Adobe News (Page 7)

Yesterday we posted a video where Adobe's Bryan O'Neil Hughes was showing off what's in development for mobile platforms, mainly the handling of large resolution files, the healing brush and liquify features. However, I failed to notice the accompanying blog post at the time.

In article, Hughes announces the end of Photoshop Touch:

"Sometimes building for the future means we need to make hard choices and today I am also announcing that we are discontinuing Photoshop Touch. For those of you who have been using Photoshop Touch, thank you and please continue creating amazing work with it; while it will no longer be available in stores as of May 28th and we won’t ship further updates, it will remain completely functional on your devices for the foreseeable future. For further information on how this change could impact your workflow, please visit here.

Photoshop Touch was available across platforms and so I’d like to leave all of you on Android with some good news – we’re actively developing new mobile applications for Android and will share those with you very soon."

Maybe Adobe thought so as well?

For whatever reasons, the app will be removed from app stores on May 28. If you'd like to grab a copy of the app before it's gone, now's the time to snatch it up (Android | iOS). Otherwise, Android users have something to look forward to – we just don't know what or when exactly that will be.

From the Adobe Photoshop YouTube Channel:

Get a sneak peek of an early prototype of Adobe's mobile retouching from Bryan O'Neil Hughes.

Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (USD$9.99 per month) includes Lightroom CC across desktop, web and mobile, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Mix (for iPhone and iPad).

Don’t miss what Macworld called one of the best conferences of the year. MAX is the place to get inspired and informed by amazing speakers, empowering workshops and over 5,500 other creatives.

Register by July 31 to get Early Bird pricing — a full MAX pass for US$1,295, a savings of US$300.*

Register Now

* Offer expires at 11:59pm (PDT) on July 31, 2015. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. Valid only for persons 18 years and older with purchase of one (1) full (three-day) Conference Pass to the Adobe MAX event occurring on October 3–7, 2015. Limit: one (1) discount per person. To register and redeem the US$300 savings with purchase of one (1) full Conference Pass for MAX 2015 (reg. street price US$1,595), visit the MAX registration website by 11:59pm (PDT) on July 31, 2015. Discount will be applied during checkout. Offer not valid with non-full (three-day) MAX passes or for group, bundle, or volume purchases. Offer is subject to availability and may not be exchanged, sold, or transferred; combined with any other discount or offer; or redeemed for cash or other goods and services.

From Adobe:

Camera Raw 9.0 is now available as a final release through the update mechanism in Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC.

As mentioned here, updates to Camera Raw for Photoshop CS6 only include new camera support, lens profile support, and bug fixes. The new features listed in the release notes are only available in Photoshop CC.

New Features

Merge to HDR and Panorama

Combine your photos to produce panoramas and HDR images in ACR. The merged result is a DNG file and is saved to disk alongside the input images. If you are merging raw files, then the merge is performed using raw image data and the resulting DNG is just as much a raw file as the originals (and retains all the editing flexibility that comes with shooting raw). Because of this, you no longer need to edit your photos before merging. To see the new Merge feature in action, check out these videos: Merge to Pano | Merge to HDR

Usage Instructions:

1. To merge files in ACR, select the photos that you want to merge then press the “Merge…” button at the top of the filmstrip. Select “Panorama” or “HDR” from the pop-up menu.
2. After a preview of the merge is generated, select desired options in the merge preview dialog and click the “Merge” button to start a full-size merge.
3. The full-size merge is performed in the background so you can continue to edit other photos or start other merges while you wait. To view status, or cancel a merge, press the link in the lower left area of the main ACR window (it will say “1 remaining” if you’ve started a merge).
4. Once the full-size merge is complete, the resulting DNG file will be added to the bottom of the filmstrip and be available for further editing.
5. HDR deghosting has three amounts: low, medium, and high. In order to make it easier to select the best option for a given image, a visualization option is also available

1. Color artifacts in deep shadow areas of some HDR merges with deghosting and HDR panorama merges.
2. If the merged pano result is larger than ACR’s largest supported image size then you will get an error. In future builds we plan on adding an option to scale the result so that it’s within ACR size limits.

Camera Raw can now use the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to speed up interactive image editing. The GPU is particularly helpful when using high-resolution screens, such as 4K and 5K displays.

Minimum system requirements:

• 64-bit only
• Mac OS 10.9 and higher or Windows 7 and higher

Usage Instructions:

• Ensure then GPU support is enabled by visiting the Camera Raw Preferences dialog and check the “Use Graphics Processor” box at the bottom.
• When this box is checked, Camera Raw will automatically determine whether the system’s GPU (if any) can be used to accelerate image drawing. If yes, Camera Raw will display the name of your graphics card below the checkbox. Otherwise, Camera Raw will display an error message.
• Note that the GPU options in Photoshop’s Preferences and Bridge’s Preferences have no effect on Camera Raw.
• Camera Raw’s GPU implementation is used only to accelerate the drawing of the main preview image within the Camera Raw dialog. It is not used for other tasks, such as saving images to disk, or opening images into Photoshop.
• Scrubby Zoom: Camera Raw offers a “Scrubby Zoom” option in GPU mode. With the Zoom tool selected, click on the Zoom menu (bottom-left of the image preview). Select “Scrubby Zoom” from the bottom of the menu to toggle scrubby zoom behavior on/off. When enabled, click-dragging on an image with the zoom tool will zoom smoothly in and out.

New Camera Support in Camera Raw 9

• Canon EOS 5DS
• Canon EOS 5DS R
• Canon EOS 750D (Rebel T6i, Kiss X8i)
• Canon EOS 760D (Rebel T6s, Kiss 8000D)
• Canon EOS M3
• Casio EX-ZR3500
• Fujifilm X-A2
• Fujifilm XQ2
• Hasselblad Stellar II
• Nikon D5500
• Nikon D7200
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 II
• Olympus Stylus SH-2
• Olympus Tough TG-4
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS50 (DMC-TZ70, DMC-TZ71)
• Samsung NX500

New Lens Profiles in Camera Raw 9

Download Links
Camera Raw 9 – Please use the update mechanism in Photoshop CS6
DNG Converter 9: Macintosh | Windows

Please note – If you have trouble updating to the latest ACR update via the Creative Cloud application, please refer to the following plugin installation:
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/camera-raw-plug-in-installer.html

Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (USD$9.99 per month) includes Lightroom CC across desktop, web and mobile, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Mix (for iPhone and iPad).

If you're wanting a more in-depth look at Adobe's newest version of Lightroom, look no further than the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom YouTube Channel where they added more than 50 videos since yesterday (and that's in addition to the 4 videos I posted about yesterday)..

B&H has the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 DVD available for preorder. However, you can purchase the download version for even faster delivery.

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom CC).

From Adobe:

All-New Photoshop Lightroom CC With Photoshop CC Lets Anyone Perfect Photos Across Desktop and Mobile for $9.99 per Month

SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 21, 2015 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced a major update to its Creative Cloud Photography plan with the release of an all-new Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC that delivers lightning-fast performance and new tools to edit, enhance, organize and showcase beautiful photos. With Lightroom CC and the legendary magic of Photoshop CC, Adobe Creative Cloud Photography empowers photographers to transform photos into amazing shots. Creative Cloud Photography also includes unique sophisticated mobile capabilities: automatically syncing photos with Lightroom CC on the desktop, Lightroom on mobile devices lets users access and edit their entire catalog of photos on iPad, iPhone as well as Android smartphones and tablets. At just $USD9.99 per month, Adobe’s photography plan champions photographers of every level -- bringing the tools relied on by photo pros worldwide within reach of anyone who loves photography.

“Photographers at any level are driven by their passion to capture the perfect shot and make it incredible,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president of digital imaging products, Adobe. “Whether you shoot with a DSLR or smartphone, the Creative Cloud Photography plan gives everything you need to organize, edit and share amazing photos on mobile, web and desktop – thanks to the imaging power of Lightroom and the magic of Photoshop.”

Photoshop and Lightroom have been fundamental in the evolution of digital photography. Today, Creative Cloud Photography is leading the transition from a traditional desktop-based process to a more mobile, connected workflow for digital images. Anchored by a major update to Lightroom CC, Creative Cloud Photography is the must-have solution, offering powerful editing and photo organization across multiple devices, all powered by Adobe’s industry-defining imaging technologies.

Work Seamlessly Across Desktop, Mobile and Web With New Lightroom CC
The standard for photo enthusiasts and professionals, Lightroom CC is essential for perfecting and organizing photos. New features in this release include:

• HDR Merge – Create natural-looking or surreal images from extremely high-contrast scenes by easily combining multiple shots taken with different exposure settings into a single raw high dynamic range image
• Panorama Merge - Capture super wide fields of view and amazing detail by stitching together multiple images to create stunning raw panorama shots
• Performance Improvement & GPU Enhancements - Perfect photos up to 10 times faster than ever
• Facial Recognition - Quickly find and categorize images of family and friends.
• Video Slideshows - Create beautiful, polished slideshows using still images, video, and music along with professional effects like pan and zoom

Bring Out The Best In Your Photography - Anywhere
For anyone who loves photography, it’s essential they can organize, edit, and share photos from mobile devices. Automatically synced with Lightroom CC on the desktop, Lightroom on mobile devices lets users access and edit their catalog of photos across a full range of iOS and Android devices. This release includes a major enhancement for Android with DNG raw file support on compatible Lollipop-enabled devices, providing customers the full power of raw file post-processing on their Android smartphones and tablets.

Take It To The Next Level With Photoshop CC
In addition to Lightroom CC, Creative Cloud Photography plan includes Photoshop CC, the imaging software that continues to redefine creativity in the digital age. Celebrating its 25th birthday this year Photoshop’s legendary magic touches virtually all the inspirational imagery that surrounds us. Now, thanks to Creative Cloud Photography, photographers have a powerful round-trip editing workflow from Lightroom to Photoshop CC. Even cut out and combine photos on your iPhone and iPad with Photoshop Mix, connect to Creative Cloud, then refine your work in Photoshop CC.

Share Compelling Stories in Exciting New Ways
In addition to sharing instantly with social networks such as Facebook, Flickr and Instagram, new to Lightroom is the ability to create beautiful, polished video slideshows using still images, video, and music, featuring professional effects like pan and zoom. After using Creative Cloud Photography to produce stunning images, anyone can craft amazing stories that place photos at the center of the narrative, using two groundbreaking storytelling apps from Adobe: Slate and Voice. [Link to app pages on Adobe.com.]

New Lightroom CC Available to Creative Cloud Members Worldwide
Adobe Creative Cloud has approximately 4 million paid memberships worldwide and all Photography and complete plan members are able to access the new version of Lightroom CC today – at no extra charge – showing, once again, the incredible ongoing value of Creative Cloud. Creative Cloud features the world’s leading creative desktop apps; a growing family of mobile apps that are seamlessly integrate with the desktop apps and creative assets; expert training; and access to a dynamic creative community, where creatives can discover inspiration and opportunity. A free 30-day trial version of Lightroom CC is also available.

Getting Started Is Easy:
Creative Cloud Photography plan is designed to make onboarding easy whether you’re a beginner or pro, or have previously used Photoshop, Lightroom, Photoshop Elements or Apple Aperture. Available now is an easy-to-learn library of photography tutorials aimed at all levels. [Link to tutorial page]

Pricing and Availability
Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (USD$9.99 per month) includes Lightroom CC across desktop, web and mobile, Photoshop CC and Photoshop Mix (for iPhone and iPad). All products are also available as part of Creative Cloud complete plan.

B&H has the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6 DVD available for preorder. However, you can purchase the download version for even faster delivery.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) today launched Slate, a new free iPad app that makes it easier than ever to turn words and images into a story that can be published as beautifully laid-out Web content, in minutes. Bringing Adobe’s unrivaled creative software expertise--across digital imagery, page-layout, typography, and Web design--to a mass audience, Slate is made for anyone who wants to communicate with impact. Students, teachers, non-profit organizations, small business owners or corporate communicators can now turn their next report, newsletter or travel adventure into a document that captures attention. Through professionally designed magazine-style layouts with elegant fonts, beautiful colors and eye-catching motion, Slate content automatically adapts to any device for a high-impact reading experience on tablets, smartphones or computers. Slate creations are links that can be shared easily via text message, email, embedded in websites, or posted on social media channels.

Adobe Slate builds on the success of Adobe Voice, an app for creating animated videos that was named one of the Apple App Store’s Best New Apps of 2014. Like Voice, Slate features a collection of themes that set the tone for any story – with a single tap. The interface makes it simple to add text, choose the right photo layout and apply carefully curated looks and motion. Leveraging an advanced Adobe animation engine, Adobe Slate makes words and images move with automatically applied scrolling transitions, making it a much more engaging and exciting read. Key features include:

• Stunning professionally designed themes allow users to simply tap to select from multiple font combinations, fun colors and motion to ensure stories stand out from the crowd.
• Arresting photo layouts and covers deliver options that help photos pop, making them the highlight of the story, including grid or window view. Users can also add a caption overlay on images, ensuring photos are more integral to the narrative.
• Adaptable design that looks great on any device, ranging from a phone to large desktop monitor.
• Call-to-Action buttons link to online sites and other relevant information to encourage readers to take action, like: “Donate Now”, “Volunteer” or “Learn More”.
• Sharing options automatically publish the finished content and help spread the word via a simple Web link that can be easily posted to social channels, sent via text message, email or embedded in personal blogs and websites. Readers can easily view the content in their PC, tablet or mobile phone browser.

Paul Gubbay, vice president of product development noted, “In today’s digital world, everyone wants to share engaging Web-based stories that stand out, but often people don’t have the right tools to easily create something impactful. With our move to Creative Cloud we’re able to tap into our pro-level creative software expertise and bring it to a much wider audience with new tools—first with Adobe Voice and now Slate. Stay tuned for more innovation like this from our teams at Adobe.”

Availability

Adobe Slate is available immediately as a free download in the App Store. The app requires iPad 2 or higher and iOS 8. To learn more about Adobe Slate, visit adobe.com/slate.

From the Adobe Lightroom Journal:

Camera Raw 8.8 is now available as a final release for Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC. DNG Converter 8.8 is provided for all Lightroom customers and Photoshop customers using versions of Photoshop older than Photoshop CS6.

New Camera Support in Camera Raw 8.8

• Casio EX-ZR3500
• Canon EOS 750D (Rebel T6i, Kiss X8i) (*)
• Canon EOS 760D (Rebel T6s, Kiss 8000D) (*)
• Fujifilm X-A2
• Fujifilm XQ2
• Hasselblad Stellar II
• Nikon D5500
• Olympus OM-D E-M5 II
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF7
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS50 (DMC-TZ70, DMC-TZ71)

(*) denotes preliminary support. Camera Matching color profiles for these models will be added in a future release.

New Lens Profile Support in Camera Raw 8.8 (only Canon / Nikon mount lens profiles shown here)

Release Notes

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed issue with magenta highlights when processing Canon EOS 70D raw files at some ISO settings
• Fixed issue where vignette correction introduced banding for Voigtlander VM 21mm f/1.8 Ultron
• Fixed vignette overcorrection at certain focus distances for Pentax FA645 MACRO 120mm F4
• Fixed issue where vignette correction introduced banding at wider focal lengths for Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR
• Fixed EXIF name for Zeiss OTUS 85mm f/1.4 (Canon and Nikon mount)
• Fixed vignette overcorrection for Zeiss Distagon T 1,4_35 ZM
• Updated lens profile to reflect firmware changes to SIGMA 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM S014

If you have trouble updating to the latest ACR update via the Creative Cloud application, please refer to the following plugin installation:

http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/camera-raw-plug-in-installer.html

Lightroom Customers –

If you’re using one of the newly supported cameras listed above, please download the DNG Converter. We’re working to add support to these cameras and they will be added in the next Lightroom release.

Download Links

DNG Converter 8.8: Win | Mac

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

Adobe Photoshop Turns Twenty-Five – A Cultural Icon, Photoshop Shapes the Way We View the World

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Feb. 19, 2015 — Adobe Photoshop, the imaging software that continues to redefine creativity in the digital age, turns 25 today. Photoshop touches virtually all the inspirational imagery that surrounds us: the high-impact logo on your morning cup of coffee; the new app you download on your iPhone; the sleek design of your running shoes; the Hollywood blockbuster that you’ll see tonight. Photoshop continues to blaze a trail, with amazing new features added in every release and new mobile apps that extend the power of Photoshop to iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

“For 25 years, Photoshop has inspired artists and designers to craft images of stunning beauty and reality-bending creativity,” said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe president and chief executive officer. “From desktop publishing, to fashion photography, movie production, website design, mobile app creation and now 3D Printing, Photoshop continues to redefine industries and creative possibilities. And today that Photoshop magic is available to millions of new users, thanks to Adobe Creative Cloud.”

Photoshop is one of the most recognized software brands in the world with tens of millions of users, and is the go-to application for digital image manipulation across all media: from print, to film, to the Web. Photoshop features — such as Layers, The Healing Brush, Content Aware Fill and Camera Raw — have empowered creatives to produce their best work. Photoshop technology is also at the heart of Adobe Lightroom, essential software for both professional and amateur photographers. And to meet the needs of today's visual artists, Photoshop and Lightroom mobile apps enable creatives to work on image files seamlessly across desktop computers, tablets and smartphones.

Photoshop’s success helped Adobe deliver the creative industry’s most comprehensive set of tools. No other company serves the creative industry with such a wide range of products and services. In addition to Photoshop, applications like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Dreamweaver and others have pushed creativity forward, no matter what the media. And today Adobe Creative Cloud services, such as Behance and Creative Talent Search, are helping a new generation of creatives find a global audience and market for their work.

The secret of Photoshop’s massive popularity has been its constantly evolving capabilities and an incredible pipeline of deep image science. This pipeline of innovation is now getting to customers faster than ever before, with Photoshop and Lightroom desktop and mobile apps constantly updated, as part of Adobe Creative Cloud.

To celebrate this Photoshop milestone, Adobe is showcasing 25 of the most creative visual artists under 25 who use Photoshop. To be considered, artists upload their projects to Behance and use the tag “Ps25Under25.” In the coming months, those selected will take over the Photoshop Instagram handle (@Photoshop) for two weeks and present their work for the world to see. Fredy Santiago, a 24-year old Mexican-American artist and illustrator based in Ventura, California will be the first to display his incredible images, beginning today.

The company is also launching an advertising campaign, “Dream On," for The Academy Awards — as a tribute to 25 years of amazing art created in Photoshop. The TV commercial includes incredible work from Photoshop artists and iconic images from major motion pictures that used Photoshop in the making, including Avatar, Gone Girl, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Shrek. The spot can be seen here.

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

Lightroom mobile 1.3 for iPhone and iPad is now available as an update in the App Store. The goal of this update is to provide new features and bug fixes for issues identified in previous versions of Lightroom mobile.

Release Notes

New Features:

• Edit images faster by copying image adjustments and pasting them onto another photo
• Easily find your favorite images ! The new Segmented view in Collections gives you a different way to view and engage with your photos.
• Want to pass your device around the family to look at your photos? With Presentation Mode, you can do that without worrying about your flags, ratings and adjustments being accidentally changed.

Bug fixes:

• Abnormal exit that occurred when downloading images for offline use and account token expires
• Issues creating collections after initial login
• Abnormal exit when editing account settings
• When opening an image in other applications, Lr mobile incorrectly provided an .ig file instead of a jpeg file. This only occurred with Dropbox and Adobe Reader.
• Unable to open smart previews from certain Fuji RAF raw files

Download Adobe Lightroom Mobile 1.3 from the App Store.

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

We are hard at work on the next major release of Lightroom, and wanted to share some information on operating system requirements in order to give everyone time to prepare for the release.

In order to leverage the latest operating system features and technologies, Lightroom 6 will require Mac OS X 10.8 or above, or a 64 bit version of Windows 7, 8 or 8.1. Focusing our work on more modern operating systems and architectures allows us to spend more time adding functionality requested by users, including additional advanced imaging features and improving general application performance.

If you are on Mac OS X 10.7, or a 32 bit version of Windows, you will continue to be able to install and run Lightroom 5 and use Lightroom mobile. However, you will not be able to install Lightroom 6 until you upgrade to a supported operating system.

If you are currently running Mac OS X 10.7, Apple offers a free upgrade (here) to a more current operating system. For Windows users, Microsoft has a how-to reference (here) to help you determine whether you are running a 32 or 64 bit version of Windows.

From Adobe:

Tonight we’re announcing the immediate availability of Lightroom mobile for Android phones.

Lightroom mobile extends your existing workflows beyond the desktop, allowing you to utilize your Android phone to review and edit your images and have the changes sync back to your Lightroom catalog at home, including:

• access images in your Lightroom catalog
• make selects, reject unworthy photos
• apply a preset
• fine tunes your images using the Basic panel
• import new photos directly from the Gallery

Once you’ve told Lightroom a collection of pictures should be sent to Lightroom mobile, the process is handled automatically and the pictures will become available on your Android phone once it is connected to the internet. Any changes you make in Lightroom mobile will be automatically synced and updated back to the Lightroom catalog on your desktop.

Lightroom mobile utilizes Smart Previews to provide raw editing functionality on the go. Smart Previews are:

• Based on the DNG file format
• Limited to 2560 pixels on the long edge
• Smaller versions original raw files
• Can be used to make adjustments even when the original files aren’t available locally
• Adjustments made to Smart Previews are applied to the original when the original files are available

How to get started:

Download the latest version of Lightroom 5

Lightroom mobile is a companion to Lightroom desktop. Please update to the latest version of Lightroom 5 using either the Creative Cloud app or by clicking on the “Help-> Check for Updates” menu option.

Sign In

Lightroom mobile utilizes cloud services to sync Smart Previews and changes between Lightroom desktop and Lightroom mobile. Lightroom mobile requires a qualifying Creative Cloud or Photoshop Photography Plan subscription:

• Creative Cloud Photography plan
• Creative Cloud complete plan
• Creative Cloud Student and Teacher Edition
• Creative Cloud for teams complete plan

Sync a collection

Lightroom mobile is organized around Collections. Images within Collections will be synced and be available in Lightroom mobile.

Download Lightroom mobile

Visit the Google Play store and download Lightroom mobile. Once you login with the same Creative Cloud account, you’ll see all of your synced Collections.

Check out your photos at lightroom.adobe.com

In addition to Lightroom mobile, we’ve also launched Lightroom web, a new way to view and share your images from any web browser. Available at http://lightroom.adobe.com.

System Requirements

• Processor : Quad Core CPU with 1.7 GHZ ARMv7 architecture
• RAM : 1 GB
• Internal Storage: 8 GB
• Android Jellybean, KitKat, or Lollipop

Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan (Photoshop CC + Lightroom 5) is only $9.99 per month.

From Adobe:

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1 update includes these enhancements:

• Fix for bugs related to camera support on the Samsung NX1 camera.
• Camera support for additional new lenses and cameras.

New Lens Profile Support in Lightroom 5.7.1

Download: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7.1

Support for the following camera has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

• Sony ILCE-7M2

Download: DNG Converter 8.7.1

From Adobe:

Acquisition to Deliver Vibrant Image and Video Marketplace for Creatives Worldwide

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Dec. 11, 2014 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Fotolia, a leading marketplace for royalty-free photos, images, graphics and HD video, for approximately $800 million in cash. Fotolia will be integrated into Adobe Creative Cloud, providing current and future Creative Cloud members with the ability to access and purchase over 34 million images and videos, significantly simplifying and accelerating the design process. The acquisition of Fotolia cements Creative Cloud’s role as a vibrant marketplace for creatives to buy and sell assets and services as well as showcase their talent to a worldwide audience. Adobe also plans to continue to operate Fotolia as a standalone stock service, accessible to anyone.

“The acquisition of Fotolia will reinforce Creative Cloud’s role as the preeminent destination for creatives,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe. “Creative Cloud is becoming the go-to marketplace for the creative community to access images, videos, fonts and creative talent, through critical creative services like Fotolia and our new Creative Talent Search capabilities.”

With over 3.4 million members, Adobe Creative Cloud features the world’s leading desktop tools, an array of complementary mobile apps, training content, creative assets and services and ready access to a dynamic community. Creative Cloud is transforming how creatives find inspiration and deliver their best work -- and the value of Creative Cloud is increasing all the time through product updates and new capabilities like Creative Talent Search. Following the completion of the acquisition, Adobe expects to integrate the delivery and purchase of stock assets into Creative Cloud.

“Becoming part of the Adobe family is a dream come true for the Fotolia team and will accelerate our vision to become the best place for artists to build a business and the ultimate destination for designers to find stunning creative work,” said Oleg Tscheltzoff, founder and CEO of Fotolia.

Founded in 2004, with offices in New York, Paris and Berlin, privately-held Fotolia is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P., TA Associates and management. Fotolia currently operates in 23 countries and has websites in 14 languages.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the second half of Adobe’s fiscal Q1 2015, is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. The potential financial impact to Adobe of this transaction is not reflected in financial targets Adobe has previously provided, or new targets disclosed as part of Adobe's financial results, released on December 11, 2014. Until the transaction closes, each company will continue to operate independently. Upon close Fotolia CEO, Oleg Tscheltzoff, will continue to lead the Fotolia team as part of Adobe’s Digital Media business.

From the Adobe Lightroom Journal:

Camera Raw 8.7.1 is now available as a final release for Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CC. This release includes support for the Sony ILCE-A7M2 and also includes a bug fix related to support for the Samsung NX1 camera. DNG Converter 8.7.1 is provided for customers using versions of Photoshop older than Photoshop CS6.

As mentioned here, updates to Camera Raw 8 for Photoshop CS6 only include new camera support, lens profile support, and bug fixes. The new features listed in the release notes are only available in Photoshop CC.

New Lens Profile Support in Camera Raw 8.7

• Fixed issues with chromatic aberration specific to the Samsung NX1.

Please note – If you have trouble updating to the latest ACR update via the Creative Cloud application, please refer to the following plugin installation:
http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/camera-raw-plug-in-installer.html

Download Links
DNG Converter 8.7 for Windows
DNG Converter 8.7 for Macintosh

From Adobe:

Adobe Lightroom 5.7

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7 update includes these enhancements:

1. Support for the ability to add or read feedback provided on Lightroom web.
2. Ability to import images from Apple Aperture and Apple iPhoto libraries into Lightroom.
3. Fixes for bugs introduced in earlier versions of Lightroom 5.
4. Camera support for additional new lenses and cameras.

• The crop overlay displayed an intermediate step when progressing through images in the filmstrip with overlay displayed.
• The lens profile for the Canon EF 16-35mm f/4 would not auto-select when using Lens Profile Corrections.
• ICC profiles resulted in incorrectly clipped shadows and blacks in Lightroom. Note that this is related to the issue identified here and only occurs on Mac OSX 10.9 and later
• Fixed crash when rapidly adding corrections with the Spot Removal tool.
• Improved quality of Camera Matching color profiles for the Nikon D810. Fixes visible banding issues with the Camera Standard, Camera Vivid, Camera Landscape, and Camera Monochrome profiles.
• Context menu (right click on PC or control+click on Mac) was disabled for images contained in Lightroom mobile collections.
• Fixed issue that prevented Lightroom 5 from reading Photoshop Elements 13 libraries.
• Cover images set by Lightroom mobile were sometimes incorrectly reset by Lightroom desktop.
• Sync with Lightroom mobile sometimes stalled when asset is added to same album on both LrM and LrD and later deleted
• Resolved issue that caused Lightroom to crash when creating a Print and saving it to a mounted DVD directly inside Lightroom.
• Publishing images to Behance using the Behance Publish Service has been restored.

Download
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7 - Windows | Macintosh

Support for the following cameras has been added. Visit the Camera Raw page for a complete list of supported cameras.

1. Canon EOS 7D Mark II
2. Canon PowerShot G7 X
3. Canon PowerShot SX60 HS
4. Nikon D750
5. Casio EX-100PRO
6. Fujifilm X30
7. Fujifilm X100T
8. Fujifilm X-T1 Graphite Silver
9. Leaf Credo 50
10. Leica D-Lux (Typ 109)
11. Leica M-P
12. Leica V-Lux (Typ 114)
13. Leica X (Typ 113)
14. Olympus PEN E-PL7
15. Olympus STYLUS 1s
16. Panasonic DMC-CM1
17. Panasonic DMC-GM1S
18. Panasonic DMC-GM5
19. Panasonic DMC-LX100
20. Pentax K-S1
21. Pentax QS-1
22. Samsung NX1
23. Sony ILCE-5100
24. Sony ILCE-QX1

Download
DNG Converter 8.7 - Windows | Macintosh

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is a great deal at only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

As promised in a blog post here, we are proud to introduce the Aperture and iPhoto import plugin for Lightroom 5. The plugin allows Aperture and iPhoto customers to migrate their images and key metadata (such as keywords, events, project structure) into Lightroom catalogs in a seamless way.

The plugin is available for download here and please follow these instructions to install the plugin:

1. Ensure that you’re using Lightroom 5.6. You can check your Lightroom version by going to Help->System Info inside Lightroom. If not using Lightroom 5.6, please update to the 5.6.
2. Download the plugin zip file to a known location (such as your desktop)
3. Double click on the downloaded zip file to extract it.
4. Navigate to the Users//Library/Application Support/Adobe/Lightroom folder. Please note that the Library folder is hidden by default and that you will need to hold down the Option/Alt key to make it visible.
5. Check to see if there is a Modules folder. If not, please create this folder.
6. Copy the extracted aperture_iphoto_importer.lrplugin file to the Modules folder.
7. Start Lightroom.

For iPhoto Customers: Click on File -> Plugin Extras -> Import from iPhoto Library and follow the prompts.

Download link -> aperture_iphoto_importer

From Adobe:

Latest Creative Cloud Release Drives Deep Connections Between New Family of Mobile Apps and Enhanced CC Desktop Tools Via All-New Creative Profile

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Oct. 6, 2014 — At Adobe MAX 2014, the world’s leading creativity conference, Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced it is shipping a milestone release of Creative Cloud that transforms how creatives work across desktops and devices. This major release includes significant feature updates to 13 essential CC desktop tools that link to a new family of integrated mobile apps. In addition, the latest versions of Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC include breakthroughs in Touch support for Microsoft Windows 8 and Surface Pro 3. Central to this release is an all-new Creative Profile that drives deep connections between CC desktop tools and nine new mobile apps that extend the power of the Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator and Premiere franchises onto mobile devices.

Adobe also launched a public beta of a Creative SDK that enables the delivery of mobile apps that connect to Creative Cloud, kick-starting a new era of third party app innovation for creative developers. The company also introduced Creative Talent Search, connecting creatives around the world with job opportunities from top brands and companies. These innovations and more will be demonstrated in today’s keynote session at Adobe MAX, beginning at 9:30 a.m. PT. To view the event via a live stream, visit: www.adobe.com/go/maxkeynote.

"The pace of innovation continues to accelerate with Creative Cloud and today we are introducing a new family of mobile apps that are deeply integrated with flagship CC desktop tools like Photoshop and Illustrator, and taking mobile devices into the creative mainstream,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe. “Also, new capabilities such as Creative Talent Search show that Creative Cloud is evolving into an increasingly powerful resource for our millions of members.”

All-New Creative Profile is Member’s Creative Identity Within Creative Cloud
This Creative Cloud release includes a new Creative Profile that connects creatives to their work, to the assets they use to create, and the communities that matter to them – no matter where they are. Files, photos, colors, brushes, shapes, fonts, textstyles, graphics and any other assets are always at their fingertips. This new Creative Profile moves with creatives from app-to-app and device-to-device, so assets automatically appear when they need them, in the right context.

Mobile Apps Deliver New Creative Cloud Connections
This release includes radical new connections between essential CC desktop tools and a new family of mobile apps that extend the power of Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Lightroom onto mobile devices. The line-up includes:This release includes radical new connections between essential CC desktop tools and a new family of mobile apps that extend the power of Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and Lightroom onto mobile devices. The line-up includes:

• In the Photoshop family, Photoshop Sketch lets creatives draw with new built-in expressive brushes and enables an integrated workflow with Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC. Updates to Photoshop Mix extend precise mobile compositing capabilities and now includes enhanced integration with Photoshop CC, as well as a new iPhone version. A new Lightroom Mobile app builds on integrated desktop and mobile workflows and includes features to allow clients, friends or family to select favorites and leave comments for photos shared online; and GPS information from iPhone photos now syncs with Lightroom desktop.
• In the Illustrator family, Illustrator Draw (formerly Adobe Ideas) gives users access to their favorite vector drawing tools and features in a modern, streamlined interface, high-fidelity integration with Illustrator CC and enhanced support for Adobe Ink and Slide. Illustrator Line, a precision drawing app, gives creatives new features for perfectly distributing shapes as they draw, plus the ability to send sketches to Illustrator CC where they have full access to their original vector paths for editing.
• In the Premiere family, the brand new Adobe Premiere Clip app easily transforms the video shot on iPhone or iPad into edited videos that are simple to share. Aspiring videographers can then send their compositions to Adobe Premiere Pro CC for advanced editing and finishing.

Adobe also introduced a new category of “capture” apps to create designs and bring them into creative workflows:

• Adobe Brush CC lets designers craft unique brushes, on iPad or iPhone, to use in Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC or Adobe Illustrator Sketch. Any photograph can be made into a brush, so creatives can quickly and playfully design beautiful, high-quality brushes that can range from photorealistic, to organic, painterly or graphic.
• Adobe Shape CC is a simple, unique and fun way to capture and create shapes on iPhone or iPad, wherever inspiration strikes. A high-contrast photo of anything - a chair, a pet, or a hand-drawn font - is converted into vector art that can be used immediately in Illustrator CC and Adobe Illustrator Line via Creative Cloud Libraries.
• Adobe Color CC (formerly Adobe Kuler) allows creatives to capture colors and save them as themes that are immediately available in other Adobe applications, including Illustrator CC and Photoshop CC.

These mobile apps work with all Creative Cloud plans, giving everyone – from freelancers to creatives in large organizations – access to all the benefits of a deeply integrated mobile and desktop workflow, connected via their Creative Profile. Adobe also launched the public beta of a Creative SDK that powers the delivery of new third party mobile apps that connect to Creative Cloud. Adobe Creative SDK is available at: www.creativesdk.adobe.com.

New Features for Essential CC Desktop Tools
This Creative Cloud release includes powerful new features for Adobe’s flagship creative desktop tools. Highlights include: Touch support on Windows 8 devices for key design applications; new 3D print features and enhanced Mercury Graphics Engine performance for Photoshop CC; a new Curvature tool in Illustrator CC; interactive EPUB support in InDesign CC; SVG and Synchronized Text support in Muse CC; GPU-optimized playback for viewing high resolution 4K and UltraHD footage in Premiere Pro CC; and HiDPI and new 3D support in After Effects CC. Through a member’s Creative Profile Adobe is driving frictionless creative workflows, with CC desktop tools able to access powerful new mobile apps and services. Building on the success of Creative Cloud capabilities such as file sharing, Behance and TypeKit, new services available today, include:

• Creative Cloud Market is a collection of high-quality, curated content that’s freely accessible to Creative Cloud members. Access and use thousands of professionally crafted files, including user interfaces, patterns, icons, brushes and vector shapes, to speed through desktop and mobile projects.
• Creative Cloud Libraries is a powerful asset management service that lets creatives easily access and create with colors, brushes, text styles and vector images through Creative Cloud desktop, mobile apps and services. Creative Cloud Libraries connects desktop tools like Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC to each other – and to companion mobile apps.
• Creative Cloud Extract is a cloud-based service that reinvents the Photoshop CC comp-to-code workflow for Web designers and developers, letting them share and unlock vital design information from a PSD file (such as colors, fonts and CSS) to use when coding mobile and desktop designs.

All-New Talent Search Connects Creatives with Job Opportunities
Adobe also launched Creative Talent Search today. Talent Search connects creatives across the globe with job opportunities from top brands and companies. Hiring managers using Talent Search are able to use advanced discovery tools to find the right talent for their job – for example, finding experts in Photoshop, who live in a specific city, and have worked in automotive design is easier than ever. Custom algorithms recommend candidates for roles and get smarter the more a recruiter uses the system. Also, public postings will advertise job opportunities to the millions of creatives on Behance. More information is available at: https://www.behance.net/talentsearch.

Pricing and Availability
Today’s updates to Creative Cloud are expected to be available to Creative Cloud members by the end of the day as part of their membership at no additional cost. The new and updated mobile apps are free to everyone. More information will be available later today at: http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/catalog/mobile.html.

The value of Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program grows with each new feature that is added. And it's still only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

Camera Raw 8.7 is now available as a release candidate on Adobe Labs for Photoshop CS6 , Photoshop CC and Photoshop CC 2014 on Adobe Labs. An update of DNG Converter is also available on Adobe Labs.

As mentioned here, updates to Camera Raw 8 for Photoshop CS6 only include new camera support, lens profile support, and bug fixes. The new features listed in the release notes are only available in Photoshop CC.

New Camera Support in Camera Raw 8.7 Release Candidate

• Casio EX-100PRO
• Fujifilm X30
• Leaf Credo 50
• Leica V-Lux (Typ 114)
• Nikon D750
• Panasonic DMC-GM1S
• Sony ILCE-5100
• Sony ILCE-QX1

New Lens Profile Support in Camera Raw 8.7 Release Candidate

• When Photoshop CC 2014’s option to scale the UI 200% is enabled (Edit > Preferences > Experimental Features), the Camera Raw dialog will also be scaled.
• Known issues:

• Sometimes the Camera Raw dialog will not scale after the initial Photoshop relaunch to enable the feature. Workaround: relaunch Photoshop again.
• Some UI flashing/redrawing during interactive operations such as dragging a local adjustment gradient or toggling fullscreen mode.

Bug Fixes:

• Fix crash when rapidly adding corrections with the Spot Removal tool.
• Fix bug that prevented the Filter Brush cursor from displaying while changing brush size when the Graduated and Radial Filter overlay is turned off.
• Improve quality of Camera Matching color profiles for the Nikon D810. Fixes visible banding issues with the Camera Standard, Camera Vivid, Camera Landscape, and Camera Monochrome profiles.

Download

Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.7 for CC
Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.7 RC for CS6

Note: DNG Converter links are on the Camera Raw 8.7 RC for CS6 download page (must click agreement checkmark to see links). [thanks Jan]

Adobe's Photoshop Photography Program is only $9.99 per month (Photoshop CC + Lightroom).

From Adobe:

Get Amazing Results with Advanced Technology that Makes Photo and Video Editing Quick and Easy

Adobe today announced the availability of Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 and Adobe Premiere Elements 13, the latest versions of the No. 1 selling consumer photo- and video-editing software. Adobe serves up a fresh collection of easy-to-use editing tools and guided techniques to help consumers achieve the results they want. Also new this year, Elements Live: a dynamic channel within the software that's designed to spark creativity and improve user skills.

"Our customers don't always have the time or the know-how to get the results they desire," said Shanmugh Natarajan, senior director, engineering, core technologies and products at Adobe. "In Photoshop Elements 13 and Premiere Elements 13, we focused on developing tools that automate the process or guide customers through the steps to create the photos they'll love and want to share."

New Creative Features and Tools Inspired by Consumer Favorites

Adobe debuts features and tools based on the most popular consumer requests.

Photoshop Elements 13

• Better Photo Mashups – Copying people or objects from one photo to another is a consumer favorite and is now as easy as copy and paste with new Photomerge Compose. Used in conjunction with the new Refine Selection Brush for precise selections and Adobe's Match Color Tone that automatically blends lighting and shading, the final photo will look as if it had been taken that way.
• Stand Out with an Innovative Facebook Page – Easily combine Facebook Cover and Profile photos with text and graphics to create an integrated layout that's sure to get noticed.
• Black and White Photos with Personality – Three new Guided Edits add flair to black and white photos with pops of color or fine-tuning for a more dramatic approach.

Premiere Elements 13

• Minimize Time Spent Trimming Footage – Use Favorite Moments to mark the best parts of a clip, and then assemble them into a short movie ready for sharing.
• Introduce a Little Hollywood Flare – Add video footage to movie titles with Video in Titles or apply a blur or other popular effects to specific areas of the frame with Effects Masking.

Extraordinary Results in One Click

Personalizing photos and videos is even easier.

Photoshop Elements 13

• Fifty Stylish Ways to Customize Photos – Building on to the most popular enhancements in Expert mode, new Effects Variations offers four additional options per look for a total of 50 ways to tailor photos in a single click.
• Crop Photos Like a Pro – Improve photos with Intelligent Crop Suggestions, a tool that analyzes faces, horizons and other photographic elements to recommend four different crops based on the rules of composition.

Premiere Elements 13

• Steady Shaky Footage – The popularity of shooting video with hand-held smartphones and action cameras is at an all-time high but often results in shaky footage. With the enhanced Shake Stabilizer it's easy to steady shaky video in seconds.

Elements Live Educates and Inspires

Regularly updated to deliver fresh content, the Elements Live portal serves up tips, tricks and inspiration from within the application. From how to get started to inspiration and tutorials on more complicated techniques, Elements Live is sure to excite with all the creative possibilities.

Creative Storytelling in Fewer Steps

Build engaging narratives with imaginative slideshows and videos, then share finished creations directly to social media or generate a private album for only the people that matter most.

Premiere Elements 13

• Produce a Perfect Tale in Minutes – Themes based on various occasions, such as Wedding and Birthdays, walk users through the process of building a compelling video. Video Story automatically assembles the clips, adds transitions and music based on the chosen theme for a polished finished piece.
• Transform Humdrum Into Something Special – From within the Elements Organizer, add photos and videos into a themed slideshow complete with transitions and automated music, or choose an MP3 from a personal collection. Slideshow will sync the pace based on the beat of the selected song.

Pricing and Availability

Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 and Adobe Premiere Elements 13 (Mac and Windows) are immediately available for purchase for US$99.99 via www.adobe.com and retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, Staples, Office Depot and Campus Bookstores. Upgrade pricing is also available for US$79.99. The Photoshop Elements 13 & Premiere Elements 13 bundle is available for US$149.99, with upgrade pricing of US$119.99.

B&H has Adobe Photoshop Elements 13 and Premiere Elements 13 available for purchase.