
From Web to Mobile to App in 60 Seconds with Dreamweaver CS5.5
Get Your App Discovered: Android Market and Beyond
HD Video and Audio: Best Practices Encoding for the Web and Tablets
Hidden Gems and Technologies in Photoshop CS5 and Photoshop CS5 Extended
How to Act Like an Agency within a Company
How to Work Creatively and Quickly with 3D in Photoshop CS5 Extended
I Didn’t Know Fireworks Could Do That!
InDesign CS5.5 Power Shortcuts
Introduction to Lightroom: The Develop Module
Introduction to Lightroom: The Output Module
Lightroom + Photoshop: Seamless Integration
Lightroom 3 Crash Course
Mastering Mobile Design in Minutes with Fireworks
Mini-Fantasia in Miami: An Imaginative Melding of Music and Animation
Photoshop CS5 Instant Effects: One-Click Techniques for Designers
Photoshop SDK: An Overview
Pixel Perfect: Photoshop Power Shortcuts
Publishing to Digital Devices with InDesign CS5.5
Shooting and Editing Interviews
Sneak Peek: Build Powerful Online Businesses with Business Catalyst v3
Taking Your Sites to the Next Level with Business Catalyst and jQuery
The Art of Sesame Street
The Best Practices for Application and UX Design for Large Data Sets
Using Adobe’s Web Tools to Rethink Digital Branding
Web and Interactive Design with Illustrator
What’s New in Flash Professional CS5.5
What’s New in InDesign CS5.5
Which Flavor of Digital Publishing Suite Suits You?
Workflow for Motion Designers

MAX 2011 Develop

Explore technical challenges faced in architecting solutions, building applications, integrating with enterprise back-end systems and services as well as basic and advanced development techniques.

Accelerate Business Results with Adobe Document Exchange Services
Adobe AIR App Demo Showcase for Sony Tablet Devices
Adobe Video Solutions Roadmap
Aspect-Oriented Programming with Flex
Automating Acrobat: Best Practices for using Actions and Scripting
Best Practices for Building Flex Tablet Applications
BlackBerry Webworks SDK for Tablet OS
Building CRX Powered Flex Applications
Building Collaborative Applications for Adobe Connect
Building Cross-Platform Mobile Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Building Enterprise Mobile Applications
Building Interactive Content Using HTML5 Canvas
Building the Best Gameplay
Building the Next Killer Flash App for Facebook
Case Study: City of Boston Situation Awareness Application on iPad
Case Study: WebFilings, A Cloud-powered, Innovative Enterprise Application
Creating Accessible Content on the Flash Platform
Creating Amazing Video Experiences on the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet
Creating Apps in 2D or 3D for the LG Cinema 3D and Smart TV Platform
Creating Components for Web Experience Management (WEM) Solutions
Creating and Optimizing 2D Flash Technology-Based Games for Mass Market TVs
Deep Dive into Molehill (Stage 3D)
Design to Release: Building a multi screen mobile application
Developer and Designer Multiscreen Mashup with Flash Professional
Developing 2D Games on Top of Stage 3D (Molehill) in Flash Player
Developing Flex Mobile Applications
Developing Next-Generation Games with Stage3D (Molehill) Part 1
Developing Next-Generation Games with Stage3D (Molehill) Part 2
Developing the Samsung Smart TV Application with Adobe AIR for TV
Development Best Practices for Authoring Across Devices
Discover What’s New in Document Services – Designer
Discover What’s new in LiveCycle Data Services
Discover the Unknown Flex 4.5
Elegant Design Powered by the Flex SDK
Encoding for Performance on Multiple Devices
Enterprise Java and Flex
Enterprise Live Video Strategies with Multicast and P2P
Extending Flex and Adobe AIR to the Enterprise with Data Service Connectors
Extending the Web Experience Management Solution with Custom Components
Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst Sitting in a Tree…
Flash Gets Physical: Connecting with Game Controllers, Arduino, and Sensors
Flash Media Server on Amazon Web Services with CloudFront CDN
Flash Platform Roadmap: Flex, Flash Builder, Flash Player, AIR
Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3: Changing the Game
Flash and 3D, Start Your Engines!
Flex and Flash in an HTML5 and Native App World
From Desktop to Mobile: Application Functionality for Small Screens
HTML5 Semantic Web
HTML5: The 2012 of the Web
High-Performance JavaScript
How to Develop Amazing Enterprise AIR Apps for Tablets and Smartphones
How to Develop and Monetize Your Creative Suite Extensions
How to Extend Your Desktop AIR Applications Using Native Extensions
How to Extend Your Mobile AIR Applications Using Native Extensions
How to Rapidly Build HTML5 Web Apps with Sencha Technologies
Keeping Current with ColdFusion
Maven and Jenkins for Enterprise Flex Applications
Mobile Apps That Wow
Multiscreen Project Best Practices
Node.js and You
Optimizing your Adobe AIR app for Sony Android tablets
Performance-Tuning Mobile Flex Applications
Practical Mobile Development with Flex and Adobe AIR
Programming a 3D First-Person Shooter Game in Flash
Pushing Pixels: Blitting for Gaming on Web, Desktop, and Mobile
Pushing the Envelope with Interactive PDF from InDesign
Putting the Multi in Multiscreen
Stepping from Android Java to the Flash Platform to…Everywhere
Streaming Video to HTML5, Apple, and Flash Enabled Devices
TV: The Final Frontier for App Monetization
The App Opportunity with Barnes & Noble
The Flash Platform and Alternativa3D: Amazing New Possibilities
The Incubator: Test the Bleeding-Edge Capabilities of the Flash Platform
Tips and Tricks for Building Desktop Applications with Adobe AIR
Vanished: Learning Science through ARG Gameplay
What’s New in Adobe AIR – and What’s Next
What’s New in Flash Catalyst CS5.5
What’s New in the Flex SDK
What’s Next in ColdFusion
Working with AIR Native Extensions

MAX 2011 Envision

Discover and explore strategies for building engaging experiences across multiple screens.

10 Whirlwind Demos with Adobe Web Experience Management
Accelerate Business Results with Adobe Document Exchange Services
Acrobat for the Web Designer
Adobe AIR App Demo Showcase for Sony Tablet Devices
Adobe@Adobe
An Introduction to Creative Photographic Imaging on Tablet Devices
Animating in Flash Professional CS5.5 with Chris Georgenes
Building Adaptive, Multiscreen Websites with Business Catalyst v3
CEM and the Studio: How your Digital Agency Fits into the Puzzle
CSS Takes Over the World
Case Study: City of Boston Situation Awareness Application on iPad
Case Study: Give Your Web Design Agency a Boost with Business Catalyst
Case Study: WebFilings, A Cloud-powered, Innovative Enterprise Application
Creating Apps in 2D or 3D for the LG Cinema 3D and Smart TV Platform
Creating Dynamic Ads, Banners, and Rich Apps
Deploying Content to Mobile Devices with the WEM Content Sync Framework
Deploying Flash Professional Content across Screens
Designing Game Interfaces
Designing the Digital Enterprise
Developing Accessible PDF Content for LiveCycle with Designer
Digital Publishing: Looking Back and Forward
Digital Publishing: Reinventing the Brand Advertising Paradigm
Digital Publishing: Riding the Next Wave of Corporate Publishing
Dynamic, Cloud-Based Localization for Adobe’s Mobile Applications
Easy 3D Content Creation and Workflow for Flash & Stage3D
Extending the Web Experience Management Solution with Custom Components
Flash Platform Roadmap: Flex, Flash Builder, Flash Player, AIR
Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3: Changing the Game
Flash Professional Sneak Peek: A Glimpse at the Future
For Creative Professionals: Adobe Mobile Apps and Why You Should Use Them
For Creative Professionals: Create Anywhere. Customer Panel Discussion
For Creative Professionals: Working with Adobe Mobile Apps + Your Desktop
For Web and UI Designers: Work in New Ways with Mobile Apps
Get Your App Discovered: Android Market and Beyond
MTV Networks: Behind the Scenes on World-Class Broadcast Events
Maximizing Audience Engagement
Panel Discussion: Positioning Flex and Flash in a World with HTML5
Pushing the Boundaries of Adobe Digital Publishing Suite in Academia
Putting the Multi in Multiscreen
R/GA’s Strategies for Successful Multiscreen Implementations
Sneak Peek: Build Powerful Online Businesses with Business Catalyst v3
Social Studies: Connecting Content and Community in the Cloud
Taking Your Sites to the Next Level with Business Catalyst and jQuery
The App Opportunity with Barnes & Noble
The Best Practices for Application and UX Design for Large Data Sets
The Experience Architecture
The Flash Platform and Alternativa3D: Amazing New Possibilities
The Future Enterprise Developer
Tips & Tricks for Tablet Development: The Making of Adobe Ideas
What’s New in Flash Professional CS5.5
Yahoo!: Scalable and Consistent Video Delivery to All Devices

Adobe: New Tablet Apps Soon, “Doubling-Down” on HTML5 for CS6

ProDesignTools — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 04:06:48 +0000

Adobe is dropping some hints about new and future creative tools coming on tablet devices and for HTML5 content creation. On a publicly-available conference call earlier this week, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen shared some guidance on the company’s upcoming product roadmap and what to expect…

With a shifting landscape that favors HTML5-based content and application delivery, we are doubling down in our investment in this area. CS5.5 delivered enhanced HTML5 capabilities. We recently previewed Adobe Edge, a new HTML5 web motion and interaction design tool, which allows web designers to create cutting-edge animations for their websites. Interest in this tool far exceeded our expectations.

We also just introduced the beta release of a new product code-named Muse, which allows designers to create and publish HTML-based websites without writing complex HTML code. And we are contributing new innovations to WebKit to allow for a more expressive Web. These initiatives show our commitment to help drive the evolution of browsers and be the leading tools provider for HTML5, and this is only the beginning.

So what does this mean in terms of the next release of Creative Suite? Will we see Adobe Muse and Edge – or other new HTML5 tools – as part of CS6?

So as we think about the evolution of Creative Suite moving forward, I think there are a couple of different things that we’re hearing from our customers in terms of what would be catalysts for Creative Suite. And HTML5 and support for HTML5, whether that’s browser-based content or creating standalone applications, is certainly one of them. So as you can expect, we will be taking the tools we’ve been delivering, like Adobe Edge and Muse, and you might see those in future versions of the Creative Suite.

So big picture, I would say as HTML5 is getting more prevalent, we’re clearly both embracing it from the point of view of tools and being the leader in tools but also contributing aggressively to the evolution of HTML as a standard.

On tablets, there’s some big news as well… Adobe will soon be introducing a broad new collection of tablet applications centered on content creation. This has the potential to significantly deepen the company’s footprint from the handful of Photoshop-connected mobile device apps they have released to date.

The explosion of tablets is changing the paradigm for content authoring. We believe that content will be consumed and created on these devices. Similar to the desktop, we intend to be the leading provider of creative authoring applications on tablets.

We will soon be introducing a broad set of tablet-based and cloud-connected apps and services across iOS, Android and other mobile platforms that represent a new revenue stream. We intend to deliver a whole new set of tablet applications which will be augmenting the current desktop functionality for creative professionals. We believe there’s a large opportunity to attract new customers to the base with the new tablet applications we will create. We are excited about the recent introduction of Adobe Carousel, an innovative new cloud-connected imaging app for Mac OS and iOS devices.

On the tablet side specifically, I think we would all say it’s early. We do believe strongly that tablets will be used not just as consumption devices but as creation devices. You’re going to continue to see styluses added to tablet devices which make it an even more compelling offering. We will have a comprehensive set of products, and I think it’s early to say how rapidly that will grow, but we do think that’s a new product stream that will be meaningful for Adobe.

So this is very interesting, as up until now these devices have been used more for content consumption than creation… So we can only speculate what Adobe has in store here. One possibility, a Lightroom app for iPad?

When will we find out more?

At Adobe MAX in early October, we will unveil some of our newest innovations in the content authoring arena. And as we look forward, frankly, to the next version of Creative Suite, we think there are a lot of things that are going to drive the new release, and not least of which is a new version of our franchise imaging application [Photoshop CS6]. But in addition to that, the things that I mentioned earlier – video, expect to see a fair amount of HTML5 innovation coming in the next CS, and the combination of both the creative applications, the tablet applications, and what we provide as cloud services. So, a lot of excitement about what we’re going to deliver next year.

Listen to the entire conference call here, or read the transcript for more details.

Give your input before it ships – what would you like to see in CS6? Please share your thoughts below or at Adobe’s official feature request “wishlist” or on Adobe Ideas…

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