The first additions to the Creative Cloud version of Adobe’s Creative Suite 6 have just been released, for the Illustrator design program. When the company announced that CS6 would optionally be available for online leasing, it said that it intended to make new features available immediately to Cloud users before they were released to outright purchasers of the packages.
It’s also promising new features for the DreamWeaver web program next month, again to Cloud customers.
So far there’s no indication whether the new features will be released to users who have bought the CS6 package outright, paying £1000 or more, or if they’ll have to wait for the next major program release. Adobe is keen to switch as many users as possible to the Cloud scheme, but those people will never ‘own’ the package and it will cease to operate if they stop the regular payments.
‘When we launched Creative Cloud, we said that one of biggest benefits was early access to Adobe innovation,’ said Jeff Veen, vice president of product management for Adobe Creative Cloud. ‘As soon as our engineering teams can finalise new features, like the ones we’re seeing for Illustrator today, we will release special Creative Cloud editions of our desktop software, only available to Adobe Creative Cloud members.’
New features in this Adobe Illustrator release include:
Package Files – a long-requested feature that allows designers to automatically collect all the files used in an Illustrator project, including linked graphics and fonts, into a single folder helping make handoffs and sharing of projects more efficient and error-free.
Unembed Images – a new capability that helps enables production artists to quickly unembed images that have been embedded into an Illustrator file by other designers or customers, eliminating much wasted time in day-to-day production work.
Links Panel Enhancements – a new feature enhancement that allows users to access and track information on any artwork placed in an Illustrator file much quicker. What used to require multiple clicks to ensure all placed graphics meet necessary requirements for output is now surfaced up front.
Coming in September will also be the addition of the Digital Publishing Suite Single Edition for publishing brochures, portfolios and highly visual books as apps for Apple iPad. Adobe said plans to release other new features to Creative Cloud members in the coming months.
Contact: www.adobe.co.uk
