rick stephens
Topics
- Animation
- Batch Processing
- Browser Preview
- Code View
- Color
- Creating Buttons
- CS4 Integration
- CSS
- Custom Swatches
- Dynamic Applications
- Fireworks Optimization
- Forms and Validation
- Graphic Optimization
- Importing Data
- Inserting Menus
- JavaScript
- Lists
- Named Anchors
- Passing Variables
- Photo Galleries
- Photoshop Optimization
- PHP
- Pixel vs Percent Layout
- Rollover Images
- Root Directory
- Site Management
- Slicing
- Spry
- Tables
- Templates
- Workflow
Workflow and Adobe CS4 Integration
The Creative Suite of Adobe with CS3 had a lot of integration between applications. However, much of the improvements made to CS4 where in the integration arena. Some of the changes are detailed below, but suffice it to say that Adobe has greatly improved upon the workflow between the programs of the creative suite.
The first change that you will see in CS4 is that virtually all of the interfaces are similar look and feel. This means that you can easily find similar commands whether you are working in Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Premier or even InDesign. All of these have a similar interface, which will speed up the learning curve and help when working in multiple programs.
In my opinion there are 3 basic type of workflow categories that Adobe provides.
- Batch processing features
These are features of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator and Bridge that allow some kind of manipulation of several files or images. Examples that are describe in this page include, Photoshop's Image Processor for making mass changes to many files at once, creating a web gallery using Bridge, the zoomify feature of Photoshop to create several views of a large graphic, and using graphic variables to set up several variations of an image. - Linked files/objects
These are features that allow you create an object in one program then bring into another while retaining the features of the original object. These are called smart objects and they are automatically updated, or at least tracked, by the program for which it is inserted. Some copy and paste functions also fall into this category. - Program Integration features
Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Flash all have types of objects that they are designed to generate. However, it is often desirable to bring into a program an object created in one of the other programs. This is where the "round tripping" or program integration come in to play. Adobe has greatly improved this capability in CS4. Importing and Exporting files and objects between programs is easy and gives you lots of flexibility in most cases.