Creation Engine Blog

First Look: Photoshop Elements 6

Adobe’s Photoshop Elements is one of the most popular consumer level image editing tools on the market, and now with version 6, the company has added some cool features that are sure to please those familiar with the program as well as those new to the program.

Photoshop Elements 6 is a mature application that gets more widgets added with each version upgrade. Every time I take a look at a new version, I claim the app to be full featured, but with every release, more new features are added to the application, and existing features get enhanced.

The big deal with this release is the updated interface. It has a dark gray color scheme that makes your images pop out better, and is more non-Windows like than previous versions, and for good reason, as applications with the familiar Windows look are getting old. I especially like how the four main tabs in Organizer have been moved to the right of the interface and color coded. Adobe has done a great job with the new interface in PSE6. In addition to what I’ve covered in this first look, there is still a lot to explore with this release

Lightroom Journal: Lightroom 1.2 and Leopard

As noted in Adobe’s Leopard FAQ the current version of Lightroom 1.2 is not fully compatible with Leopard, Mac OS X 10.5. The good news is that we’ll be releasing an update in mid-November that will address key compatibility issues. In the interim, the following list describes areas where photographers may encounter problems with Lightroom 1.2 on Leopard:

The Print module may not load

The Import dialog and other dialogs can “disappear” below Lightroom’s main window. The dialog can be retrieved by switching to another application and then returning to Lightroom.

Lightroom’s web module may not provide a visual update after a setting is changed

The left-side panels in the Develop module may not display properly. Resizing or closing/opening the panels will correct the issue.

The interaction between Leopard’s Time Machine and Lightroom’s catalog files is unknown at this time. Running Time Machine backup or restore operations while Lightroom is in use is not recommended until more information can be obtained

Ars Technica reviews Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

I started this review talking about expectations. As I’ve learned more about Leopard, it’s become increasingly clear where, exactly, those two-and-a-half years of development time went. Leopard is absolutely packed with improvements. It seems that not a corner of the OS has gone untouched.

Perhaps that’s not as clear to the casual user who just sees the surface changes and the major new features in Leopard. But even in that case, there’s more than enough to recommend it. if you’re wondering whether you should upgrade to Leopard, the answer, as it’s been for every major revision of Mac OS X, is yes.

Adobe Leopard Support

Creation Engine Academic Discounts 10.29.2007

Does Quad Core Matter?: Content Creation: 3D Modeling and Rendering

Now we turn to performance using actual working applications. We’ll take a look at a pair of popular 3D modeling and rendering tools: 3ds Max 8 and LightWave 9. 3ds Max performs double duty here, as we run the SPECapc 3ds Max 8 test, which tests performance of 3ds Max by running model creation, modification, and rendering scripts. Autodesk has recently shipped 3ds Max 9, but we’re using 3ds Max 8, since the SPECapc test hasn’t been updated yet.

Content Creation—particularly 3D content creation—is where four cores rock. You see big gains in all these applications going from two to four cores.

Innovate using MindManager Pro 7 both in and out of the Classroom

Guest Speaker: Dr. Brian S. Friedlander

Date: Thursday, November 8, 2007

Time: 10:00 am PST / 1:00 PM EST

Join Mindjet for an engaging webinar with Dr. Friedlander, an author, professor and assistive technology specialist who will share the benefits of using mind mapping software in and out of the classroom. You’ll see firsthand how Dr. Friedlander uses MindManager Pro 7 to develop, organize and deliver his classroom lectures, as a presentation tool and to develop, organize and format proposals.

In the webinar, find out how using MindManager Pro 7 will make you more effective and provide your students with a more visual way to access and comprehend the information you’re presenting to them. At the end of this webinar you’ll walk away with the knowledge and power of how to use MindManager Pro 7 to engage the entire classroom.

About Brian S. Friedlander:

Dr. Brian S. Friedlander is a certified (licensed) school psychologist with expertise in assistive and educational technology. He maintains an assistive technology practice that provides assessments, workshops and individual trainings. Dr. Friedlander is also an Assistant Professor of Education at the College of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey, where he teaches graduate courses in special education and educational technology. Mind mapping is used frequently in Dr. Friedlander’s classes with his students and he also uses it to develop and deliver graduate level course material.

Dr. Friedlander is the Publisher of Inclusion Times, a special education newsletter from AssistiveTek, LLC. He was recently featured in the video “Assistive Technology: A Way to Differentiate Instruction for Students with Disabilities”, available here. You can read Dr.Friedlander’s blog at assistivetek.blogspot.com or contact him at brian@assistivetek.com to learn more about his work and his state to national level conference appearances.

Office 2008 Technology Guarantee

For only $10 you can receive Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition when it is released. Purchase Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, complete the Guarantee Redemption form, and send it in with $10 no later than April 15, 2008. When Office 2008 is available, Microsoft will deliver your new Standard edition at no additional cost. Offer good from 9/25/2007 through 3/15/2008.

Aperture vs. Lightroom: What do the pros use?

John Nack on Adobe: Aperture vs. Lightroom: What do the pros use?

InfoTrends recently surveyed 1,026 professional photographers in North America to determine which software they used for raw file processing. Here’s what folks reported:

* 66.5% using the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in
* 23.6% using Lightroom
* 5.5% using Aperture

Premiere Pro 3.1 is here

The Genesis Project: Premiere Pro 3.1 is here

Premiere Pro 3.1 which is a FREE update provides editors with Panasonics DV25, DV50 and DV100 – also known as DVC Pro HD. Checking out the Adobe forums indicates that the response so far has been very good and we hope that you’ll be happy too. Simply go under Premiere Pro’s help menu and select Updates – it should sense it and download it for you.

First Look: Photoshop Elements 6

Lightroom Journal: Lightroom 1.2 and Leopard

Ars Technica reviews Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Adobe Leopard Support

Creation Engine Academic Discounts 10.29.2007

Does Quad Core Matter?: Content Creation: 3D Modeling and Rendering

Innovate using MindManager Pro 7 both in and out of the Classroom

Office 2008 Technology Guarantee

Aperture vs. Lightroom: What do the pros use?

Premiere Pro 3.1 is here

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