Posted by admin | Posted in Software | Posted on 24-12-2008
One of the most exciting discoveries I’ve made recently is the availability of LIVE PREFLIGHT in InDesign CS4. That in itself is well worth the fee to purchase an upgrade. Now, whether or not I will upgrade BEFORE the end of the year for tax purposes, well, that will depend.
I recently read an article that outlining some of the new features of Adobe’s InDesign re-vamp and compared them to features of the new Quark 8. As a die-hard InDesign fan, I wouldn’t be caught dead voluntarily using Quark. In fact, I’ve purchased Marksware’s Quark to InDesign converter for the sole purpose of avoiding the product.
Interestingly enough, reading up on this list of "features" released in Quark 8 it was apparent that many of the "new additions" have been in InDesign for several years! Go Figure!
Back to Live Preflight, in InDesign CS4 with the "Live Preflight" option selected, you have the opportunity to have errors flagged in real time as they occur. Import a RGB photo? Live preflight will tell you. Is the font you’re using missing a stroke? Live preflight will tell you.
Since I don’t have my hands on it yet, I’m anxious to use this in a real production environment. Shoot me your feedback, I’d love to hear your experiences with InDesign CS4 vs. CS3.
Posted by admin | Posted in Software | Posted on 01-11-2008
I’ve been a bit under the weather the past couple of days so I’m gonna take this opportunity to do a little "sponsoring" and offer a shout out to Adobe. If you still haven’t made up your mind whether or not you need to take the plunge and upgrade to CS4, you might as well bite the bullet and go for it!
At the ministry where I spend my days we JUST upgraded to CS3 about 6 months ago, but I plan to have my girls go ahead with the smaller version jump to CS4 as soon as possible. We have to face it, Adobe OWNS desktop publishing. As designers, if we want to stay "in-the-know" we are going to have to stay as up-to-date as possible!
Posted by admin | Posted in Graphic Design, Software | Posted on 27-09-2008
Adobe’s done it again. Introducing a new suite of software that will be available in late October, the company has raised the bar for graphic design, web development and production creatives.
Is it all hype?
Collecting resources and opinions from a variety of designers and production professionals, the overall opinion seems to be positive. As designers we may dig our heels in for a while hoping to avoid the $600 upgrade fee, but in the end we know that we will have to adjust and move with the times or we will be limiting ourselves and our work flow with others.
The new edition of Photoshop is not without some new and promising features. Just to barely scan the surface, here are few to get you started:
- New configuration settings for the Burn and Dodge tool make more realistic looking changes, in contrast to the previously washed-out or over-exposed results that were so common with novices using the tool in the past.
- New "adjustments" dialog to quickly access effects and enhancements that were previously housed in various menus.
- New "real edge" features which take into account things like fur and hair
- For photographers there is a new depth-of-field feature that assists with short focus issues.
For the suite as a whole, Adobe is proud of their new level of cross-compatibility with more media, web and mobile integration. Interestingly enough, thats a subject I had trouble finding "actual" specifications on.
One thing I do know, as a designer I will be forced to take the plunge and buy the upgrade once it’s released. And truth be told, I’m pretty excited about it regardless of the price!
Posted by admin | Posted in Software | Posted on 25-08-2008
As a designer, I’m always learning, new, faster and better ways to do something! One of my most recent discoveries: creating a 5 second contact sheet using Adobe Bridge and InDesign. The functionality may have been around for a while, but it wasn’t until reading "Adobe Master Apprentice" that I suddenly stumbled acrross this incredible feature.
Here’s how it works:
- Instead of having to place the images you wish to sample in InDesign in order to print them, simply collect the images into a folder on your machine.
- Open that folder in Bridge.
- If you’re using CS3 go to the "Tools" menu and select "InDesign".
- Select the option for "contact sheet"
- Choose the number of rows and columns you want (this will adjust the size of the images)
- Watch InDesign do the work for you, automated!
I hope this tip will save you tons of time! Enjoy!
