Adobe Creative Suite 6 - the new face of creativity

Adobe recently released its latest version of Creative Suite - Adobe Creative Suite 6, introducing a slew of features and enhancement to their software line-ups.

I was fortunate to be present at the Media Launch of Adobe CS6 in New Delhi, India. Presided over by Umang Bedi, Managing Director, South Asia at Adobe Systems, there were demos galore and quite a bit of stunning new stuff with the likes of Photoshop, Premiere, SpeedGrade, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, etc.

It was not surprising to know that many creative geniuses from India relied totally on Adobe Products to get their work done. Film-maker Aseem Bajaj talks about his experience from analog to digital film-making and how he uses Adobe Products day-in and day-out. Kushal Ruia, Creative Head at Amar Chitra Katha Media demoed some interesting and creative motion video works done in Flash. CB ArunKumar, Academic Director at FX School talked about the creative outcomes as a result of Adobe Products used by his students. It was a day well spent and I came back home thinking, ‘Adobe still have their mojo intact when it comes to creativity tools.’

Adobe CS6 software delivers a whole new experience for digital media creation, enabling you to work lightning fast and reach audiences wherever they may be. Now, for the first time, CS applications are also available through Adobe Creative Cloud, giving you the flexibility to download and install them at any time.

I’ve been trying out the products from the Creative Suite 6 collection and they’re awesome. They are pretty fast and a huge improvement over their predecessors.

Download and Installation

Here is my unfortunate experience. I got a ‘demo’ DVD of CS6 at the event and decided to try it out. However, Adobe Bangalore called me and told me they’re sending me a ‘final’ copy instead. Well, that turned out to be the “Pre-release” version, which means I was able to use my Master Collection Serial Number but cannot log in to Adobe from the software, leaving me with just 5 days before it shuts me out.

After that ordeal, I decided to download the trial from Adobe’s website. For reasons known best to Adobe, I had to download a downloader to download the new download. I downloaded the downloader and installed it and finally downloaded the trial. I just wish Adobe can improve the user experience when it comes to downloading their software - simplify and make it easier for users.

They perhaps want to know who downloaded what! But then why not figure out that I’ve got the serial and I don’t need to be spammed every week that my trial is ending and I should buy the software. That was a sad experience. And yes, the unsubscribed link on that ‘reminder’ email led me to an error page on Adobe.

Adobe Creative Suite 6

Adobe Creative Suite 6, we can see a product-wide overhaul of the interface, albeit a dark-gray-theme, which seems to be more suited for creative people. CS6 sports better speed, improved performance, and native 64-bit support for both Mac and Windows across the suite of products.

Adobe Photoshop saw a huge improvement and quite a lot of them are now the darling features of many artists, photographers, and creative users alike. 3D got a huge change in Photoshop CS6 Extended, with its primary focus on usability and performance. Adobe has completely overhauled the User Interface and 3D workflows, which are now, much more intuitive and easier to use. The new interface sports a single tool instead of the earlier 14. In CS6, you can use the standard Photoshop Move Tool and click on the element (light, camera, mesh) in your 3D layer (scene) and that will reposition it!

Illustrator features a new “gradients on stroke” feature, which can add gradients to lines, pattern-creation tool has a new tracing engine, as well as the ability to create and edit tiled vector patterns, without any visible seams, from the images you trace. InDesign has added new features like Alternate Layouts, Liquid Layout, and Content Collector. This will be a blessing to those page designers who create for a variety of platforms. InDesign CS6 also offers vast upgrades with a new Linked content tool, as well as support for building interactive PDFs.

Dreamweaver, the entry point for most web designers, saw some decent improvement, and is geared towards the new ‘responsive design’ paradigm of the web. I was under the impression that Dreamweaver will move to oblivion and die a silent death but CS6 seem to have taken a huge turn. Dreamweaver helps you design once and adapt your websites when viewed on a phone or tablet or on a browser. Dreamweaver CS6 is built for the multi-platform era, with full support for HTML5 and CSS3.

I’m not much of a video guy but from the demo, I saw on that day, Adobe Premiere Pro seems to be kicking some real ass. It’s integration with After Effects and Photoshop is something very interesting and should serve as a convenient tool for video professionals. SpeedGrade was something the film-makers swear by, smiling to the fact that now they can see their movies being graded quickly in real-time right in front of them. Real-time subtitle support was another awe-thing from the video line-up by Adobe.

Well, for Adobe Flash, it’s not what we used to know from the yonder years. Flash graduated to doing more and more of HTML5 and Javascript. It’s now being marketed as ‘the tool’ for your web and mobile needs when it comes to HTML5 and Javascript and an easy development tool for iOS, Android, and other platforms.

Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud is a digital hub where you can explore, create, share, and deliver your work using any of the Adobe Creative Suite desktop tools, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, and new applications like Adobe Muse and Adobe Edge preview. Creative Cloud also includes new Internet-based services and enables the delivery of high-impact content experiences such as interactive websites and stunning digital magazines. By offering connectivity with Adobe Touch Apps, headlined by Adobe Photoshop Touch, Creative Cloud enables a mobile workflow, from ideation to publishing, to bring the power of Adobe innovation to iPads and Android tablets. Creative Cloud gives you the freedom to create, offering immediate and ongoing access to industry-defining tools and technologies, to serve a vibrant worldwide community of creative talent.

Well, if you do not want or cannot afford the costly software from Adobe, you can now use them by paying a monthly subscription. Membership to the Adobe Creative Cloud is available at a price of $49.99 per month for individuals and $69.99 per month per seat for workgroups, both for an annual plan.