January 9, 2009
Graphics Tech
Do you need Adobe CS4?
Whenever a major software upgrade surfaces, I am tempted to dive right in. I have been using Aldus and Adobe products for over twenty years and I have yet to be disappointed.
But as the programs are more and more feature-laden, I find that my skill level and/or production time is not all that much improved. Perhaps it's because when you have used a program for a long time, you discover ways to work around missing functionality. By the time a better or faster way comes along, the work around you created is so ingrained, doing it the way you've always done it just seems simpler.
So, this time around, I need to do some homework. To delve into whether the features are compelling enough to justify adjusting my workflow. It is less a about cost than it is about the investment of time and resources it requires to purchase, install, and learn a new version of a complex program.
To that end, Adobe TV is an excellent place to hear and see the Adobe evangelists talk about the latest and greatest program features.
Here, for example, is a feature tour of Adobe Illustrator CS4...
Hard to believe it was 1985 when I first started using Version 1.0 of PageMaker...
I upgraded to CS4 primarily for a few features in Photoshop that I knew I wanted — Free Rotate, Drag-Resizing Brushes on the top of the list. I work in Illustrator primarily though, and the new Appearance panel looked interesting.
I have found my investment in the upgrade well worth it, and for many more reasons than the ones that initially inspired me to do so — The Smart guides feature in inDesign & Illustrator are really great (and there are some other features in InDesign CS4 I have found very handy as well such as the redesigned Links panel).
While I was not that interested in multiple clipboards in Illustrator, I have found those to be excellent. And the Appearance panel has lived up to my expectations for it.
I was looking for workflow enhancements, and have found CS4 to live up to my expectations for purchasing an upgrade.
As always, it really comes down to the new features and whether or not they will speed up your workflow or make your work easier. In my case they did just that.
Posted by: George Coghill | January 10, 2009 9:56 PM