Adobe Creative Suite 4

The CS4 Master Collection Suite comes with breezy enhancements to the
previous CS3 suite of applications. The first thing you observe while using the
software is that moving content among the individual applications does not lead
to any quality loss and updates are done almost instantly. Let's check some of
the important tools.

Photoshop CS4

The interface is vastly improved in Photoshop CS4. When you open more than
one image, each of the images gets displayed as a tab. Switching between images
is also easy now and can be done through by clicking on individual tabs. If you
want to rearrange the tab position as per the requirement or usage, just drag
the tab and place it wherever you want.

In Photoshop CS3, you could import 3D objects created by other applications.
Where CS4 scores over its predecessor is that now it is possible to create 3D
objects and even manipulate them.

Adobe has also enhanced the color range feature. In the Color Range window,
there's a new option called 'Localized Color Clusters'. When you click on any
one color of the image, Photoshop takes the shade of a very small area around
the point you clicked. This makes for a very precise color selection.

Now Photoshop CS4 can create 3D images. Go to 3D menu and press 'New Shape From Layer' which shows the different styles of 3D shapes for applying your ideas.	The image on the left was displayed without selecting 'Protect Tones' and looks slightly blurred, while the one the right (where we used this feature, looks much sharper.

Photoshop CS4 introduces a new feature, 'Masks' panel, that creates and
modifies pixel based layer masks and vector bases masks. It has also included
new dynamic features like Density and Feather, as well a new 'Invert' option.
You can even use the 'Del' key now to delete masks.

Other tools that have seen makeovers are the Dodge, Burn and Sponge tools. The
earlier versions provided either too white or dark shades over objects such as
the skin of a person. To overcome this, Adobe has added a new option called
'Protect Tones'. Now, while modifying the skin of a person, select the option
'Protect Tones', which lets you apply a closer-to-real skin color.

Image selection from amongst a large number of 'open' images has become easy. Below the main menu, all images are displayed as tabbed pages. It is also possible to 'arrange documents' in different styles or tiles.

Another related change is with the keys used to modify brush size. Earlier
versions, used bracket keys for making brush size smaller or bigger. In CS4, the
process takes lesser time as you just need to press Alt + right mouse click and
drag to reduce or enlarge.

Whenever InDesign notices an error in layout, it provides an error message at the bottom of the screen. Clicking on that indication opens the Preflight window which displays the error.	Go to >Windows >Extensions >Kuler to open the new Kuler panel. This panel gives direct access to the Kuler online community and let's you create a lot of new shades.

InDesign CS4

The popular layout software has been upgraded with a live 'Preflight' option.
This is really useful for magazine and newspaper designers. Currently, the
'Preflight' check happens for PDF files that have been created. In case of
errors, such as an image in RGB settings or with a low resolution, the designer
has to go back to InDesign, replace with the high resolution CMYK color image
and create the PDF again. At the time of sending the magazine or newspaper to
the press, this is very tedious and time consuming. The live 'Preflight' window
shows errors while the image or the text is being inserted in the layout. It
also points out text that is exceeding a text box. So, basically all the errors
are alerted for during the layout.

Another new feature in InDesign is 'Conditional Text'. Using this feature you
can create different versions of the same document. Suppose you are working in a
large organization and want to circulate a blank form where different depts
would fill different parts. Some parts could contain sensitive data. The
software provides you the functionality to hide the lines that contain sensitive
data and then circulate amongst others. This saves time as you need not make
multiple copies. You can also apply, create or modify colors with the new 'Kuler
Panel' or create a new color online, inside the 'Kuler' web site and import it
into InDesign CS4. You can also export a layout as an XLF file, open it in Flash
with full quality and create an animation with the help of Flash tools.