John Nack on Adobe » Sneaks

Sneak Peek: Gradient strokes in Illustrator CS6

John Nack — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:08:54 +0000

From the simple (e.g. adding a sheen to the edge of an iOS button) to the ambitious (check out that motorcycle!), gradients in paths can be amazingly useful:

I’ve been (im)patiently awaiting this one for years. Combining transparency with gradients, plus reshaping strokes via the Width tool (introduced in CS5) and Pencil is incredibly powerful. You can create some amazingly subtle shaded regions using just vectors.

I think gradient strokes will go a long way to democratizing the power that’s lingered in AI’s potent but often inscrutable Gradient Mesh tool, and I can’t wait to see & show more.

Sneak peek: InDesign CS6

John Nack — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:53:58 +0000

The new Content Collector tools make it easier to reuse content, whether you’re using it in different ways within the same layout, in multiple layouts within a document, or in more than one document. Check out the 1-minute demo:

Sneak peek of fluid grid layouts in Dreamweaver CS6

John Nack — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:30:31 +0000

What’s coming in Dreamweaver CS6? Check out a sneak peek of Fluid grid layouts, a tool that makes your web designs more adaptive to different screen sizes. Now designing for multiple screens is easier than ever!

Sneak Peek: Illustrator CS6 vector pattern creation

John Nack — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:17:19 +0000

I guess I can now reply to those asking: yes, the interface is (optionally) dark. :-)

A sneak of Photoshop.next’s new 3D chops

John Nack — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:43:41 +0000

It’s about usability (think “3D for the rest of us”) and performance:

Conan’s editors have fun with Premiere Pro.next

John Nack — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:49:46 +0000

Remember Conan O’Brien’s editors’ gag “endorsement” of the new Final Cut Pro? Turns out they’ve taken a real shine to Premiere Pro. Check out their demo of “the Freddy Mercury Playback Engine” and more:

Working on my mustache & perm,
John Adobe

Photoshop.next to get new video chops

John Nack — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 21:22:29 +0000

If we didn’t spill the beans in the first frames, I’d ask what app you thought created this clip:

So, why do work like this in Photoshop and not, say, Premiere Pro? Photoshop PM Bryan O’Neil Hughes shares some thoughts here.

Photoshop.next sneak: Iris Blur

John Nack — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:57:16 +0000

Hardware-accelerated selective blurs with direct manipulation? Yes please.

For your convenience I’ve grouped these sneak-peek videos in a single category.

Side note–and I debate whether to mention this: there’s no real need to comment (as someone does on every sneak), “What, that’s all there is…?”–because no, that’s not all there is. A peek is, by definition, “a quick and typically furtive look.” It’s just meant to pique your interest, not to show a whole product release (or even a whole feature).

Photoshop.next sneak: Automatic preset migration & sharing

John Nack — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:34:45 +0000

Also, Cmd-J duplicates multiple selected layers & layer groups; woo! (“JDI,” for the uninitiated, stands for “Just Do It.”)

Valentine’s Special: Remove Your Ex with Photoshop.next

John Nack — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:42:40 +0000

Artificial intelligence: Good.
Your intelligence: Better.
The two together: Best.

To reduce instances of “Content-Aware Fail,” the Photoshop team has been working on ways to let you guide the Content-Aware Fill algorithm. Check out this two-minute preview:

Photoshop.next sneak #3: Dashed & dotted lines

John Nack — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:38:22 +0000

Note the presence of controls for “real” stroke & fill (not dependent on the modal layer style dialog) on the options bar.

[Via Rob Cantor]

Photoshop.next: Sneak peek #2

John Nack — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:22:01 +0000

Background save, anyone? How about massively faster Liquify?

Both of these features have been in the team’s sights for a long time, but they kept getting derailed by things like the Carbon-to-Cocoa conversion effort. Nice to have that behind us.

A little taste of Photoshop.next

John Nack — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:01:52 +0000

See anything you like?