Apple today has confirmed that is updating its web plug-in blocking mechanism in OS X to disable all versions of Adobe Flash Player prior to the most recent, which is version 17.0.0.169. On older systems, all versions of Flash prior to 13.0.0.281 are blocked.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45_zCZnqmqU?rel=0&showinfo=0&w=704&h=396]
Following months of rumors, Adobe is today announcing Photoshop Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC, the latest versions of its popular photo editing and organization software. Sharing the same code, design, and much of the same functionality, the two Lightroom releases are separated into purchasable (Lightroom 6) or subscription (Lightroom CC) versions, only the latter of which can sync with Adobe’s mobile applications. Apple notably recommended Lightroom as a replacement for its recently-discontinued Aperture professional photo application, and worked with Adobe to build an Aperture library importing tool to aid users during the transition.
Lightroom manages large photo libraries, while offering photographers powerful tools for RAW and JPEG image adjustment. Now solely a 64-bit application, Lightroom 6/CC promises huge speed improvements when applying prior effects to images, as well as newly added tools and brushes. As shown in the embedded video, facial recognition has been added, enabling functionality similar to Apple’s Faces feature from Aperture and iPhoto. A new HDR (high dynamic range) tool uses two images to create a composite photo with more vivid colors and detail, while brushes such as radial and graduated filters have been added. The app has also gained new slideshow options, automatic panorama stitching, video slide shows, and many other features.
Photoshop Lightroom CC can be downloaded now as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography subscription service for $9.99 per month; a prepaid year of CC Photography access is normally $119.88, and currently on sale at B&H Photo Video for $99.88. Photoshop Lightroom 6 can be ordered for $149 as a standalone download. Adobe has also released version 1.4 updates to its mobile apps Lightroom for iPad and Lightroom for iPhone with support for Lightroom CC, improved cropping, and TIFF file support. Both iOS apps are now available for free from the App Store, but require Creative Cloud subscriptions.
Adobe announced its new Document Cloud service a few weeks ago including new iOS apps for handling documents on-the-go. Described as the digital document hub, Adobe’s Document Cloud includes integration with new apps for iPhone and iPad.
Adobe Fill & Sign for iPad is out now with integration with new Adobe Acrobat DC app allowing you to complete PDF forms right down to your signature from your iPad. Adobe EchoSign for both iPhone and iPad is now Adobe eSign Manager DC as it now integrates with the Document Cloud service. At the center of the mobile experience is the previously mentioned Adobe Acrobat DC for both iPhone and iPad. Formerly Adobe Reader, the new Adobe Acrobat DC app is the company’s PDF management app showcasing the new Document Cloud service.
The new and updated apps are available now on the App Store and come included with an Adobe Document Cloud subscription which starts at $14.99/month after a 30-day free trial. Full Adobe Creative Cloud members can also access Document Cloud through Adobe Acrobat DC at no additional charge.
Adobe is out today with its latest app for content creators on the iPad. The new Adobe Slate app is available for free and joins the similar Voice app Adobe launched last May. Where Adobe Voice focused on using the iPad and later the iPhone for story telling with the spokenword backed by visual elements, the new Adobe Slate app pairs text with fluid and customizable attractive layouts that look great whether you’re a designer or not.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Adobe today released a new iPad app dubbed Comp CC that offers “rapid creation of layout concepts for mobile, Web and print projects” that can later be used in Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC and InDesign CC. Adobe first previewed the new app last year when it was still an early prototype, but today the app is arriving on the App Store for all.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Adobe is taking its document strategy to the cloud with its latest service. Taking the same approach as its Creative Cloud Suite of apps for creators, Adobe is revealing its new Document Cloud service alongside two new apps for iOS: Acrobat Mobile and Fill & Sign. The new service aims to make handling PDFs and other documents much more flexible, and the new iOS apps can bring paper documents into the Adobe Document Cloud for work on the go…
Expand
Expanding
Close
Keep up with the best gear and deals on the web by signing up for the 9to5Toys Newsletter. Also, be sure to check us out on: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.
Last Call updates:
[tweet https://twitter.com/llsethj/status/568071035926523904 align=’center’]
Microsoft Office 365 Personal ($70 value) FREE w/computer/iPad/tablet purchase including this $50 Android at Best Buy
Adobe is out with an update to its Photoshop Express photo editing app for iPhone and iPad today. The latest release of Photoshop Express for iOS, version 3.5, adds integration with the WhatsApp Messenger app for sharing edited photos directly to the chat service. The update also includes the usual bug fixes including some for issues for iOS 8 users specifically.
Adobe is also giving Photoshop Express users access to some premium features within the app for free. Photoshop Express users with a free Adobe ID (you can sign up here) can use paid features like Premium and Custom Looks as well as noise reduction without paying. Adobe says this promotion will only be available for a short time.
Adobe updated two of its creative iPad apps today with new features and additional Bluetooth stylus support. Both Illustrator Line and Photoshop Sketch were updated to version 2.1 and picked up support for FiftyThree’s Pencil Bluetooth stylus and Wacom’s Intuos Creative Bluetooth stylus when drawing in each app. Both new app versions also added the ability to auto save sketches to Projects and your usual performance improvements.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Adobe released version 1.4 of Photoshop Mix for iPhone and iPad today adding a new “auto crop” feature that Adobe says “analyzes images and suggests non-destructive boundaries based on the primary objects in an image.”
The latest version of the photo editing app also includes the addition of Instagram as a sharing option while sharing to Facebook has been improved. The Creative Cloud-connected app can now open files directly from Lightroom, Photoshop Sketch, Illustrator Line, and Illustrator Draw as well while support for six more languages was added in the update.
Auto crop feature from Photoshop Mix
Check out the full change log for Photoshop Mix, which first launched in June, below with all the new details.
Alongside a string of updates to both the mobile and desktop Creative Cloud software suites, Adobe today launched a trio of new services at its annual MAX conference. First up, and most critical to the updates on the software side of the story, is the new Creative Profile content synchronization service. Blending nicely with the existing Creative Cloud sync service, Creative Profile takes ubiquity of files to new heights by allowing synchronization of more aspects of documents:
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.
Most critically, it is optimized for the new desktop and mobile apps so new content created with Adobe’s latest products can be easily synchronized. The Creative Profile service launches today, and it is a free addition for customers with existing Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions…
To complement the new Creative Cloud Talent Search, Creative Profile services, and significant mobile app updates, Adobe is today enhancing most of its suite of desktop Creative Cloud applications. Here are the highlights, courtesy of Adobe:
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.
Perhaps more interesting on the desktop side of today’s news are some fresh services. Here’s Adobe’s explainer on the new Cloud Market, Cloud Libraries, and Cloud Extract products:
The Cloud Market feature could give services like Getty Images a run for its money, while Cloud Libraries is the iCloud-like solution that ties all of Adobe’s supported platforms together. Cloud Extract is an advanced cloud-based solution that allows designers and developers working on Photoshop projects together to share data on an asset-by-asset or feature-by-feature basis.
Like with the new services and mobile applications covered in our other Adobe news articles this morning, the updated desktop apps and new Creative Cloud services are free additions for those with existing Creative Cloud subscriptions.
Ahead of its annual MAX Conference kicking off today, Adobe has launched an entirely new suite of apps that are now available on the iPhone and iPad App Store. This year, Adobe is focusing on simplifying its mobile software lineup into four categories that sync with desktop counterparts: Illustration, Imaging, Video, and a new platform called Creative Cloud Capture Apps. Each of the apps within the four categories are either brand new or have been enhanced.
Image via Engadget
Adobe has announced its next major upgrades to its popular Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements applications, with each being bumped up to version 13.
Both apps add new editing features, such as “photomerge compose” for lifting subjects from one photo and quickly moving them into another with proper lighting and other effects. New cropping tools allow you to automatically compose perfectly cropped by detecting faces and other details and determining how to best frame them in the shot.
Adobe is announcing a number of updates for its Creative Cloud desktop apps today with the highlight being a refreshed UI across almost all of its video products. One thing in specific for Mac users caught our eye, however, and that’s HiDPI support for Macs with Retina displays:
A refreshed user-interface across all the video applications supports HiDPI displays for both Mac Retina Displays and Windows 8.1, providing a cleaner appearance enabling video professionals to stay focused on their projects. “The first thing you’ll notice when you open them, is the cleaner look to all of the video apps,” said Bill Roberts, senior director of product management. “We’ve modernized and simplified the user interface so that it doesn’t compete with the content. The point is to allow video pros to focus more on their content, and less on the widgets.”
In addition, there is a long list of other improvements for the apps including some major enhancements to Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe Anywhere for video. A full list of what’s new is available here.
Adobe, which announced the new features at IBC 2014, says the updates are coming soon.
Revealing Next Wave of Innovation for Adobe Video Desktop Apps
At IBC 2014, Adobe will showcase new video technology that streamlines video workflows for video professionals, broadcasters and media companies. Key updates include:
Support for cutting-edge hardware and standards is accelerated via Adobe Creative Cloud, enabling the company to respond quickly to new hardware and software standards. Key updates extend native file support, with the addition of AJA RAW. Performance enhancements include accelerated Masking & Tracking; and new GPU-optimized playback that delivers better performance when viewing extremely high resolution 4K and UltraHD footage from Phantom Cine, Canon RAW and RED R3D files.
A refreshed user-interface across all the video applications supports HiDPI displays for both Mac Retina Displays and Windows 8.1, providing a cleaner appearance enabling video professionals to stay focused on their projects.
Powerful new media and project management features, including Consolidate & Transcode; Search Bins; and Multiproject workflows offer more ease and flexibility, at the project level, so Adobe Premiere Pro CC users can complete tasks more efficiently. Adobe Media Encoder now includes Destination publishing with preset options so users can render, deliver and share projects to multiple locations such as FTP sites and their Creative Cloud folder, automating the delivery process. Additionally, Extended Match Source support now includes added support for the QuickTime and DNxHD formats, simplifying the workflow for users who are transcoding or rendering content.
Streamlined workflows and ongoing refinements make everyday tasks easier and faster inside Adobe CC video apps, including Timeline Views in Adobe Premiere Pro CC; Curve adjustments and Look Hover previews in Adobe SpeedGrade CC; and Rough Cut Dissolves and keyboard shortcuts for tagging in Adobe Prelude CC.
Adobe has updated its Photoshop Mix iPad app with several new features and tweaks. Version 1.1 of the app includes undo and redo support for quickly rolling back edits up to three levels.
The update also introduces support for exporting a JPEG or masked PNG to the iPad’s camera roll. You can also import images to edit from Dropbox. Foregrounds and background layers can now be switched using the Image Swap feature. Other miscellaneous performance enhancements have also been made to allow for faster project loading.
Image via <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-01/tech-hubris-the-silicon-valley-antitrust-hiring-conspiracy#p2" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>
A judge has rejected a settlement that was reached earlier this year between employees of Apple, Intel, Google, and Adobe and their respective companies, CNBC reported today. According to reports from the courtroom, Judge Lucy Koh ruled that the settlement was not high enough and should actually be $380 million.
The lawsuit was brought against the tech giants in question by current and former employees who believed (correctly) that their employers had created agreements to avoid attempting to hire engineers from one another. The idea was that if no competitors were making offers, each company was free to pay its employees whatever it wanted without having to worry about them jumping ship for a better offer.
Approximately a month after Apple announced it is discontinuing Aperture and iPhoto in favor of the new Photos app on OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, Adobe is today taking advantage of the Apple shift with a couple of key announcements. First, Adobe has published a new website detailing the advantages of Lightroom over Aperture. More importantly, Adobe has released a comprehensive, step-by-step transition guide for moving from Aperture to Lightroom. The guide also includes some answers to frequently asked questions.
It can be accessed here. Adobe has also announced that it working on software to bring a more automated transition experience:
At Adobe, we’re working on a migration tool to help you bring your photos into Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® from Aperture, but if you’re eager to switch before the tool is ready, this guide can help ease your transition. We recognize that this migration may be a challenging process and offer the following resources and methodology to help get you up to speed with Lightroom and provide a road map for successfully migrating your photos.
The first challenge is that the terminology, layout, and controls of the two applications are different. It’s a good idea to start processing photos in Lightroom and become familiar with it before you migrate your photos from Aperture. You can do so by taking some new photos, importing them into Lightroom, and then using Lightroom.
The new Photos app for OS X launches in early 2015, but despite Apple’s claims of significant functionality, a look at what Apple has shown about the app reveals that the functionality mostly mirrors what iOS 8 will gain in September. Adobe has also previously detailed some future Lightroom plans in order to appease professional photo editors.
Adobe has actively been rolling out new and powerful tools for the iPhone and iPad in recent months including Lightroom Mobile for iPad followed later by Lightroom Mobile for iPhone and Photoshop Mix as well as Adobe Voice for creating storytelling from iPad.
Expand
Expanding
Close
Due to a security flaw discovered in its Flash Player software, Adobe released an update to the web plugin earlier this week. Today Apple confirmed that it had updated its plugin blacklist for OS X to stop the system from using a version of Flash Player older than 14.0.0.145 (or 13.0.0.231 on older systems).
According to Apple’s product security team:
Due to security issues in older versions, Apple has updated the web plug-in blocking mechanism to disable all versions prior to Flash Player 14.0.0.145 and 13.0.0.231.
Earlier this week, Apple released OS X 10.9.4 with various enhancements and bug fixes for wake-from-sleep and WiFi connectivity. In addition to those fixes, many professional video editors who use Mac Pros are reporting that graphics rendering and performance issues found in the preceding OS X 10.9.3 have been resolved. Graphics card incompatibility issues with 2013 Mac Pros bundled with AMD D700 and D500 graphics engines resulted in videos stalling during the exporting process, pink and green lines appearing in exported video, and various application crashes and freezes with key video production apps like Adobe Premiere Pro and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve…
Following Apple’s announcement that it has ceased software development of the Aperture professional photo editing software for Mac and the development of iPhoto on iOS and OS X, Adobe has issued a statement. The digital software company is promoting its Lightroom and Creative Cloud photo editing and management products for the web, iOS, and OS X:
Today, Apple announced they will no longer be developing Aperture in light of their new photography app for OS X. If you are an Aperture or iPhoto customer looking for change, check out our new Creative Cloud Photography plan announced last week, or our standalone Lightroom app for your desktop as alternatives.
Adobe also says that it is “doubling down” on those products and that a “rich roadmap” is ahead for the coming weeks, months and years:
As part of a totally revamped Creative Cloud Photography Plan, Adobe today launched both Lightroom for iPhone, a companion app to the desktop version and twin of the recently launched iPad version, as well as Adobe Mix, a completely new iPad app that brings down many powerful features previously only available on the desktop versions of Photoshop.
Corresponding with these new iOS apps, Adobe has launched new versions of 14 of its Creative Cloud desktop apps. Let’s take a closer look at the new iOS offerings from Adobe.
Alongside a minor update to the app, Adobe Revel has changed their business model slightly. Before, free accounts were limited to uploading just 50 photos every month. Going forward, free accounts get 2 GB of fixed storage for uploads.
