Adobe CS5 New Features

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Adobe CS5 is out now, and we're using CS5 Master Collection, which includes a boat load of creativity and media production software. CS5 has really wowed us with some incredible new features, so we figured we'd share our favorites with you.

But first, for those who aren't acquainted with every Adobe app, here's a list of all the CS5 apps, and basically what they're for:

Photoshop CS5 Extended (the best photo editing you can get)

Illustrator CS5 (vector drawing and illustration)

InDesign CS5 (print design)

Acrobat 9 Pro (create full featured PDF documents)

Flash Catalyst CS5 (create highly interactive Flash experiences without coding)

Flash Professional CS5 (animate and create Flash experiences)

Flash Builder 4 (create Flash experiences with one of the best coding environments)

Dreamweaver CS5 (create HTML based web experiences with code)

Fireworks CS5 (create, edit and export graphics for the web)

Contribute CS5 (edit web sites without knowing code)

Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 (video editing)

After Effects CS5 (high end computer graphics and special effects)

Soundbooth CS5 (audio recording and editing)

Adobe OnLocation CS5 (on site video monitoring and recording)

Encore CS5 (create DVDs with interactive menus)

And now for our favorite new features:


Photoshop new features:

  • Content Aware Fill— delete is automatically filled what would be behind the object you deleted. This is absolutely amazing!
  • Create 3D text from 2D layers
  • Puppet Warp— reposition and bend objects as if they were flexible.
  • Bristle Paint Brush (for realistic paint strokes)
  • Complex selections made easy— Easily select intricate image elements, such as hair, for refinements, compositing, or placing in layout. Eliminate background color around selection edges, and automatically vary selection edges and perfect masks using new refinement tools.

Illustrator new features:

  • Variable width strokes
  • Bristle Paint Brush—Like the new Photoshop one, but it's vector, so you can edit it!
  • Perspective Grid—make flat things look 3D.
  • Anti-aliasing text for the Web
  • Flash Catalyst integration

InDesign new features:

  • Integration with Flash—start in InDesign and end in Flash.
  • Embedded animation and interactivity
  • Spanning and Splitting Columns
  • Object Selection and Editing

Soundbooth new features:

  • Multitrack support enhanced—Work on more than one mono or stereo file at a time.
  • Mix multiple audio tracks and scores — numerous enhancements make it easy to work on larger multitrack projects with more precise control.
  • Fast audio cleanup—Use powerful, sample-accurate tools to cut, copy, paste, fade, and stretch audio assets. Intuitive on-clip tools make common edits instant, and visual feedback keeps you informed at every step.
  • Elimination of clicks and pops—Remove unwanted clicks and pops due to equipment problems and old media.

Flash new features:

  • Packager for iPhone — Publish ActionScript 3 projects in Adobe Flash Professional to run as applications for iPhone (though Apple's new SDK seems to put some limitations on this).
  • New text capabilities via the Text Layout Framework (TLF) — Get unprecedented text control and creativity with projects created in Flash. Advanced styling and layout, including right to left text, columns, and threaded text blocks, let you work with text in Flash like never before.
  • XML based FLA files — Manage and modify project assets using source control systems and enable teams to easily collaborate on files.
  • Code Snippets panel — Choose prebuilt code that can be injected into projects to increase interactivity and also reduce the ActionScript 3 learning curve.
  • Flash Builder integration — Use Adobe Flash Builder software as your ActionScript editor within projects in Flash.
  • Improved ActionScript editor — Improve productivity with custom class code hinting and completion.

Flash Catalyst new:

  • A completely new application, that wasn't part of previous versions of Adobe CS.
  • Allows traditional designers to control widget design all the way through design approval.
  • Hand it off to a Flex developer to hook up the database on the back end, for an enhanced workflow that lets you get projects get done faster than ever!

Flash Builder new:

  • Formerly Flex Builder, but renamed to Flash Builder since you can build Flash projects with it, that don't use the Flex framework. This was previously a separate app which didn't come with Adobe CS.
  • Integration with Adobe Flash Catalyst— Import Flex Projects (FXPs) created using Adobe Flash Catalyst, saving time and improving the quality of the user experience. FXPs contain functional UI, including MXML, ActionScript, component skins, and graphical assets, enabling developers to focus on core application logic.
  • Data-centric development— Introspect Java, PHP, ColdFusion, REST, and SOAP services to display methods and properties in the new Data/Service Explorer. Bind methods to UI components using a simple drag-and-drop approach.

Dreamweaver new features:

  • Integrated CMS support—Enjoy authoring and testing support for content management system frameworks like WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal.
  • Site-specific code hinting—Benefit from code hinting on nonstandard files and directories in Dreamweaver.
  • CSS inspection—Visually display the CSS box model in detail, and easily toggle CSS properties without reading code or needing to use a separate utility.
  • Access to Adobe BrowserLab lets you use Adobe’s servers to test html on nearly any hardware, browser, and operating system combination. And without ever leaving Dreamweaver! Coupled with LiveCode, which lets you preview data interactivity, and you’ll see why Dreamweaver’s still at the front of the pack.