Adobe has made a flurry of announcements today, involving InDesign, Premiere, and a new partnership.
First, the company has announced a free update to its InDesign page layout software that incorporates non-PostScript printing capabilities and a variety of enhancements designed to improve compatibility with prepress hardware and software. Version 1.5.2 is available now as a free 4.6MB download for InDesign 1.5 customers and will also be provided on a CD for $20 plus shipping costs, Adobe product manager Ed Meadows said.
Previous versions of InDesign were limited to printing to PostScript Level 2 and 3 devices. Last summer, Adobe posted a beta version of the non-PostScript printing extension — permitting output on inexpensive QuickDraw-driven ink-jet printers — but the update is the first fully supported release.
The update also improves InDesign’s ability to generate consistent DSC files–used to exchange document information with other prepress applications — as well as providing other enhancements designed to ensure compatibility with prepress hardware from companies like Agfa, Heidelberg and CreoScitex, as well as applications such as Artwork Systems ArtPro, ScenicSoft Preps and TrapWise. Although many service providers found that jobs produced by InDesign worked flawlessly, others reported a variety of problems when ripping files generated by the program, Adobe said.
Adobe product manager Ed Meadows noted that this is the third InDesign release in a little more than a year, thanks in part to a modular architecture in which most features are implemented as plug-ins to a core page-layout engine. Adobe has pointed to this flexible design as a key advantage in its efforts to challenge the dominance of QuarkXPress in the professional publishing market. Meadows would not comment on the program’s current market share, but said that Adobe sees a three- to five-year adoption curve and has committed an “army of folks”– which he numbered in the triple digits — to develop the software. Despite the explosive growth in Web design, which has prompted Adobe to refocus much of its product line, Meadows said that the print market is still growing at seven percent per year.
Adobe also announced they are shipping Premiere 6.0, the newest version of its digital video editing software. See our Dec. 11, Dec. 12, and Dec. 20 stories for details on Premiere 6.
Finally, Adobe and Organic, an international Internet professional services firm, has announced the formation of a global strategic alliance to deliver Adobe’s Web solutions to Organic’s clients.
The alliance will enable Organic to test and use Adobe’s Web products for external Organic client projects as well as internal Organic projects, including research and intranet development plans. The Adobe Web solution includes: GoLive, LiveMotion, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, and After Effects.
As part of the agreement, Organic will employ Adobe’s Web products to deliver online experiences for its clients that include companies in a variety of industries such as automotive, retail, finance and entertainment. Through co-marketing activities, Adobe and Organic will promote Organic’s services and external work for clients using Adobe’s Web solutions.
“The extreme integration and flexibility of Adobe’s products allows us to quickly build engaging Web experiences that foster customer retention and loyalty,” said Janis Nakano Spivack, chief creative officer of Organic, in a press announcement. “Our alliance with Adobe enables us to provide our clients with the mission critical business solutions they need to succeed in the highly competitive world of online business.”
Organic and Adobe have both become leaders in their field by delivering innovative and creative solutions, so the alliance between our two companies is highly complimentary, said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president, product marketing for Adobe.
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