I am a new member. The venue was fine, the topics were very interesting, and the presenter was exceptional. I was impressed overall and look forward, very much, to the next meeting.
Brian Kane
Massachusetts College of Art
Event DetailsCS4!! Need I say more? The Boston InDesign User Group (IDUG) welcomed more than 75 creatives to MassArt on Dec 4th to see the ultimate toolkit for today’s designer.
Meg Young opened the meeting by inviting the members to volunteer to form a steering committee to ensure the continuation of the Boston IDUG. We are so happy to say that people have stepped up and we are moving forward with that committee (more on that in the Thank You section below).
Noha Edell, Business Development Manager for Creative Pro products at Adobe, did a spectacular job presenting the latest features of CS4 including the new tabbed interface that can help you jump between multiple documents. Some of the Bridge highlights shown were “breadcrumbs” on your top toolbar -- the Application Bar -- that help you quickly see where your files are located, and the ability to output photos as an HTML or Flash Web gallery or contact sheets directly through Bridge.
Noha showed Photoshop’s content-aware scaling, nondestructive corrections with the Adjustments panel, enhanced auto-align, auto-blend, 360° panoramas, and 3D interactivity. We saw Illustrator’s awesome multiple artboards and improved gradient features, which now include transparency.
She went on to demonstrate the newest Adobe InDesign CS4 features, including:
* Live preflight. You can now see, as you are working, if there are any potential production errors in your document, allowing you to correct the problems at any time and see updated preflight information change on the fly.
* Links panel. Customize to view image thumbnails, scale, resolution, metadata, and more.
* Smart Guides and proportional place. Quickly align, space, and rotate images based on other images in the document with the smart guides giving the user visual placement cues.
* Spread rotation. No more turning your head sideways to view rotated type!
* Interactivity. There is a library of buttons with actions (states) already attached. Create page transitions in your document that can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat and Flash, and then export your document as SWF or SFL files (Flash CS4 will maintain the appearance of your document).
Check out www.adobe.com to find out more about the newest features of the Creative Suite 4 line of products.
Thanks to the following sponsors:
* Adobe Systems Inc.: www.adobe.com
* AGI: www.agitraining.com
* Peachpit: www.peachpit.com
* Stocklayout: www.stocklayouts.com
* MassArt (http://www.massart.edu/)
* GraphiColor (www.graphicolor.com) for the awesome banner (which you can see in the meeting photos).
As we wind down another year, I would like to thank all of those people who volunteered to support the group in 2009. I hope you will find it rewarding and satisfying, and I know you have the gratitude of the group. Andrew Fintzel and Charles Linskey have offered to lead this group and will be working together to establish the steering committee. They will be contacting all of the volunteers to set up the first committee's meeting. I speak from experience when I say that there are many small (and large) tasks that go into planning and running group meetings, and that every little bit helps.
The Adobe Creative Suite 4 Launch Tour
New York | January 16 2009
Javits Center
For more details or to register (only $49), go to www.mogo-media.com/seminars/the-adobe-cs4-launch-tour
Web & Interactive Design Summits 2009
Boston, MA | Feb. 4 - 5, 2009
Harvard Medical School Conference Center
77 Avenue Louis Pasteur
Don't miss the Web and Interactive Design Summit 2009 coming to select cities in February and March 2009. This full day session is only $199 and you'll receive a copy of the book Web Design for ROI. Learn more and register at http://techDesignology.com.
Photoshop World Conference & Expo
Boston, MA | March 25-27, 2009
As a member of the InDesign User Group, you receive a professional discount of an extra $50 off! Call 800-738-8513 now or visit http://www.photoshopworld/com/register.html today. See your Member Benefits area of the IDUG web site for the discount code. Plus, when you sign up by February 20, 2009, you'll also save $100 off admission, giving you a total savings of $150!
- I'll travel far and wide for this meeting.
- Love CS4. We need the group.
- Excellent Presentation! So many time-saving tips!
- Great as usual.Wonderful new features. I love it. Can't wait to bring it home.
- Noha is an excellent presenter and the upgrade is amazing. I can't wait to get going with it.
- I can't wait for it! Conditional text - need I say more?!
- Very helpful, informative and entertaining. I learned a lot and look forward to using CS4 soon!
Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year,
Meg Young
Chapter Rep
Boston InDesign User Group
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