nate update

Yesterday afternoon, I spent a few hours with the AIGA and guests at the new Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce at Town Square, reviewing the new features in Adobe’s new Creative Suite 4.

Most of the feedback I had going into this demo  about CS4 was pretty negative. A few people I talked to love the new interface, but a lot of people hate it. I’m on the fence still… (All the new apps have a tabbed interface familiar to some web development applications).

Some say that it still seems a little “clunky” performance-wise. That has a lot to do with your internet connection and the system you’re running it on. This is a professional-grade software suite, folks. Your Dad’s PC or your sister’s laptop just won’t do for these pro applications anymore. My rule of thumb: your hardware should cost more than your software. If it doesn’t, you’ll probably have some struggles.

Here’s the highlights from my notes from Wednesday’s demo:

CS4 Bridge is beefed up. Review mode is very cool, contact sheets and web galleries are upgraded big time.

CS4 Photoshop functions similarly to the way PC photoshop has for years, with the tabs and rotation through open photoshop docs. Mac users will eventually like this, I think.

Photoshop’s new content-aware scaling is cool. I gotta play with this more before I give an opinion.

Photoshop’s new press and hold zooming, flinging / panning, rotating previews, etc. is very cool. You need a beefy graphics card to use it though. Again – hardware is vital to CS4, love it or hate it.

Photoshop’s Adjustments Palette is new. Could take some getting used to, but overall looks to be a nice improvement.

Photoshop’s Pixel Grid View could be very cool to web users.

Photoshop Extended has improved the use of 3D tools a LOT.

Illustrator CS4: Mutiple Artboards are new (finally!) Freehand users will dig the hell out of this.

Illustrator CS4 has a whole new way of doing gradients, which I’m pretty sure I’ll hate for a while.

Illustrator CS4 has a blob tool. This is sweet. you can modify vectors via painting them out – big time saver.

InDesign CS4 has a new links panel, that’s interactive. You can jump to a link and double click to view details of the link.

InDesign CS4 has real-time preflighting at the bottom left of your screen. Looks cool, but scary to simply “trust it”.

InDesign CS4 can access Kuler from a menu now. Nice.

InDesign CS4 can export .swf (Flash) slideshows, sites, etc. This is huge to print folks who may never make a leap toward interactive or online design.

Flash CS4 has some serious overhauls in it. Don’t take my word for it. Go straight to the source. I don’t do Flash. In fact, I kinda hate it for most things. Another topic for another time.

Fireworks CS4 – seems like it’s got some minor tweaks. Again, go to Adobe. Not a Fireworks user.

Dreamweaver CS4 – additional support for Spry. If you know what this means, you don’t need my review.

Perhaps the most versatile takeaway from the event for me was the discover of the new Acrobat.com. It is still in beta, but it’s awesome as is. Go there, check it out. Sharing screens, files and documents will be completely revolutionized once this is accepted.  ConnectNow (free screen sharing), MyFiles (free ftp), Create PDF (up to 5 PDFs free), Buzzword (free word procesor that is shared with other invited users).

Whether it’s intentional or not, Adobe has seemingly “had it out” for smaller, innovative creative software companies that produce plugins, scripts, etc. over the years. (Reference: Kai’s Power Tools, Macromedia, Quark, Aldus, Extensis, Alien Skin, among others). Now, it seems they’re targeting utility software companies, too. By using Acrobat.com, you may never need to .zip or stuff a file again. You won’t need any proprietary screen sharing software, and even some internal project management software could easily go by the wayside, too. The other companies may argue that theirs is more complete, or more stable or more ____. The simple fact is that people demand convenience and speed. Acrobat.com delivers both. And the price (free) isn’t painting a pretty picture for smaller software developers, either.

*EDIT: Event photos can be found on Flickr. Here’s the LINK.

And that’s great! But I ask you, prospective bloggers, the same question I ask startup businesses when they come to me in a frenzy, saying “we need a website!” – The simple question is: WHY?

Your blog (I’m referring to business blogs) needs the same kind of framework that your company does. This is your brand, in most cases. What will a client think if they read a silly, personal, or irrelevant blog post as a first impression? Not good, right? It happens – alot. What if your last blog post was 9 months ago? Again, not a good first impression.

I subscribe to an awesome blog called Social Media Today, and today I read a great article that details the “how-to’s” and “whatnottodo’s” when planning a new business blog.

This is an awesome example of the three divisions of Black Diamond Digital: Design, Photography and New Media…

Hera Beauty Las Vegas Expert Stylists, Kat and Whitney wanted to showcase their brand of wedding & special event beauty magic, but didn’t want to spend a lot to do it. In three half-day sessions, I shot several great models who aren’t models (that’s the point). You would never know it. They’re hot!

Then, working hands on with Kat, we designed a logo and a look that speaks to the fun side of weddings. The type that little girls dream of – before it gets stressful!

Well, bookings are up, and many, many compliments later, we present: heralasvegas.com. Check it out and give these ladies a call for your next wedding or special event.

Here in Las Vegas, and probably everywhere else, too – the creative industry is getting used to hearing “No.” Today, I discovered a fantastic article for freelancers to understand exactly what “No” means, and how to handle it like a professional.

Check out this link and special thanks to FreelanceSwitch.com for the great read.

Recently, I met Peter Lik and Michael Fatali, two of my favorite master nature photographers.

Today at the WPPI Show here in LV, I briefly met Jerry Ghionis, an award-winner portrait & wedding photographer. What a nice guy, and even more impressive: completely helpful and honest about his tricks / techniques. How do I know this? Because I bought one of his PicPockets. These are awesome – they’re basically flash cards for photographers in tough lighting situations, etc. Each discloses the situation, and what camera settings were used to get the shot on the flipside of the card. As I’m frequently on tight deadlines, these will undoubtedly be a huge benefit for me as a shooter. I think I thanked him at least 3 times, and I’m pretty sure he knows he’s appreciated, since I said that at least twice.

Be sure and visit Mr. Ghionis’ site. You’ll be glad you did if you appreciate great contemporary portaiture.

It’s always a good time for continuing education. If you’re interested and in Las Vegas this summer, please consider enrolling in some of the Adobe Creative Suite Workshops at UNLV.

In particular, the Adobe Lightroom Seminar is the workshop that I’m instructing in August. Here’s the rundown, followed by a link:

INTRODUCTION TO ADOBE LIGHTROOM WORKSHOP

With today’s consumer-meets-professional photography trends, shooters can find themselves managing thousands of digital images. Working with large amounts of software might mean less time to spend on retouching. Not the case with Adobe Lightroom 2. This is used as a helper application alongside Adobe Photoshop, but stands strong as a single application (Mac or PC). Learn to cross from print to web and export top quality images by the dozen with this introductory to Adobe Lightroom.

*EDIT: Late February / Early March Registration Opens. I’ll update when it’s open.

CLICK HERE TO ENROLL OR SEE COMPLETE INFORMATION.

Recently, I heard a story from a friend who was laid off here in Las Vegas and was forced to relocate back to the Bay Area, (a.k.a. the mecca of tech jobs) to find employment. When she arrived, she had 4 job offers from her LinkedIn profile alone.

Look, even if this story has some “stretch” factor in it, it’s reason enough for anyone looking for work to add LinkedIn to their search routine. Here’s a great article about the gain in popularity of LinkedIn with some statistics, from TechCrunch.com

View and Add Black Diamond Digital to your LinkedIn network by clicking here.

Last night I met with fellow Tweeters at the Mirage’s Revolution Lounge for some drinks and laughs. Today, KVBC Channel 3 here in Vegas had a good article recapping the event.

Personally, I’m still learning the ropes of twittersphere, but it’s all good so far. Thanks to really good guy John Hawkins for some fantastic introductions last night.

This has nothing to do with graphics or photography. But what the hell, it’s Valentine’s Day on Saturday…

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These puppies were found off the side of a road on Saturday and they need a home. If you want a puppy or can foster a puppy until they can get a home, please help!
All animal rescues are full and won’t take them. Please contact Betty Miller at spyderinthebox@aol.com

RESCUE US!

Just a personal side note: if you plan on adopting one of these little dudes. DON’T JUST THROW IT IN YOUR BACKYARD. A puppy is a member of your family, so treat it like one! (Let’s just say I have a rotten neighbor who will get what karma has in store for her).

Hey, designers. Promote yourself, much?

Check out the HOW Magazine Promo Design Awards. Apparently, there’s a “category for every type of promotion, all you’ve got to do is find yours.”

Here’s the link.