Sep 23 2008
Adobe unveils its Creative Suite 4 apps, bundles and their new features
Today, Adobe announced the component new features of the component applications for its Creative Suite 4 (CS4) family. Adobe is offering their “all new” applications as standalone apps or as parts of their bundles. Those bundles include:
Design Premium USD$1,799
InDesign CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Illustrator CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4, Acrobat 9 Pro, Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, Version Cue CS4
Web Premium USD$1,699
Dreamweaver CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Illustrator CS4, Fireworks CS4, Acrobat 9 Pro, Soundbooth CS4, Contribute CS4, Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, Version Cue CS4
Production Premium USD$1,699
After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, Flash CS4 Professional, Illustrator CS4, Soundbooth CS4, Adobe OnLocation CS4, Encore CS4, Adobe Bridge CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, Dynamic Link
Master Premium USD$2,499
EVERYTHING!!
Whenever Adobe makes a CS announcement, they essentially update every software title they sell. Some apps change drastically, some barely change at all. Below is a list of the main apps and their top new features. I realize that just posting the titles of the new features isn’t going to give you a full understanding of what they do, but I post them here to show the degree to which each app has changed while also giving you a bit of a teaser for each change. Follow the links to the individual apps for more information.
Adobe InDesign CS4 USD$699
- Live Preflight
- Customizable Links panel
- Conditional text
- Cross-references
- Interactive document design with SWF file export
- Smart Text Reflow
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended UDS$999
- 3D painting and compositing
- Adjustments panel
- Masks panel
- Auto-blending of images
- Auto-alignment of layers
- Extended depth of field
- More powerful printing options
- Integration with other Adobe software
- Improved Adobe Photoshop Lightroom workflow
- 3D object and property editing
- Fluid canvas rotation
- Smoother panning and zooming
- Content-Aware Scaling
- Enhanced motion graphics editing
- Better raw image processing
- Industry-leading color correction
- File display options
- Extensibility
Adobe Illustrator CS4 UDS$599
- Multiple artboards
- Transparency in gradients
- Blob Brush tool
- Gradients exposed
- Integration and delivery
- Enhanced user experience
- In-panel appearance editing
- Refined graphic styles
- Clipping masks demystified
- Separations Preview
Adobe Flash CS4 UDS$699
- Object-based animation
- 3D transformation
- Procedural modeling with Deco and Spray Brush
- Metadata (XMP) support
- Authoring for Adobe AIR
- XFL support
- Inverse kinematics with the Bones tool
- Motion editor
- Motion presets
- H.264 support
Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 UDS$399
- Live View
- Code hinting for Ajax and JavaScript frameworks
- Related Files and Code Navigator
- Adobe InContext Editing (prerelease)
- CSS best practices
- New user interface
- HTML data sets
- Adobe Photoshop Smart Objects
- Subversion integration
- Adobe AIR authoring support
Adobe Fireworks CS4 UDS$299
- Adobe AIR authoring
- PDF export
- Customizable and reusable assets
- Improved performance
- New user interface
- Enhanced type handling
- CSS export
- Styles panel upgrades
- Workspace improvements
- Adobe Kuler integration
- Adobe ConnectNow integration
Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro for Creative Professionals UDS$449
- Package documents in dynamic PDF Portfolios
- Embed content created in Adobe Flash
- Easily create, manage, and analyze forms
- Easily collaborate using synchronized document views
- Set up shared PDF reviews easily on Acrobat.com
- Detect differences between document versions
- View how elements interact with Overprint Preview
- Preview, preflight, correct, and prepare PDF files for print
- Make minor text edits in a PDF document more easily
- Launch Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro faster
Adobe Soundbooth CS4 UDS$199
- Multitrack support
- Adobe Sound Document (ASND) file format
- Volume keyframing
- Automatic volume correction
- MP3 Compression Preview
- Editing capabilities
- Adobe Creative Suite integration
- Looping tools
- Organizing and accessing scores
- Improved Soundbooth Score workflow
- Speech Search
Adobe Contribute CS4 UDS$199
- Collaborative publishing
- In-browser editing
- Adobe Dreamweaver compatibility
- In-context shared reviews
- Enhanced CSS support
- Content expiration notification
- Dynamic website editing
- Rich media support
- More secure editing with Auto-Save
- Visual blog configuration
- Site root–relative links
Adobe After Effects CS4 UDS$999
- Live Adobe Photoshop 3D layers import
- Searchable timelines and projects and easier nested comp navigation
- Compositions exported as layered projects
- Integrated workflow for mobile device authoring
- Numerous interface and workflow tweaks
- Dynamic Link between Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Soundbooth
- Independent keyframing of x, y, z values, plus 3D compositing improvements
- Cartoon effect
- Mocha for Adobe After Effects from Imagineer Systems
- XMP metadata for asset intelligence
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 UDS$799
- End-to-end metadata workflow
- Speech Search
- Tapeless camera support
- Dynamic workflow with other Adobe tools
- Faster, customizable SWF output
- Batch encoding in the background
- Redesigned Adobe OnLocation CS4
- Editing efficiency
- Industry-leading Blu-ray Disc authoring
- Resource Central
All prices shown here are the “full price” from Adobe, upgrade pricing is also available based on what you happen to be upgrading from. The apps and the bundles are available for pre-order now with English language versions expected to ship by late October 2008. French and Spanish language versions are expected to ship by mid-December 2008.
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