Adobe announced in early May, at the Adobe Max conference, that they would switch over to a cloud-based subscription model. This angered many Adobe users, even starting an online petition, urging Adobe to drop the subscription model. It’s now been over a month since the BIG announcement, the dust has settled a bit, the release of Adobe CC is right around the corner, and we are interested in what your thoughts are about Adobe Creative Cloud and the new way of purchasing software. Let us hear from you in our survey below!

Over the last month, we have fielded A LOT of questions regarding the Creative Cloud and what this means for Adobe users like you…and we want to clear up some of the misconceptions out there. First, lets go over some of the common myths surrounding the Creative Cloud.

Myth #1: My Adobe applications will run from my web browser

False. Adobe might have done themselves a disservice when they added Cloud to the name…it caused all kinds of confusion. You will run the software just like you always have—as desktop applications. You need to login to your CC account initially to download the programs, but once you have them on your computer, no login is necessary. Bonus myth: no internet connection is necessary to run your applications.

Myth #2: I can’t share files with someone that is not subscribed to the cloud

False. You can set different levels of sharing when using the cloud. You can share your files publicly using Behance, send privately to a client via email, or don’t share at all. The receiver will be able to view the work, turn on and off layers, page through multiple page/artboards (Illustrator and Photoshop) and send back comments on the work.

Myth #3: I have to buy 2 separate subscriptions for my Windows and Apple computers

False. You can purchase 1 subscription to the Creative Cloud and set it up on a Mac and a PC. This works great for those who have a PC at work and Mac at home, or vice versa.

Myth #4: I will be required to save all my files in the Cloud

False. You choose what files you want to store in the Cloud, if you choose to store any files at all.

Myth #5: I will be forced to upgrade

False. With Adobe Creative Cloud you will always have access to the latest Adobe Creative Applications, but you are not forced to upgrade. You can continue to run which ever versions of the software that you want until you are ready to upgrade.

Other useful information and answers to our FAQs regarding the Creative Cloud:

• Adobe will stop updating their perpetual software (software that you can buy once and use forever), however they will continue to sell Adobe CS6
• Adobe is offering an introductory rate of $29.99/month for current Adobe users (CS3 or later)
• Adobe Creative Cloud is $49.99/month, $599.98/year—the Adobe Master Collection is $2600 and does not include all the products and services the Cloud does
• Adobe will continue to sell Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop Elements as a standalone product, both by electronic download and boxed copy. Lightroom is also available as part of the Cloud, but no talk yet of making these 2 products subscription-only.

Questions? Contact us and get a response the same day!

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It’s time for a change.

We believe the creative process can be better. We believe your tools can do more. Imagine fonts, files, projects and teams always in sync. Inspiration exactly when you need it. Sharing, collaborating, and publishing to anyone, everywhere.

Creative Cloud will change everything.” (Source: adobe.com)

Just one year after the launch of the Adobe Creative Cloud, Adobe announced that it will move to a subscription-only approach. Adobe will no longer sell boxed versions of its software and the well-known Creative Suite.

All of Adobe’s programs will now be available as part of the Creative Cloud. (See What Is Adobe Creative Cloud and Why I Love the Adobe Creative Cloud.) Subscription plans start at $49.99/month if you commit to a year, however Adobe has offered a $29.99 introductory rate if you have purchased CS3 or higher. In addition, Adobe introduced a $19.99/month rate to all users who purchased CS6. If you don’t want the entire suite, Adobe offers subscriptions to single applications.

What are your thoughts on Adobe’s big announcement? Let us know!

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We are familiar with “Buying Option #1” (below), where we purchase a perpetual license to the software and we own it for a lifetime. Great, right? But there are a few negatives—purchasing a perpetual license comes with a hefty price tag. The CS6 Master Collections will cost you close to $3,000, while a year subscription to the Creative Cloud costs around $600. And after you spend nearly $3,000 on software, Adobe will release the next version, and now your expensive software is outdated. The Adobe Creative Cloud is always up-to-date.

Buying Option #1 (Perpetual License)

• Lifetime ownership
• Expensive to buy
• Specific to a version

Buying Option #2 (Subscription)

• Time-based ownership
• Smaller payments
• Always up-to-date

The top 5 reasons I love Adobe Creative Cloud:

Syncing Devices: With the Creative Cloud, you have the ability to sync your devices and have access to your files whenever and wherever you need them. With the help of Adobe touch apps, you can create work anywhere with your mobile devices, and sync your work with the Creative Cloud. For example, I created an illustration in Adobe Ideas (Image 1), an Adobe touch app for the iPad or iPhone. The illustration synced to the Creative Cloud, where I later opened it on my laptop where I have all my Adobe desktop applications.

All Adobe Idea files are vector graphics and the .idea file can be opened right in Adobe Illustrator (Image 2).

Image 1: Using Mobile devices, Adobe touch apps and syncing across devices

Image 2: Opening Adobe Ideas file in Adobe Illustrator

Cloud Storage: The Adobe Creative Cloud comes with 20 GB of cloud storage. You determine what files you put in the “Cloud.”

File Sharing: Once you have files in the Cloud, you can share them privately by sending via an email, or publicly by posting to your Behance account. Adobe acquired Behance and it is now offered as part of the Creative Cloud. You can use Behance to showcase your work, get instant feedback and create a online portfolio using Behance Prosite.

Software Updates: Imagine receiving CS7 updates before CS7 is released. When you are a Creative Cloud member, you are treated as a VIP of sorts. As Adobe updates their software, you have access to the updates before the rest of the world. For example, Adobe Illustrator released a new Package Files feature. This gives Illustrator users the ability to “Package” their files, creating a folder that includes all their images, fonts, and the original Illustrator file—a packaged file works great for sending to a printer. This new feature was only released to Cloud members. This is just one example of many software updates since the release of CS6.

Access to New Products and Services: As a Creative Cloud member, you have access to any new products and services. For example, when Adobe acquired Behance, they added it to the Cloud as an additional service. Adobe Muse, a new web design application, is only available through the Cloud. Adobe Acrobat XI was released and only made available to Cloud members. Members now have the ability to create iPad apps with Adobe InDesign and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition (exclusive to Creative Cloud members).

There are many common misconceptions about the Adobe Creative Cloud—you do not run your applications in a web browser, you do not need to connect to the internet to run your applications, and you can share your work with friends and clients who do not subscribe to the cloud. And one of the best benefits of the Creative Cloud…you don’t have to buy a separate subscription for Mac and PC. With just one subscription, you can install on your PC at work and your Mac at home (or vice versa).

Have questions about whether Adobe Creative Cloud is right for you? Contact us at mandi@vpclasses.com or 1-855-552-3623 (toll free). 

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Are you a graphic designer who has tried to learn how to code, and thought to yourself “This isn’t what I signed up for!” Design and web coding are two different types of skill sets, using two different parts of the brain. While both require creativity, graphic designers are visual artists and coding requires more logical, systematic thinking. You can find all these traits in one individual, it’s just not that common. 

Adobe had the graphic designer in mind when they developed Adobe Muse. Imagine that you can design your website just like you would design a layout for print, and create a website without writing code. At times you might forget you are working in a web program and you switched to InDesign.  If you are an avid InDesign user, learning Muse is a breeze. Adobe Muse includes a similar interface, Styles panels, Master Pages, and an Assets panel (which is the same as the Links panel in InDesign). 

Right when you open your site in Adobe Muse, you are reminded that Adobe designed this program for the visual person. At the top of the page their is a built-in workflow—Plan > Design > Preview > Publish > Manage. Below is a screenshot of a site opened up in Plan Mode. This is where you “plan” your site, build your sitemap and create your master pages. 

Image 1: Plan Mode

Adobe Muse Plan Mode

You can import text and graphics in a similar way that you would in InDesign, add shapes using the rectangle tool, create your own graphics and import them in…and the great thing is you can move them around freely on your page like any layout for print. Add interactivity to your design using the Widgets Library, including: Slideshows, Forms, Menus and Panels. 

But what if you want to add HTML? Let’s say you want to add a Google map of your store location to your site—what do you do? It’s so easy, you won’t believe it until you try it. First, you need to copy the HTML code (known as “arbitrary HTML) from Google Maps. Next, paste it on your page…Done!

Image 2: Arbitrary HTML

Arbitrary HTML

Have questions about whether Adobe Muse is right for you? Contact us at mandi@vpclasses.com or 1-855-552-3623 (toll free). 

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Back in September of 2012, Adobe released Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition. If you were a Creative Cloud subscriber, this meant you could create unlimited single-issue iPad apps. But what does this mean exactly and how is the single edition different than the original Digital Publishing Suite, Professional Edition?

What is Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition?

“Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition provides small to midsize design studios and freelance designers an intuitive and affordable way to create, develop, and deliver iPad apps such as brochures, portfolios, yearbooks, or annual reports without writing code. Its newly improved workflow is tailored specifically to meet the needs of designers. Use familiar Adobe InDesign® CS6 skills to develop content that inspires and engages.” (Source: http://www.adobe.com/products/digital-publishing-suite-single.html)

Single Edition

• For small to midsize companies and freelance designers
• Publish single issue apps (e.g. brochure, portfolio, annual report)
• Can only publish for the iPad
• Cost: $49.99/month (Creative Cloud members, unlimited single-issue apps) or $395/app

• For midsize traditional media, business publishers, and membership organizations
• Publish multi-issue apps (e.g. monthly magazine)
• Can publish for multiple devices: iPad, Kindle, Android devices
• Cost: $495/month

While there are some definite advantages to the Professional Edition, most small design studios and freelance designers could not justify the cost. Single Edition gives small business the opportunity to create iPad Apps using Adobe InDesign and the Digital Publishing tools, without breaking the bank. Even better, the Digital Publishing tools added to InDesign are intuitive and easy to use. 

In Image 1 below, the new DPS panels are open—Folio Builder and Folio Overlays. If you have the Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition, these panels will be added to InDesign. I use the Folio Builder panel to begin building my app and I use the Folio Overlay panel to add interactivity to my app. Some of the interactive elements that can be added include: Pan/Zoom, Slideshow, Audio & Video, Hyperlinks, Panoramas and Scrollable Frames. I’m given the option to preview on my desktop using Adobe Content Viewer or my iPad (if synced to my computer) using the Adobe Content Viewer App.

Image 1: Creating a Folio in InDesign, using DPS tools

I will continue to write more about the exciting tools in the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition. I am currently building an App from start to finish using Single Edition. Once complete, I will share our experience, some of the processes, and of course the App!

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The introduction of Live Paint in Adobe Illustrator CS2 revolutionized the way we color and even draw our artwork. How you ask? In every version of Illustrator prior to CS2, it was extremely difficult (or impossible) to add color to objects that weren’t closed shapes. The illustrator had to carefully plan out their design and how it would be carried out, so that color could be applied correctly.

In Image 1 below, I will illustrate a very simple example that demonstrates how Live Paint works and the basic concept behind this amazing tool. The image shows 3 squares—I positioned them in such a way that they created a triangle. However, I did not create the triangle using any of the tools in Illustrator (shape tool, pen tool, etc…) and therefore it is not a closed shape. If I were to pull apart the square boxes, the triangle would disappear.

But what if I want to color that “triangle” without using any of the Illustrator tools to draw the triangle. It’s just an empty space…I can’t add color to an empty space, can I? This is where the magic of Live Paint happens.

Step 1: I want to select all 3 squares and click on Live Paint Bucket. This will create a Live Paint Group. In CS3, Adobe updated Live Paint to let you select colors from your Swatches panel without moving away from your drawing. I simply arrow through my swatch selection on my artboard (see image below).

Live Paint, Image 1

Step 2: I hover over the triangle with my Live Paint Bucket and it’s now highlighted. I arrow through the swatches until I find the right color, and then I click. Done. I just added a color to an empty space!

Live Paint, Image 2        

In Image 3 below, I will take Live Paint one step further. I will color areas that were created by overlapping a series of lines—no closed shapes. In addition, you will notice some of these lines do not touch or overlap. Does Live Paint still color areas with gaps? Let’s find out!

Live Paint, Image 3

Again, I selected the series of lines and created a Live Paint Group. I hover over areas in the group and change the color by arrowing through my swatches. Notice that I filled in areas despite the gap between lines. If Illustrator doesn’t allow you to fill an area with a gap, adjust your gap options under Objects > Live Paint > Gap Options.

Live Paint, Image 4     

Learn more about Live Paint and the other tools Illustrator has to offer in one of our Adobe Illustrator CS6 Classes.

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Dreamweaver is the web’s number one development software for websites and our chosen platform for Adobe Creative Suite Training. Over the years it has progressed from being a static web development tool, to being one that can integrate with dynamic, database driven software like WordPress.

So, it is always exciting as a web developer when a new version of Dreamweaver is released to see the fun new toys that we will be able to play with and help people to learn on an Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 Training course.

Here are the top four new features in Adobe Dreamweaver CS6:

1) Fluid Grid Layout

This is a major step forward in layout design, because it allows properly fluid layouts to be built right within Dreamweaver for the first time. It utilizes CSS3 much better than previous versions of the software, and means that you can create very complicated designs in a visual fashion without being bogged down in code.

2) Better HTML 5 Audio and Video

This is the first version of Dreamweaver where the integration with HTML 5 feels genuinely smooth. Adobe have made several changes to the way that HTML 5 is used in the software, and this also means that adding video and audio to websites from within Dreamweaver is now much simpler than ever before.

3) Better jQuery Mobile Support

If you are looking to design apps for the iPhone or Android Platforms then until now Dreamweaver has been something of a disappointment. With this release Adobe are looking to change all of that by opening up the possibility to create mobile applications right from within the Dreamweaver interface.

This update may not make much difference to everyone, but it does signal Adobe’s intent to keep Dreamweaver on the cutting edge of development technology, and as such is too be warmly welcomed.

4) Multiscreen Preview has been made simpler

It used to be the case that Dreamweaver was actually fairly poor when it came to producing the same content for different devices. This used to be less of a problem when the world was dominated by PC’s, and the most common preview problems were related solely to browser resolution rather than the devices that they would be seen on.

But with the re-emergence of Apple in the tablet market, and the increasing use of smartphones to browse the internet, the limitations of earlier versions of Dreamweaver became clearer.

The good news is that Adobe have spotted that there was a dramatic need for an overhaul, and CS6 brings with it a much easier interface to check that content looks good on all kinds of different devices, as well as a special HTML 5 previewer which is a real boon for mobile browser and app developers.

These four are just a selection of the many new features that are now available in CS6, including better search facilities if you are on a Mac, better FTP transfer capabilities and greatly enhanced integration with other Adobe software tools like Adobe Business Catalyst.

Learn how to use the new features in Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 to develop high quality websites from an experienced professional. With Visual Persuasion, you can learn more about this web design software through our Denver Adobe Dreamweaver Classes.

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However a new tracing engine was introduced in Adobe Illustrator CS6—in fact you could call it a complete overhaul to the original tracing engine. When you use Image Trace in Adobe Illustrator CS6, you will get more accurate color, sharper lines and overall better results. In the example below, I purposely chose a photo with a great amount of detail (below) to test the new Image Trace…and the results were incredible! Which image is the original photograph and which is now a vector image?

Image 1 (Original image or Vector graphic?)

Image 2 (Original image or Vector graphic?)

Hare to decide? Image 2 is the Traced Image and is now a vector graphic—this image can be re-sized to ANY size with out losing image quality. Image 1 is the original pixel-based image. However impressive this is, it is even more impressive when you see a comparison of the CS6 image (above) to the CS5 image (below) and just how much the Tracing Engine has improved. I used the same preset in each example and left the settings the same—the difference is HUGE!

Image 3 (Live Trace in CS5)

Image 4 (Image Trace Panel in CS6)

Live Trace in CS5 and earlier versions only allowed a maximum of 256 colors—in Image 4 (above) you can see that 24,990 colors were used in Image 2. The overhaul of the Tracing Engine allows you to trace more complex images more accurately…and it’s so easy!

Learn more about Image Trace in Illustrator CS6 and the other tools Illustrator has to offer in one of our Adobe Illustrator CS6 Classes.

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When you use the Patch tool in Content-Aware mode, you aren’t just copying one part of an image to another part. This is where the magic comes in. There are many factors at play in a photo—color, lighting, texture, etc…making it difficult to remove an object from a photo like it never even existed. Fortunately, the Patch tool does this work for us.

First, select the Patch tool in the Tools panel (beneath the Spot Healing Brush). In the options bar, make sure “Content-Aware” is selected from the Patch menu. In the photo below, see how I dragged an outline (using the Patch tool) around the figure I want to remove. You do not want this to be an exact trace around the figure.

Image 1.

Next, you want to click in the selected area and drag it to an area you want it to match (in color, lighting, texture, etc…). See example in Image 2.

Image 2.

In the image below you can see the final result. I also used the Content Aware Patch to remove the date in the lower right-hand corner of the photo. It’s like the figure was never even there—it is MAGIC!

Image 3.

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The release of the Adobe Muse application in the Creative Cloud subscription has many wondering what is the difference between Muse and Dreamweaver. Let’s break these two programs down!

Adobe Muse

Adobe Muse was created primarily for graphic designers—an application to design and publish html websites without writing code. Muse gives designers creative freedom while taking away all the coding languages that many designers don’t want to mess with. The interface is similar to InDesign and easy to use. If you are a regular InDesign user, you will be familiar with similar features such as Master Pages, Paragraph and Character Styles, and Assets Panel (same as Links Panel in InDesign). Bottom line: Focus on design over technology.

Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver was formerly originally created my Macromedia until Adobe purchased them in 2005. The last Macromedia version was 8.0 and the first Adobe version was CS3 (2007). While Muse focuses on the graphic designer, Adobe Dreamweaver focuses on the web developer. Dreamweaver users appreciate having full access to the code and getting immediate feedback of what the results will look like in split screen view or design view. Dreamweaver is the industry-leading software that provides both visual and code-level capabilities for creating websites and designs for desktops and mobile devices.

Pricing Differences

These are very different products aimed at very different users. One other major difference I should mention is pricing. Adobe Muse is licensed separately from the Creative Suite and is only available through a monthly subscription plan or the Adobe Creative Cloud (also a subscription-based membership). There is a good reason for this—with the subscription membership, Adobe can improve the software quickly, and provide updates on a regular basis to Adobe Muse users. Since it’s release, Adobe has already announced 3 major updates to Muse.

Dreamweaver can be purchased individually, as a part of of a software package (Design and Web Premium, Master Collection), an individual subscription or as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. Adobe has given their users many different options for purchasing the software.

Which application is for YOU?

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