The second on my two book odyssey is completed…and the first book is now shipping! Whew, I wasn’t sure I would ever get to say that.  The image above is one of the images from the new book  Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop  which is due to be released in March 2009. Coauthored with good friend and colleague Martin Evening, we’ve taken the unusual approach of actually shooting interesting stuff specifically for the book?kinda like it was a real assignment. We think it’s a bit of a departure in Photoshop books that talks at length about many of the photographic as well as Photoshop aspects that go into creating neat images. So, you might think I can now take a rest? Well, for a day or so (I still have to do my Xmas shopping) but shortly after the beginning of the new year, It’s off to Antarctica for trip three with the crew of Michael Reichmann, JP Canponigro, Stephan Johnson, Seth Resnick and Chris Sanderson to record the trip for posterity…so it looks like most of the month of January is shot too. Then it’s back on the road for the  Epson Print Academy  in Seattle on January 31st. Oh well, it’s all great fun (don’t you know) even if it a bit draining. So, here’s to the end of 2008 and the start of 2009 and wishing you all the best for the holidays…

Folks, if you’ve been wondering about the lack of posts on PhotoshopNews.com, I’ve been heads-down working on the update to Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS4 . I’m happy to repots, it’s done, well almost. I’m done except for reviewing the last chapter (due to me this morning) and then Peachpit has to get the index done. But it’s almost ready to send off to the printers and should be printed and released in December. That’s what I’ve been doing and why PhotoshopNews has gone a bit silent (which was real hard to let happen because, well Photoshop CS4 and Camera Raw 5 is pretty big news). There’s going to be another upcoming release of Camera Raw soon (which I can’t really talk about) that has some, uh, new stuff (that I can’t really talk about) but that’s why we didn’t have RWCRCS4 ready to ship when CS4 shipped. But that doesn’t mean I can come up for air…ya see, I still have another book to finish along with Martin Evening. Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: The Ultimate Workshop which is due to be released on March 2009. So, I’ve been a busy boy and still have a lot of work to do. Add to this is the fact we’ve gotten the band back together and are going out on the road doing the Epson Print Academy (we’ve already done Atlanta last week and Washington DC last Sunday). I suspect the number of posts on PhotoshopNews.com will continue to be a bit sparse through the end of the year…oh, and did I mention that the other band is getting back together too? Yep, Michael Reichmann, JP Caponigro, Steve Johnson and Seth Resnick and I  are going back down for a photo expedition to Antarctica again in early January, 2009 for 14 days of shooting and teaching. Hum, remind me why I opted to do PhotoshopNews.com again? I’ll post what I can, when I can…I’ll also try to get some guest bloggers to help out but you’ll just have to forgive me for over extending my time and activities a bit… :~)

We’re getting the band back together and hitting the road again. The Epson Print Academy is going to Atlanta this Saturday, November 8th at the  Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown . Featuring Andrew Rodney (The Digital Dog), Jeff Schewe, Greg Gorman, Mac Holbert and John Paul Caponigro, the new Epson Print Academy is headed to Atlanta for the first of a 15 city tour. We’re dragging along one of the new Epson Stylus® Pro 7900 printers with UltraChrome® HDR inks and we’ll be teaching how to get the most out of that, or any fine art ink jet printer. In fact, attendees are registered to win one of the 7900 printers (given out next June) or a change to win one of 15 4880 printers (one will be given away at each venue). For more information, check out the web site at Epson Print Academy . TRACK TWO Curriculum: Designed Exclusively for Working Professionals: How to Optimize A Professional Workflow to Take Full Advantage of Epson Ultrachrome HDR Ink Technology Renowned Industry Experts Such as: John Paul Caponigro Greg Gorman Mac Holbert Andrew Rodney Jeff Schewe DISCUSS AND DEMONSTRATE: Optimizing a Professional Color Managed Workflow Science of Color Management Calibration, Characterization Advanced Custom Profiling Color Spaces, Gamut, Bit Depth and L*a*b Advanced Driver Settings Maximizing Raw File Quality and Increasing Productivity Advanced Photoshop CS4 Camera Raw 5 Settings In-Depth Understanding of the Lightroom 2 Develop Module Non-Destructive Workflow Smart Objects Working and Printing in 16 bit Editing in Photoshop CS4 with Lightroom 2 Managed Files Printing From Lightroom 2 with Files Edited in Photoshop CS4 Expert Level Fine-Art Printing Developing a Strategy for Image Enhancement Creating a Sense of Dimensionality Working With an Exit Strategy Drawing with Light Mastering Selections Gradient, Contour and Luminous Masking Managing Midtone Contrast New Techniques with Photoshop CS4 Advanced Burning and Dodging Evaluating and Employing Advanced Black and White Conversion Methods Working With Microporous and Cotton Fiber Media Printing to an Epson Stylus Pro 7900 with Ultrachrome HDR Ink SPECIAL VIDEO SEGMENTS: Michael Reichmann  of  The Luminous Landscape  shares with Jeff Schewe  how he handles, mounts and frames his fine art prints at his gallery in Toronto. Michael then interviews  Henry Wilhelm  of  Wilhelm Imaging Research  about papers, inks and print permanence.    Jeff Schewe  Interviews  Mark Radogna , Group Product Manager Responsible for Epson Stylus Pro Printers and  Jeff Smith  Product Manager for Epson Professional Media. The price of the Track II event is $149.95 (be sure to click on the pro discount when registering). Price includes lunch. Program to run from 9:30AM-5:PM (or so, we tend to talk a bit long’ish).

I voted…you all should too?whoever you wish to vote for.

Adobe will released updates to Photoshop Lightroom and the Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in, both will available later in the evening October 22nd, 2008 as free upgrades for Lightroom 2 and Photoshop CS4 users. The releases provide added raw file support for 15 digital cameras including the Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Canon EOS 50D and Canon EOS 1000D. The Lightroom 2.1 update also includes improvements to Photoshop integration, Web module stability for Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems, performance with 64-bit Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers, and Keyword migration from Lightroom. A complete list of improvements is available in the Lightroom update documentation. In addition, Adobe has released a new set of camera profiles available on Adobe Labs. The camera profiles are targeted at improving Adobe’s default raw processing and emulating the color rendering provided by camera manufacturers. The update includes added support for the Leica M8, Canon EOS 50D, Canon G9, Nikon D90 and Pentax models. Camera profiles are the visual starting point for the raw processing workflow. Since image preferences vary by photographer, Adobe minimizes surprises by supplying default camera profiles that closely emulate the visual looks that photographers normally see from their cameras. The 15 new digital cameras supported in Lightroom 2.1 and Camera Raw 5.1 include the Canon EOS 1000D, Canon EOS 50D, Fuji FinePix IS Pro, Kodak EasyShare Z1015 IS, Leaf AFi II 6, Leaf AFi II 7, Leaf Aptus II 6, Leaf Aptus II 7, Nikon D700, Nikon D90, Nikon Coolpix P6000, Olympus SP-565 UZ, Pentax K2000, Sigma DP1, and Sony A900. Additionally, Adobe recently released Camera Raw 4.6, which includes the same raw file support for Photoshop CS3 customers. Pricing and Availability The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.1 will available as a free download for existing customers at www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/ .Photoshop Lightroom 2 can be purchased through the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store.The estimated street price is USD$299 for new users with an upgrade price of USD$99 for registered users of qualifying Lightroom customers. The updated camera profiles are available as a separate download on Adobe Labs at http://labs.adobe.com . The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-ins will be available as free downloads for existing customers. Camera Raw 5.1 for Photoshop CS4 users and Camera Raw for Photoshop CS3 users are available at www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/ . NOTE: as of this posting, the downloads have not yet appeared, they should show up “Wednesday nite”.

John, on his Adobe Blog says “By and large, keyboard shortcut changes suck.  Mature tools are like musical instruments, and you don’t go moving the piano keys or cello strings without a great need to do so.  It’s painful.  We know.” Read what else John has to say in this post  Shortcut changes in PSCS4

Tom Hogarty, the Camera Raw & Lightroom product manager noted on the Lightroom Journal that Camera Raw 5.0 is currently shipping but that the camera support for 5.0 is the same as Camera Raw 4.5/Lightroom 2.0. The new cameras added in the Camera Raw 4.6 update will need to be rolled out in a Camera Raw 5.1 update some time next week. He also noted that as of the release of Camera Raw 5.0 and Photoshop CS4 the DNG Profiles are still considered “beta”. News about the final release of the profiles and a revision to DNG Profile Editor are expected “soon”. Read Tom’s post .

Milestone Release Radically Improves Creative Workflow Efficiency; Redefines Collaboration Between Designers and Developers SAN JOSE, Calif. ? Oct. 15, 2008 ? Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of the Adobe® Creative Suite® 4 product family, the highly-anticipated release of industry-leading design and development software for virtually every creative workflow. Delivering radical breakthroughs in workflow efficiency ? and packed with hundreds of innovative, time saving features ? the new Creative Suite 4 product line advances the creative process across print, Web, interactive, film, video and mobile. Customers can choose from six new versions: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Web Standard, Production Premium and Master Collection. The combination of Creative Suite and the new capabilities of Adobe Flash® Player 10, also available today (see separate press release) deliver new levels of creativity and expressiveness across media channels. Designers using the Adobe Creative Suite 4 product family will gain unprecedented creative control using the new expressive features and visual performance improvements in Adobe Flash Player 10 to deliver breakthrough Web experiences across multiple browsers and operating systems. ?Creative Suite 4 and Flash Player 10 introduce vital time-saving features, new levels of integration and the jaw-dropping innovations our design and developer customers expect from us,? said John Loiacono, senior vice president, Creative Solutions Business Unit at Adobe. ?CS4 continues to fulfill our promise to customers to break down more barriers in cross-media workflows, while also providing new services and collaboration tools that help them manage complex client demands.? As part of the CS4 product launch, the largest in Adobe?s history, also available today are brand new versions of Photoshop® CS4, Photoshop CS4 Extended, InDesign® CS4, Illustrator® CS4, Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver® CS4, Fireworks® CS4, Contribute® CS4, After Effects® CS4, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS4, Encore® CS4, Soundbooth® CS4 and Adobe OnLocation? CS4. Intuitive Workflows Improve Creative Efficiency A simplified workflow in Adobe Creative Suite 4 enables users to design across media more efficiently by making it easier to complete common tasks and move content seamlessly among applications. InDesign CS4 includes a new Live Preflight tool that allows designers to catch production errors and a newly customizable Links panel to manage placed files more efficiently. The revolutionary new Content-Aware Scaling tool in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended automatically recomposes an image as it is resized, preserving vital areas as it adapts to new dimensions. An expanded version of Dynamic Link in CS4 Production Premium enables users to move and update content between After Effects CS4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Soundbooth CS4, and Encore CS4 without rendering, saving countless hours in production. With deep XMP metadata support, the production workflow is simplified, resulting in online content that gives viewers new ways to interact with and search for video, while giving content owners new opportunities to track and monetize content. Adobe Creative Suite 4 brings 3D center-stage providing the ability to paint, composite, and animate 3D models using familiar tools in Photoshop CS4 Extended. Flash CS4 Professional now offers the ability to apply tweens to objects instead of keyframes, providing greater control over animation attributes. Also in Flash CS4 Professional, the new Bones tool helps create more realistic animations between linked objects. With a searchable library of more than 450 dynamically updated device profiles from leading manufacturers, Adobe Device Central CS4 enables users to easily test mobile content designed using many of the Creative Suite 4 products. New and Expanded Services Extend Capabilities for Online Collaboration Adobe Creative Suite 4 now also offers a host of services* for online collaboration. Adobe ConnectNow, a service of Acrobat.com, allows real-time collaboration with two colleagues or clients. Designers can also share color harmonies with Adobe Kuler? Other online resources include: Adobe Community Help for technical questions; Resource Central for accessing video and audio product-related news and tutorials, as well as Soundbooth scores and sound effects; and Adobe Bridge Home, a customizable resource for tips, tutorials, news and inspirational content. Pricing and Availability Adobe Creative Suite 4 and its associated point products are immediately available through Adobe Authorized Resellers and the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com/store . Estimated street price for the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium is US$1799, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium, US$1699 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, and US$2499 for Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection. To reward customers for staying current, Adobe is offering Creative Suite 3 customers moving to Creative Suite 4 a lower upgrade price than it offers to those moving from older, qualifying versions. For a limited time, a special introductory offer enables customers with older qualifying products to enjoy the same lower price with savings of up to US$200 off their actual upgrade price. For more detailed information please visit www.adobe.com/creativesuite . Adobe Flash Player 10 is available immediately as a free download for Windows, Macintosh and Linux platforms (including new support for Ubuntu 7 and 8  ) from www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer . About Adobe Systems Incorporated Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information ? anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

Camera Raw 4.6 and the DNG Converter 4.6 has been posted to Adobe.com for Mac and Windows . This will be the last Camera Raw update for Photoshop CS3 customers and it includes support for raw formats from the following 15 camera models: Canon 1000D (Digital Rebel XS/EOS Kiss F) Canon 50D FujiFinePix IS Pro KodakEasyShare Kodak Z1015 IS LeafAFi II 6 LeafAFi II 7 LeafAptus II 6 LeafAptus II 7 NikonD700 NikonD90 NikonCoolpix P6000 Olympus SP-565 UZ Pentax K2000 (K-m) SigmaDP1 SonyA900 This update is not going to be listed on the main Camera Raw product page because Adobe is staging that page for the release of Photoshop CS4 and Camera Raw 5 (which due shortly). Also, no word about a Lightroom 2.1 GM release but it is expected shortly as well. The Lightroom 2.1 RC version is still available on Lab s.Adobe.com

Adobe MAX Conference, San Francisco November 16-19, 2008? an opportunity to connect with thousands of designers, developers, partners, executives, and Adobe staff for education, inspiration, and community. Russell Brown has adjusted his popular-and long-running  ADIM (Art Directors Invitational Master Class) to coincide with MAX.  It’s “the essential two-day, hands-on instructional course that brings top art directors, designers, illustrators, and photographers together to learn advanced tips and techniques using Adobe products” details are on  Russell’s site . The Jurassic Graphic Safari      ADIM and the MAX Conference join forces November 16 - 17, 2008 Marriott Hotel, San Francisco What is ADIM? The Art Directors Invitational Master Class (ADIM) is the essential two-day, hands-on instructional course that brings top art directors, designers, illustrators, and photographers together to learn advanced tips and techniques using Adobe products. You will learn from Russell Brown, Sandee Cohen, Mordy Golding, and some of the best designers and instructors in the industry. All classes are hosted on Mac computers running the latest Mac OS software. The limited class size for ADIM@MAX offers participants an intimate and inspiring environment in which to get early instruction on the new Adobe Creative Suite CS4 applications from industry experts, ask questions, and network with others in their field. ADIM is like no other design event on the planet. It is designed to motivate and inspire. It?s an event that promotes zany behavior and rewards participants for wearing crazy theme-based costumes.