Adobe CS4 – New Features


John Loiacono emphasized three key concepts during his keynote address at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. Timesavers (real speed increases), Integration (transparently with Macromedia products), and Cutting Edge (daring new features). Check out my previous post on this event here.
What’s new in Adobe Photoshop CS4?
Here’s a short list.
Adjustments panel
Masks panel
Auto-blending of images
Extended depth of field
360-degree panoramas
Fluid canvas rotation
Industry-leading color correction
Better raw image processing
Improved Adobe Photoshop Lightroom workflow
Efficient file management with Adobe Bridge CS4
Adobe Community Help
More powerful printing options
File display options
Higher performance on very large images (Windows only)
Get more information on all of these items here.
Should you upgrade?
Sometimes it’s just one feature that makes all the difference and makes an upgrade totally worth it.
Which items make big differences for you?
Comment here!
Check the Comments for my number one reason.
Learn Photoshop CS4 in my workshops.

Adobe Announces CS4


This morning Adobe announced CS4 with a web broadcast demonstrating many new features across the entire product line. In it, John Loiacono (senior vice president of Adobe’s Creative Solutions Business Unit) described CS4 as “The most compelling release in adobe’s history.”
Here are three stunning new Photoshop features.
1    Real time panning and zooming in huge high resolution files (440mp 2gig).
2    Creating spherical 3d images and easily compositing new elements into them.
3    Content aware scaling.
There’s much more!
You can find out about many of the new features on Adobe TV.
Check these videos out.
See Bryan O’Neil Hughes’ – Photoshop Bridge CS4 Feature Tour here.
See Zoranna Gee (Product Manager) show the new CS4 Extended features here.
The Russell Brown Show – Content Aware Scaling here.
The Russell Brown Show – Spherical Panoramas here.
(And yes, all of my workshops and seminars will be updated for Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4.)

Photoshop World Highlight – The People




Sure, the training is excellent! But, the best thing about Photoshop World is the people. These people are not only talented, intelligent, and passionate but they’re also one of the nicest groups of people to work with anywhere. You get this feeling everyone here: with the instructors, the staff, and the attendees. The folks at NAPP are an exceptional organization, not just professional, but personal. I told Scott Kelby how impressed I was with this when he welcomed me to my first Photoshop World. His response said it all, “They’re not customers; they’re members.” The sense of community is very strong here.
Find out who all these people are here.
Find out what you missed here.
Watch for upcoming announcement for Photoshop World Boston in spring 2009.
If you attended any of the sessions, let us know what you thought! Comment!
Check out cobloggers coverage of PSW at the links below.
Corey Barker
John Paul Caponigro
RC Concepcion
Dave Cross
Laurie Excell
Martin Evening
Scott Kelby
Matt Koslowski
Deke McClelland
Joe McNally
John Nack
Moose Peterson
Jeff Schewe
Colin Smith
Ben Willmore
David Ziser

Photoshop World Highlight – PSW Keynote


Adobe announced today  that CS Next is coming soon.
What’s Next? John Loiacono highlighted three key concepts that characterize the new release. Timesavers (real speed increases), Integration (transparently with Macromedia products), and Cutting Edge (daring new features).
Sign up for advance notice on upcoming announcements 9-23-08 here.
For me one of the most interesting things at Photoshop World is the keynote address. Adobe always unveils new technology / features that are either soon to be released or might be slated for future release at a later date. You get futurecasting about new possibilities in photography based on what’s actually in development now. It’s these presentations that make me feel like I’m truly in the 21st century.
John Loiacono and John Nack did a great job this morning. Their presentations were so smooth it was almost easy to overlook that what they were showing you were radical new ways of making photographic images. A tsunami seemed like a gentle wave. This may have helped many of us overcome a feeling akin to vertigo as we watched our photographic world change before your eyes.
1    Adobe’s free online service PhotoshopExpress soon to be compatible with mobile devices – store, share, adjust your images online – free … think Facebook meets PS
2    Configurator – a soon to be release utility that lets you customize and share your PS interface
3    ultrahigh resolution (multi-gigabyte) stitches with zooming capabilities – zoom into any part of an image and reveal amazing detail you couldn’t see with the naked eye
4    context sensitive scaling – scale an image without distorting key image areas
5    360 degree stitched panoramas that can be easily retouched or even rendered as a globe
6    paint directly on 3D renderings
7    super-fast preview and rendering of filters
Congratulations to today’s Photoshop Hall of Fame Inductees – John Nack and Martin Evening!
If you were there, tell us about it. Comment!
Check out cobloggers coverage of PSW at the links below.
Corey Barker
John Paul Caponigro
RC Concepcion
Dave Cross
Laurie Excell
Martin Evening
Scott Kelby
Matt Koslowski
Deke McClelland
Joe McNally
John Nack
Moose Peterson
Jeff Schewe
Colin Smith
Ben Willmore
David Ziser

Adobe's New Innovation in Raw Technology – Camera Profiles

This new Raw technology gives photographers access to flexible camera profiles. Camera profiles provide a visual starting point for a raw processing workflow. Adobe is supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the look that photographers are used to seeing from their favorite camera, while also providing the ability to customize profiles to an individual’s taste. Camera profiles  for use with Lightroom 2 and Camera Raw 4.5, are available for immediate download on Adobe Labs.

Lightroom 2


Lightroom 2 shipped July 29.
Key features are …
– Regional Adjustments (now you can apply adjustments selectively)
– Graduated Filters
– Output Sharpening
– 16 Bit Printing
– Suggested Keywords
– Smart Collections
– Open LR adjusted files in Photoshop as Smart Objects
And many excellent improvements to existing features.
Lightroom 2 for new users is $299. Upgrades from Lightroom 1 are $99.
Get it here.
Check out Jeff Schewe’s post at Photoshop New here.
Check out Scott Kelby’s post here.
Check out Lightroom News here.
Check out NAPP’s Learning Center here.
Check out Photoshop Cafe’s Learning Site here.
Check out Colin Smith’s Lightroom 2 DVD here.
Check out Michael Reichman and Jeff Schewe’s Guide to Lightroom 2 here.
Check out Scott Kelby’s Lightroom 2 book here.
Check out Martin Evening’s Lightroom 2 book here.