Adobe launches Creative Suite 6, including Photoshop CS6

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posted Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 12:12 PM EST

Adobe's Creative Suite 6 logo. Image provided by Adobe.At simultaneous events in San Francisco, London, and Tokyo, Adobe Systems Inc. has announced the latest iteration of its Creative Suite product line, including a new release of its flagship image editor Photoshop, as well as a new supporting cloud service.

Adobe groups the changes in Creative Suite 6 in four key areas: performance improvements, a more coherent user interface, a focused on easier mobile content creation, and what the company refers to as 'secret sauce' features, like the attention-grabbing content-aware tools for Photoshop. Most apps in the suite have received significant updates, with only Adobe Acrobat being unchanged. Four products are dropped from the suite, and three of them completely discontinued. Adobe will no longer sell Device Central, Flash Catalyst or OnLocation, and has separated Contribute from the suite. In their place are two new additions: Adobe Prelude and SpeedGrade. Prelude is a video workflow tool, used to prepare content before final editing in Premiere Pro. SpeedGrade, meanwhile, is a new tool for color grading and finishing.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 in use. Screenshot provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Adobe Photoshop CS6 in use.
Screenshot provided by Adobe.

The core product for Imaging Resource readers will probably be Photoshop CS6, however. Here, features are much the same as in the public beta released a month ago, but to recap: the most immediately obvious change is a new, darker default user interface, reminiscent of that used in Photoshop Lightroom, and a requirement that an Adobe ID be provided to activate the product. GPU acceleration has been added to speed up many features, and Adobe's content-aware technology has been extended to the patch and move tools. Photoshop CS6 also includes Camera Raw 7, which incorporates the same imaging engine used in Lightroom 4. There are also updated Auto Levels and Auto Curves tools, three new blur filters, timeline-based video creation, more robust 3D editing capability, and numerous 'Just Do It' tweaks.

For videographers, Premiere Pro CS6 now defaults to a two-up workspace with side-by-side source and program monitors over the various other editing panels, including the project and timeline panels. As you'd expect, the old layout is still available as an option for those who're set in their ways. Both the source and program monitors have been redesigned for better readability, and greater customization. The audio mixer has also been redesigned based on Audition's multichannel mixer, and the audio meter panel now supports resizing including automatic switching between horizontal and vertical orientations as needed to fit your layout. Numerous other panels have been tweaked to provide resizable, scrubbable thumbnails, a new time ruler bar, and color clip markers.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6's new default layout. Screenshot provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6's new default layout.
Screenshot provided by Adobe.

Other areas that have been revisited include clip trimming, keyboard shortcuts, gesture support on Macs with the appropriate hardware, adjustment layers, multi-camera editing, three-way color correction, and more. There's also an update to the Mercury Playback Engine adding support for some MacBook GPUs and NVIDIA Maximus dual-GPU setups, as well as acceleration of more functions. Native support has been added for more cameras including the recently-announced Canon Cinema EOS C300, Arri Alexa, and Red Scarlet-X / Epic. There's one real standout feature, though. A Warp Stabilizer function has been borrowed and expanded from After Effects CS5.5, and includes Rolling Shutter Repair, handy for fixing footage from SLRs and action cameras like the GoPro series.

Adobe After Effects CS6 also brings a raft of changes. Of most interest to videographers will, again, probably be the additional of rolling shutter repair. The attention-grabber is a 3D camera tracker function that analyzes a clip in the background, computes a matched 3D camera in After Effects, and handles occlusion and shadow casting automatically, letting you add new layers to your footage that automatically track with camera motion, and fall behind foreground elements as expected. Other changes include a new graphics pipeline, RAM, and disk caching, a new 3D rendering engine using ray-tracing, the ability to vary feather width around a mask, and more.

Trimming a video in Premiere Pro CS6. Screenshot provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Trimming a video in Premiere Pro CS6.
Screenshot provided by Adobe.

Adobe Audition now has real-time clip stretching, and Adobe says that a variety of new and improved tools will bring faster, yet more precise audio editing. Illustrator, meanwhile, now has native 64-bit support, seamless vector pattern creation, gradients on strokes, and updated raster tracing. Indesign brings support for alternate and liquid layouts, PDF forms, linking within and across documents, and a new content collector that makes it easy to reuse text and objects from an existing layout. Dreamweaver offers updated HTML5 / CSS3 support, fluid layout, and multi-threaded FTP transfer.

Perhaps the biggest change of all, though, is the newly launched Adobe Creative Cloud, which makes it possible to get access to all Adobe Creative Suite 6 applications for an ongoing subscription, erasing the barrier to entry many perceived due to the high cost of the full suite, which could easily run into the thousands of dollars. (Creative Cloud customers will also receive new versions and newly-released suite products automatically upon release as part of their subscription, and 20GB of online storage for their projects.) Adobe Creative Cloud has either a monthly or annual contract, and costs either US$75 per month, or US$50 per month paid annually, making the year-round cost a minimum of US$600. As an added incentive to sign up, current customers running Creative Suite 3 or later can get a significant discount, paying about US$360 for their first year, and saving about US$240 over a standard subscription. Those in certain educational institutions will be entitled to a Student and Teacher Edition, which carries the same US$360 annual cost.

Premiere Pro CS6 adds adjustment layers. Screenshot provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Premiere Pro CS6 adds adjustment layers.
Screenshot provided by Adobe.

For those who don't want to pay ongoing subscriptions, the Creative Suite products will also be available to purchase, either separately or as part of a Suite bundle. Adobe Photoshop CS6 is priced at US$700 for the standard release, or US$1,000 for the Extended edition which adds 3D graphics features, and upgrade pricing for each edition is either US$200 or US$400. Premiere Pro CS6 is priced at around US$800, with an upgrade cost of US$150. Pricing for Suite bundles varies from the base CS6 Design Standard (US$1,300 full price; US$275 upgrade) to the all-encompassing CS6 Master Collection (US$2,600 full price; US$525 upgrade).

All products in Creative Suite 6 are available to preorder now, and are expected to ship within the next 30 days.

Probably the most eyecatching feature of After Effects CS6 is the 3D camera tracker. Screenshot provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Probably the most eyecatching feature of After Effects CS6 is the 3D camera tracker.
Screenshot provided by Adobe.

 

Press Release

Adobe Unveils Fast, Feature-Packed Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended

SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 23, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Photoshop® CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended software, major releases of the undisputed standard for professional digital imaging. Packed with new features and enhancements, the software includes groundbreaking innovations and unparalleled performance breakthroughs that expand the frontiers of imaging science, and deliver new levels of creativity and increased efficiency. Photoshop CS6 Extended integrates the state-of-the-art editing, compositing, and graphic design capabilities of Photoshop CS6, as well as advanced tools for 3D design*, image and video editing, and quantitative analysis which address the unique needs of the graphic design, video, Web, architecture, medical, manufacturing and engineering industries.

“Creativity is at the very center 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,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Photoshop CS6 is unrivaled in capabilities and power and – as we have seen from the astonishing reception of our recent public beta – has once again captured the imagination of the worldwide creative community. ‘Photoshop magic’ is alive and well with CS6.”

Since Photoshop CS6 was released as a public beta on March 22 for Mac OS and Microsoft® Windows® platforms, there have been nearly one million downloads of the software worldwide – surpassing any public beta in Adobe’s history. With this launch, Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended can be purchased as stand-alone applications, key components of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family (see separate press release), and now as part of Adobe’s revolutionary Creative Cloud™ offering, also announced today (see separate release).

Create with Imaging Innovation and Peak Performance
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. The software helps users to patch images with control for exceptional results; edit with real-time interactions and a fluid feel powered by the new Mercury Graphics Engine; easily edit video; perform automatic tone mapping and sharpening; and use improved design tools for better results with fewer steps. Creative customers will be able to take advantage of an efficient, modern UI that puts all focus on images, and sync settings and preferences for consistent workflows across multiple devices via Adobe Creative Cloud.

“Adobe Photoshop CS6 gives Trek powerful design tools to help bring our creative vision to a reality faster and with greater control than ever before. The responsiveness of the new Mercury Graphics Engine is simply breathtaking and being able to see the results instantaneously helps us keep to our extremely tight timelines," said Eric Lynn, creative director, Trek Bicycle. "We often work with large files that include more than 500 layers and being able to search them all – and continue working while saving a large document – is invaluable to our workflow and a huge time saver for us.”

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 optimized 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 Digital 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 synchronizing 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.

Live Streamed Webcast
The launch event for Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. PT, April 23 at www.adobe.com/special/cs6/launch-event.html and will be available there as a continuous rebroadcast from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. PT on April 23. An on-demand version will be available at http://tv.adobe.com beginning April 24.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, Adobe Creative Suite 6 editions and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days and can be pre-ordered now. Photoshop CS6 and Photoshop CS6 Extended will also be available through Adobe Authorized Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales; 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. For more detailed information about features, OS support, system requirements, upgrade policies and pricing, please visit www.adobe.com/photoshop.

Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership and US$74.99 per month based on month-to-month membership and includes access to Photoshop CS6 Extended. A special introductory offer of US$29.99 per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available. Learn more at www.adobe.com/go/creativecloud.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

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© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Muse, Creative Cloud, Creative Suite, Lightroom and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Mac OS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward looking statements, including those related to Adobe’s future product plans, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe's SEC filings. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward looking statements.

*3D features and some GPU-enabled features are not supported on Windows XP.


Image provided by Adobe. Click for a bigger picture!

Image provided by Adobe.

Milestone Adobe CS6 Release Delivers Major Innovations for Design, Web and Video Pros

CS6 Products Anchor New Adobe Creative Cloud Offering

SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 23, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the ultimate toolkit for design, Web and video professionals with the unveiling of the Adobe® Creative Suite® 6 product line and Adobe Creative Cloud™ (see separate release). Powerful new releases of 14 CS6 applications and four Creative Suites – Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium, Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard, Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium, and Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection – drive home Adobe’s continued innovation across creative markets. A new subscription-based offering, Adobe Creative Cloud, will provide users with the ability to download and install every Adobe CS6 application* announced today.  Creative Cloud also integrates Adobe Touch Apps† into everyday work, introduces cloud-based sync and store capabilities, and powers the publishing of apps and high-impact Web experiences.

“Creatives get a ton of innovation across CS6, with milestone releases of all our flagship products,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media Business, Adobe. “With CS6 and Creative Cloud, we’re also introducing new products, new mobile workflows and advanced publishing capabilities that show we are laser-focused on ensuring design, Web and video pros have everything they need for the delivery of high-impact content and apps.”

Major CS Upgrades and All-New Muse Anchor Landmark Launch for Designers
The performance and workflow enhancements in Adobe Photoshop® CS6 (see separate release), Adobe Illustrator® CS6 and Adobe InDesign® CS6 will result in significant time savings for print, Web and mobile projects.

  • In Photoshop CS6, designers will experience incredible performance, powered by the Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine, enabling near instant results from essential editing tools, including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects.

  • Adobe has built on Photoshop’s breakthrough Content-Aware capabilities with advanced new Content-Aware Patch and Content-Aware Move features.

  • Illustrator CS6 debuts a revamped modern interface, and features include a new image tracing engine, easy pattern creation and ability to apply gradients to strokes. The Mercury Performance System delivers speed and stability, including 64-bit support for Mac OS and Windows.

  • InDesign CS6 continues to blaze a trail in publishing, streamlining the creation of multiple layouts from a single set of content with new Adaptive Design Tools – Alternate Layout, Liquid Layout, Content Collector Tools and Linked Content.

  • A brand new application, Adobe Muse™, a radical tool that enables designers to create and publish HTML5 web sites without writing code, was also announced today.

Adobe Doubles-Down on HTML5 Tooling for Web Professionals
Innovative new workflows and capabilities across Adobe tools simplify the creative process for today’s Web designers, developers and interactive professionals.

  • Web pros can conveniently integrate HTML5 animations, created with Adobe Edge preview, into their Dreamweaver projects, driving home Adobe’s leadership in tooling for the HTML5 Web standard.

  • Adobe Dreamweaver® CS6 addresses the challenge of responsive Web designs with the ability to build fluid grid layouts replacing the tedious manual process of creating and configuring separate CSS-based interfaces for phone, tablet and desktop.

  • Through direct integration with Adobe’s recently announced PhoneGap Build service, Dreamweaver CS6 helps round out Web professionals’ skillsets and enables them to produce native mobile applications for multiple platforms.

  • Adobe Flash® Professional CS6 users can easily translate and transition their skills to HTML5 using the Flash Professional Toolkit for CreateJS. Flash Professional CS6 also helps designers create exciting and impactful gaming experiences and advancements include the ability to generate sprite sheets that improve workflows and performance.

  • Pre-built native extensions and new packaging options, leveraging the latest Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtimes, help expand and ease app delivery to Android and iOS devices.

Production Premium CS6 Pushes Boundaries of Video Creativity
Redesigned by and for video editors, with major performance enhancements, the tools included in Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium set a new standard in professional video.

  • With dozens of new features, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS6 is the hub of any professional video workflow, featuring a sleek new editing environment.  The powerful Adobe Mercury Playback Engine now supports OpenCL on MacBook Pros.

  • The most significant After Effects release in a decade, Adobe After Effects® CS6 is faster and more responsive than ever. With Global Performance Cache, previews are saved and ready to go – cutting the time spent bouncing between projects.

  • New to Production Premium are Adobe Prelude™ CS6, which streamlines logging and ingest workflows in post-production, and Adobe SpeedGrade, which contains powerful finishing tools for film finishing and color grading.

  • Adobe Audition® CS6 accelerates audio post-production: real-time clip stretching makes it simple to stretch clips to fit an edit; and Automatic Speech Alignment introduces a powerful new engine for automated dialogue analysis.

  • A new third party API for hardware integration – Adobe Mercury Transmit – allows broadcast video monitoring to connect directly into the Mercury Playback Engine via third-party cards from AJA, Blackmagic Design and Matrox.

Live Streamed Webcast
The launch event for Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. PT, April 23 at www.adobe.com/special/cs6/launch-event.html and will be available there as a continuous rebroadcast from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. PT on April 23. An on-demand version will be available at http://tv.adobe.com beginning April 24.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Creative Suite 6 products and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days and can be pre-ordered now. Adobe continues to offer 14 CS6 point-products as well as Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium (US$1,899), Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard (US$1,299), Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium (US$1,899) and Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection (US$2,599) for purchase. Upgrade pricing is also available to eligible customers. Customers can purchase CS6 products via Adobe.com and through select retail, resellers and online stores. More information on product pricing is available at www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html.

Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership and US$74.99 per month based on month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of US$29.99 per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available. Learn more at www.adobe.com/go/creativecloud.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com. lso include training, support and community features that drive meaningful connections between creatives worldwide

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© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Suite, Creative Cloud, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Muse, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premiere, After Effects, Prelude and Audition are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward looking statements, including those related to Adobe’s future product plans, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe's SEC filings. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward looking statements.

*Internet connection required. Adobe online services, including the Adobe Creative Cloud service, are available only to users 13 and older and require registration and agreement to additional terms and Adobe's online privacy policy. The applications and online services are not available in all countries or languages, and may be subject to change or discontinuation without notice. Additional fees or membership charges may apply.

†Mobile and tablet applications require a separate download and agreement to additional terms. Additional fees or subscription charges may apply. Such applications may not be available in all countries or languages and may be subject to change or discontinuation without notice.


Adobe Launches Creative Cloud

Powerful New Adobe CS6 Release at Heart of Transformative Creative Cloud Initiative

SAN JOSE, Calif. —April 23, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Creative Cloud™, a radical new way of providing tools and services* that will change the game for creatives worldwide.  A subscription-based offering, Adobe Creative Cloud is a hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work and it is centered around a powerful release of Adobe Creative Suite® 6 software (see separate release), packed with innovation across its industry-defining design, Web, video and digital imaging tools.

Adobe Creative Cloud Highlights

  • Creative Cloud membership provides users 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 integrates Adobe’s creative tablet applications†, such as Photoshop Touch, into everyday work - seamlessly synchronizing 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 have access to application upgrades, including new CS point-product features, before they are launched as part of major CS updates, as well as inventive new products and services as they emerge.

  • Adobe Creative Cloud membership is US$49.99 per month, with an annual contract. A special introductory offer of US$29.99 per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available.

“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,” said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief executive officer, Adobe. “Wherever and whenever inspiration strikes, Adobe will be there to help capture, refine and publish your ideas.”

Creative Suite 6, Innovative HTML5 Tools Anchor Creative Cloud

  • CS6 includes landmark releases of industry icons such as Adobe Photoshop® CS6 (see separate release), Adobe InDesign® CS6, Adobe Illustrator® CS6, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS6, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS6, Adobe After Effects® CS6, Adobe Flash® Professional CS6 and more.  With Creative Cloud membership, creatives can download and install all of the 14 new Adobe Creative Suite 6 applications.

  • Creative Cloud membership also includes access to Adobe Muse and Adobe Edge preview, new tools for HTML5 design and development that demonstrate Adobe’s commitment to the latest Web standards.

Creative Cloud Links Adobe Touch Apps to CS6 Desktop Tools

  • Adobe Creative Cloud integrates Adobe’s line of creative touch tools with CS6 desktop applications.

  • Adobe Touch Apps bring professional-level creativity to tablet devices and address multiple areas of the creative process: image editing, ideation, sketching, mood board creation, website and mobile app prototyping, and the presentation of finished work.

  • Photoshop Touch and Adobe Ideas have already proved runaway hits on the iPad and Android tablets. Three additional tools, available on Android today, will be coming to iPad soon: Adobe Collage, Adobe Debut and Adobe Proto.

  • A new desktop app, Adobe Creative Cloud Connection, enables the syncing, sharing and storing of files across mobile devices and desktop.

  • Creative Cloud membership includes up to 20GB of cloud storage, with additional storage purchase options coming soon.

Creative Cloud Publishing Services Streamline Website and App Creation

  • Creative Cloud publishing services will include the ability to easily publish apps, magazines and catalogues to iPad, iPhone and Android devices.

  • Members have immediate access to Adobe Typekit, the Web-based font library that pioneered the use of real fonts on websites, delivering more than 700 typefaces from leading foundries.

  • New Web hosting capabilities, integrated as part of Adobe Creative Cloud membership, allow users to easily create and host high-impact websites.  The Integration between Adobe Muse, Typekit and the Web hosting capabilities power a new simplified workflow for delivering high-impact websites.

Members Receive Ongoing Delivery of New Applications, Services and Features
Creative Cloud members will receive ongoing updates to Creative Suite applications as well as other new products and services as they emerge. Coming in the future to Adobe Creative Cloud 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 Digital Publishing Suite Single Edition, the technology behind the delivery of digital magazines on iPad.

  • Creative Cloud will also include training, support and community features that drive meaningful connections between creatives worldwide.

Live Streamed Webcast
The launch event for Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. PT, April 23 at www.adobe.com/special/cs6/launch-event.html and will be available there as a continuous rebroadcast from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. PT on April 23. An on-demand version will be available at http://tv.adobe.com beginning April 24.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Creative Suite 6 products and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days and can be pre-ordered now. Adobe Creative Cloud membership will be available to customers in 36 countries and in multiple languages. Pricing for Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership and US$74.99 per month for month-to-month membership. A special introductory offer of US$29.99 per month for CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 individual customers is also available. Learn more at www.adobe.com/go/creativecloud.

Adobe continues to offer 14 CS6 point-products as well as Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium (US$1,899), Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard (US$1,299), Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium (US$1,899) and Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection (US$2,599) for purchase. Upgrade pricing is also available to eligible customers. Customers can purchase Creative Suite 6 via Adobe.com and through select retail, resellers and online stores. More information on product pricing is available at www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html.

Adobe Touch Apps can be purchased separately from the iTunes App Store‡ or Google Play for US$9.99 each. Special offers for Adobe Touch Apps are available for customers who sign up for annual membership of Adobe Creative Cloud. For more details visit www.adobe.com/products/touchapps.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

###

© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Cloud, Creative Suite, Muse, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere, After Effects and Flash are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward looking statements, including those related to Adobe’s future product plans, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe's SEC filings. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward looking statements.

*Internet connection required. Adobe online services, including the Adobe Creative Cloud service, are available only to users 13 and older and require registration and agreement to additional terms and Adobe's online privacy policy. The applications and online services are not available in all countries or languages, and may be subject to change or discontinuation without notice. Additional fees or membership charges may apply.

†Mobile and tablet applications require a separate download and agreement to additional terms. Additional fees or subscription charges may apply. Such applications may not be available in all countries or languages and may be subject to change or discontinuation without notice.

‡Subject to Apple’s current requirements and approval.


Adobe Creative Cloud, Creative Suite 6 Deliver Professional Grade Features for Students and Educators

Release Delivers New K-12 Licensing Model and Special Education Pricing

SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 23, 2012 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Adobe® Creative Cloud™ Student and Teacher Edition, and Adobe Creative Suite® 6 Student and Teacher Edition for institutions, educators and students. The new release and supporting educational resources help K-12 and higher education institutions enhance teaching and learning, and better prepare students for their future careers.

“We are now in the era of the ‘3Cs’ – creativity, communication and collaboration – driven by how digital media is revolutionizing teaching and learning,” said Jon Perera, vice president of worldwide education, Adobe. “Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 applications make it easier for educators to create and deliver stunning digital education content across devices, cloud, and social platforms.”

In addition to 14 new CS6 point products and four Creative Suite editions, Adobe is now delivering its first cloud offering for students and educators. Adobe Creative Cloud is a hub where students and educators can explore, share and deliver creative content using any of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 desktop applications, also announced today (see separate releases), as well as new tools for HTML5 such as Adobe Muse™ and Adobe Edge preview. By offering integration with Adobe Touch Apps*, headlined by Photoshop® Touch, Adobe Creative Cloud enables new mobile workflows, from ideation to publishing, that bring the power of Adobe innovation to the classroom via iPad and Android tablets.

More than 100 education institutions worldwide participated in the beta program for CS6 and Creative Cloud, including Lake City High School, The Academy of Art, Rochester Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University. According to David Holzemer at Carnegie Mellon University e-learning and media design, “Adobe Creative Suite 6 software is a real game changer for us. The new Mercury Graphics Engine running at 64-bit will cut my production time in half and time is always critical for a very small staff serving such a large institution. Adobe Creative Suite 6 is invaluable to my e-learning team.”

Prepare Students for Careers
With new capabilities designed to help students across all disciplines create stunning digital content that stands out, Adobe Creative Suite 6 helps give students the ability to learn the skills needed in today’s competitive workforce:

  • Gain digital content creation skills across video, animations, 3D and photos with major updates to Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS6, Adobe After Effects® CS6, and Adobe Audition® CS6. With the new Adobe Photoshop CS6, students can express themselves by leveraging the powerful new 3D and video editing tools for media they have captured across multiple devices.

  • Create on virtually any device with Adobe Creative Cloud Connection which enables the syncing, sharing and storing of files from Adobe Touch Apps for download and use with CS6 desktop products. For example, educators and students can work with a file in Photoshop Touch on iPad and use Adobe Creative Cloud to sync and share that file on the desktop for refinement using Photoshop CS6.

  • Get noticed with multimedia-rich portfolios, websites and applications. Adobe InDesign® CS6 extends its lead in digital publishing, streamlining the creation of multiple layouts from a single set of content, helping to deliver interactive campus publications for iPad, Kindle Fire and Android devices. Adobe Dreamweaver® CS6 helps enable students to create high-impact school or personal websites.

Engage Students, Empower Faculty and Advance Teaching
The new Creative Suite 6 release gives faculty and students the tools to easily visualize, understand, and communicate information in creative ways across print, Web, video, and mobile devices.

  • Create digital education content ranging from digital storytelling for history and languages, gaming and animations for math, to data visualization in the sciences – all in a way that helps engage students and creates rich learning experiences. CS6 provides the features and flexibility to produce interactive presentations and explore the boundaries of creativity and critical thinking.

  • Expand the delivery of education content with multi-screen publishing across multiple platforms and devices using HTML5 and the very latest standards for Web, mobile, e-books, and tablets.

  • Help improve productivity and efficiency in the classroom with simplified workflows, speed and performance enhancements, and a new, more intuitive user interface across the CS6 product set.

  • Empower educators with ISTE-aligned curricula with the release of three newly-updated, year-long, project based curricula for graphic design and print production, Web design and development, and video production. These curricula are available on the Adobe Education Exchange, along with resources from the education community.

  • Certify industry-centric technical and communication skills with Adobe certifications. More than 300,000 students worldwide have been certified through the Adobe Certified Associate examination. With CS6, Adobe and CertiPort are offering new, updated curricula and certification for this major release. Educators and students can get certified for both entry-level skills as an Adobe Certified Associate (ACA), and professional-level skills as an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE).

Live Streamed Webcast
The launch event for Adobe Creative Cloud and CS6 will be streamed live beginning at 10 a.m. PT, April 23 at www.adobe.com/special/cs6/launch-event.html and will be available there as a continuous rebroadcast from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. PT on April 23. An on-demand version will be available at http://tv.adobe.com beginning April 24.

Pricing and Availability
Adobe Creative Suite 6 products and Adobe Creative Cloud are scheduled to be available within 30 days. The Student and Teacher Edition of Adobe Creative Cloud is available for US$29.99 per month. For information on Adobe licensing go to www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/volumelicensing/education.

Adobe is also offering a new Adobe K-12 Enterprise Agreement designed for the needs of school districts in the United States and Canada. Customers can purchase Creative Suite 6 via Adobe.com and through select retail and online stores. More product information is available at www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite.html.

For more detailed information about educational upgrade policies and pricing, as well as the full portfolio of suites, please visit www.adobe.com/education.edu.html.

About Adobe Education
Adobe’s education vision is to unleash the creativity of students and educators around the world. In addition to product innovations, Adobe’s education offering includes standards-aligned curriculums, certification, professional development, and flexible purchasing options for students, faculty and schools to help ensure students are ready for the opportunities in an ever-evolving digital world. More information on Adobe education solutions and licensing can be found at www.adobe.com/education and www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/volumelicensing/education.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe is changing the world through digital experiences. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

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© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe Muse, After Effects, Audition, Creative Cloud, Creative Suite, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Photoshop and Premiere are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains forward looking statements, including those related to Adobe’s future product plans, which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Adobe's SEC filings. Adobe does not undertake an obligation to update forward looking statements.

*Wireless Internet connection required.  Mobile and tablet applications and syncing functionality require a separate download and agreement to additional terms.  Adobe online services, including Adobe Creative Cloud service, are available only to users 13 and older and require agreement to additional terms and Adobe’s online privacy policy. The applications and online services are not available in all countries or languages, may require user registration and may be subject to change or discontinuation without notice. Additional fees or subscription charges may apply.