[lebbeus]

in case you've missed it: Adobe announced CS4 this morning.

Photoshop has a new scaling algorithim (content aware scaling) that somehow keeps objects within an image in the correct proportion when you scale the image--they demonstrated it with an image of people where the people remained the correct size and the environment was either dropped or extended as they changed the size of the image--crazy

flash now has a skeleton system with IK; looked like magic when they demonstrated it; the guy just drew a couple bones over top of an image of a person and then was able to animate the guy. . .

check it out for yourself:

http://www.adobe.com/products/

[MS]

It looks promising. Maybe it is time to change Gimp to PS. I have only one "problem" with it. It probably does not support Windows XP 64bit Edition. Only 32bit XP and/or 64bit Vista is mentioned...

[Hervé]

mmmm.. good.. do you guy have any idea where I could find the entire new doc..?

[JCAddy]

Wow looks like a nice update! I'm excited about the rotating canvas and the improved dodge/burn tools.

[Jeff Tamagini]

NAPP The National Association of Photoshop Professionals which I am a member of has put together a CS4 learning site to check out all the changes and new features

http://www.photoshopuser.com/cs4/

and Layers Magazine another division of NAPP has put up a learning site for all other CS4 apps like illustrator, indesign, dreamweaver, etc...

http://www.layersmagazine.com/cs4

[Hervé]

hey thanks Jeff ! checking it right now...

[Peder]

You can try something similar here.

http://rsizr.com/

Based on some research. I forgot their names the technology is called "seam carving" I believe. I have used it on projects to compress panoramic views with some success.

[big K]

what i really don´t like about Adobe is their pricing politics here in Europe.

take this for example:

Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium
Update CS3 to CS4
Germany: 891,31 €
US: 599 $ (404,97 €)

that´s 220% of the price !!!
shameless !

michael

[NicoR44]

what i really don´t like about Adobe is their pricing politics here in Europe.

take this for example:

Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium
Update CS3 to CS4
Germany: 891,31 €
US: 599 $ (404,97 €)

that´s 220% of the price !!!
shameless !

michael

any idea why they do that?

[JorisMX]

I can only assume that these prices are adjusted to the current finnancial situation and the value of the dollar. I remember US Prices being way higher.

[big K]

i don´t know.
the pricing policy by adobe has been like this for a couple of years now.
that is Europe being about 200% of the US price.

as Adobe is almost alone with this exorbitant difference (other companies have small differences, yes) i have no clue why they do this.

maybe the US government pays them to get US companies an advantage in worlwide competition with their cheaper software costs.
but don´t take this last statement too seriously !

[-Adrian]

Afaik they do it because they can. Same with 3dsMax, used to cost like $3k in the US i think, over €6k in some eastern european countries.

Only company i don't feel fucked over by in regards to pricing policy is Luxology. I think they used a loophole though

[Hervé]

I think Luxology people are very fair people..

[JDHill]

Are you buying Photoshop directly from Adobe, or from a European reseller? If from a reseller, what are the particulars of their agreement with Adobe? How many competitive resellers serve your region? And...what latitude does each have on the final price? Furthermore, how much worse is the bottom-line for a European reseller, considering the (comparatively) greater use of open-source software in Europe? Just sayin', this stuff is not likely as cut-and-dried as it seems when looking at some prices on a website - and I haven't even begun to mention the additional software localization costs, import duties, the possibility of multiple layers of VAT, etc., etc.. Really, there are lots factors to consider when asking why a US customer might be able to buy US software at lower prices.

In the end, if the price is really that unreasonable, why would you buy it? Why isn't there a European company offering an equivalent product at half the price? Questions like this need to be answered before a person can really claim they're being 'ripped off', imho. Unlike those other kinds of businesses - governments - which force us to buy their product with a big gun, we are always free to tell a private company to 'stick it where the sun don't shine', simply by choosing a different product...

[Jeff Tamagini]

Are you buying Photoshop directly from Adobe, or from a European reseller? If from a reseller, what are the particulars of their agreement with Adobe? How many competitive resellers serve your region? And...what latitude does each have on the final price? Furthermore, how much worse is the bottom-line for a European reseller, considering the (comparatively) greater use of open-source software in Europe? Just sayin', this stuff is not likely as cut-and-dried as it seems when looking at some prices on a website - and I haven't even begun to mention the additional software localization costs, import duties, the possibility of multiple layers of VAT, etc., etc.. Really, there are lots factors to consider when asking why a US customer might be able to buy US software at lower prices.

In the end, if the price is really that unreasonable, why would you buy it? Why isn't there a European company offering an equivalent product at half the price? Questions like this need to be answered before a person can really claim they're being 'ripped off', imho. Unlike those other kinds of businesses - governments - which force us to buy their product with a big gun, we are always free to tell a private company to 'stick it where the sun don't shine', simply by choosing a different product...

I've had to read a lot of this same type of stuff lately on photography forums with the new 5D coming out and how Canon is "gouging" there European customers, and Nikon doesnt, im going to switch brands, blah blah blah...no one knows all the reasons why and bitching on forums never changes it.