Adobe launched Creative Suite 5, the new version to help the designers deliver innovative ideas in print, web, interactive and mobile. In Kenya the event was staged at iHub in Nairobi. As usual the creative, early adopters of the technology were in attendance.? Technically not all them consider themselves early adopters a such. Yeah you can say they are somehow in the middle, both early and late adopters.
The nature of the people a side, CS5 is pretty cool and exciting. And I agree with them when they talk of the design without boundaries. Despite 12 April being designated for the launch the product is not yet available on the market until around mid May. Let call it virtual launch, the kind of trick which is fast becoming the norm with many companies, create the hype, let people anticipate, talk and speculate before you deliver the real thing.
At US$1,899 the cost might be a bit high for many people in Kenya, but the East Africa representatives are working to get better rates. I hope they succeed but in case they are unable don?t be surprised if most people stick with CS4 for a while.
Since most of the much talked about local contents are being designed by Adobe CS, it was a place and time to catchup with what is going on the local scene. Great chat with @mbuguanjihia about his coming World Cup promotion competition, and i say to? the soccer fanatics get ready to win fully paid trip to South Africa.
Wonderful talk with @kaburo, ICT Board project Manager, Local Digital content, i think ICT Board is doing some great work and I am very impressed with the way the Board has been in forefront pushing for the local content. Discussed @maduqa ‘s great potential and the content people are looking for online. While still there came excited @Brenda, Creative Service Manager, Oxford University Press. The Oxford University Press is in the process of digitizing their books publication, and very soon people will be able to buy and read all their books online. A good step on the right direction, the advice from @kaburo to her was,? in Kenya and Africa, thau shall not forget mobile phone, majority of the people access the net through cell phones.
At long last met @edobie, it is funny the way social networks has made the interaction so easy with people you have never met before. When you finally meet, it is like you have known each other forever.? Big thanks to @whiteafrican who recently blogged about @maduqa
Back to CS5 , new cool features particularly Photoshop and Dreamweaver.
Dreamweaver
The most amazing new features are the integrated Content Management System support. Believe it the developers can now enjoy authoring and testing support for content management system frameworks like WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal.
CMS support
Other new exciting features are:
- CSS inspection, Visually display the CSS box model in detail, and easily toggle CSS properties without reading code or needing to use a separate utility.
- Integration with Adobe BrowserLab. Preview dynamic web pages and local content with multiple viewing, diagnostic, and comparison tools.
- PHP custom class code hinting. Display proper syntax for custom PHP functions to help you write code more accurately
- Integration with Business Catalyst. Leverage integration between Dreamweaver and the Adobe Business Catalyst? service (available separately) to deliver powerful online businesses without programming.
Dreamweaver is $399 with an upgrade price of $199. It’s available in the Web Premium package and the Master Collection.
Photoshop
The big breakthrough feature found in CS5 Photoshop is Content Aware Fill. With this feature, photo editors will be able to quickly remove objects from scenes, fix flaws and even fill in blank parts of scenes.
Painting effects
Other new features are
- Painting effect, Achieve natural and realistic painting effects with the Mixer Brush, which offers on-canvas color blending; Bristle Tips, which let you create lifelike, textured brush strokes; an onscreen color picker; and more.
- Complex selections made easy; Easily select intricate image elements, such as hair, for refinements, compositing, or placing in layout. Eliminate background color around selection edges, and automatically vary selection edges and perfect masks using new refinement tools.
- Puppet Warp; Precisely warp or stretch graphics, text, or image elements to create unique new looks for your designs.
- 3D extrusions with Adobe Repouss?; Create 3D logos and artwork from any text layer, selection, path, or layer mask with Adobe Repouss? technology. Twist, rotate, extrude, bevel, and inflate your designs.
- Enhanced 3D realism and rich materials; Enhance 3D objects and designs with easy shadow creation, image-based lights, and materials like glass and chrome. Explore with different focus points in your 3D scene by adjusting the range for depth of field.