Camera Raw version 4.0, released with Adobe Photoshop CS3 is also available as a download with a new DNG Converter version with support for Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-FZ8 model. Users of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom who shoot with the Lumix can use the DNG Convertor to convert files for import into Lightroom. A future update to Lightroom will incorporate this and potentially new cameras. No word yet on a Lightroom update.

Check the Camera Raw product page for additional info and downloads.

Source: AP News
Written by Jessica Mintz

SEATTLE (AP) - It has not escaped Microsoft’s attention that some of the coolest sites on the Web - YouTube and MySpace included - get much of their flash from Flash and other design programs sold by Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE)

But as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) gets ready to ship its own line of tools for designers and Web developers, the world’s largest software maker finds it must also defend against Adobe on its home turf, the desktop. At the same time, the line between Internet and desktop programs is blurring - and both companies see an opportunity to capture new business.

Source: Adobe Support

The Adobe CS3Clean Script will help resolve installation problems experienced by beta and pre-release users of Adobe Creative Suite software. The script will clean up the beta and pre-release installations and allow installation of the shipping versions of Creative Suite 3.

Source: Adobe Support Document TechNote: kb401501

This document covers removing Photoshop CS3 public beta on Windows Vista. For instructions explaining how to remove Photoshop CS3 public beta manually on Windows XP, see document kb401492, “Manually remove Photoshop CS3 public beta (Windows XP).”

Source: Adobe Support Document TechNote: kb401492

This document covers removing Photoshop CS3 public beta on Windows XP. For instructions explaining how to remove Photoshop CS3 public beta manually on Windows Vista, see document kb401501, “Manually remove Photoshop CS3 public beta (Windows Vista).”

Source: Adobe Support Document TechNote: kb401502

This document covers removing Adobe Photoshop CS3 public beta on Mac OS X. For instructions explaining how to remove Photoshop CS3 public beta manually on Windows XP and Windows Vista, see “Additional information” below.

From John Nack’s blog; One important note:  If you’ve installed a beta build of Photoshop, Flash, Soundbooth, or other CS3 software, you must first uninstall the app(s) before installing the shipping versions:

• On the Mac, the uninstaller is in Applications/Utilities/Adobe Installers.  Note: You cannot uninstall by dragging CS3 applications to the trash; instead, you must use the uninstaller.
• On Windows XP, uninstall via Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel.
• On Windows Vista, in the Programs section of the Control Panel, select Uninstall a Program.

If you experience problems with the uninstall or the install, you may need to use the Adobe CS3 Clean Script which will be available within a few days.

Press Release: Today Wacom Technology Corp. posted a new driver (for use with all Macs running Mac OS X vs.10.3.9 and 10.4. It works in both the native and classic environment of OS X.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Flagship Creative Applications Also Available

Press Release: SAN JOSE, Calif. — April 16, 2007 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the immediate availability of the highly-anticipated Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 Design Premium and Standard editions and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Standard editions. This revolutionary release of brand-new, tightly integrated, design and development software unites the best of Adobe and former Macromedia® product innovation to provide designers and developers worldwide with a broad spectrum of creative options.

Also available for purchase today are new versions of the following stand alone Adobe creative applications: Adobe Photoshop® CS3, Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended, Adobe InDesign® CS3, Adobe Illustrator® CS3, Adobe Flash® CS3 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS3, Adobe Fireworks® CS3, and Adobe Contribute® CS3. These new Adobe CS3 applications and Adobe Creative Suite 3 editions are available as Universal applications for both PowerPC® and Intel-based Macs and support both Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista™. Customers will experience increased levels of performance and speed running Creative Suite 3 natively on Intel-based Macintosh systems and the latest Windows hardware.

Source: APC
Written by Angus Kidman

Computer makers have been told they’ll no longer be able to get Windows XP OEM by the end of this year, despite consumer resistance to Vista and its compatibility problems.

By early 2008, Microsoft’s contracts with computer makers will require companies to only sell Vista-loaded machines. “The OEM version of XP Professional goes next January,” said Frank Luburic, senior ThinkPad product manager for Lenovo. “At that point, they’ll have no choice.”

Despite Microsoft’s relentless promotion of Vista, manufacturers are still seeing plenty of demand from customers for systems preloaded with XP, especially in the finicky SOHO market.

Read entire article

Source: MACNN

Apple today confirmed that the much-anticipated iPhone is on-track to ship in “late June,” but said that the development of the consumer device has delayed Mac OS X Leopard until October because the company has devoted more of its resources toward iPhone development.

Read entire article

Inside Digital Photo is a new program from Popular Photography & Inside Mac creator Scott Sheppard. Scott interviewed John Nack last week at Photoshop World. Catch the latest episode with John here.

Source: RedOrbit

Jon Peddie Research announces the release of the 2007 Digital Content Creation Report. This year’s report includes sections on 3D modeling and Animation, 2D Animation, Digital Video, Graphics and Imaging, and Audio.

The digital content creation market has seen a healthy period of growth. The total DCC market grew 16% from $2.6 billion to reach more than $3 billion in 2006. The fastest growing segments in the future will be interactive development and video as the web offers new distribution networks and new programming approaches such as AJAX to enable small compelling applications to be developed that extend the power of individual web sites.

Source: PhysOrg.com

Michael Marmor, MD, wanted to know what it was like to see through the eyes of an artist. Literally.

After writing two books on the topic of artists and eye disease, the Stanford University School of Medicine ophthalmologist decided to go one step further and create images that would show how artists with eye disease actually saw their world and their canvases.

Combining computer simulation with his own medical knowledge, Marmor has recreated images of some of the masterpieces of the French impressionistic painters Claude Monet and Edgar Degas who continued to work while they struggled with cataracts and retinal disease.

The results are striking.

Long-standing leader of training resources to produce video tutorials included in new software package

Press Release: OJAI, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lynda.com, the company specializing in self-paced career and computer training in digital media and design, announced today that it has been chosen as the exclusive producer of in-the-box video training for the new Adobe® Creative Suite® 3. More than 200 lynda.com-produced training videos will be included with all of the new Creative Suite 3 editions. Additional Creative Suite 3 training courses, created by lynda.com, will be on display during the NAB conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center, booth number SL2028, April 16-19, 2007.

Press Release: St. George, Utah, — Strata, the company adding the power of 3D to the designer’s toolset, announced three new plug-ins for Adobe¨ Systems’ Photoshop¨ CS3 Extended software. Each of these 3D plug-ins will be priced at less than $149 and will ship spring of this year.

The three plug-ins add 3D model-to-photo matching, Raydiosity™ rendering, spline and subdivision surface modeling, 3D model construction from photographs, and real-time 3D output for the web and PDF documents.

Scott Kelby is a pretty busy guy.

Not only is Scott a best selling Photoshop book author, President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), the editor and publisher of Photoshop User Magazine, Layers magazine, host of Photoshop TV and the guy who does the keynotes at Photoshop World, he’s also now got a blog-Photoshop Insider.

New version of award-winning software, compatible with Photoshop CS3, is available via free download to all registered users of PhotoFrame Pro 3

Press Release: Portland, OR - onOne Software, Inc., announced that the PhotoFrame Pro 3.1 update is available via free download to all registered users of PhotoFrame Pro 3 software on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Press Release: Scotts Valley, Calif., e frontier, a leader in graphics and animation software, announced that they will offer a free exporter for Poser 7 that will allow Poser 3D content to be imported into the 3D layer of the new Photoshop CS3 Extended software.

Adobe launches a weekly podcast series, including a monthly interview with Adobe’s head of creative solutions, Johnny Loiacono, to discuss hot topics and trends in the marketplace.

New podcast episodes will be available weekly at www.creativesuitepodcast.com. Or subscribe via iTunes for FREE.

During the Boston 2007 Photoshop World keynote, Scott Kelby, president of National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) announced the 2007 Photoshop Hall of Fame Nominees.

Photographers, educators, artists, and Adobe visionaries – these are the people who have pushed Photoshop to new heights. For all their work creating, testing, and teaching others how to use all the latest Photoshop advances, a select few are honored by inducting them into the Photoshop Hall of Fame.

Formed by NAPP, the Photoshop Hall of Fame recognizes those individuals whose contributions to the business, education, development, and art of Adobe Photoshop have enduring value.

The official induction into the 2007 Hall of Fame will occur during the opening keynote at Photoshop World Las Vegas, on September 6-8, 2007. The Photoshop Hall of Fame is sponsored by iStockPhoto.

Best In Show | “Cowbucks Poster” by Matt Zumbo

At the Photoshop World keynote, Scott Kelby, president of National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) announced the winners of the Photoshop Guru Awards for Boston, 2007. Check out all the winners at the Guru Awards page.

Since Adobe’s launch of Creative Suite 3.0 last month, interest in the software amongst creative professionals has skyrocketed, with nearly all attendees surveyed at this week’s Photoshop World conference saying they plan to update to one of the new bundles by year’s end.

Source: AppleInsider
Written by Katie Marsal

Creative professionals, eager for a glimpse of the new Adobe suites in action, flocked in herds to the Boston, Mass.-based Photoshop conference earlier this week, selling out the show for the first time in its history. Researchers from investment research firm PiperJaffray were on hand for the event and spoke one-on-one with 73 professionals regarding their spending intentions for 2007 versus last year.

Press Release: Oakland, CA - Paravue® Inc., has announced Turbo Mask™, an image masking tool designed for graphic and web designers, photographers, and motion graphic artists that work with Adobe Photoshop CS and Photoshop CS Extended. Most image masking tools rely on skill to get the desired results. Turbo Mask works like human eyes to pick out the important subject in an image. Leveraging the Paravue technology, Turbo Mask understands images like people do and can isolate subjects and remove them from backgrounds accurately-often with just one click. With Turbo Mask, digital artists can focus more on creativity and less on time-consuming cutouts.

Source: Science News
Written by Patrick L. Barry

On the Cover: In one new aspect of computational photography, a dome contains hundreds of precisely positioned flash units. A high-speed camera captures a frame as each flash fires in sequence. Computers can then relight the scene as they reconstruct it.
Debevec/University of Southern California

When a celebrity appears in a fan-magazine photo, there’s no telling whether the person ever wore the clothes depicted or visited that locale. The picture may have been “photoshopped,” we say, using a word coined from the name of the popular image-editing software, Adobe Photoshop.

But today’s image processing is just a prelude.