Adobe Premiere 6.5, the latest version of the digital video editing software from Adobe, is now shipping with new features that include Real-time Preview, the Adobe Title Designer and support for MPEG-2 export and DVD authoring. Adobe has also released an updated bundle of digital products and Photoshop Elements 2.0.
Adobe says that the Premiere update offers the most complete hardware support of any non-linear editing solution on the market. Purportedly, Adobe Premiere 6.5 will work with any certified hardware system for Premiere 6.0 and it supports the latest Mac and Windows platforms, including Mac OS X (as well as Mac OS 9.x).
Not surprisingly, the new version offers tight integration between Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop and Illustrator, which make up the Adobe Digital Video Collection 8.0. The Edit Original command lets you edit native Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects files — after saving the changes, Adobe Premiere instantly updates the placed content.
Adobe Premiere 6.5 is available immediately in the U.S. and Canada. The estimated street price is US$549 for the full versions; the upgrade price for registered users is $149.
Adobe is also shipping Photoshop Elements 2.0, a product that offers many of the features of Photoshop, but at a lower price. It’s targeted to those who need image editing features, but perhaps not the high-end capabilities of Photoshop. For example, digital photography hobbyists are among the target audience.
Interface and workflow improvements in Photoshop Elements 2.0 are designed to make a wide range of editing tasks easy to access and perform. Common tasks such as red-eye removal, cropping and rotating are simplified with the new Quick Fix dialog, according to Adobe.
Users also have instant access to the features they need with automated “how-to” recipes and searchable help files built into the program interface. Elements 2.0 is also designed to simplify the sharing of photos. For example, new e-mail support automatically optimizes and attaches single images to e-mail client software from directly within the program. In addition, multiple photos can also be saved as Adobe Portable Document format (PDF) slideshows.
Plus, Photoshop Elements 2.0 supports online printing services with a direct link to Shutterfly.com for easy photo uploading and access to services.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 is now available in the U.S. and Canada for an estimated street price of $99. Registered users of Elements 1.0 or selected digital imaging software products are eligible to receive a $30 mail-in rebate.