As a design enthusiast and amateur photoshop user, I've
always been interested in various image editing and correction software.
Considering I create artwork and designs more as a hobby than for money, I've
generally swayed away from the Photoshops and Corel Draws of the design world.
I generally use trial versions for the 1 month that they work and then hunt for
more.
Recently I read about the new Creative Suite from Adobe
called CS6. The article spoke about exciting new features that the creative
industry was drooling over and, one particular video speaking of 6 brilliant
new features of Photoshop CS6 (http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-design/russell-brown-six-favorite-features-from-photoshop-cs6-in-six-minutes/?sdid=JUMMY)
had me drooling a little too. Russell Brown, the creative director at Adobe, in
the video says that the new creative suite is magic and I thought to myself,
wouldn't anyone speak that way about their own product? But then I saw the
features he was talking about.
An intuitive Content Aware Move tool lets you cut and paste
parts of your flattened image and fills up the blank space left behind, all in
one click. A Blur gallery adds more blur filters to create tilt-shift, various
different focal points and even perspective blurs, all with one simple command.
And best of all, video editing in Photoshop itself! I immediately downloaded
the trial version from here - http://www.adobe.com/in/downloads/?sdid=JUMTN
and started playing around with all of these features.
I explored the Adobe site a little more and found awesome
new features in other software too. I've tried my hand at Illustrator a few
times and while I find it a little too technical for my liking, the new Pattern
Creation tool looks like a designers wet dream! Check out the video - http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-web/pattern-creation-in-illustrator-cs6/?sdid=JUMNB
The Image Trace tool however, is the most exciting for me
because converting raster images from Photoshop into vectors in Illustrator has
always been a concern for me. In the new Illustrator, the trace tool lets you
turn raster images into vectors with ease - http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-design/new-image-trace-in-illustrator-cs6/?sdid=JUMNC
Having worked for a digital and print magazine, I've also
had a go at InDesign and Dreamweaver in the past, and while I wouldn't really
use this software myself, you might find them interesting. InDesign now lets
you create layouts for multiple screen sizes and devices, all in one file. It's
truly fantastic because every online mag or website developer's biggest concern
is compatibility with computer, mobile and tablet. Check out how easy it is - http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-design/getting-started-with-the-new-liquid-layout-and-alternate-layout-features-in-indesign-cs6/?sdid=JUMNA
Dreamweaver too has a Fluid Grid layout that makes web
design and development so much easier - http://tv.adobe.com/watch/cs6-creative-cloud-feature-tour-for-web/fluid-grid-layout-in-dreamweaver-cs6/?sdid=JUMND
All-in-all, I was quite impressed with the new Photoshop CS6
and having watched all these videos about the new features in other software in
CS6 only makes me wish I could use those too. For all you creative people out
there, let me put it simply, its neat....
If you do make a living using Adobe software, you can buy
the new creative suite here - http://shop.adobe.com/in?sdid=JUMTL
and for those of us, who look to design as a stress buster, get the trial
version NOW and experience the magic - http://www.adobe.com/in/downloads/?sdid=JUMTN
