Adobe Releases Acrobat Pro DC – with some important warnings!

This past week, Adobe announced a new version of Acrobat Pro. It’s called DC (DC stands for “Document Cloud” and the interface is VERY different from what we’ve been used to (the upgrade to X from version 9 was very significant, but this one’s a whole different ballgame!)

With this version, Adobe puts a great deal of effort and emphasis on working with PDFs on computers and IOS and Android devices. It’s fully 64 bit, and it’s system requirements require newer Operating Systems, browsers, and more.

It’s available as a stand-alone subscription, or it’s included in the full Creative Cloud subscription. To see the version differences, please visit:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/us/en/pricing/pricing-compare-versions.html

One GIANT CAVEAT! The installation of DC will uninstall your previous versions of Adobe Acrobat Pro, including any customizations and plugins you’ve made. The only way to protect your customizations is to back them up, prior to installing DC. On Windows computers, there is NO way to run both version together (previous installations didn’t support it, but did allow it). On the Mac, several people have managed to successfully install DC and continue to run XI without problem – although those people are few and far between.

The app looks pretty cool – but do beware of the notes above. If you ever want to go back to XI, you’d have to uninstall DC and reinstall XI. From my personal experience so far, this is also the actual case for 99% of Mac users as well.

MANY new Adobe Updates coming SOON!

Up until today, I was under NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) to not reveal what’s coming up to MANY of my student’s favorite Adobe Apps – but today, with the announcement at NAB, all may be revealed. In fact, Adobe themselves revealed what’s to come to Adobe Premiere Pro (oh, my goodness, what they’re doing!), After Effects, InDesign, Illustrator, Flash, Muse, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Audition!

You can check out the upcoming changes to the Video Editing apps here:
http://blogs.adobe.com/creativecloud/coming-next-to-adobe-pro-video-tools/

I’m sure there’re going to be many more blog posts at Adobe, to tell us the rest…

FREE Photoshop Techniques Ebook!

Jeffrey Tranberry’s Adobe Blog has posted a VERY nice 214 page ebook about Photoshop Techniques. It specified “screen designers”, but the techniques and ideas can be applied to any media. You can find the download here: http://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2014/03/pixel-perfect-precision-useful-design-tips-photoshop-techniques-for-screen-designers.html?PID=2159997 There are also “Extras” that can be downloaded for the book, which can be downloaded here: PPP Extras (scripts, etc., 0.5MB) Don’t you just LOVE FREE!!!

Adobe Extends Discount Offers

Here’s an email I received from Adobe tonight:

We are excited to let you know about the following offers — some of the best deals around!

PS-SPECIAL-EXTENDDeadline Extended to Dec. 8 to get Photoshop + Lightroom for $9.99/mo

Due to the fantastic response, the offer for the the Photoshop Photography Program , available to anyone for $9.99/month, has been extended until December 8th. This is available worldwide, wherever the bundle is available on Adobe.com.

The offer includes access to Photoshop CC and Lightroom 5, 20GB of cloud storage and a Behance ProSite.

CC-SPECIAL-EXTENDExtended Upgrade Plan to Creative Cloud for $29.99/mo Until May

We are also extending our Creative Cloud membership $29.99 promotion into 2014. With this extension, anyone owning CS3+ who has not yet made the move to Creative Cloud, will continue to be able to join Creative Cloud at the rate of $29.99/month for their first year of membership.

Here’s the link to all their current Creative Cloud Discounts:
http://www.adobe.com/products/discount-software-coupons.html?promoid=KHQFR

 

Adobe Addresses Photographer’s Creative Cloud Solution

In an early email today, Adobe announced (on NDA until this afternoon) that there is a new plan for Creative Cloud members who are just interested in Photography and Photoshop Solutions, at a significantly reduced price. Their email is quoted below:

Since introducing Photoshop CC we’ve listened to feedback from a spectrum of our customers, from advanced professionals to casual enthusiasts. One common request was a solution specifically tailored for photographers. We listened and at Photoshop World we’re announcing a special offer for our loyal Photoshop customers. Beginning today, customers who own Photoshop CS3 or higher are eligible for a special Creative Cloud membership offer that includes all of the following for just $9.99/month (pricing varies outside of the US):

  • Photoshop CC
  • Lightroom 5
  • 20 GB of online storage
  • Behance ProSite
  • Access to the online video tutorials in Creative Cloud

This is the ongoing price for anyone who signs up by December 31, 2013. So if you sign up in October 2013, then when you renew in October 2014, the price will still be $9.99 per month. We do not currently have any intention of raising this price.

InDesign Font Management – with new CC feature that makes things easier!

Adobe TV has offered a new tutorial on how to manage missing fonts in an InDesign document. As you know, with InDesign, if you don’t have a particular font installed on your system, you will receive errors when you open a file that uses those fonts. This tutorial shows the Find Font feature that’s existed in InDesign for several versions going back. However, at 5:23 in the video, this instructor will reveal a VERY cool new feature to manage fonts in InDesign CC. Take a look!

http://adobe.ly/13Hg1xT

Complete Online Manuals and Help Guides for All Adobe Products – from ProDesignTools.com

Oh – THIS is lovely! ProDesignTools.com has created a page dedicated to ALL the Help files for ALL the Adobe products, in searchable, discussable format! They’re even downloadable as PDF’s!

Check this out:
http://prodesigntools.com/online-manuals-help-documentation-all-adobe-products.html

Download New Adobe CC Trials – Direct Links to installers

If you subscribe to Adobe CC (Creative Cloud – henceforward the only way to get the new versions of the Adobe software), you already know that your software must be downloaded via the Adobe Manager/Assistant to install it, and no installers remain on your system. If you need to reinstall, you must download again.

Well, ProDesignTools.com has created a page with direct download links to all the CC Trial versions – which can be used to install/reinstall the software, and activate using your CC account. Great resource!

 

http://prodesigntools.com/adobe-cc-direct-download-links.html

Creative Cloud Backlash

SO many people are responding negatively to Adobe’s recent announcement of their sole offering of a cloud based Creative Cloud subscription that I’m seeing dozens of posts on the subject. The article below offers some links to follow the discussion (read: Rebellion), and a link to a petition to sign, if you find a life-long payment plan is not for you!

http://creativebits.org/photoshop/creative_suite_6_forever