Adobe CS5: Five Things to Keep in Mind

Eighteen months, seemingly like clockwork. A mere year-and-a-half after CS4 was released (which itself was a mere year-and-a-half after the release of CS3), Adobe has unveiled the CS5 lineup. Having had a chance to see and try the new versions for myself over the past several weeks, here are some general observations about the latest versions of Adobe's software überbundles.

1) There are a bunch of useful features in a lot of places, but is it enough?

Quite frankly, I'm of the mindset that the whole "eighteen months, big pricetag, everything is updated" unified release schedule makes it really easy to skip versions, an opinion which may have been shared by enough people to explain lagging CS4 sales in the face of a terrible recession. Said recession may be easing a little, depending on where you are and what you do, so if you did happen to skip CS4, it's likely you're going to get your money's worth this time around. For those looking to upgrade from CS4, however, the decision may not be so obvious. Features like Photoshop's astounding content-aware fill (fig. 1), Illustrator's new vanishing point tools, After Effects' Rotobrush, and Dreamweaver's CMS integration are really, really nice, and that's even before mentioning two new Flash tools on the menu (Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder, which we'll get to). The problem is that many of the programs in the CS5 lineup are beyond mature (some would be of voting or even drinking age, were they people), and while there are the usual solid features and unsexy-but-vital performance and stability enhancements, when software is sold as part of a package deal you really have to weigh how necessary any new feature is against the cost of upgrading -- even as most of the CS5 programs contain at least one jaw-dropping, "gotta have" addition. This is not exactly a new dilemma, however. For its part, Adobe has not made cost a "feature," opting to keep the new and upgrade pricing in the same ballpark as CS4, a strategy which reflects the belief that their customers have pent-up demand for new software and hardware as the recession shows signs of letting up. Only time will tell whether this strategy proves correct, but in the meantime, at least take "comfort" in the fact that the pricing that you may very well be griping about is part of the grand scheme, as it were.

Figure 1: Content-aware fill is as close to magic as a Photoshop feature has been for a long time.

2) Adobe is doubling down on Flash, while HTML5 is not exactly front-and-center.

As soon as Apple announced a Flash-less iPad back in January, the IntarWebs have absolutely erupted with a (very silly, shortsighted, and quasi-religious, in my opinion) flame war between Flash haters and defenders. Whatever the relative merits of each side of the debate happen to be, one thing is pretty clear in CS5: Adobe isn't terribly concerned about HTML5 displacing Flash anytime soon. For example, take that demo video shot back in October at Adobe's MAX conference (fig. 2), highlighting a potential Dreamweaver feature that takes vector content and transforms it to HTML5 Canvas code:

Figure 2

One wonders wonders why a feature like that didn't make it into Dreamweaver CS5. I got a question through to Scott Fegette, Technical Product Manager for Dreamweaver, asking what his take on that was, as well as HTML5 in general. His response, verbatim:

"For what it's worth, even Dreamweaver CS4 is somewhat HTML5 aware -- we use WebKit as our Live View, so HTML5 and CSS3 constructs will render just fine in DW CS5's Live View. We also regularly show sneak peeks of technology in progress -- such as the Smart Paste to Canvas demo we showed at MAX 2009 -- but they don't always suggest a specific release date or version. The demo you're referring to shows the Dreamweaver team looking at solutions around the emerging new standards that leverage existing skillsets and products, of course.

For some of the advanced HTML 5 authoring workflows however, designer/developer best practices and clear authoring patterns haven't yet emerged, so although we're aggressively pursuing paths forward in the short-term, we'll also be watching carefully how HTML 5/CSS 3 is adopted to make sure when we do implement specific, targeted authoring features around the new capabilities in both HTML5/CSS3 standards, that they truly make sense to our customers and their workflows."

Scott is right -- the HTML5 spec is kind of a mess right now, and a lot of the HTML5 hype is directed solely at the video aspect, but there's nothing stopping you from implementing whatever new technology you want in Dreamweaver anyway, because WebKit is right there under the hood to display everything correctly. Clearly, there are people at Adobe looking much further down the road, but I'm a little disappointed that features such as Smart Paste to Canvas didn't make it in, and judging from Adobe's release pattern, it will be at least eighteen more months before we see some of these features as part of the overall Creative Suite. Who knows where things will stand by then?

As for Flash, I'll mention more in upcoming points. For now, however, let me lead with this: between the addition of the two new Flash apps I alluded to earlier to the lineup, Adobe's ongoing efforts at establishing the Open Screen Project (which aims to bring Flash Player 10.1 to mobile and set-top devices), and the implementation of an XML-based format for Flash documents, Adobe is shrugging off all the flak the Flash platform has taken in recent months and is proceeding under the assumption that there is still a lot of life left in the ol' girl yet. The feeling I get overall is that in natural places where an HTML5 feature could have been implemented (e.g., a Canvas project type in Flash), Adobe has chosen not to do so (which is not to say that steps aren't being taken -- I don't know either way, but whatever may or may not be going on isn't public-facing anyway).

3) Big changes are afoot for the Web suite.

With the exception of the need to use After Effects a fair amount, it's safe to say that most of my time with Adobe products is spent with the members of the Web suites, so the makeover given to the Web side of things for the CS5 release is certainly remarkable. First of all, I inaccurately mentioned "suites" in the last sentence -- that should be amended to the singular version of the word, as Adobe has dropped the Web Standard bundle from the lineup this time around. This is not a new precedent; back when Flash was a Macromedia product, there was an effectively worthless Flash Basic flavor, which was eventually dropped in favor of Flash Professional (with the Pro moniker surviving to this day). Adobe has made a similar -- and no less justified, IMO -- move here, retaining only the Premium version of the Web suite.

In this new, Standard-less Web suite world, you'll still find old favorites such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash Professional, but you'll also discover the two new entries I spoke of earlier: Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder, the latter of which, while new to this bundle, is actually version 4 of what used to be called Flex Builder. That's right: you now get three different ways to create Flash content in CS5, and while I'm not sure how Adobe will manage some of the "which tool for the job" confusion that is likely to come, at least the various choices are all there without having to go outside the bundle just to purchase one of the other Flash tooling solutions. The new Flash additions to the Web Premium bundle sit on opposite ends of the existing Flash Pro feature list. Flash Catalyst, a completely new product (fig. 3), is aimed at designers who are code-averse, while Flash Builder is most definitely geared towards the programming set. Both Flash Catalyst and Flash Pro can integrate their respective workflows with Flash Builder, meaning you don't necessarily have to pick your weapon right away; it's quite possible to start a project in one program and use elements of another as needed. In any event, that's only part of the "doubling down" I think Adobe is doing. The other part deserves its very own point.

Figure 3

4) Adobe now sees Flash as as a multi-screen authoring tool, but Apple really threw a last-second "you-know-what" in the punchbowl.

Ignoring the elephant in the room for a moment, let's state a handful of CS5 truths:

1) One of the major -- if not THE major -- features in Flash CS5 Professional is the ability to create native iPhone and iPad applications.

2) The formerly binary FLA format Flash uses has been replaced by an open, XML-based one, called XFL (not to be confused with the defunct, unlamented, and quite lame alternate professional American football league), which is actually a ZIP archive that retains the familiar .fla extension.

3) InDesign CS5, for example, exports these new FLA files, complete with vector shapes, replaceable images, and text fields compatible with Flash's new (and finally much-improved) TLF, or Text Layout Framework.

It's not hard to connect the dots here. If you have a cross-platform workflow to publish things like magazines to Flash, add some extra interactivity (in addition to the interactivity you added natively in InDesign), and then build a native iPhone or iPad app all the while being able to make traditional Web-based (or mobile-based, with the coming Flash Player 10.1 for various mobile devices) Flash content, throwing in some AIR publishing for desktop deployment, that's certainly a pretty powerful proposition.

Enter the elephant. Apple pretty much gave Adobe the finger mere days before the official CS5 announcement, explicitly outlawing apps that aren't originally written in Objective-C. Adobe is still announcing the app packager for Flash, but the future is at best uncertain with regards to the iPhone/iPad side of things. See, Flash is a mature IDE for interactive development, and the fact Adobe conceded in CS5 that SWF wasn't necessarily the only final interactive format makes it easy to envision a world where, say, Canvas projects could be authored and exported from the Flash IDE in the future. After all, Adobe's John Nack says that Adobe is in the helping people communicate business, so a workflow funneling content towards Flash -- a Flash that exists as a more abstracted IDE, capable of publishing to a variety of interactive media formats -- would have been aces in my book. As for the immediate term, will Apple enforce their new stance? Considering that Steve Jobs really, really hates Flash and was reported to have called Adobe lazy, I'd guess that App Store rejection for Flash CS5-packaged apps from this point forward is likely. Time will tell, but things are getting nasty, with developers caught in the middle.

5) Lots of attention given to the "little things."

Notice the quotations, as sometimes what seems like a small item represents a Herculean development effort, but I'm going to lump some mismatched things together here anyway. Now, I don't think performance and interface tweaks and improvements are terribly marketing-friendly items, but I consider them no less vital and often very upgrade-worthy by themselves, as software can often pay for itself in timesavers alone. In that vein, and depending on the program, you're likely to find something in the way of these (perhaps mischaracterized) "little things." I can start by mentioning the 64-bit Mac version of Photoshop (PS CS4 on Windows was already 64-bit-ized), as well as 64-bit After Effects and Premiere on both platforms. Ho-hum for some, but huge for many. Photoshop had an entire round of JDI -- "just do it" -- fixes, resulting in interface tweaks users have been requesting going back several versions. Flash has long-awaited Actions panel improvements (fig. 4). Heck, Fireworks CS5 adds almost nothing new at all, focusing instead on performance and stability after a somewhat rocky CS4 release in that department. In any event, you're likely to find some small but welcome bits of attention paid to many of the CS5 programs, which for me is always good news, but your mileage may vary.

Figure 4

So, there you have it. A little bit of what hopefully passes for insight on the day CS5 is announced. While we're now playing the waiting game until everything ships, there's at least a lot of food for thought in the meantime. Stay tuned, of course, for yours truly's multipart review of CS5 Web Premium once the final bits are in wide release.

Filed under: Feature on April 12th, 2010
Tags: Adobe, CS5

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