Adobe Also Updates Bridge CS3 to 2.1.1

Adobe Also Updates Bridge CS3 to 2.1.1
It seems like Adobe is in a frenzy to update everything in the Photoshop family and now the Bridge CS3 update to version 2.1.1 is available for download (no word yet on Adobe Updater).
The Macintosh Bridge CS3 (2.1.1) Update is here.
The Windows Bridge CS3 (2.1.1) Update is here.

Adobe Releases Photoshop CS3 Update

Adobe Photoshop 10.0.1 update for Adobe Photoshop CS3
The Adobe Photoshop 10.0.1 update addresses a number of issues discovered after Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended (10.0) software were released.
The update should be showing up in Adobe Updater but the patcher/updater is available for download from Adobe.com now.
The Windows Photoshop CS3 (10.0.1) update is here.
The Macintosh Photoshop CS3 (10.0.1) update is here.

Cool plugin: Picutel Smart Resize

Picutel Smart Resize is a Photoshop plugin (only Windows supported for now) for advanced resizing of photos. Unlike ordinary resizing, Smart Resize can change the proportions (aspect ratio) of an image without introducing artifacts such as unnaturally tall or short people. This is accomplished by only rescaling the least interesting or important regions of the photo, leaving the more interesting regions untouched.

I’ve tested this plug-in with the following image:

I resized the image in Photoshop with Image/Resize, deselected Constrain Proportions and lowered the width from 500 to 300 pixels.
As you can see, the main subject is distorted.

I used the same original, but this time I resized with Picutel Smart Resize after making a selection around the girl first.
This time no distortion of the main subject. Slight distortions in the background can be easily corrected with cloning, but wait…. there is more.

You can even take it a step further and make multiple selections. In this example I included the big roll of hay in the background in my selection:

It doesn’t happen so often that you come across a plug-in that is actually useful. It’s not the ultimate solution, because in some cases you still need to do some cloning in the background, but regardless of this it’s still an impressive product and I’m looking forward to future developments.

Picking a Typeface

When it comes to picking a typeface there are a few general rules you should consider, in particular you need to consider if it is for screen or print.Print fonts for articles tend to be more Times New Roman, and similar 'serif' type fonts. If you are interested in trying different to Times New Roman... Try Baskerville or Goudy Old Style, which are both great substitutes for the standard Times New Roman.If your work is primarily for screen or the internet then you should probably be sticking to Sans Serif type fonts ... Like Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma or Verdana. Those are probably the most widely used fonts on the internet for screen use at the moment.If you are interested in giving your work more kick, for example in a poster, then you could try fonts called Impact or Futura, both quite modern and Futura in particular has a variety of different options for boldness.If you have any opinions on fonts or have a favourite font, pleaselet us know in the comments section.

Cool Masking Plug In

The Fluid Mask 3, from Vertis is a cool product which allows you to make extremely fine mask selections.It's not a product everybody actually needs as the masking tools in Photoshop are very good anyway, but for professional work, with complicated shapes this tool is indispensible.If you are interested, you can go download a free trial version here.

Adobe: Online Photoshop coming this year

Source: CNETWritten by Stephen Shankland
MONTEREY, Calif.–Adobe Systems has committed to shipping a beta version of its online image-editing tool, Photoshop Express, this year, and said it will be complete in 2008.
“By late this year, we anticipate having a beta version,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president for Adobe Creative Solutions, speaking at the 6sight digital imaging conference here. And next year, the online service will be “available to anyone,” he said.
Loiacono showed Photoshop Express running on an Adobe server connected over the Internet, he said. But when the average person experiences the software, it likely will be through partners such as Shutterfly or Photobucket, he said.
Unsurprisingly, Loiacono left unmentioned Flickr, which said in October it will use Picnik’s online photo-editing tools.
Photoshop Express is a profoundly important project, and Adobe’s schedule indicates that its repercussions are near-term and not academic.

It’s Shipping–Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS3

Contrary to what you may have heard about a delay, Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS3 is shipping–NOW! And, boy, am I happy.
RWCR CS3 (I kinda like to shorten the title a bit because I’ve gotten real tired of typing the whole phrase, over and over) was a labor of love that was done to honor the lasting memory of Bruce Fraser, my co-author, business partner and good friend. And while he isn’t around to see the end result, I have a pretty good idea that Bruce would be pleased.
I kept a lot of Bruce and did a good job (or so I’m told) of updating the book for Camera Raw 4.x, which as you know is arguably the largest and most impressive update yet to Thomas Knoll’s little raw processing plug-in. In fact, Thomas reviewed the new chapters and made sure I didn’t screw up hardly at all. I also owe special thanks to Zalman Stern, the “other” engineer on Camera Raw who answered a lot of my really stupid questions and actually admitted that several “inconsistencies” I found with Camera Raw while writing were actually bugs and not me going crazy.
And no, if you DID pre-order the book from Amazon and you received a message saying the book was delayed until December, well, Amazon is wrong. I don’t know what Amazon was thinking (apparently it was some accidental automated message) but I’m here to tell you that the book was always scheduled for “Fall 2007″ and I would say that a shipping date of November 8th, 2007 falls under the heading of “on time”.
Just to prove that the book is finished (and give an insight to the printing process), I’ve even written a little story about my adventures down to Courier Printing in Kendallville, Indiana. No, I didn’t ride my motorcycle as I had planned. The forecast was for rain and I’m not stupid. It was a very interesting trip and rather impressive to watch this huge, honking press churning out really well reproduced images from both Bruce and myself. See the story under the PhotoshopNews.com Featured Stories category: Printing RWCR CS3.
I’m also planning on writing a story about how I handled the color management for the book. I did all the separations after a couple rounds of color proofs and profile making.
So, I hope you get the chance to check the book out–or, better yet buy one or two! You can put them around the house for easier reading options.
Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS3By Bruce Fraser and Jeff SchewePaperback: 384 pagesDimensions 7-1/2 X 9-1/8Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (November 8, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0321518675ISBN-13: 978-0321518675List Price: $44.99Street price: about $35.00
Additional information on http://www.realworldcameraraw.com/

Scott Kelby Teaches to over 1,300 Photoshop Users in NYC

It must be some kind of record–over 1,300 people attending a one day Photoshop CS3 workshop, but that’s how many people were in attendance to Scott’s Photoshop CS3 Power Tour stop in New York City yesterday. The last stop of the year for Scott’s tour will be in Washington DC later this month.
The irony of this particular workshop is that Scott actually mentioned Adobe Photoshop Lightroom during the session in the morning and it seems a large number of attendees didn’t know what Scott was talking about. Since Scott’s been on tour doing the Lightroom Tour as well, he had just assumed everybody knows about Lightroom.
Apparently not.
So Scott is going to be devoting an entire special segment of Photoshop User TV to the question: Bridge and Camera Raw vs. Lightroom on November 19th.

Brace yourself for Adobe’s Photoshop overhaul

Adobe Systems wants to transform its flagship Photoshop software with an interface customized to the task at hand, a potentially radical revamp for software whose power today is hidden behind hundreds of menu options.
A new user interface will help Photoshop become “everything you need, nothing you don’t,” said Photoshop product manager John Nack, describing aspirations for the Photoshop overhaul on his blog Monday.
“We must make Photoshop dramatically more configurable,” Nack said. “Presenting the same user experience to a photographer as we do to a radiologist, as to a Web designer, as to a prepress guy, is kind of absurd…With the power of customizability, we can present solutions via task-oriented workspaces,” Nack said.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom offers a very task-specific interface, with editing modules changing according to broad categories of work.
In comparison, Photoshop today is unwelcoming and unhelpful. “Today, if a user walks up to Photoshop and says, ‘What do I do?’ the app kind of shrugs, stubs out a cigarette, and says, ‘I dunno–you tell me.’ That’s not real cool, and we can do better,” Nack said.

Photoshop, as seen through Johnny Cash

John Nack writes about the the development of Photoshop and compares it to a Johnny Cash recording One Piece At a Time singing about the building of a Cadillac from 20 years’ worth of evolving, mismatched parts. John Nack says: “I’ve gotta say, I know the feeling.”
He goes on to say “In fact, I sometimes joke that looking at some parts of the app is like counting the rings in a tree: you can gauge when certain features arrived by the dimensions & style of the dialog.”
But later in his post he says “The good news is that we’ve been plotting the solutions for a number of years, chipping away at the problem. Good stuff comes to the surface in bits and pieces, but we haven’t quite turned the corner–yet.”
Read his entire post at Photoshop, as seen through Johnny Cash

Call for Entries: The Photoshop User Awards

Scott Kelby posts a blog entry on his Photoshop Insider blog about the Photoshop User Awards “Call for entries”.
The “Call for Entries” goes out today for the 2nd annual worldwide “Photoshop User Awards” competition, (sponsored by Photoshop User magazine), and if you’re this year’s “Best of Show” winner, we’re sending you and a friend on a trip to beautiful Maui, Hawaii (including round-trip airfare, hotel, and daily expenses) to get you totally inspired to have your work featured as the cover art for an issue of Photoshop User magazine.
Check out the Photoshop User Awards web site for more info.

Photo of ‘extinct’ tiger sparks controversy

XI’AN — A newly-released photo, which Chinese forestry authorities say proves the continuing existence of wild South China tigers which have been thought to be extinct, has sparked heated controversy from Internet citizens, questioning its authenticity.
The digital picture, purporting to be a wild South China tiger crouching in the midst of green bushes, was released by the Forestry Department of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province at a news conference on October 12.
Zhou Zhenglong, 52, a farmer and former hunter in Chengguan Township of Shaanxi’s Zhenping County, photographed the tiger with a digital camera and on film on the afternoon of October 3, a department spokesman said.
Experts had confirmed the 40 digital pictures and 31 film photographs are genuine, the spokesman told reporters.
But dozens of netizens expressed doubts about the authenticity of the digital picture — the only one of the 71 taken to be released at the news conference — after it had been posted on the Internet, especially in on-line forums discussing Photoshop (PS) technologies.

Lightroom, Aperture cautions with Leopard

As Leopard gets out into both the developer and user communities, we’re seeing a few cautionary notes from developers regarding compatibility and performance. Recently, Apple and Adobe issued advisories regarding their respective image management and catalog applications, Aperture and Photoshop Lightroom…

Adobe’s Platform Changes The Game In Applications

Adobe Systems wants to blur the line between Web and PC applications with a new computing platform that aims to change the way digital information is presented — and perhaps give Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows some future competition.
The Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR, will let developers build and deploy rich Internet applications on the desktop. Applications made with AIR can run online or offline, and can run on Windows, Macintosh or Linux PCs.
AIR combines the speed of desktop applications with the up-to-date data capabilities of the Web, backers say. AIR applications run outside of the Web browser, so they aren’t constrained in their design.
This month at a conference for Web developers, Adobe ADBE showed off AIR applications created with a test version of the software. The first official version of AIR is due out early next year. Companies with AIR applications in the works include eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) EBAY, FedEx (NYSE:FDX) FDX, SAP SAP and Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) YHOO.
AIR can be used to design consumer and business applications.