New Adobe Groups Website

We now have a new website hosted by Adobe:

http://groups.adobe.com/groups/8375272868/summary

In order to join this group you’ll need to get an Adobe Id and login. It’s free and easy to get an ID juyst follow the link below.

When you login at Adobe you can access a wide array of resources not available to users who are not logged in. In addition to access our group page you can also access tools and resources provided by Adobe and the Adobe Community.

To get a free Adobe Id visit the link below:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/membership/

Once you login and visit our group page you’ll see a “Join Group” button on the right hand side.

Adobe Alchemy Converts C and C++ Code for Flash

This looks huge if you ask me. Adobe’s new product called Alchemy (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/alchemy/) allows developer to easily (if not automatically) convert C and C++ code into working Action Script 3 code.

From the demo’s I have seen so far this looks very promising. To think most windows applications are built using C and C++ code and they can now be turned into an AIR or Flex app and run on Linux and Apple machines is pretty huge.

Adobe Thermo is now Adobe Catalyst

Straight from Adobe MAX in Milan 2008. Adobe Thermo is not called Adobe Catalyst and you can find out more here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcatalyst/

It looks amazing. It allows designers to take their artwork from Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks and more and add interactivity, animation and connectivity to them. For skinning a new Flex application it’s key. The interface is for designers not programmers but what it does under the hood is good for the programmer. So far it looks very promising. As a designer you can build out all your artwork and also add the functionality to all without a line of code. I will be kicking this around for sure over the next few weeks. You can get a free beta copy very soon. I just got a copy here on CD. It’s a Mac only version at the moment so it really was designed for the designer and no the programmer. Most programmers are PC guys and designers use Macs.

Adobe MAX 2008 in Milan – Fireworks Session

I am writing this post from Adobe MAX in Milan. So far I am very impressed. I have been able to experience the new multi-touch display system which I really really want but will have to wait until I win the lotto I guess.

I will probably be adding some information here over the next few days so you have a chance to experience some of what I am seeing.

At the moment I am sitting in a session about using Fireworks to create effective CSS and XHTML. You can download the slides from this session here.

http://sonspring.com/files/max2008.zip

40 Beautiful Grunge Photoshop Tutorials

We had retro tutorials and now we have grunge tutorials for all you Photoshop fans. I know I will be using some of these in the near future.

If you find any interesting news or links please send them on to me and I will share them.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/28/40-beautiful-grunge-photoshop-tutorials/

Adobe Acrobat Connect

If you have not been to the Adobe Acrobat site in a while I strongly suggest you go back now and take a look.

Adobe has really beefed up the Acrobat site and are even giving away free accounts to your very own Acrobat Connect. All you need to do is visit the link below and sign up. Then you can start using your very own Connect account.

What is Acrobat Connect? Well it’s basically a video conferencing tool that allows you to host a webinar or web seminar. You get your very own virtual room where you can invite people to come and see what you want them to see. You can share a file such as a powerpoint or you can even push your desktop out and allow them to see what you see.

It’s very handy for technical support I find. I have been able to do one on one client meetings to get feedback on a design project without leaving the house. The client is on the phone and in my Connect room and I can make changes to a design while they watch. It’s great stuff. You can use your microphone to broadcast your audio to the guests but they will have to type in the chat window to respond.

I have used this to do training with clients a few times and I find it works great.

So go get yours now:

http://www.acrobat.com

30 Beautiful Retro / Vintage Photoshop Tutorials

We all love Photoshop. It’s an Adobe staple. It was the first Adobe product I learned and is probably the one most people use. Well… until they bought Macromedia but either way, we love Photoshop.

Here is a nice round-up of some Retro and Vintage tutorials that will put your design skills into a whole other level.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/14/30-beautiful-vintageretro-photoshop-tutorials/

What’s New in CS4

Well so what is new in CS4?

I could write all day and still not be able to cover it all so let’s let the experts to this:

http://www.lynda.com/CS4U/

You need to login to Lynda.com to see all the video but you can see the important ones without logging in.

This is a link to an actual keynote speech that gives a very good overview of the changes in CS4.
http://tv.adobe.com/#vi+f1556v1715

Meeting Notes

Our last meeting was on Monday October 13th.

We went over all the new features of Adobe CS4. Including Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver and a few others. We also set up and tried out our new Acrobat Connect Pro account which will allow us to broadcast and record our meetings to the net. This means that members could attend an event from the comfort of their own homes if they choose. That defeats the purpose of getting out of the house and meeting people with like minds but hey that’s up to you.

You may wonder why we have not updated this site in a while and that because I had a massive hack until today that prevented me from logging in at all. It has been fixed and now I will probably spend the day adding links I have found over the last few months. My fingers will be tired.

List of 31 Flex APIs, Libraries, Components and Tools

I just stumbled across this today and thought i’d share.

It’s a wonderful list of resources for anyone who uses or wants to us Flex from Shawn the Flex guy.

Find the link below:

http://seantheflashguy.com/blog/2008/05/24/36-new-cool-flex-and-as3-tools-libraries-and-components/