Illustrator
Multiple artboards:
* Various sizes & color modes
* May touch or even overlap
* You can link text boxes from one artboard to another
* Artboards can be within other artboards
* All share same Styles, colors and output settings
* Live Color works across artboards
* Output separately or as one multi-page PDF
Blob Brush:
* Merges brushstrokes to create a combined shape
* More like moving paint than drawing a stroke
* Randomization feature allows a more “analog” appearance
Appearance panel:
* Edit attributes of multiple selected objects at once
* Copy and paste attributes across objects
* Enable/disable attributes
* Show/hide attributes
Graphic Styles panel:
* Preview Styles on objects without applying them
* Apply multiple Styles to one object
* Includes a library of pre-built Styles
Isolation Mode improved:
* Other objects dimmed
* Layers panel shows only Isolated item(s)
* Illustrator displays the object’s hierarchy as a series of clickable “breadcrumbs” at the top of the screen
* Can now be used on compound paths, gradient meshes, images and clipping masks
* Allows Outline View
Gradients:
* Gradient controls are displayed directly on the object
* Just drag a circle and a gradient bar to change gradient
* Gradient stops can use transparency
* New elliptical gradients
Others:
* Apply multiple fills to a single object, with transparency
* The Appearance panel is now more like the Layers panel: attributes can be shown, hidden, and revised
* Clipping masks: edit with or without seeing clipped area
* Smart Guides show object dimensions, rotation angles and distance from nearby objects
* Graphic Styles preview faster and are easier to revise
* Separations Preview shows overprints, CMYK blacks, etc.
* Drag and drop an object onto panels to alter that object’s attributes (Transparency, for example)
* Show “video safe” area
* Flex integration: create Flex skins in Illustrator
Flash Professional
Object-based Animation:
* Replaces Frame-based animation
* Right-click, choose Create Motion Tween, move the object. Paths are generated automatically.
* Now animate two instances of a symbol on the same layer at the same time
* Edit paths as any Bezier path
Motion Editor:
* 16 Motion Presets to apply common behaviors
* Create and save your own presets
3D Tools:
* Rotate 2D art (like a movie title)
* Translate (move away and closer up) 2D/3D art
Bones tool:
* Connect items where they touch each other, to make them behave like armatures – swinging in response to movement and gravity. Also known as inverse kinematics.
Others:
* New Deco tool and Drawing Effect panel fills shapes with patterns (a fractal vine pattern or a grid pattern) or draws symbols in symmetry to one another
* The new XFL file format, which will replace FLA, allows for better integration with InDesign, After Effects and eventually other apps from Adobe and others (Quark?)
* XMP metadata: for better support in Bridge and other asset-managing tools, as well as on mobile devices
* H.264 video support, as well as FLV and F4V
* Adobe AIR 1.0 is now an option when publishing, making it easy to create AIR applications with Flash
Fireworks
* Speed: continue to work while a file is saving
* Export to PDF: maintains hot links
* Smart Guides (see InDesign, above)
* In-place symbol editing
* Nested symbols
* 9-slice scaling everywhere
* Export to Adobe AIR, HTML, Flash, or Flex
* Interface: matches other CS4 apps
* Drag pre-made form elements: check boxes, text fields, submit buttons, etc.
* Drag pre-made OS elements: Mac and Windows interface items
* Text engine: same as Illustrator and Photoshop
* Import PSD files, including editable text
* Styles now work properly
* Kuler: create, store and share color themes online
Dreamweaver
Integration:
* First “real” Adobe version of Dreamweaver
Related Files Bar:
* Shows Style Sheets, Java scripts, and linked files
* Lets you edit them
Smart Objects:
* Links to Photoshop files update when you click on them
HTML Data Sets:
* Import a table of text, and it becomes a dynamic table with sortable columns, master-detail layouts, etc.
Code Navigator:
* Command-Option-click an object to display CSS rules applied to it
* Click a rule to edit it
Live View:
* Shows page exactly as in a Web browser, with all functions active (scripts, etc.)
* Code edits display immediately in browser
Live Code:
* Left/right split view in addition to top/bottom split view
* Preview updates as code changes, including Javascript & Ajax
InContext Editing:
* Better than Contribute: requires only a browser to access the online InContext Editing service.
* Free during “preview” period, then maybe not
Adobe AIR:
* Can build and preview AIR apps in Dreamweaver
Other:
* Code Hinting for JavaScript and Ajax, with built-in syntax checking
* Workgroup version control using Subversion
Acrobat
Acrobat 9 has many new features, which we outlined in our July issue. Of note:
* Include Flash in PDFs and convert Flash to PDF
* PDF Portfolios
* Better Preflight: provides common fixups
* Output preview: separates object types; you can click on objects for info
* Convert colors of all types
* Compare any two PDFs or images in detail
Pricing
Upgrades for any individual app costs $199, except Fireworks, which costs $149 to upgrade, and Acrobat 9, which costs $159 to upgrade. Adobe has a chart of which apps are included in which editions (summarized below), at www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/compare/.
CS4 Design Standard
ID, PS, AI, AC
$1,399 new, $499 upgrade
CS4 Design Premium
ID, PSe, AI, FL, DW, FW, AC
$1,799 new, $599 upgrade
CS4 Web Standard
DW, FL, FW, CT
$999 new, $399 upgrade
CS4 Web Premium
DW, FL, FW, PS, AI, SB, CT, AC
$1,699 new, $599 upgrade
CS4 Production Premium
PSe, IL, AE, PR, FL, SB, OL, EN
$1,699 new, $599 upgrade
CS4 Master Collection
Everything
$2,499 new, $899 upgrade
All include Bridge, Device Central and Version Cue.
This article was last modified on January 8, 2022
This article was first published on October 2, 2008
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