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» Adobe releases Configurator 1.0!

 

Adobe has just released the first prerelease version of the Adobe Configurator 1.0 that will allow you to customize your panels in Photoshop CS4 as you want! It’s all a simple drag and drop interface and it’s well worth a check. It’s a download from the Adobe Labs which does meant that it is a prerelease version, nonetheless it is very stable as it is released.

To learn the deal about Configurator, view this introduction video made by John Nack, then go to download it.

» Pixel Bender in Photoshop CS4

 

Yesterday Adobe released the new Pixel Bender plugin for Photoshop CS4 is now available (for free) at the Adobe Labs for download. The main thing about Pixel Bender is that it uses the GPU to make rendering of special filter effects, really fast as well as opens up the world of filter development to practically everyone. Furthermore, Pixel Bender is available for Flash 10 as well as After Effects CS4 and the cool things is that the filters people write for Flash, will be compatible with Photoshop CS4 directly.

Once people have started writing filters, you will be able to download a lot of cool filters at the Adobe Exchange. To install extra bundles, just drop the downloaded file into the Pixel Bender Files folder (any PBK or PBG Pixel Bender will will work) you will create upon installation and you’re done. Then just go to Filters > Pixel Bender > Pixel Bender Gallery, chose the filter and start working!

Pixel Bender has a lot of cool things in it for Photoshop filters and could partly be a reason why we haven’t been seeing a lot of new filter related things now in CS4 at all. Enter this new, free, product that allows you to do it all!

» Adobe releases CS4 trials

Adobe has today released all of the CS4 trial versions and they are all available on the Adobe downloads site. For all of you who have been waiting for this, it’s a finally thing with them here. It’s worth to note that the trials available for download also include localized versions for download so it’s not only the English trials available.

• Download Adobe trials

» Camera Raw 5.1 and Lightroom 2.1 released!

Adobe has released updates for two products today. First it is for Adobe Camera Raw (the version that ships with CS4) which is now at 5.1. The update includes mainly improved camera support. It’s a free upgrade (links below).
Secondly, Adobe has released Lightroom 2.1 after a period available as a release candidate. Here we also have improved camera report and some performance improvements as well. It’s also available as a free update.

Macintosh

• Adobe Camera Raw 5.1
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.1

Windows

• Adobe Camera Raw 5.1
• Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.1

» CS4 is now shipping

Though I should get this out before the regular news post later today. Adobe is now shipping the CS4 versions and they are available for immidiate purchase right from the Adobe store. Pre-orders should begin shipping out today and on. For any specific questions, contact Adobe support.

» Monday “A” News

 

It’s Monday and here are the news, a lot of A-companies today:

• Adobe late last week announced that the official release of Camera Raw 4.6 is here. This is probably also going to be the last update before CS4 — which is due to start shipping on Wednesday 15th. Download Here: Windows | Macintosh
   
• Tomorrow it’s time for Apple’s special event, "The Spotlight turns to Notebook" where they’re bound to release new MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops. Rumors has it today that we also might get to see new versions of iLife and iWork. You’ll be able to follow my metaliveblog from the event, right here on the site, starting 15 minutes before the event tomorrow, at 11a.m Pacific (7p.m CET). The metaliveblog post will be up in the morning!
   
• With the release of CS4, I plan to post the new CS4 features in tutorials and cover them and mix them to get some interesting workflow based improvements and to give some suggestions on how to improve it. If there is anything special you want me to cover in terms of CS4, shoot me a comment or a mail.
   
• More about Apple. In a recent poll. Apple shows off to be the most environmentally-friendly tech company as seen by the general public, which is pretty interesting considering that they’ve gotten a lot of critique about the production process from a few places.
   
• What more can I do but to send you off to my buddy Jason Andersons blog today (being influenced by all the "A"’s used in this post I have to end with one as well), he runs a great blog called Canonblogger and he just announced the continuation of his podcasts from today and on!

» Monday Informational Newsbits

Mondays can be pretty rough on you when you think back on the weekend and how short it actually was and how much you have got to do this week! Hopefully there are some good news today that might get the mood up a bit.

• I bet you too have been faced with the scenario that you’ve accidentally deleted a bunch of music tracks from iTunes but still have them on your iPod/iPhone. However, after wondering a while, you realize there is seemingly no way of getting them back. That’s what Senuti is for. Senuti is basically a free little cool application that allows you to transfer songs and playlists from your iPod/iPhone back onto your computer. You can browse what you have on your iPod before chosing what to bring back as well.
   
• Attention Photoshop 7 Users! If anyone of you reading this are using PS7 (or know someone who does) be sure to note that this is the absolute last chance to be eligible for the upgrade pricing on Photoshop. With the release of CS3, Adobe instituted a "3 version back" upgrade policy which basically now means that you can upgrade your version of PS7 to CS3 now, or be faced with buying a full new license for Photoshop CS4, should you want it come release. The deadline is by October 15!
   
• On a photography related note, the Canon G10 is now in-stock over at B&H Photo for $500 plus shipping and handling, so if you’ve been waiting on it, now is the time to be able to lay your hands on one! Also note that B&H is observing the Jewish holidays and will be closed for an extensive period now come mid October. Go to their site to read up on that and when to order to get it shipped before their closings.
   
• Finally a service tip of the day: Kuler. Kuler is a sharing site—created by Adobe—that lets you download, share and create colours swatches in a community. If you’ve ever been stuck for a colour scheme in a project; just download a swatch from the site, import into the application you want to use it in (Adobe application) and start using!

» It’s Friday — here’re the news!

It’s a brilliant Friday again! Why? It’s the end of the week, I’m loosing my cold and it’s soon weekend which for me means studio shooting! Now let’s get right on to the news!

• Backup is a very important thing for everyone to do. There are many different solutions available, one that might just suit you right. The Drobo solution is getting praise by many people and they recently released a Firewire 800 compatible unit. The gang over at Macworld has a full review of the system, which may help you if you’re looking for a good backup solution.
   
• Parallels – the virtulasation software makers for mac – have made up an application bundle, called the "Green Application Bundle". It’s got nine apps in it for the great price of $49.95, with perhaps the most interesting thing being Parallels Desktop itself in the bundle, which you’ll get in the budle or $49 instead of $79.
   
• With the CS4 announcement, a lot of plugin developers like OnOne Software for Photoshop and WoodWing for InDesign, has announced that their plugins for respective programs, will be fully compatible with CS4 once it ships! Some great news if you have plugins for the suite apps. Also, if you are pondering if you should upgrade to CS4, Dave Cross has a good blog post where he talks about that.
   
• Last but not least, in the shade of the CS4 announcement, Adobe has released a new version of Adobe TV where you can get a whole lot of different video content. Improved things include improved loading time and an improved navigation structure.

» CS4 is unveiled by Adobe!

The time has come. Later today starts the webcasts and dropping in through the day should be the different learning centers from all training providers blessed with a prerelease copy of the CS4 apps. Just now however, Adobe has updated their site with the new features of the apps and the suite packages. You can also find out the pricing scheme (which to my eyes looks untouched from CS3) in all commercial and education stores. What we can’t find out is when they plan to ship these new products, hopefully we’ll get a mention of that later today.

I’m going to be updating more later today with links to various places where you can read and look at the new features, again from those lucky enough to have a prerelease version in their hands.

• Adobe.com
• Press Release
• Creative Suite Page

» Late Monday News

 

It’s another late Monday news post here but the days are certainly filled. Working on a bunch of web design and development projects right now as well as some media stuff for here. Don’t forget that tomorrow is the big CS4 announcement, when you’ll be getting to see some of the new things in CS4 and we’ll all get to know about the shipment plans!

• As I was just starting to say, tomorrow is the big CS4 announcement day. If you haven’t signed up, you still have the time to do so. You can sign up right here. There are a lot of sites who will post learning centers tomorrow. I’ll be posting about that when the news hits.
   
• I’m going to be doing a portrait shoot this weekend with studio strobe equipment and a friend as a model. Really looking forward to it as it’s a field I rarely do. I’m also doing some product shots next Monday that ties up with a new client project (website) I’m working on. I’ll be sharing my experiences after the shot, as well as my preparations beforehand.
   
• If you are working a lot with WordPress and doing WordPress sites you should take a look at this post, "Automating My WordPress Workflow" that was posted on WP-Candy today. There are a lot of good suggestions and resources there that could really help you speed up your things.
   
• I’ve been asked lately to do some more photography related stuff here on the site as well. I’ll be starting to post some photography thoughts and other goodies coming up this week again, which ties in a little bit with above point about the studio experiences. I’m also hoping to be able to post a lot of announcements from PhotoKina.
   
• If you’re in the US and are a photographer that would like to go on a really brilliant landscape workshop, I must recommend the DLWS (Digital Landscape Workshop Series). They have some of the best photographers in their field, like Moose Peterson, Laurie Excell, Joe McNally and Kevin Dobbler. They are just announcing their workshops coming up 2009 and believe it or not, they are already beginning to sell out!

That’s it for today. Don’t forget the CS4 announcement time tomorrow!