CS4

InDesign CS4 Trades CS5 for Sex

So there I was last night, working on my upcoming book Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One, when I happened to type "CS5" into InDesign CS4. Not surprisingly, this older model version of the software did not recognize "CS5" and tagged the word as misspelled with its Dynamic Spelling feature. After all, such mind-blowing concepts as CS5 could not have been imagined back in the olden days when InDesign CS4 first hit the market.

What is surprising is InDesign CS4's suggested alternatives.

InDesign CS4 Trades CS5 for Sex

I'm telling you, this is one steamy upgrade. Read more » 

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Photoshop Top 40: Three Features Left and a Huge Cache of Prizes

Hi, let me introduce myself. My name is Theresa. I'm Deke's marketing maven and the woman responsible for the onslaught of prizes associated with Photoshop Top 40: The Final 10 Contest, which is now down to the precious few Final 3!

Between you and me, I can't believe we're on the verge of revealing the most essential features in Deke's Photoshop Top 40. It seems like just yesterday---okay, more like 7 weeks ago---that we got this contest rolling. And now three of you, faithful subscribers, stand to win an unbelievably valuable cache of prizes. More than $7,000 in hardware, software, and training remain, including a shipping version of Adobe's CS4 Design Premium package. And all you have to do is become a member (if you aren't already!) and guess a correct feature. Read more » 

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Martini Hour 053, In Which Photoshop Turns Twenty and Martini Hour Turns One

You know, it seems like only yesterday, our favorite little pixel-wrangler was just learning how to grasp things with its tiny little hand tool. And today a grown-up Photoshop turns 20---as sophisticated, complex, and worldly a piece of software as there ever was. It's also the one-year anniversary of the day Deke and I lost our heads and decided to record the goings-on in the dekeLounge, so we could share with our martini-quaffing, computer graphics-loving friends everywhere. We celebrate these two happy occasions on the Martini Hour this week, by sipping champagne out of martini glasses and chatting with our good friends Adobe Product Managers John Nack and Bryan O'Neil Hughes. 

And forward-thinkers that we four are, rather than wax sentimentally about the last 20 years of Photoshop, we decided to look ahead to what might inform the next 20 years: Read more » 

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Two Days Left to Vote for Martini Hour at SXSW

Hey there, dekeOphiles, especially you fans of that refreshing auditory cocktail known as Martini Hour. Deke and I are proposing a panel at next year's SXSW in which we try to pull off a live version of what usually goes on behind secret velvet doors at the dekeLounge. We're calling it "Martini Hour Presents: Adobe CS4 Under the Influence," and we hope to get some luminary friends of the lounge to join us. If you think this is a delightful idea, you can vote for our "panel" (just replace "panel" with "cocktail-sipping discussion" in your mind) by clicking on the graphic below then giving our gin-soaked idea the thumbs up by clicking the...thumbs up button. If we get enough votes, maybe we'll see you in Austin---shoes off, libations in hand.

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Configurator: CS4 Treasure Trove

Last week, Colleen and I invited Adobe's own Jeff Tranberry to join us for our weekly Martini Hour. During the show, we discussed the Configurator, which is a free utility from Adobe Labs that lets you create custom palettes for Photoshop CS4.

If you've ever used Configurator, you know that it provides access to just about every tool and command available to Photoshop. Make a new palette, drag a tool or command into it, and you have your own customized interface. Problem is, Adobe left out a few of the new features available to Photoshop CS4, including the Adjustments palette and Vibrance command. I now make them available to you in the form of a palette I'm calling Photoshop CS4 Treasure Trove.

Photoshop CS4 Treasure Trove palette

You'll need to be a member to gain access to this palette. Read more » 

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