Super Ginormous

Tag: Adobe

  • Adobe Photoshop Express

    Adobe Photoshop Express is now available to the public. The browser-based RIA allows you to make basic edits/adjustments to your images. Either upload photos to the service, or hook it up with your Facebook, Photobucket and/or Picasa accounts.

  • New CS3 Installation Support Number

    If you’re (still) having problems getting Adobe Creative Suite 3 installed, there’s hope. Adobe’s setup a toll-free number – 1-800-642-3623 – devoted to assisting customers with any installation issues they might have with CS3. You can also check out the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Support site for updated information.

  • AIR out of Beta

    Adobe AIRAdobe AIR – (Adobe Integrated Runtime) – is out of beta. It allows developers to create desktop applications using web technologies like Flash, HTML, CSS, etc. Get AIR here.

    I’m pretty excited about AIR for a couple of reasons… 1) it allows you to develop rich applications fairly quickly using standard web technologies; 2) it’s less intrusive as Yahoo! Widgets (Konfabulator) and similar “widget” applicatons.

  • Buzzword

    Buzzword: Get an early look at it.Buzzword is abso-friggin-lutely gorgeous. Seriously. I learned about Buzzword when I heard that Adobe bought the company developing it: Virtual Ubiquity. After spending a good bit of time using Buzzword, I may never use Microsoft Word or Google Docs again. (Check out these screenshots.)

    Adobe was smart to pick this company up. It’s a fantastic use of Flash technology and could prove to be an incredible asset to Adobe’s burgeoning line of online applications (Photoshop Express, Premiere Express). Microsoft has already announced that they would be offering an online, ad-supported version of Word soon; and Google has been offering Google Docs – which includes a word processor, spreadsheets and presentations. Not having used Word Online (or whatever Microsoft will call it), I can’t comment on how it will look, but I can say that Buzzword is light-years beyond Google Docs word-processor.

    • THE GREAT
      • Simple, streamlined interface.
      • Easy-to-use.
      • Beautiful fonts – Adobe Garamond Pro, Courier Std, Cronos Pro, Minion Pro, Myriad Pro, News Gothic Std, and Tekton Pro. (Thanks, Adobe!)
    • THE GOOD
      • You can easily save your file for offline use. Current formats supported include Word (.doc), XML and Rich-Text (.rtf).
      • Everything is web-based, so you can access your documents from anywhere.
      • You can share any documents you create with other people and you can control whether they can be a co-author, reviewer or a reader. (Unfortunately, other people need to have a Buzzword account.)
    • THE BAD
      • Requires Adobe Flash. But seriously, who doesn’t have Flash at this point?
      • Still in Beta. You have to have an account in order to do anything with the service.
      • Can’t save files as PDFs (which seems like a no-brainer…) (Though, if you have Acrobat installed as a printer, you can always print the documents as a PDF.)
      • No style support. (Thanks Will!)
      • Other minor issues:
        • No HTML export. (Admittedly, this might be a good thing.)
        • No support for Open Document Format (ODF).

    In short, even though there’s still some work to be done, Buzzword is the best web-based word processor I’ve ever used. If you’ve never heard of it before, you’ve heard of it now. Head on over to Buzzword.com to sign up for the chance to get a beta invite.

    P.S. In case you’re interested, I typed up this review in Buzzword and printed it to PDF to show you how the output looks: Buzzword Review PDF

  • Basic Alternatives

    Let’s face it, Adobe Photoshop CS3 isn’t ideal for every task. It’s great at a lot of things, but often I find that it’s too much software when it comes to handling basic tasks.

    For red eye removal, cropping basic image tweaks/adjustments, I use Google’s Picasa. Its tools are easy to use, provide pretty consistent results and automatically save backups of my original files when I make changes. The fact that it doubles as a photo manager is a bonus. You can easily send photos via, post them to Picasa Web Albums, make cd backups and more. And did I mention it’s free? The only downside to Picasa is that it is PC-only.

    For online image editing I use Picnik. It works with Flickr and Facebook, so I was able to link my accounts on those sites with my account in Picnik and make adjustments to pictures I’ve already uploaded to those services. The site is a little slow, but it’s great when you’re wanting to make basic adjustments to photos. Right now Picnik is still in beta, but eventually they will be offering a pro version of the site that will let you do a lot more with your photos.

    For everything else I use Photoshop.

  • More on Photoshop Express

    Man, the Adobe MAX conference has unleashed a flood of information on all kinds of new applications and technologies Adobe is working on. One of the things I am most excited about is Photoshop Express. Photoshop Express is a Flash-based image editor that runs within a web browser. CNET has new screenshots and additional details on Photoshop Express. Hopefully we’ll be able to play around with it soon. (via John Nack)

    In the meantime, if you’d like to check out a great online image editor – that’s compatible with Flickr, Facebook, and more – might I suggest Picnik? I’ve been using it off and on for a couple of months now and the technology is very promising.

  • Adobe Thermo

    Adobe unveiled “Thermo”, a new rich internet application design tool, at the Adobe MAX Conference today. Read/Write/Web has a great write-up and screenshots of Thermo: Adobe Demos “Thermo” RIA Design Tool to Delighted Crowd. Honestly, I’m blown away by the idea of this app. I’ve been toying with the idea of building apps that can be used on the desktop, but I am not a coder. I can work with pre-built code, but I’ve never dabbled in writing my own. Thermo changes the game by allowing designers to import Photoshop artwork directly into Thermo and turn the artwork into a working interface. I am definitely going to keep my eyes on Thermo.

    About Thermo:

    “Thermo” is an upcoming Adobe product that makes it easy for designers to create rich Internet application UIs. Thermo allows designers to build on familiar workflows to visually create working applications that easily flow into production and development.

    Features:
    • Use drawing tools to create original graphics, wireframe an application design, or manipulate artwork imported from Adobe Creative Suite tools.
    • Turn artwork from Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or Fireworks directly into functional components that use the original artwork as a ?skin?.
    • Define and wire up interactive behavior, such as what to do when a user clicks on something, without having to write code.
    • Easily design UIs that work with dynamic data, such as a list of contacts or product information, without having access to the actual data source. Design-time sample data can be used as a realistic placeholder when laying out an application, testing interactivity, and choreographing motion.

  • Adobe Releases CS3 Help Center

    Adobe just released a consolidated CS3 Help Center. If you’ve had any problems whatsoever with installing or using Creative Suite 3, the CS3 Help Center has information available that should help make your life a bit easier.

  • The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Bookstore

    I just noticed that Amazon.com has setup an Adobe Creative Suite 3 bookstore. Aside from books and DVDs, it even has some Amazon-exclusive tutorial videos available. Definitely worth checking out.

  • Accomplishing the Impossible

    I hadn’t really thought about it much – until tonight – but Adobe accomplished the impossible with Creative Suite 3: It represents the first true offspring of the marriage of Adobe and Macromedia. Definitive Macromedia apps like Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash were rolled into the Adobe fold and are now being served up alongside apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, and InDesign. Keeping that in mind, it’s amazing there weren’t more problems with the release of CS3. That is all.