Adobe CS6 announced

The new version of Photoshop, along with 13 other “Creative Suite 6” applications, should ship on May 7.

Adobe CS6 will come in four packages — Design and Web Premium, Design Standard, Production Premium, and Master Collection. Each package includes Photoshop CS6, which will also be available as a standalone download. Also introduced is Adobe Muse, a new web-design application to create and publish HTML5 web sites without writing code.

Instead of paying upfront for the packages, you can choose to pay monthly with Adobe Creative Cloud. This is a subscription-based hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work online, which links with Adobe Touch Apps.

Learn more here.

“The urge to be creative is universal, and harnessing the creative spark — in everyone from school children to creative pros — has never been more important”
— Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer, Adobe.

Coming later are: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4, the desktop software tool that enables photographic perfection from shoot to finish; the first complete release of Adobe Edge, a ground-breaking HTML5 development tool; and Publishing Suite Single Edition, the technology behind the delivery of magazines on iPad.

“Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended deliver unparalleled speed and power combined with the creative tools necessary to perform advanced image manipulation, design, motion‐based content editing, and compositing.”
— Adobe press release, April 23, 2012

“Creativity is at the very centre of our efforts — both in developing exceptional tools, and enabling our users to create beautiful imagery that stands out from the visual clutter around us.”
— Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe, April 23, 2012.

Photoshop CS6

Features include:

• Content-Aware Patch — Allows greater control by letting users choose the sample area used to create a patch.
• Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine — Takes advantage of the graphics processing unit in modern hardware to speed up imaging and editing tasks, and process large images faster.
• New and Re-engineered Design Tools — Type styles enable consistent formatting; vector layers apply strokes and add gradients to vector objects; custom strokes and dashed lines are easily created; quick layers search and more.
• Intuitive Video Creation — The full range of familiar Photoshop tools and an intuitive set of new video tools to create and enhance any video clip.
• Blur Gallery — A simple new interface with on-image and in-context controls allows users to quickly create photographic blur effects including tilt-shift effects, blur everything with one focal point, or vary the blurriness between multiple focal points.

Photoshop CS6 Extended

Includes all Photoshop CS6 features and:

• Mercury Graphics Engine for 3D — Increased power and speed via engine optimised for 3D imaging.
• New 3D Controls — UI improvements for more efficient 3D workflows.
• New 3D Effects — Reflections and “drag-able” shadows to enhance images.

Adobe Creative Cloud and Imaging

Adobe Creative Cloud gives creative customers a new option for purchasing and experiencing Adobe software innovation, including Adobe Photoshop CS6:

• Creative Cloud membership provides designers with access to download and install every new Adobe CS6 application announced today and two new HTML5 products, Adobe Muse and Adobe Edge preview.
• Creative Cloud powers the integration of creative tablet applications, such as Photoshop Touch, into everyday work — seamlessly synchronising and storing files in the cloud, for sharing and access on any device.
• Creative Cloud members will be able to easily deliver mobile apps to iOS and Android marketplaces and publish, manage and host websites.
• Adobe Creative Cloud members will receive access to application upgrades, including new Photoshop features — before they are launched as part of a major update, as well as inventive new products and services, as they emerge. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 will be offered as part of Creative Cloud membership in the future.

Estimated street price for Photoshop CS6 is US$699 and US$999 for Photoshop CS6 Extended. Upgrade pricing is also available to eligible customers. Subscription pricing for Photoshop CS6 is US$19.99 per month for an annual contract and US$29.99 for a month-to-month contract.

Source: Adobe press release, April 23, 2012.

Adobe CS6 software discounts and coupon codes