Adobe unveils Creative Suite 4

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 23 Sep 2008 at 10:56

Adobe has unveiled Creative Suite 4, the latest version of its widely anticipated digital imaging, web and video editing and collaboration suite.

The release includes significant new versions of Photoshop and InDesign, plus enhanced versions of its Design Premium, Web Premium and Production Premium suites.

Adobe also launched a new Master Suite, which contains every one of its applications and tools in one box.

The estimated street price for the Master Suite will be £1,969 (exc VAT), Design Premium will be £1,249, Web Premium will be £1,195 and Production Premium will cost £1,409.

Photoshop CS4

Of the many application improvements, Photoshop looks to have had one of the more exciting upgrades.

Aside from the usual array of new tools, Photoshop CS4 can now employ the power of the graphics chip to enable smooth panning and zooming that allows users to easily edit images at the highest magnification while maintaining clarity.

The use of the GPU has also enabled a feature called Pixel Bender, which allows users to more quickly apply and customise special effects. While Pixel Bender won't initially ship with CS4, it is likely to appear as an update through Adobe Labs.

Alongside the GPU-led innovations, Adobe has also introduced a wide array of new tools. Potentially, the most interesting is Content Aware Scaling that lets users intelligently size and scale images with a simple drag of the mouse.

The tool allows users to select areas of an image they want to preserve - such as faces or human figures - when cropping or scaling and Photoshop then adjusts the image to retain these areas when the edit is performed.

Adobe has also added Auto Align and Auto Blend modes that generate composites based on extended depth of field and 360 degree panoramas with seamless tones and colours. Other new features include new panels for adjustments and masks and improved Lightroom integration and raw image processing.

Photoshop CS4 extended

All these features can also be found in the new Photoshop CS4 Extended, which allows users to paint directly on 3D models and surfaces, merge 2D files onto 3D images and animate 3D objects.

According to Adobe, the 3D engine has been rebuilt from the ground up to provide faster performance, allow editing of properties like light and the ability to create more realistic renderings with a new ray tracer. Video professionals can turn any 3D object into a video display zone, to edit and animate. In addition, the core motion graphics editing has been improved with single key shortcuts.

Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended will be available as standalone applications or as part of Creative Suite 4 collections. Estimated street price for Adobe Photoshop CS4 is £485 and £755 for Photoshop CS4 Extended.