Review: CC PDF Converter protects your work with Creative Commons licenses

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AppId is over the quota

With Creative Commons licenses, you can distribute your creative work for free and specify the conditions under which it can be used. For example, you can offer your work free for use, provided you receive attribution; or say that it's fine for personal or nonprofit projects to use your work, but that commercial ventures have to pay you. Attaching one of these licenses to the work removes any ambiguity or doubt as to the terms and conditions under which you share your work.

CC PDF Converter helps you select the correct Creative Commons license. Randall Munroe's webcomic XKCD uses the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 license.

CC Free PDF Converter converts your document Word document, Excel file, or Internet Explorer HTML file into a PDF document, but it's not an ordinary PDF. This free beta program asks you a series of questions about the type of license you want, and then stamps a small but legible Creative Commons license on the pages.

Expatriate Scotsman now living in Wurzburg, Germany, freelance writer, frustrated future bestselling author, obsessed bibliophile. Other interests include trying to understand The Architect in the Matrix movies, decrypting codes and ciphers, and trying to persuade my landlord and my wife to let me have a Highland Cow for a pet.
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Review: Corel VideoStudio X6 eases creative video production

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AppId is over the quota

Version X6 of Corel VideoStudio brings the super-intuitive and easy-to-use video editor/producer within into a virtual dead heat with the feature sets offered by its competitors. New tricks in its bag include animation overlays, controlling DSLRs for stop motion animation, free-form motion editing, layer swapping, motion tracking, support for 2K and 4K video, and variable speed.

VideoStudio X6 also supports 50p/60p editing, AVCHD 2.0, 3D, surround sound, Blu-ray and most everything you could ask for. One cool new feature for subtitling is a form of audio beat detection that allows you to sync subtitles to speech more easily. There's even a whiteboard capture for animation overlays. Creatively, the VideoStudio X6 is very well-rounded.

The VideoStudio X6 interface isn't revolutionary, but because it doesn't overload you, it's easier to use than those it might resemble.

Most video editors have dark, paneled interfaces that rightfully focus your attention on the video. However, VideoStudio X6 manages to do it more cleanly and intuitively than Cyberlink PowerDirector or Adobe Premiere. It helps tremendously that Corel hasn't sized the icons for microscopes and has used them sparingly.

VideoStudio X6 also has a nice simple storyboard view that makes adding and arranging items a more intuitive process. You then use the timeline to tweak location and lengths, and add audio, multi-tracking, subtitles, and the like. I've only mentioned a few of the logical interface design decisions, but all told, they make VideoStudio X6's interface friendlier and more intuitive than just about anything out there.

VideoStudio X6 has a ton of transitions, effects, title styles, and what Corel calls instant projects which are basically templates. Drag an instant project element to your project, then edit details such as the audio file to be used, colors, text, videos to be used, etc. It's a bit different from the automatic productions you get from Muvee and others in that it requires your participation and creativity, but it's cool nonetheless.

2. The storyboard view in VideoStudio X6 makes it easier to order scenes than the standard timeline, which is also offered.

The Pro version of VideoStudio X6 costs $60, while the $100 Ultimate version adds a boatload of very nice effects from NewBlue and proDAD, plus the latter company's excellent video stabilization technology. Ultimate X6 is likely worth the extra $40, especially if you're editing lots of home video that needs steadying.

Corel may not be the powerhouse it once was, but the company is still putting out some very good software and VideoStudio Pro X6 is the evidence. For the average user it delivers a significantly easier, more intuitive, and more creative video editing experience than its major peers.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software.

Jon L. Jacobi has worked with computers since you flipped switches and punched cards to program them. He studied music at Juilliard, and now he power-mods his car for kicks.
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Adobe Creative Cloud – A Great Choice for Students

No doubt you’ve heard about Adobe Creative Cloud – still wondering what all the buzz is about? In a nutshell, it’s about having all the tools you’ll ever need for going from creative concept to production of A-grade visual projects, winning portfolios or stunning websites. With a special $19.99* monthly membership for students, you get access to all of the Creative Suite 6 tools, web hosting services, fonts, and cloud storage for syncing and sharing creative files. There are lots of reasons to love it:

Get Noticed: Deliver powerful presentations, a personalized web portfolio or a unique Facebook cover photo that everyone is raving about. Because Creative Cloud membership allows access to every Creative Suite 6 tool, the possibilities are endless. Feel a bit overwhelmed? Check out this collection of tutorials to help you get started.Build Job-Ready Skills: According to a U.S. News & World Report article, one of five skills everyone needs to have on a resume is knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite. As you experiment and create eye-catching projects with Adobe solutions, you’re building experience with the latest industry-standard tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Now your resume will stand out from the crowd! Check out Adobe’s How-to Channel for more helpful videos and tutorials.Receive Instant Upgrades: No more annual upgrade purchases. Cloud members have access to exclusive updates from Adobe, at no additional cost. When a new release comes out, it is automatically available via the Cloud. For example, we recently added several new features to Illustrator CS6 and just included an iPad publishing service, Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition, for making digital editions of magazines and yearbooks.Enjoy a Great Value: Creative Cloud membership is now available for students at $19.99 per month – that’s less than a night out with friends! The CS6 Master Collection would cost you about $800!

 So what are you waiting for, check out Adobe Creative Cloud here!

*Limited time only, offer ends November 4, 2012

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Creative CloudならiPadアプリも作れます！

Creative Cloud??iPad????????! « ??????? function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}adobe.com      ??????? / Creative Cloud??iPad????????!by Takashi Iwamoto  

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Creative Cloudユーザー向け新機能

Creative Cloud????????? « ??????? function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}adobe.com      ??????? / Creative Cloud?????????by Takashi Iwamoto  

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New Creative Cloud Features Available

New Creative Cloud Features Available « UK and Ireland Channel News function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}adobe.com      UK and Ireland Channel News / New Creative Cloud Features Availableby mabearCCM (7)Creative Cloud Membership (6)New release (7)  

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Illustrator CS6 update for Creative Cloud Members

Adobe Illustrator CS6 update for Creative Cloud is now available. As we said when we launched Creative Cloud earlier this year, one of the biggest benefits for customers would be early access to the latest innovation from Adobe, including VIP access to new features in the desktop software. With this update to Illustrator, Creative Cloud members have access to three brand new features! Check out the Illustrator team blog for more information and videos on these features and how they can be used: http://adobe.ly/Orq9mI

The updates will reach you automatically next time the Application Manager/ Updater checks with Adobe.com. If you’re in a hurry, choose Help > Update.

These features are available in Adobe Illustrator CS6 for Creative Cloud members only. To join Adobe Creative Cloud, see Adobe Creative Cloud.

Gather all the files used, including linked graphics and fonts, into a single folder for quick hand-off. Choose File > Package to collect all assets in a single location. See Package Files.

Replace embedded images with linsk to their extracted PSD or TIFF files. Select an embedded image and choose Unembed from the Links panel menu or click Unembed in the Control panel. See Unembed images.

View and track additional information about placed artwork directly in the Links panel. See Links Information.

If you are interested in getting access to these features now, you can become a Creative Cloud member. See if you qualify  for a special offer.

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Creative Cloud subscriptions: Cross-language, cross-platform

Jeff Tranberry notes some differences between Creative Cloud membership & traditional Adobe software licenses:

Cross-Platform License: Access to both the Mac OS and Windows versions of the desktop applications and the ability to install them on your primary computer and one backup computer.

Multi-Language License: Access to any language version in which the CS6 and other desktop applications are available. Unlike owning the traditional licensed version of a Creative Suite product, Creative Cloud membership gives you the freedom and flexibility to choose whichever language works best for you in any given application.

Both of these are changes many of us have wanted to make for a long time, and I’m glad to see that they’ve arrived.

Accessing multi-language support is simple, but the UI isn’t obvious.  In the new Adobe Application Manager (AAM), install whatever apps you want in your primary language, then go into Preferences (upper left corner) and switch to a different language. App links that had said “Installed” will revert back to “Install,” though you may need to restart AAM for that to happen.  You can then install apps in the newly chosen language.

After installing multiple language versions Photoshop, you can go into its preferences, switch the UI language, and apply it via app restart.  (There’s just one copy of the app on disk, plus multiple language packs.)  It appears that not all apps support this switching capability, but at least reinstalling in a different language is fairly painless (and can be done as often as needed).

Posted by John Nack at 9:09 AM on May 25, 2012

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Creative Suite 6 Now Available

Creative Suite 6 Now Available « UK and Ireland Channel News function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}adobe.com      UK and Ireland Channel News / Creative Suite 6 Now Availableby mabearAnnouncement (5)Creative Suite 6 (6)CS6 (7)  

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Adobe Creative Suite 6 klar för leverans

Adobe Creative Suite 6 klar för leverans « Adobe Nordic Blog function clearSearch() {document.search_form.s.value = "";} adobe.com      Adobe Nordic Blog / Adobe Creative Suite 6 klar för leveransby adobepr1Creative Cuit 6 (1)CS6 (3)  

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Mr Bingo talks about the creative process

Ever wondered what goes through the mind of a leading illustrator during the creative process? We grabbed 5 minutes with leading illustrator Mr Bingo to find out just that! Speaking at the recent Adobe CS6 and Creative Cloud launch in London, Mr Bingo talks about going to the pub for inspiration, setting up shoots, developing his ideas from initial sketch to digital animation and shares his secret for client success!

He also talks about how Adobe products like Photoshop and Flash transformed the way he worked, helping speed up the process and facilitate his creativity.

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Creative Spotlight: Ryan Boyle

Ryan Boyle caught our eye with his Adobe Ideas-created and Photoshop Touch-edited artwork. Instantly, we knew his comic book-like creations would make a great feature as our Adobe Touch Apps Twitter background. Following a Twitter correspondence with the illustrator, we were able to ask a few questions about his ideal travel destination and how the Adobe Touch Apps have made transitioning between iPad and desktop software virtually seamless. Check out what he had to say, along with his Adobe Touch Apps work, currently being featured as our Twitter background, below.

Creative Layer: How have the Adobe Touch Apps changed your creative workflow?

Ryan Boyle:  It’s definitely a lot easier to carry an iPad or other tablet device around for sketching and brainstorming rather than my laptop and Wacom. What’s especially nice about Adobe Ideas is the ability to take the concept from the iPad into Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop to prep for production without having to scan the image in or lose any quality.

How much of a difference has direct touch input made to your creations?

I can create something wherever the idea hits me. Before, I would have to wait until I got home to sketch out a concept and hope that I hadn’t forgotten what was brilliant about it.

Of the different Touch Apps, which is most instrumental to your creative process and why?

I do a lot of sketching so Adobe Ideas is my favorite. I particularly love its vector capabilities and that I can scale my sketches and designs up as large as I want without losing quality.

If you had the opportunity to travel to anywhere in the world with your Touch Apps, where would it be and why?

Italy, for sure. With all of the amazing art and architecture, where else could you find so much inspiration?

What are the top three sources you look to for inspiration?

I would say my top three inspirational web sites are FFFound.com, Dribbble.com and Behance.net.

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Balancing Work and Life as a Creative Professional

Recently, The 99 Percent, a research arm and think tank of Behance, ran a terrific blog post about balancing work and life as a creative professional.

The blog post displays an excerpt from Lewis Hyde’s book, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World, where he describes work as what we do by the hour – for money, if possible. Hyde then differentiates creative labor as something that is harder to quantify – something that has its own schedule and may take longer, such as writing a poem, or creating a painting.

Creative professionals recognize that there is some overlap here, and that the two can often be easily confused. Creatives might try to rush a creative process in the name of work, or work diligently and tirelessly through a long process that required breaks from mental stress and ware for the sake of creativity.

Above all, the two can also easily get mixed up with personal life. It’s easy to get absorbed by a creative task that one wants to complete, while losing track of the direction of one’s life.

Nigel Marsh had an insightful TED talk on this topic last year, which remains relevant to this day. Watch this talk, and then let us know how you plan to balance work, creative labor and life.

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Incorporating Tablets and Mobile Devices Into Your Creative Process

 

Before the announcement of our Adobe Touch Apps, we asked our Creative Suite Ambassador Group* how they use tablets or mobile devices during the creative process, and what they hope to see from tablets and mobile devices in the future. We wanted to share some responses below, and would love for you to weigh in by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.  Also, check out the video above of Creative Director Brian Yap talking about how he sees tablet apps enhancing his workflow.

“I use my phone to take pictures of things that are interesting, creative, or inspiring. This way I have an ever-changing source of inspiration in the form of a photo album. When I purchase an iPad I plan to use it to sketch out quick ideas and rough drafts when I’m on the go or away from my workspace.”

- Joe Weber

“I use my iPad mostly for research. I’ll search the web, and view content related to my project. I use my iPad… [to explore] how content is designed, and how well the interface and interactivity has been developed for the user.”

- Joseph Caserto

“I’ve recently displayed my portfolio on my iPad. Fabulous! When I teach I use the iPad to often draft class notes, research on the web [and] test out demonstration ideas.”

- Joy Makon

“I keep a portfolio of images of my work in my media folder on the BlackBerry so I can show potential clients my work or take them directly to a website I have designed.”

- Cathy Rudd

So, how do you use tablets and mobiles in the creative process? Which Adobe Touch Apps are you looking forward to exploring?

*Note: Our Creative Suite Ambassador Group is currently a closed community. We will evaluate future opportunities to open the group. For those interested in joining, please stay tuned for more updates on group openings.

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Creative Place and Story Linking

By Cari Jensen on InDesignSecrets.com

This blog-post gives an example of how InDesign CS5.5's new Linked Story feature can be used.

Read on InDesignSecrets

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What Creative Suite 5.5 brings to game developers

Building games for mobile devices with various operating systems is one of the biggest challenges for developers. Creative Suite 5.5 makes it easier and allows you to deploy games that run across Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and iOS. You can also test your game with different resolutions and DPIs using device profiles in Flash Builder. In Flash Pro, you can rescale content to any screen-size just by ticking one checkbox and so on…

As a game developer CS5.5 brings to you are not only new export options, but also tooling that is tied to mobile publishing and helps you to do things faster.

Let’s have a look at what CS5.5 brings you and how it makes your life easier.

Deploy to web, desktop and mobile
Mobile porting has never been easier. Choose among iOS, Android and BlackBerry Tablet OS or all of them.

Export as Bitmap for better performance
Next to Cache as Bitmap is an option to convert your vector artwork directly to bitmap format right in Flash CS5.5 IDE during export. The good thing is, that you still work with the artwork as with vector, but once you export the SWF, it’s converted to bitmap. Tweening bitmaps is less CPU demanding than vectors and your app will perform better. Unlike Cache as Bitmap, you can rotate and scale the artwork during runtime without having it re-cached – so that’s why Export as Bitmap might work better you. Cache as Bitmap is good choice, but only if you change positions – if you start rotating and scaling – it will re-cache every change. Although this can be solved with cacheAsBitmapMatrix on mobile platforms, Export as Bitmap is another very useful option to consider.

Sharing assets across FLA files
Once you create a new Flash project, you can share Library assets between different FLA files. This makes life easier, especially when you are porting your game to different screen-sizes and devices. While you link libraries together, you can change a symbol in one of the libraries and it will automatically update it in other FLA files.

In the image below I have edited the star in only one of the libraries and it’s been automatically updated in the second one.

Scale content with stage
While porting your game to different screen-sizes, this feature might come very handy. When changing the stage width and height, you can tick “Scale content with stage”, which will resize the content to fit the different stage size.

Copy/paste assets from Illustrator to Flash
I like this one, it makes my workflow faster. Although it’s a feature from CS5, it’s still good to be reminded of it. As you can see, shapes and gradients done in Illustrator are represented natively in Flash.

On-device USB debugging
Helps you to test and debug your app right on the real device. Access multitouch, accelerometer and other device specific features you are implementing in your app.

Device profiles
There are many device profiles ready for you. If there is a new device on the market, just add it by yourself or update the list.

There are many more features you’ll find useful and I hope you will enjoy building games with CS5.5.

Have a look at Lee Brimelow’s video tutorial showing new Flash CS5.5 features.

Check these links for further information about the tooling:
Flash Professional CS 5.5
Flash Builder 4.5

Visit Adobe Game Technology Center for tutorials.

Finally, look at this mobile and tablet game running on iPad, XOOM, iPhone, HTC and more built with Creative Suite 5.5 and AIR 2.6:

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