Two weeks after its official introduction, Adobe this morning has released Creative Suite 6, with major upgrades across the line. All CS6 suites and individual products are now shipping and downloadable as trials or for permanent use. The subscription-rental Creative Cloud will be out later.

The CS6 configurations are broadly similar to CS5.5, with four product removals and two additions. The product pricing has largely stayed the same, with modest adjustments for some upgrade paths and geographies. The new software is available immedi­ately for Windows and Mac OS via full purchase or discounted upgrade (from as far back as CS3 and CS4, through the end of this year), with delivery via boxed shipment or instant download.

And important news – starting now with this release, all CS6 upgrades can only be purchased direct from Adobe… CS6 upgrades will not be offered from third parties, resellers or retailers.

All of the CS6 free trials are also now available for download. These trials are fully functional for 30 days and work side-by-side with any previous version(s) of the Creative Suite, including CS5 and CS5.5. If you decide not to buy CS6 when the trial period is up, you can just uninstall it and your older tools will continue to run – while buyers can easily convert their trial to permanent use without reinstalling the software, even when upgrading. (For more informa­tion, refer to the complete Trial FAQ.)

If you have any difficulty with the trial downloading process or using the Adobe Download Assistant, you can instead click through the complete list of CS6 direct download links to easily get all of the trials you want without any download manager or assistant.

The CS6 Student & Teacher Editions are also now shipping. These offer up to 80% off the regular prices for education customers including students, teachers, and academic staff. Just be sure you know the key differences between Adobe’s academic versions vs. regular.

If you need more than one copy of any product, check out Adobe volume licensing for price discounts and ease of management, plus other benefits – including the ability to purchase and run CS6 multi-platform (on both Windows and Mac).

CS6 ships in English, French, German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Portuguese, and Japanese today, with up to 24 languages coming in total – including Chinese, Korean, and Russian. The CS6 System Requirements are close to those for Creative Suite 5 – you can read more about this in the links below.

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New discount offer: Save up to $50 on award-winning Photoshop Elements 10 and Premiere Elements 10 in the Adobe North America Store with coupon code, plus free shipping. Elements has been the #1 selling consumer photo- and video-editing software for many years, and these latest Elements 10 tools make it even easier to edit, enhance, and share photos and video clips… And here with this sale you’ve got a nice gift for dads and grads.

When using coupon code ELEMENTSMAY, you’ll save $50 on the full version of the Photoshop Elements 10 & Premiere Elements 10 software bundle (becoming $99), save $20 on the full version of Photoshop Elements 10 or Premiere Elements 10 by itself, or save $40 on the full version of the Elements 10 Student & Teacher Edition Bundle – plus free FedEx shipping. This offer is available when purchasing directly from the Adobe North America Store only, and you must enter with the coupon link above to receive the instant savings. The promotion code is valid for the download or boxed versions in the U.S., Canada (excluding Quebec), and Mexico from May 20th through May 28th, 2012, with one instant discount per customer.

Learn more about what’s new in Elements 10 and how you can create amazing images and incredible movies, and use them together in cinematic slide shows and more. We’ve also got a review roundup for PSE 10 summarizing the ratings, plus four hours of free tutorials for Photoshop Elements 10 & 9.

If you want to try out the software first, you can download the free trials of either or both products now and then just make your purchase before the offers expire.

Extra! Download Free eBooks for Photoshop & Premiere Elements

As a special bonus to our visitors, we are offering free downloads of two Elements visual learning guides that we put together, two e-books in PDF format at no cost to you… They will work well for any recent version of Elements software:

• Download the Free Photoshop Elements eBook – 95 Pages
• Download the Free Premiere Elements eBook – 78 Pages

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Creative Suite 6 is now available for instant download and direct shipping, and there are many important differences in this release compared to Creative Suite 5, including hundreds of new features added to the individual applications.

Here we’ve put together a complete set of direct download links for all the new CS6 products (Windows and Mac OS), for instant easy access and the ability to use your own download manager or download assistant if you have any difficulty with what Adobe normally employs and need to access the trials without it… Whether you’re considering buying a full version or upgrading from a prior release, you can always use these trials to install, run, and activate the software on your system.

Where available, we’ve also linked the free CS6 Extra Content downloads (aka Additional or Functional Content). Direct links for both the Adobe Muse 1.0 free trial and the Adobe Edge Preview are offered as well.

Below is a table for CS6 trials in major languages. These links go to the auth­entic and original CS6 files residing on Adobe’s servers, are guaranteed genuine and will not change. For Windows, each program consists of up to two files, an .exe and a 7-Zip file (.7z). The .exe file will only work once the .7z file is fully downloaded and resides in the same location. For the Mac, it’s just a single .dmg file for each program.

The supported languages vary by product. The Western Euro­pean languages can include French/Français, German/Deutsch, Italian/Italiano, Dutch/Nederlands, Danish/Dansk, Finnish/Suomi, Swedish/Svenska, Norwegian/Norsk, Portuguese/Português, and Spanish/Español. To see which product supports which languages, visit the main Adobe trials page and then click on the selection menu for whichever product(s) you’d like to try – it will tell you which languages are currently available.

Note: Very Important Instructions

You need to have a free Adobe account and be logged into it to use the links below, as Adobe sets a session cookie on your browser that allows you to access the direct download links. Otherwise, you will receive an “access denied” or “resume your download” message prevent­ing the connection. So please follow these instructions carefully or the links will not work!

0. Adobe recommends temporarily turning off any surfing restrictions you might have running, like site or cookie blocking, firewalls or antivirus software.
1. Click «here» to visit this page like you want to try Photoshop CS6, and then select the “Download Now” button at the bottom.
2. If you already have an Adobe ID, then please sign in with it (checking “Remember me“), otherwise take a minute to create one for yourself.
3. Now close or cancel the windows for that trial of Photoshop CS6.
4. OK, you’re logged in now at Adobe with the trials cookie set, so you can instantly download any of the software below. Just make sure you have enough disk space.
5. Download the files either by clicking directly on the DDL links, or by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As…” on the popup menu – and save all files to the same place.
6. Then follow the product installation instructions here.

Creative Suite 6 – Adobe CS6 Downloads

All of these trials are supported on Mac OS X or Windows (32-bit x86 and 64-bit x64), with the exception of After Effects CS6, Premiere Pro CS6, and SpeedGrade CS6 which are 64-bit only. For more, see the complete set of system requirements for Creative Suite 6.

Note there is no separate trial download for Photoshop CS6 “Standard” – the trial is always the Extended version (having all Photoshop features including 3D and motion-based content), and then you decide which version you’d like to keep at time of product purchase.

You do not need to uninstall previous versions of Creative Suite; some users prefer to keep the older, familiar version(s) around as they come up to speed with the new product’s features, and some folks have CS3, CS4, CS5, and CS6 all on one computer.

It is suggested to use a browser other than Internet Explorer to download any of the files above. They can be quite large and sometimes IE has difficulty with the file or the download. Using Firefox or Chrome will work better.

Adobe CS6 Extra Content

This is Extra Content (also called Functional Content) that Adobe bundles with some CS6 applications. It is technically optional and not required to run the main products, but will improve your experience if you can take the time to download and add it to your installation.

What’s included in this free additional content are typically media assets, templates, tutorials, documentation, fonts, footage, sample files and projects, and so on. If you own a suite, you can download the bundle for that plus whichever applications are in it.

• InDesign CS6 Extra Content (130 MB)
            Windows:  File 1                  Mac:  File 1
• Illustrator CS6 Extra Content (112 MB)
            Windows:  File 1                  Mac:  File 1
• Premiere Pro / Encore CS6 Extra Content (733 MB)
            Windows:  File 1   File 2      Mac:  File 1
• After Effects CS6 Extra Content
            AE content will be migrated to the After Effects Exchange.

See our:

• Creative Suite 6 Launch Guide
• What’s new features for each product within the suites
• Version differences between CS6 vs. CS5.5 or from earlier versions
• Free Adobe CS6 Tutorials – 18 hours of video training
• How to save 80% with the CS6 Student Editions
• Watch a video replay of the Global CS6 Launch Event

Did these links work for you? Hope they helped out; please let us know with a comment below…

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We’ve mentioned Adobe TV in the past, but it just keeps getting bigger and better…  They’ve just published a large series of free new video tutorials for all Creative Suite 6 tools.

You’ll learn the basics with Getting Started overviews plus What’s New reviews by product experts, with nearly 18 hours of content covering all major CS6 applications.

And if you want to get going today, you can go ahead and download a free 30-day trial for any CS6 product for Windows or Mac – then install, run, and start your training…

Here’s how the courses break out:

Much of the extensive how-to series of tips, tricks, and techniques was produced by the well-regarded Lynda.com in partnership with Adobe.

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[UPDATE (May 7th) – Creative Suite 6 is now shipping!]

Yes – Adobe CS6 has just been announced with all the details… Pretty much on the time­frame we forecast, you can learn about and order any of the new products or suite editions, or even download the free CS6 trials. An on-demand video of the global Creative Suite 6 Launch Event is also now available. Adobe calls this “a huge release, our best ever,” so let’s take a closer look…

CS6 arrives one year following CS5.5 and two years after CS5. Photoshop and Illustrator did not get CS5.5 versions, so both of these tools have received very significant upgrades for CS6. But all the individual applications, including InDesign, Dreamweaver and the video tools, are receiving additional features, enhanced functionality, updated technologies, and/or solid performance boosts with Creative Suite 6. There are also two new products: Prelude CS6 and SpeedGrade CS6; plus the Design Premium and Web Premium suites have been combined into one (see how these fit into the Product Matrix).

Generally speaking though, the configurations and prices are similar for CS6 as compared to CS5. Overall we present some highlights here, but see our two companion “what’s new” articles for: (1) an overview of the key differences between CS6 vs. CS5.5, including what’s been added and what’s been taken away, and (2) a detailed product-by-product review of the significant new features and enhancements in CS6.

CS6 Pricing, Upgrades, Availability, and Requirements

The CS6 Price Sheet shows the complete pricing for the full versions in major geographies and currencies.  The cost to upgrade from CS5.5 to CS6 ranges from $45-$149 for the individual point products, and $275-$525 for the suites. In the U.S., CS6 pricing across the board remains roughly in line with what it was for CS5, with slight cost increases or decreases for some paths – while pricing in Europe is a bit lower.  Adobe is offering free shipping on orders over £350 in the UK and €500 in Europe (before VAT).

One very big change coming is that all CS6 upgrades are only available direct from Adobe… CS6 upgrades will not be offered from third parties like resellers or retailers.

If you’re currently running older releases like CS3 or CS4, don’t forget you have until year-end to upgrade with Adobe’s discounted pricing. And if you’re still on CS2, you only have until May 6th with the CS6 Grace Period Offer!

For education customers, the CS6 Student & Teacher Edition offerings remain the same, with some modest price adjustments up and down but still close to 80% off – plus education orders ship free until June 30th. Learn more about the benefits and limitations of Adobe’s academic versions.

If you need to run multiple users with Creative Suite, check out the volume license program. Adobe is also now offering a membership-based Creative Cloud option for those who wish to rent access to their software, to go along with the subscriptions which were introduced with CS5.5.

The CS6 System Requirements have some differences from those for CS5. Generally speaking, Windows Vista is no longer officially supported but Adobe will not restrict installing or running the tools on Vista. Also, the minimum Mac OS version has bumped up to 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and some programs require that your Mac have a 64-bit processor (here’s how to tell).

Premiere Pro and After Effects continue to be 64-bit-only applications, however all of the other products will run well on both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. And good news for many: Illustrator CS6 now comes with a native 64-bit version in addition to 32-bit, similar to how it works with Photoshop.

Adobe has also put together an excellent FAQ that addresses a lot of general questions. There’s also an extensive set of CS6 overview videos on Adobe TV, plus 18 hours of free new video tutorials for Creative Suite 6.

And similar to other Adobe software, you may be able to install and run CS6 on up to two computers, subject to the terms of the software’s license agreement.

When Is the Release Date?

So all this new software has been officially announced, but when will Creative Suite 6 be shipping?  Our checks indicate the release date will be in early May… In the meantime you can register to download any of the free trials — or grab some chances to win Photoshop CS6 + Lightroom 4 for free!

Or read more about how CS6 is different from previous versions like CS5.5.

Lastly, keep in mind you can usually save a good bit of money on CS6 when coming from older versions like CS2, CS3, or CS4 by upgrading now at lower cost to CS5.5, and then you’ll automatically receive a free further upgrade to CS6 when it comes out… Just look for “Can’t wait? Order the previous version now” at Adobe’s Online Store.

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Adobe has just unveiled Creative Suite 6 – and one of the upgrade questions people are asking is what’s new, what’s different, what’s changed in CS6 as compared to previous version(s)? Adobe calls it, “a killer release with hundreds of new capabilities rolling up four focus areas: application performance, enhanced user interface, efficient development for multiple devices, and making previously impossible things possible.” So our job here is to give you a quick “cheat sheet” on top new features, to help you decide about upgrading…

CS6 updates almost all of the individual products from CS5, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash Pro, InDesign/InCopy, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Encore.  Learn more about all the new features added to each of these applications in detail, with our special coverage.

The CS5 tools not revisioned to CS6 are Flash Catalyst, Contribute, OnLocation, and Device Central.  Acrobat and Flash Builder are included but remain the same versions as before.

In addition there are two new applications introduced: Prelude CS6, a video ingest and logging tool to help tag and transcode footage rapidly, and SpeedGrade CS6, a professional color grading system that brings state-of-the-art color science to your video productions. These new tools are included in both the Production Premium and Master Collection suites.

With the spread of online content, Adobe found there was growing overlap in the customer base for the Design Premium and Web Premium suites, so they combined them both into one now called CS6 Design & Web Premium – which draws upon the tools of both editions. Design Standard’s collection remains “as is,” and rounds out the line-up.

As was disclosed previously, Adobe’s new design tools Edge and Muse will not be included within the Creative Suite, but sold separately.

For more information and details on Creative Suite 6 worldwide pricing, upgrade changes, availability, and system requirements, see our companion CS6 Launch Guide.

What’s New in CS6 vs. CS5? A New Feature Version Comparison

Here’s a quick run-through of some of the top new features in CS6 for major applications…

— Photoshop CS6: New modern user interface, Content-Aware move/patch/extend tools, new Camera Raw 7, background save and auto-recovery, Blur Gallery, redesigned vector and 3D engines, intuitive video editing, and many more.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Illustrator CS6: Reengineered and streamlined user interface, fast Mercury Performance System for native 64-bit support on both Windows and Mac, new creative tools for pattern creation, image tracing, and gradients on strokes.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— InDesign CS6: Content Collector tools, hot-linked content across pages, integration with Digital Publishing Suite, Alternate Layout, Liquid Layout, other new tools efficiently adapt layouts to a myriad of page sizes, devices, and orientations.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Dreamweaver CS6: Fluid grid layout for cross-platform design, CSS3 transitions, HTML5 code rendering with Live View and Multiscreen Preview, enhanced jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap Build framework support, optimized FTP performance.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Fireworks CS6: New screen layout tools, jQuery Mobile theme skinning, CSS sprites from comps, CSS3 code extraction, improved color swatches, better redraw performance for Mac, improved memory management for Windows 64-bit systems.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Flash Professional CS6: Sprite sheet generation, CreateJS toolkit to output HTML5, access to platform- and device-specific capabilities, prepackaged Adobe AIR captive runtimes, mobile application interaction simulation, support for the latest runtimes.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Premiere Pro CS6: Sleek and professional user interface, uninterrupted playback, Warp Stabilizer effect, dynamic timeline trimming, expanded multicam editing, rolling shutter artifacts correction, adjustment layers, and many more.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— After Effects CS6: Global Performance Cache, 3D camera tracker, ray-traced text and shape extrusion, new variable mask feathering, rolling shutter repair, enhanced integration with Illustrator, new and updated effects, and many more.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Audition CS6: Real-time clip stretching, pitch and speed control, CD burning, parameter automation, control surface support, automatic speech alignment, clip grouping with group suspend, tone generation, and many more.  [SEE COMPARISON]

— Encore CS6: 64-bit support for rock-solid performance, faster MPEG import with asynchro­nous processing.

— Prelude CS6: Full or partial ingest, tag footage with searchable temporal metadata, transcode to many formats, heads-up logging, rough cut creation, thumbnail scrubbing, speech transcription notes, success write confirmation, fully customizable.

— SpeedGrade CS6: Powerful layer-based color grading, GPU-accelerated performance, Lumetri Deep Color Engine, primary and secondary color correction, automatic scene detection, camera and color space matching, Adobe tool and workflow integration.

These are just a few highlights of what’s new in the toolset and there are many, many more.

If you want to know what’s different from CS6 going back to releases prior to last, check out comparisons of earlier versions of the Creative Suite, for example CS4 vs. CS5.5, or CS3 vs. CS5.5.

When Can You Get It?

So all this new software has been officially announced, but when will Creative Suite 6 be shipping?  Our checks indicate the release date will be in early May… We may find out more at the big Global CS6 Launch Event.

In the meantime you can register to download any of the free trials — or grab some chances to win Photoshop CS6 + Lightroom 4 for free!

Lastly, keep in mind you can usually save a good bit of money on CS6 when coming from older versions like CS2, CS3, or CS4 by upgrading now at lower cost to CS5.5, and then you’ll automatically receive a free further upgrade to CS6 when it comes out… Just look for “Can’t wait? Order the previous version now” at Adobe’s Online Store.

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OK, so your old computer is running out of gas, you’re upgrading or changing systems, adding a new machine, or switching from a PC to a Mac, or vice versa — and you want to move over your purchased CS6 (or CS5.5 or CS5 or CS4 or CS3 or any other) Adobe software — what do you do, and how do you do it?

As we’ve covered previously here, you are generally allowed to install and activate most Adobe software on up to two computers, with the restriction that the software can not used on both systems at the same time. So right off the bat, you might be good to go with installing the software on a second computer, although you may wish to double-check the licensing agreement for your product to be sure.

Adobe uses software activation to control how many simultaneous computers can install or run CS6 at once. So if you’re already at your limit of two computers and want to transfer your license over to a new or different system, then you first need to deactivate the software from the old computer. In the program, click Help > Deactivate, and then follow the instructions in the wizard to deactivate the software. If you have installed a suite product, you will be deact­ivating the entire suite by deactivating any one of the point products included in that suite.

Note: There are two choices on the Deactivation screen – so what’s the difference between Suspend Activation vs. Deactivate Permanently? The answer is that both will properly deactivate your product on that computer. But the first (“suspend”) will keep your serial number stored in the Windows registry just in case you ever want to quickly reactivate the same software on the same computer later, without having to reenter it. However there is no harm in choosing the second (“permanently”) option, because you can always later reactivate the same product on the same machine by just retyping the license key. In other words, it’s basically a conven­ience factor to store your SN.

If you’re uninstalling Adobe software from a computer, then deactivate it first to ensure its license is freed up. If you deactivate but don’t uninstall, the next time you run Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, InDesign, Acrobat, or any of the other CS6 applications on that computer, you’ll be asked for a serial number or to start a 30-day free tryout period.

After uninstalling any version of CS, you can run the Creative Suite Cleaner Tool if you like to make sure it’s completely removed from your system.

If you purchased the software but lost the serial number or no longer have it readily available, the first place to check is your online Adobe account. You will have one if you ever registered the software, or if you purchased it directly from Adobe… Just log in with your Adobe ID and all your serial numbers will be listed there.  If you don’t see it, then try registering your product now and see if it appears there. As a last resort, you may be able to retrieve it from the computer itself using a free utility like Belarc Advisor (Windows) or Product Key Finder (Mac) – which will recover and tell you the activation keys for the programs on your system.

And if you’ve lost or can’t find your original installation file or discs/DVDs, you can download and install a free trial of your application from Adobe servers onto your new computer, and that will convert to a full and permanent version when you enter your valid SN.

OK, once deactivation is complete, you are free to go ahead and enter your serial number key to activate a copy of the software installed elsewhere, or use it to reactivate the same applica­tion on that PC after reinstalling (for example, if you are changing disk drives, or upgrading operating systems from XP or Vista to Windows 7, etc.).  And you should be all set.

If you run into any problems with the deactivation/reactivation process, you’ll have a 30-day window during which the software will work in trial mode to give you enough time to contact Adobe Support and get things resolved.

How to Switch Platforms from PC to Mac

Now how about if you’re also changing platforms, like from Windows to Mac, or vice versa – and want to take your Creative Suite 6 license with you, and/or upgrade from CS3, CS4, CS5 or CS5.5 to CS6 while making the switch? After completing the deactivation process above it gets a little more complicated, because most Adobe software is licensed for a single platform only. But you can do what’s called a “crossgrade” from one to the other natively, which is no charge to you (except nominal shipping costs) and can be submitted online through Adobe Customer Service.

All product configurations (including Student and Teacher Editions) are eligible for exchange.

There are a few provisos. One is you need to have a registered serial number to qualify (but that just takes a few minutes if you haven’t already). You must also be prepared to delete the existing software from your computer and destroy any existing copies, as they will no longer be valid. But perhaps the most important is you can’t cross-grade from an older version to the same prior version — you can only move to the current version (now CS6), paying any appli­cable upgrade costs…  If you’re already running the latest release, then there should be no additional cost.

So if you need to do both an upgrade and a platform swap, the fastest and easiest way is to first buy the upgrade online and then submit the crossgrade online. Then you can simply download and run the 30-day free trial while you’re waiting for the new box and serial number to arrive – and then later just convert the trial into a permanent full version with the license key for your new platform.

NOTE: Aside from crossgrades, there is one other option if you own computers with both types of operating systems and need to run on both Mac OS and Windows – see how.

Of course, if you purchased CS6 within the past 30 days and got the incorrect platform or language version of your product, then it’s even simpler – just return the software and get the right one instead.

How to Change from One Language to Another

Note that this same procedure will also work for requesting a change from one language set to another for a given Adobe/CS6 application… Just follow the crossgrade procedure described above – but choose a new and different language on the form, instead of a different platform.

After swapping platforms or languages, you cannot cross back to your original platform or language version. No more than five total (lifetime) cross-platform or cross-language upgrades or swaps are allowed per customer, regardless of the product. Products purchased second-hand or from an auction site such as eBay are not eligible for swaps.

Two notable exceptions are Adobe Lightroom 3 and Photoshop & Premiere Elements 9, which are now sold as multiplatform and multilanguage software so would not require a crossgrade.

Hopefully that should do it!  Please let us know if this article helped you out, or any questions you may have in the comments below.

If you’d like to move away from shuffling serial numbers altogether, check out an easy Adobe CS6 volume license to simplify management instead of single-user copies… For a lower cost, you can get a flexible site license with a single serial key for your entire team.

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One of the most popular articles on our site is How Many Systems Can I Run Adobe CS6 On? That covers Adobe’s rules for their standard off-the-shelf retail software purchased for home or home office use. But how about for the rest of the world – for businesses, companies, studios, groups, departments, schools, and other organizations? What if you need an open license to run Creative Suite 6 (or other products) concurrently with multi-users on a number of computers on your network?

Fortunately Adobe has an answer for this that makes sense – that’s easy and saves time with reduced maintenance via simple license management across your site… Why shuffle and keep track of individual serial numbers between different machines? Why worry about whether your software needs to run on a PC or a Mac?

It’s called the Adobe Business Store (formerly known as the Volume Licensing Program) – but it’s not just for businesses, it’s for any person or enterprise that needs to run Adobe applica­tions with multiple seats, and it has some pretty great advantages:

1. You can purchase however many licenses you need online with a credit card or PayPal, immediately without any paperwork or signature contracts to deal with.
2. You receive a single serial number for your entire group that you can freely switch between your computers, including between PC/Windows and Apple/Mac.
3. The actual software is completely the same as the standard versions, and you can add additional users at any time while keeping the same single serial key.
4. There are no restrictions as to who can use the software or when, so long as the total number of licensed users doesn’t exceed the number of seats purchased.
5. And it costs no more than normal on Adobe.com, plus you can still download the software online for free (and/or receive the CD/DVD media via mail).

Adobe has one other name for this site licensing plan – it’s also called the Transactional Licensing Program (TLP). That’s because the benefits are available for individual transactions (with no minimum order size), rather than needing contracts, signatures, and membership as with their other “Open Options” offering, the Cumulative Licensing Program (CLP, which is used by larger organizations with higher ordering thresholds).

Note Adobe also has separate versions of these two programs for education, where customers at educa­tional institutions like schools, universities and colleges can gain academic discounts together with the flexibility of running the software on as many computers as needed.

Once you get your software, you can use Adobe’s straightforward Licensing Web Site (LWS) to easily track and manage licenses, which simplifies software administration and streamlines recordkeeping and legal compliance.

Some more quite interesting features (see all the details here):

• Just like with Adobe’s off-the-shelf software, these volume licenses are transferrable or resellable to other entities, if such need arises.
• Similarly, you can run each license on up to two computers (office and home/portable), so long as the second copy of the software is used solely for the benefit and business of the licensee, and the two copies are not used at the same time.
• Ordinarily, it takes some effort to switch CS6 between platforms. But all volume licenses here are cross-platform and you can run them on whichever system you want, Windows or Mac OS or both.
• Adobe no longer offers older versions via retail, but if you need CS5.5 instead you can still get it by ordering CS6 and then downloading a prior version – see the Backward Licensing Policy. Read more about this in our story on how to buy older Adobe software.
• If you need to set up a flexible or floating license scheme across a network of computers for concurrent use, that may be possible as well for some customers (with CLP).

If you are currently running individual boxed Adobe products and would like to move from shrinkwrapped software to one of these volume licenses, Adobe will also offer a credit against past qualifying purchases.

So whether you’re private, commercial, education, or government, this is something to consider from several advantageous angles. Geographically it’s available world­wide in the US/Canada, Europe/UK, Asia, Australia/NZ, and Africa – just go to the Adobe Store Selector and select your country, and then “Business Store.”  That’s all there is to it – you can buy and down­load (or ship) your volume-licensed product with your local currency and address… or get an Instant Quote for the products you’re interested in.

Related Posts

• How to Install or Run Adobe CS6 on Both Windows PC and Mac OS
• Adobe CS6 Volume and Site Licensing Now Available for Multi-User
• New Adobe Volume License Store is Online
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• Free New Adobe CS6 Tutorials: 18 Hours of Online Video Training

The Adobe Student and Teacher Editions look like a great deal. They offer big discounts, as much as 80% off normal prices. They’re available for most of Adobe’s product line, including Creative Suite 6, Lightroom 4, Acrobat X, and Elements 10.  They can be purchased by anyone who qualifies – primary and secondary school students, college or university students, faculty, teachers, and administrators.  Even part-time students or teachers can be eligible, and there is no age limitation. They’re available pretty much worldwide in many languages on both Windows and Mac, and you don’t need any kind of coupon or promotion code to get the deep discounts.

So what’s the catch? Is the Academic software different or limited somehow? Is there any sort of time restriction, time limit, or time out – do Adobe Student Editions expire? Or are they unusable for commercial purposes?

The answer to all of these questions is fortunately no: all Education products are identical in features and functionality in every respect to the current standard versions – the only differ­ences are the prices and some of the licensing terms… The prices, as mentioned, are a real bargain – for example, instead of US$999 for Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended, you pay only $249; instead of $1,899 for CS6 Design & Web Premium (Adobe’s most popular suite which contains seven major products including Photoshop Extended), you get it for $449.

Since Creative Suite 5, the Student and Teacher Editions can be utilized for personal as well as commercial use, for all academic customers worldwide. So yes, you can sell your services or anything you create, or use these products in developing a side business or online venture. And after graduation or completion of coursework, you can continue to use the software on your personal systems; there is no usage expiration and the tools will continue to work.

But it’s true there are some limitations as compared to the regular editions… Happily they are all fairly minor:

• Each eligible person may purchase only one copy of each product per platform per year.
• Student & Teacher Edition software may be used on your privately-owned computer only.
• The software is not transferrable, meaning it may not be resold or given to others.
• You validate eligibility after placing your order to receive your unique serial number key.
• Student editions cannot be upgraded to other education editions – but do receive Adobe’s discounted upgrade pricing to all regular commercial versions (say for a future release like CS6.5 or CS7), -or- you can purchase another student edition if you still qualify.  But the student price on a new release is often lower than the commercial upgrade price anyway, so you can just choose which is less expensive for you…  Bottom line, this is another substantial savings and advantage of owning these – basically you get your future releases discounted as well.

So why take your chances on the risks and malware in a pirated or bootleg version of CS6 when you can get the real deal – legitimate, supported, and completely safe – for up to 80% off, direct via instant download from Adobe?

Here’s a very helpful Student & Teacher Eligibility Guide that should answer other questions you may have, including documentation requirements…  Documents dated within the last six months are considered current.

Related Posts

• Adobe CS6 Student and Teacher Editions – How to Save 80%
• Enormous Discounts with Adobe Education Pricing
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• Free Yearlong Adobe CS5 Curriculums for Teachers & Students

As you may know, Creative Suite 6 was announced on Monday with a big launch event webcast worldwide…  So we’ve learned about what’s new and different, and now we’re waiting patiently for the actual release date. But there is some official news today that will affect the buying patterns of many customers.

Starting with Creative Suite 6, all individual upgrades — both for CS suite editions and point products like Photoshop CS6 and Illustrator CS6 — are available for purchase only through the Adobe website.*

Normally after a new release comes out, you can find the many upgrade packages at other sites or vendors. But effective with CS6 in many major geographies, Adobe will no longer offer upgrades through resellers, retailers, or other third parties* – including Amazon…

So now in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, the only place you can buy a CS6 upgrade from any earlier version of Adobe software is directly at Adobe’s online Store. The rest of the world (including Europe) will continue as before.

* Upgrades for volume licensing customers are still available on Adobe.com or through channel partners.

This should be better in some ways because upgrades have always been a confusing part of the process – there are a lot of different combinations and paths from different products, and it was hard for other vendors to present them well and make sure customers bought the right thing, were qualified with the correct prior version, etc. There will also now be zero risk of software piracy for buyers of upgrades going forward.

So now a lot of that experience should be improved, and hopefully we’ll have fewer comments here from bewildered visitors wondering why the Photoshop they bought for $199 from Best Buy doesn’t work on their computers (…because it was an upgrade version and they didn’t own a prior release) – or the one they got from eBay doesn’t work at all and put malware on their system. It also means that customers will always have the choice to download and run their upgrades instantly if they want, or order the box.

Keep in mind too Adobe’s other recent Upgrade Policy change which sets a year-end deadline for folks still on CS3 or CS4 versions to receive discounted upgrade pricing to CS6.

Will this affect you at all? See the price of a CS6 upgrade direct from Adobe, for your product in your region… although until May 6th, you should probably be upgrading to CS5.5 instead because it usually comes out less and you will receive a free further upgrade to CS6 when it ships.

One other point – what if you need to run your product on both operating system platforms? Then you might want to take a look at how to buy CS6 on both Windows and Mac.

For more information and details on Creative Suite 6 worldwide pricing, upgrades, availability, and system requirements, see our companion CS6 Launch Guide. Or read more about how CS6 is different from previous versions like CS5.5, including a detailed product-by-product breakout of what’s new in every application.

Or get started using Creative Suite 6 right away by downloading the free trial and then taking advantage of 18 hours of free new video tutorials to learn it.

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• Adobe CS6 vs. CS5.5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?

Creative Suite 6 was released on Monday and has brought with it some changes to Adobe’s previous upgrade policies… Here below is a full summary.

The first change, which we wrote about late last year, is the amended “one-version back” policy which states that current owners of CS3 or CS4 products (tools or suites) will receive temporary upgrade pricing to CS6 until December 31, 2012 – and after that date, only owners of CS5 or CS5.5 will qualify for upgrade pricing to CS6 (or to CS6.5 due out mid-2013).

The second revision is that all CS6 upgrades can only be purchased directly from Adobe in most countries – resellers and retailers will not be offering them (except for volume licenses which are still available on Adobe.com or through channel partners).

The final change now has to do with upgrade paths. Before you could upgrade from an individual point product to a suite containing that product, either in the same release or a subsequent release. So if you owned Photoshop CS6 then you could upgrade from that to CS6 Design & Web Premium, or to (say) CS7 Master Collection down the road.

But this will not be possible going forward… For Creative Suite 6, you can upgrade to a newer version of the same application you already own (e.g., Photoshop CS5 -> Photoshop CS6), but not to a suite. In other words, owners of individual appli­cations qualify for upgrade pricing to the same product, but not to a suite edition.

Similarly, if you decide to buy Photoshop CS6 now, you would not be able to later upgrade from that program to any full suite, whether it be CS6 or a future release like CS7 or CS8. Price reductions are not offered if you want to move from any standalone tool to a suite edition.

However, owners of any previous suite will still be able to upgrade to any available Creative Suite 6 suite. So if you own any CS3, CS4, or CS5 suite, you can upgrade to any CS6 suite edition no problem (for CS3 and CS4 users only until the end of 2012, as mentioned earlier). CS2 and earlier software is too far back to qualify.

So what this means is a little more deliberation is necessary before deciding which CS6 product you’re going to get. Whichever track you choose, you can expect to stay on that track. If you purchase a standalone product, your upgrade path will keep you on just that product. If you purchase a suite edition, then your path will be for a choice of future suites going forward. Here Adobe is saying to decide carefully now, because you can no longer mix the paths.

You might think, “oh, maybe you can buy a CS5 suite on eBay and then upgrade from that”… As covered previously, we absolutely do not recommend that.

One other point – what if you need to run your software on both Windows and Mac OS? Then you might want to take a look at how to buy CS6 multi-platform.

For more information and details on Creative Suite 6 worldwide pricing, upgrades, availability, and system requirements, see our companion CS6 Launch Guide. Or read more about how CS6 is different from previous versions like CS5.5, including a detailed product-by-product breakout of what’s new in every application.

You can get started using the new products right away by downloading the free trials and then taking advantage of 18 hours of free new video tutorials to learn them.

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• What’s New in Adobe CS6 Upgrade? A Product Feature Overview
• News: All CS6 Upgrades Now Only Available through Adobe Direct
• Adobe CS6 Was Announced April 23, but When Is the Release Date?
• Adobe CS6 vs. CS5.5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?

Last week Adobe launched Creative Suite 6 and we took a high-level look at how CS6 is different from CS5.5 – and so now here we’ll step through the significant new features at an individual product level, product-by-product…

The upgraded applications and their key new functionalities are detailed below. If you’re coming from further back and would like to know the differences between older versions – like an upgrade from Adobe CS5.0 to CS6, from CS4 to CS6, or from CS3 to CS6 – the last section will also help.

Major Changes to the Creative Suite Products

• What’s New in Photoshop CS6?
• What’s New in Illustrator CS6?
• What’s New in InDesign CS6?
• What’s New in Dreamweaver CS6?
• What’s New in Fireworks CS6?
• What’s New in Flash Professional CS6?
• What’s New in Premiere Pro CS6?
• What’s New in After Effects CS6?
• What’s New in Audition CS6?
• What’s New in Encore CS6?
• What’s New in Prelude CS6?
• What’s New in SpeedGrade CS6?
• What’s New in the Four CS6 Suite Editions?
• Differences from Older Releases (CS3, CS4, CS5.0)?

What’s New in Photoshop CS6 (Standard & Extended)

The world’s best digital imaging software gets even better with Photoshop CS6. Benefit from state-of-the-art imaging magic, exciting new creative options, and unprecedented performance. Correct, refine, and composite with groundbreaking new Content-Aware tools, an all-new Crop tool, and new skin tone–aware selections and masking. Design superior graphics as well as movies with new and reimagined tools and workflows. Count on a modern user interface to make your images pop, and edit at blazingly fast speeds with the new Mercury Graphics Engine. Create rich 3D artwork with a vastly simplified user interface in the Extended edition.

New features:

• Content-Aware Patch, Move & Extend – Retouch images with astonishing ease & control
• Mercury Graphics Engine – See near-instant results and a fluid feel as you work
• New & revamped design tools – Type styles, custom vector strokes, layer search, more
• Intuitive video creation – Use familiar PS tools to edit & create movies, in all versions
• All-new Crop tool – Crop images faster and with greater precision, nondestructively
• New Blur Gallery – Quickly create photographic blur effects with on-image controls
• Preset migration and sharing – Easily transfer your presets, workspaces, and settings
• Background Save and Auto-Recovery – No waiting and no re-dos! Work fast and secure
• Adobe Camera Raw 7 plug-in – Reveal rich detail in both the highlights and shadows
• Adaptive Wide Angle – Easily straighten objects that appear curved in wide-angle shots
• Revolutionary erodible brushes – Draw more naturally & realistically with eroding tips
• Completely reengineered 3D tools – [Extended] Enjoy huge leaps in 3D capabilities
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Illustrator CS6

Number 1 in Illustrator CS6 is the new Mercury Performance System that delivers native 64-bit support for both Mac OS and Windows. You can now work with precision, speed, and rock-solid stability on large, complex files. An updated interface streamlines daily tasks, and new creative options let you design and edit seamless patterns, leverage a new image-tracing engine, and apply gradients to strokes. Spend less time waiting and more time creating with Illustrator CS6, the industry’s premier vector-drawing environment for creating graphics that scale across media.

New features:

• Mercury Performance Engine – Work with speed & stability with native 64-bit support
• Pattern creation tools – Easily make seamlessly-tiled repeating vector patterns
• Image Trace – Completely new tracing engine converts raster images to editable vectors
• Efficient, flexible interface – Streamlined to take fewer steps to accomplish daily tasks
• Gradients on strokes – Apply gradients to your strokes with complete control
• Many panel improvements – Get your work done more efficiently and precisely
• Gaussian Blur enhancement – Do shadows, blurs & glows faster and more accurately
• Dockable hidden tools – Tear off and dock hidden tools for an efficient workspace
• Workspaces with rooms – Move fluidly between workspaces with support for rooms
• True white canvas color – Fast color sampling when you quickly need a pure white
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in InDesign CS6

InDesign CS6 introduces powerful features for print and digital workflows. New tools help you adapt layouts to multiple page sizes, orientations, and devices—without sacrificing pixel-perfect control over design and typography. Use the Content Collector tools to easily repurpose text and images in other files; link content across documents to help ensure consistency. Integrate with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to publish InDesign layouts as tablet applications.

New features:

• Liquid Layout – Automatically adapt content to different page sizes and orientations
• Alternate Layout – Create and design multiple versions for all needs within a single file
• Content Collector tools – Grab objects from existing layout, easily place in new one
• PDF forms within InDesign – Create and order form fields before you export to PDF
• Autosizing text frames – Grow & shrink frames automatically, using simple parameters
• Split window – View two side-by-side layouts within the same document to compare
• Grayscale preview & PDF export – Preview in grayscale, and export grayscale PDF
• Enhanced split and span support – Keep lines together that split or span columns
• Linked content – Live-link content within or across documents, changes applied to all
• Middle Eastern language support – For easier localization and enhanced functionality
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Dreamweaver CS6

Dreamweaver CS6 introduces expanded support for creating clean, industry-standard HTML5 and CSS3 code. Check the rendering of HTML5 code with updated Live View and Multiscreen Preview. Use fluid grid layouts to design projects that are cross-platform and cross-browser compatible. Enhanced jQuery Mobile and PhoneGap Build support framework helps you develop projects for desktop screens, tablets, and smartphones. Faster FTP transfers let you work more efficiently.

New features:

• Fluid grid layout – Construct complex web designs and layouts for different screen sizes
• Improved FTP performance – Save time uploading with multi-threaded FTP transfer
• Enhanced jQuery Mobile – Create native apps for iOS and Android with updated support
• CSS3 transitions – Animate changes to CSS properties to bring web designs to life
• Updated Live View – Test pages before publishing using updated Live View functionality
• Updated PhoneGap Build – Build and package native mobile apps with updated support
• Updated Multiscreen Preview panel – Now can check the rendering of HTML5 content
• Business Catalyst integration – Integrated panel to edit sites you build with BC
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Fireworks CS6

Fireworks CS6 provides new screen layout tools to help you work faster and smarter. Jump-start your interactive designs for popular smartphone and tablet apps with new jQuery Mobile theme skinning, CSS sprites from comps, and extraction of industry-compliant CSS3 code. Blaze through your workflow with improved color swatches and greater precision. Boost productivity with better redraw performance for Mac OS and improved memory management for Windows 64-bit operating systems.

New features:

• New CSS Properties panel – Extract CSS code and create CSS sprites and CSS effects
• New jQuery mobile theme skinning support – Create, modify, or update jQuery themes
• Improved performance on Windows & Mac OS – Plus better graphics optimization
• Quicker access to color – Rapidly switch between colors and color effects
• Opacity support for Fill and Stroke – Apply opacity control separately
• API access – Access the API to generate extensions, use community extensions
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Flash Professional CS6

Flash Professional CS6 features new support for generating sprite sheets for improved game develop­ment and the ability to deliver apps with a prepackaged Adobe AIR captive runtime for a better user experience. Access device-specific capabilities with prebuilt native extensions, simulate common mobile application interactions, and reach devices that run on Android and iOS platforms by targeting the latest Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtimes.

New features:

• Export as HTML5 content – Use CreateJS to make HTML5 from existing Flash content
• Sprite sheet generation – Export symbols and animation sequences quickly for gaming
• Wide platform & device support – Target the latest Flash Player & Adobe AIR runtimes
• Prepackaged AIR application creation – Deliver applications with an AIR captive runtime
• Platform- & device-specific access – Use prebuilt native extensions that provide access
• Adobe AIR mobile simulation – Simulate common mobile interactions for testing
• Stage 3D targeting – Turbocharge rendering performance via the Starling Framework
• Multiple AIR SDK support – Add multiple Adobe AIR software development kits
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Premiere Pro CS6

Premiere Pro CS6 delivers a sleek, professional user interface; a powerful playback engine (see all supported graphics cards); and a host of fantastic creative features. Quickly stabilize shaky shots with Warp Stabilizer. Natively edit anything from low-resolution to RED EPIC 5K and ARRIRAW footage, finesse your work with dynamic timeline trimming, handle more multicam angles, and correct rolling shutter artifacts. Get flexible audio tracks, powerful color workflows, Adobe Prelude integration, and more.

New features:

• Sleek, highly intuitive, and customizable user interface – Intelligently redesigned
• Fluid editing workflow – Over 50 of the most requested editing enhancements
• Dynamic timeline trimming – Edit with precision using powerful trimming tools
• Warp Stabilizer effect – Correct jitter and rolling shutter artifacts, like AE
• Expanded multicam editing – Easily edit footage from as many cameras as you have
• Better 3-Way Color Corrector – More intuitively manage the color in your projects
• New adjustment layers – Apply effects across multiple clips, easily create masks
• Revamped Project panel workflows – View, sort, and arrange media faster
• Uninterrupted playback – Make changes on the fly, adjust parameters & add effects
• Enhanced, flexible audio tracks – New tools deliver greater audio flexibility
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in After Effects CS6

After Effects CS6 lets you deliver cinematic visual effects and sophisticated motion graphics faster than ever before. Take 64-bit to a new level with Global Performance Cache. Extend your creativity with the 3D camera tracker, built-in text and shape extrusion, new mask feathering options, rolling shutter repair, and more built-in effects to make your final project look the way you intended.

New features:

• Global Performance Cache – Revolution “under the hood” makes AE fast and responsive
• 3D camera tracker – Track & place 3D elements onto 2D footage with complete control
• Ray-traced, extruded text & shapes – Extrude fully ray-traced text & shapes natively
• Variable mask feathering – Precisely control mask feathering for the shape you want
• Integration with Adobe Illustrator – Instantly convert, animate, or extrude vector art
• Rolling shutter repair – Remove rolling shutter artifacts such as skew and wobble
• New and updated effects – Enhance creativity with 90 new and updated built-in effects
• Avid AAF and FCP 7 XML file import with Pro Import AE – Integrate your workflow
• mocha for After Effects CS6 – Launch mocha for CS6, included directly within AE
• Broadly-improved GPU acceleration for previews & rendering – Get work done faster
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Audition CS6

Audition CS6 offers high-performance, intuitive editing tools to help you produce audio efficiently. Powerful new features such as real-time clip stretching, pitch and speed control, write/latch/touch automation, control surface support, and automatic speech alignment help you deliver projects faster than ever. Many user-requested features have been added and improved, such as CD burning, clip grouping with group suspend, tone generation, and more.

New features:

• Faster, more precise editing – Work faster with dozens of timesaving enhancements
• Real-time clip stretching – Stretch nondestructively in real time, new varispeed mode
• Automatic speech alignment – Quickly align & replace dialogue with studio recordings
• EUCON and other control surface support – Work with myriad control surfaces
• Parameter automation – Automate entire mixes with new parameter automation modes
• Powerful pitch correction – Correct pitch problems automatically or with manual control
• Tools for efficient session management – New Media Browser and Quick Search field
• Clip grouping – Edit multiple clips simultaneously, new Suspend Groups feature
• Expanded output options – More flexible delivery options including output to audio CD
• HD video playback – Import and play back HD video without transcoding
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Encore CS6

Get rock-solid performance and stability with Encore CS6, now natively 64-bit. Open and save projects faster and send them from Premiere Pro CS6 directly to Encore CS6 software without intermediate rendering. Benefit from faster MPEG import, pixel aspect ratio correction in previews, and enhanced DVD, Blu-Ray Disc, and web DVD authoring.

New features:

• Native 64-bit support – Speed up your authoring workflow with rock-solid performance
• Faster MPEG import with asynchronous processing – Pull assets in the background
• Pixel aspect ratio correction in previews – View the correct ratio when previewing
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in Prelude CS6

Adobe Prelude CS6 is a video ingest and logging tool that can help you tag and transcode footage rapidly. Searchable temporal markers and comments entered in Adobe Prelude can help you find the footage you want, when you want it, at any point in production. Easy ingestion of nearly any file-based footage along with keyboard-driven creation of searchable metadata allows you to keep your eyes on the video and work faster, stay organized, and streamline production. Create rough cuts and associated metadata that will flow through the entire production process in Premiere Pro and with other NLEs. Leverage the XMP-based open platform capabilities of Adobe Prelude to integrate with third-party technologies and asset management systems.

New features:

• Full or partial ingest – Get to work faster with easy ingest & tagging of file-based footage
• Heads Up logging – Create metadata & subclips without taking your eyes off your footage
• Transcode to many formats upon ingest – Transcode to your preferred format(s)
• Searchable temporal markers – Add searchable markers & temporal metadata to clips
• Rough cut creation – Jump-start your editing by adding clips & subclips to rough cuts
• Thumbnail scrubbing – View clips as thumbnails in addition to hierarchies within folders
• Success write confirmation – Get immediate confirmation your ingest was successful
• Speech transcription notes – View transcription notes from Speech Analysis in Premiere
• Customizable extensibility – Leverage the XMP-based open platform for integration
• Customizable metadata import – Import event metadata from other sources
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in SpeedGrade CS6

Adobe SpeedGrade CS6 is professional color grading software that brings state-of-the-art color science to your productions. Output to virtually any type of display, from handheld tablets to the big screen. Now part of the Adobe Creative Suite, SpeedGrade CS6 offers a new streamlined interface and the Lumetri Deep Color Engine, giving you confidence in your color decisions. Load projects from Premiere Pro and use professionally designed presets to get up and running fast. Native .Look file support in After Effects and Photoshop provides visual consistency across your productions.

New features:

• Lumetri Deep Color Engine – Apply precision floating-point grading to all your shots
• Powerful layer-based grading – Simplify complex color adjustments with layers
• GPU-accelerated performance – Experience real-time feedback while you grade footage
• Primary and secondary color correction – Apply to the whole frame in combination
• Streamlined user experience – Organize logically & efficiently in one integrated workflow
• Professionally designed .Look files – Explore a range of beautiful, predesigned .Look files
• Perfectly balanced gamma – Adjust footage to compensate for irregularities and shifts
• Camera and color space matching – Automatically match footage from different cameras
• Automatic scene detection – Distinguish individual shots and make short work of projects
• Adobe tool and workflow integration – Integrate with Premiere Pro, AE, Photoshop, more
• …plus more that’s new, or download the free trial

What’s New in the CS6 Suite Editions

Adobe combined two CS5 suites into one – the new CS6 Design & Web Premium suite. So now there are four suite offerings in total, including CS6 Design Standard, CS6 Production Premium, and CS6 Master Collection. The different suite configurations remain similar to before except the applications you don’t see above – notably Flash Catalyst, Contribute, OnLocation, and Device Central – are no longer included in Creative Suite 6. What’s more, Flash Builder 4.6 is now bundled with Master Collection only.

Read more about how CS6 is different in other ways, or on other key launch details…

Differences from Older Versions (CS6 vs. CS5.0, CS4 or CS3)

What if you’re not currently on CS5.5, but would like to compare from prior versions of Creative Suite? Like upgrading from CS3 to CS6, or from CS4 to CS6…

To answer that, check out the differences between Adobe CS5.5 vs. CS5 vs. CS4 vs. CS3 – for the complete picture!

See the full CS6 System Requirements, the different CS6 Product Configurations, or the CS6 Price Sheet in major geographies.

Related Posts

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• Adobe CS6 vs. CS5.5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?

With Adobe Creative Suite, if you’re just looking to set up and run CS6 on either a Windows PC or a Mac OS system, the instructions for that are easy. And in fact, as we discussed earlier, it’s relatively straightforward to install and activate the software on up to two machines of the same operating system type – in other words, either two Mac computers, or two Windows PC’s.

But in most cases, with the platform selection for Creative Suite and Acrobat products, it’s “either-or.” Either Apple or Microsoft. Either Mac or Windows. That’s the story for the retail and education versions of the software. And, if you want to change or swap platforms entirely, and move your tools from one o/s to the other, you can do that with an Adobe CS “crossgrade.”

However, there is another possibility if you want or need to have the applications available on both operating systems (Windows plus Mac OS) at the same time – and that is to get an Adobe volume license. Despite the name, anybody can buy them (not just businesses and even for just one copy), though they do offer discounts for larger purchases… and there are some additional advantages too (including the ability to order CS5 or CS5.5 instead of CS6, if that’s what you happen to need). They’re easy to get – no signature contracts are necessary and you can pay online with a credit card, and download right away.

These volume products are offered “multiplatform” and are supplied with two license keys – one for each operating system – allowing you to install the software on both platforms… Just select “Multiple Platforms” on the simple online order page, it’s right there. You can even upgrade to these licenses from most older versions, including standard retail and education editions – with the same discounted upgrade pricing for all. Here is the relevant section from Adobe’s volume licensing policies page:

Cross-platform licensing

Adobe Volume Licensing (AVL) customers receive product serial numbers for both Windows and Mac OS, as long as the product is available for both and the two platforms are the same version.

Program members can choose to use either platform, as long as the total number of licenses being used does not exceed the number purchased.

As we’ve covered previously, each license purchased from Adobe allows the user to install and activate the product on up to two computer systems, so long as they are not both used or run at the same time. These are the same terms as for all customers written in the Creative Suite licensing agreement.

As more Macs make their way into the world, and as more folks acquire and own or use both types of computers on their networks, the need for multi-platform usage will grow. Recently, Adobe has begun to offer some shrinkwrap retail software for universal use – most notably Photoshop Elements and Lightroom in their latest releases. Subscribers to the Creative Cloud can also install the tools on both a Mac and a PC. But, if this is what you need to do now with your permanent software licenses, then you may want to check this out…

If you happened to make a purchase recently and didn’t get what you needed, you may also know about Adobe’s 30-day Return & Exchange Policy.

Related Posts

• How to Move Adobe CS6 Between Computers, or from PC to Mac
• How Many Computers Can You Install or Run Adobe CS6 On?
• How to Get or Buy Older Adobe Software Versions like CS4 or CS5
• How to Run Multiple User or Computer Licenses for Adobe CS6
• Adobe CS6 Volume and Site Licensing Now Available for Multi-User

Let’s face it, Adobe’s normal product prices can seem expensive, especially if you’re on a student’s budget. The regular prices for Creative Suite 6 range run from $399 for Dreamweaver through Photoshop Extended for $999 and up to $2,599 for the Master Collection suite, which contains every CS6 product available – nearly twenty in all. As great and powerful as this software is, it could be hard to afford these prices when you’re in school.

Fortunately, Adobe offers deep discounts for education customers – up to 80% off.  So the price for Dreamweaver becomes almost a third of what it was, $149 – while for the Master Collection it drops by over two-thirds, to $799. For some products the price cut is even larger – for example, Photoshop CS6 Extended (the top-of-the-line version) goes from $999 to $249. The top-selling CS6 Design & Web Premium suite becomes $449 instead of $1,899. And Flash Builder 4.6 falls from $249 to free – yes, FREE for students and educators…

In addition, it’s not just the Creative Suite products that are available with the savings. You can also get Lightroom 4, Acrobat X, and Photoshop or Premiere Elements 10. For example, Lightroom 4 for student photographers costs $79 instead of the normal price of $149.

All of this software is now available via instant download at the Adobe Education Store for both Windows and Mac OS. Adobe’s education discounts are available internationally as well – in other countries and currencies (Europe/euro, UK/pound, Australia/dollar), and the percentage reductions are similar.

To get these much-reduced prices, essentially all you have to do is prove your academic status at a qualified school. Most students and teachers of most grades and institutions can qualify, from elementary through university levels. Even part-time students or folks who enroll for a class at their local community college can be eligible – there is no age restriction. If you think about it, sometimes going back to school could even pay for itself in such situations.

When you purchase this software it does not come with a serial number – rather it comes with a special product code that you need to validate with your status and then Adobe will send you a permanent license key to activate and run the CS6 software. Proof of enrollment can include your school ID card, report card, transcript, tuition bill or statement, etc.

The verification and conversion all happens online so it takes only 1-2 business days. In the meantime, you’ll be able to install your product as a 30-day free trial to get started using it.

The student and teacher editions work the same as the regular versions, and the license does not expire. You can also use this software for commercial purposes if you so desire. However there remain some differences between the two with limitations of the education versions that are important to know about and understand.

You can install the software on up to two computers, and if for some reason you change your mind after buying, you can easily return the product within 30 days of purchase to Adobe.

A Word on Software Piracy – “If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…”

Some folks think they might be able to do better by trying to find and download Adobe software for free or cheap using torrents, cracks, keygens, untrusted sources, unknown sellers, and so on. The first thing to say is any electronic download from anywhere besides Adobe is illegitimate, so it’s illegal. The second thing is that it’s very risky – but not only because it’s illegal…

It’s increasingly a bad and dangerous idea because a great deal of the hacked Adobe software out there now is embedded with malware. This malware includes viruses, worms, and trojans that can do significant harm to your computer, data, and privacy (like quietly taking your sensitive information such as logins, passwords, and credit card numbers).

For example, the Asia-Pacific region has a very high piracy rate of 60%, and correspondingly the highest rate of infection in the world – nearly 70% of the computers in these countries are riddled with malware. There is a direct correlation.

In other words, the hackers that create and distribute these “free” or “cheap” versions are receiving payback in other ways (e.g., backdoors) – meaning in the end, you can do far worse damage to your computer and yourself than to Adobe. Why install unknown and untrusted software onto your valuable system? Why give a stranger control of your machine?

Further, the agencies are really cracking down now on download theft – note in a case out this week, the authorities have obtained the location and contact information on 23,000 illegal BitTorrent users and the fines paid are $3,000 per download!

Lastly, be wary of deals or bargains from eBay or Craigslist, or any seller you’ve never heard of (including on Amazon Marketplace), or anything that seems too good to be true – because it probably is… And you don’t want to end up in tears, like so many there have, after their money has left their hands permanently and the software or their computer has stopped working.

Read more details on why you shouldn’t buy from eBay, Craigslist, or Amazon Marketplace.

So all in all, it’s not something for nothing – and really the only sensible and safe choice is getting the real deal straight from Adobe at 80% off.

Related Posts

• What’s the Difference on Adobe CS6 Student Editions vs. Regular?
• Enormous Discounts with Adobe Education Pricing
• Save up to $200 Extra on Adobe CS5.5 Student Editions with Coupon
• Adobe CS5.5 Student Editions – Save Extra $50, No Coupon Needed
• Free Yearlong Adobe CS5 Curriculums for Teachers & Students

Adobe recognizes that many people use both Lightroom and Photoshop in their workflows, and so is offering a special deal where you can save 30% off the full version of Lightroom 4 if you purchase it together with the new Photoshop CS6 in any form. This means if you buy Photoshop CS6, Photoshop CS6 Extended, or any CS6 suite edition (which all contain PS), you’ll get 30% off Lightroom when you buy them at the same time.

And it works for either buying the full version or upgrading from an older version of Photoshop or the CS suite… So if you are buying Lightroom for the first time, you’ll get 30% off the price of the full version (normally $149/€109/£87) – and in the U.S. they round this down to just $99. No promotion code is required to activate the discount, which will be reflected in your shopping cart just prior to checkout. This offer is valid worldwide until Decem­ber 31st, 2012, but pricing is available only through the online Adobe Commercial Store (in other words, Volume and Education customers are not eligible, perhaps because the LR4 student edition is already US$79).

These are both brand-new releases – for what’s changed, see What’s New in Lightroom 4 and What’s New in Photoshop CS6…

Or grab some chances to win Photoshop CS6 + Lightroom 4 for free!

Lightroom with Photoshop – Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop?

Lightroom is an end-to-end photography solution designed expressly for digital photograph­ers, helping them work faster and more efficiently with one image, an entire shoot, or a large image library, while maintaining the highest quality. Photoshop is the industry standard in digital image editing, with advanced tools used by photographers, graphic designers, and other professionals for detailed, pixel-level editing and compositing, and working with multi­layered files.

Why should I use Lightroom if I already have Photoshop, or vice versa?

Lightroom is designed to boost your efficiency by handling the essential tasks a digital photo­grapher faces in one intuitive environment. It includes powerfully simple one-click adjustments, as well as the widest range of advanced tools for efficiently processing entire shoots, manag­ing photo libraries, and showcasing images. When you need it, tight integration between Lightroom and Photoshop lets you easily take advantage of the power of Photoshop for more complete creative control, high dynamic range photos, and panoramas, all with pixel-level accuracy and precision.

Is Lightroom included in Adobe Creative Suite?

No. On the whole, Lightroom and Adobe Creative Suite address different audiences. Creative Suite is primarily focused on design and the delivery of rich creative experiences while Light­room addresses the needs of advanced amateur and professional photographers.

What is Adobe Bridge, and what is the difference between Bridge and Lightroom?

Adobe Bridge is a file browser and file management application that is included with Photoshop CS2 or higher and Adobe Creative Suite. Bridge is designed to work with a wide variety of graphics, image, and video file types to manage files in varied workflows involving all the applications in Creative Suite. Lightroom and its file management functions are tailored specif­ically for the digital photography workflow. Lightroom unites your key photography essentials, including image editing, in one intuitive application. Lightroom uses file importing and a data­base structure that speeds up searches and enables Lightroom to store information about as well as display images on offline media. Bridge cannot display offline images.

Related Posts

• New Giveaway! Win Photoshop CS6 + Lightroom 4 FREE ($1K Prizes)
• Adobe Lightroom 4 Beta Release is Here! Now Available Free to Public
• Compare Photoshop Editions: CS5 vs. Elements 10 vs. Lightroom 3
• Adobe Lightroom 3.5 and Camera Raw 6.5 – Final and Free Updates
• Adobe: New Tablet Apps Soon, “Doubling-Down” on HTML5 for CS6

[UPDATE (May 7th) – CS6 is here!]

We’ve got the scoop on the new video features and software coming soon in Creative Suite 6 — and the go-ahead from Adobe to reveal them!

In particular, we can sneak peek and show you everything that’s going to be in the CS6 Production Premium video suite: Premiere Pro CS6, After Effects CS6, Audition CS6, Story CS6, Adobe Media Encoder CS6, Encore CS6 – plus two new applications, Prelude CS6 and SpeedGrade CS6!

The company is planning to make a really big splash with these new tools at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas next week.

Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 delivers a sleek, professional user interface; a powerful playback engine; and a host of fantastic creative features. Quickly stabilize shaky shots with Warp Stabilizer. Natively edit anything from low-resolution to RED EPIC 5K and ARRIRAW footage, finesse your work with dynamic timeline trimming, handle more multicam angles, and correct rolling shutter artifacts. Get flexible audio tracks, powerful color workflows, Adobe Prelude software integration, and more.

Adobe After Effects CS6 lets you deliver cinematic visual effects and sophisticated motion graphics faster than ever before. Take 64 bit to a new level with Global Performance Cache. Extend your creativity with the 3D camera tracker, built-in text and shape extrusion, new mask feathering options, rolling shutter repair, and more built-in effects to make your final project look the way you intended.

Adobe Audition CS6 offers high-performance, intuitive editing tools to help you produce audio efficiently. Powerful new features such as real-time clip stretching, pitch and speed control, write/latch/touch automation, control surface support, and automatic speech alignment help you deliver projects faster than ever. Many user-requested features have been added and improved, such as CD burning, clip grouping with group suspend, tone generation, and more.

[UPDATE – CS6 Grace Period Savings: Buy CS5.5 Now + Get CS6 Free!]

Top New Features in Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 vs. CS5.5

• Sleek, highly intuitive, and customizable user interface
• New Adjustment layers
• Dynamic timeline trimming
• Warp Stabilizer effect for fixing shaky footage
• Dramatically expanded multicam editing
• Editing enhancements for smoother switching from other NLEs
• Enhanced Adobe Mercury Playback Engine for blazing performance & greater stability
• Support for OpenCL on some MacBook Pro computers for GPU-accelerated workflows
• Faster Project panel workflows
• Uninterrupted playback
• Native support for RED EPIC and RED SCARLET-X cameras
• Native support for ARRI Alexa and Canon Cinema EOS C300 cameras
• Rolling Shutter Repair effect
• Adobe Prelude CS6 software integration
• Improved Three-Way Color Corrector
• Refined default audio track design
• Cinema mode for full-screen playback
• Effects applied with a simple double-click
• Support for gestural control on the Mac computer
• Adobe Mercury Transmit SDK to better integrate with third-party I/O hardware
• Integrate with Adobe SpeedGrade CS6 software
• 64-bit Adobe Encore software for rock-solid performance
• Enhancements to Adobe Media Encoder
• Improved third-party tool interoperability

Find out more about Premiere Pro CS6 – what’s new and different…

Top New Features in Adobe After Effects CS6 vs. CS5.5

• Global Performance Cache
• Avid AAF and FCP 7 XML file import with Pro Import AE
• Ray-traced, extruded text and shapes created in After Effects
• Broadly-improved GPU acceleration for previews and rendering
• Variable mask feathering
• Rolling shutter repair
• 3D Camera Tracker
• Integration with Illustrator to convert/animate/extrude vector art
• 90 new and updated built-in effects
• Support for .Look files from Adobe SpeedGrade CS6
• mocha for After Effects CS6 and CycoreFX HD suite included (English)

Find out more about After Effects CS6 – what’s new and different…

Top New Features in Adobe Audition CS6 vs. CS5.5

• Faster, more precise editing
• Real-time clip stretching including new “varispeed” mode
• Automatic speech alignment
• EUCON and other control surface support
• Parameter automation
• Powerful pitch correction/manipulation tools
• Tools for efficient session management
• Loudness standard compliance
• Expanded output options including output to CD
• Media browser with file preview
• HD video playback
• New effects
• Powerful effects routing and VST3 support
• Simplified Metadata and Markers panels
• Expanded audio and video file formats
• Improved batch processing
• User-driven workflow improvements
• Editing preview with selective skipping
• Clip grouping including suspend, trimming & stretching
• Trim to Selection
• Multiple clipboards
• Metronome
• Sum to Mono
• Support for more frame rates
• Hardware controllers support
• Save effects rack as favorite
• Automatic retrieval of CD titles
• Improved keyboard shortcut manager

Find out more about Audition CS6 – what’s new and different…

Top New Features in Adobe Encore & Media Encoder CS6 vs. CS5.5

Meanwhile, Adobe Encore gets 64-bit support and faster MPEG import with asynchronous processing… while Media Encoder gets a Preset browser.

What is Adobe SpeedGrade CS6?

Adobe SpeedGrade CS6 color grading software allows you to craft the perfect look for your productions with the new Lumetri Deep Color Engine. Designed for file-based workflows and sporting a sleek new interface, SpeedGrade CS6 opens the full dynamic range of your footage with GPU-accelerated performance and broad file-based format support – including RAW, HDR, and stereoscopic content. Originally published by IRIDAS and now part of the Creative Suite, SpeedGrade gives you the power to push your stories further.

• Lumetri Deep Color Engine
• Powerful, layer-based grading
• Real-time performance
• Unlimited primary and secondary corrections
• Streamlined user experience

Find out more about new Adobe SpeedGrade CS6…

What is Adobe Prelude CS6?

Adobe Prelude CS6 provides a unified interface for ingest and logging workflows, allowing you to work faster, stay organized, and streamline your production process. Copy and transcode to your storage infrastructure and begin logging immediately, intuitively adding searchable temporal markers that flow through post-production. Create rough cuts with production notes that flow into Premiere Pro software, communicating the vision for the project through final editing.

• Easy, time-efficient full and partial ingest and tagging of footage
• Footage transcoding and tagging upon ingest
• Searchable marker-based metadata
• Keyboard-driven logging
• Easy rough-cut assembly

Find out more about new Adobe Prelude CS6…

Watch the CS6 Demos

Here are 12 sneak peek chapters covering many new features in the different CS6 video products (23 minutes runtime):

Check out this page for more CS6 walkthroughs in greater detail, as well as First Look: CS6 Production Premium!

See also

— CS6 Grace Period! Buy CS5.5 Now + Get Free Upgrade to CS6 When It Ships

— Adobe: CS6 on Track for “Late in Q2″ with Very Compelling New Features

— Sneak Previews of CS6: Dreamweaver, InDesign, Flash Pro, Illustrator & Premiere

— Win New Photoshop CS6 + Lightroom 4 FREE! ($1000 Giveaway)

— What’s the Difference Between Photoshop CS6 vs. CS5 – What’s New in Features?

Related Posts

• Premiere Pro, After Effects and Audition CS6 FAQ and Highlights
• First Look: Adobe CS6 Production Premium Suite — What’s New?
• Sneak Peeks of CS6: Dreamweaver, InDesign, Flash, Premiere & More
• Adobe Sneaks New Video Features for Premiere Pro & After Effects
• Adobe Creative Suite 5 Is Now Shipping!

[UPDATE (May 7th) – CS6 is now shipping!]

At Photoshop World last week, we had the chance to sit down with Adobe Senior Product Managers Bryan O’Neil Hughes and Zorana Gee for hours of in-depth walkthroughs of the new Photoshop CS6 release. And all we can say is – on top of what we already knew and experienced – this is the Photoshop version you’ve probably dreamed about…

And with over 1 million downloads in a week, clearly we’re not the only ones thinking that. Gizmodo calls it, “The best update in recent memory” … PC Magazine says, “The future of creative image editing is upon us – this new version will thrill nearly all categories of users, from photo­graphers to designers” … USA Today writes, “Having lots of fun with the new tools – the new inter­face is a huge improvement, and the images really do look sharper and more pronounced.”

For expediency we put together a quick “cheat sheet” below of the top differences and new features in Photoshop CS6 as compared to PS CS5. Naturally if you’re still on CS4, CS3, or earlier, then you’d also need to add in the differences between CS5 vs. those older versions.

But really, it’s also a fit and polish thing – with two years since the last major release (and having no architectural challenges to worry about), the Photoshop team had plenty time to hone this into a smooth and polished product. This is reflected in the 62% more new features added in this cycle contrasted to the previous one, and nearly twice as many JDI requests (user-focused “Just Do It” items) addressed.

Importantly, Photoshop CS6 will run alongside any previous PS version(s) you may have installed, without difficulty or conflict. So you can safely download and check out the free trial version for 30 days, and then easily uninstall it if you decide not to purchase it in the end.

Photoshop CS6 System Requirements and Performance

How about performance? This is always a big question for users, because sometimes moving forward in software necessitates moving up in hardware. But not so here. We asked Bryan about this directly on how Photoshop CS6 performs versus CS5 on identical machines. The answer (thanks for streamlining, optimization, and much broader use of the GPU): “On the same hardware, in almost all cases, Photoshop CS6 is considerably faster than CS5… and not just on the newest computers, but CS6 will support older machines as well.”

Now, some notes on support and system requirements. Officially, Photoshop CS6 is not supported on Windows Vista, because Adobe found that current Vista use is tiny compared to Windows 7 and XP. So Win 7 and XP will continue to be supported – which was a relief to those worried the same thing might happen with Photoshop and XP as what they did with Lightroom 4. But note importantly, though Windows Vista is not “officially” supported for Photoshop CS6, Adobe does not restrict users from installing and using it on Vista… Also, PS Extended’s 3D features and some GPU-enabled features are not supported on Windows XP.

On the Mac, the major specification change is your processor must be 64-bit capable (most Macs are, but here’s how to tell).  But the good news is outside of those spec changes, the system requirements remain the same as they are now for Photoshop CS5, on both platforms. And there are no known issues running Photoshop CS6 on the future Windows 8 or on Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).

What’s New in Photoshop CS6 vs. CS5?

Here’s the lengthy list:

• The long-rumored darker and modern user interface
• Redesign and clean-up of all icons, buttons, dialogs – plus rich cursors
• New Content-Aware Move, Extend, and Patch Tools
• Terrific [DSLR] video editing in both Standard and Extended versions
• Skin-Aware Masking with Face Detection – auto-generation of skin-tone masks
• Complete overhaul of 3D in Photoshop CS6 Extended – 1 tool now does work of 14
• Some great new (and realistic) brushes – Erodible Tips and Airbrush Tips
• Brand new Camera Raw 7 technology like in Lightroom 4
• White Balance and Noise Reduction as a selective Brush
• Text/Character Type Styles and Paragraph Styles
• Adaptive Wide Angle Lens Correction to fix distortion and straighten lines
• PixelBender now built in to Photoshop CS6 for oil painting filter
• Enhanced and more flexible Brush Pose, Brush Projection, and Color Dynamics
• Rewritten vector engine, real vector strokes with Dashed and Dotted Lines
• Mercury Graphics Engine gives 10-100X faster Liquify, Transform, Warp & more
• Big gains in performance throughout due to much greater usage of the GPU
• Blur Gallery for creating shallow depth of field, tilt-shift blur and graduated blur
• Much smarter “Auto” for better starting points and one-click corrections
• Lighting Effects is back and better than ever, with much improved controls and 3D
• Completely reengineered and nondestructive Crop Tool, like Lightroom’s
• Background Save, including tunable Auto-Save and Crash Recovery
• Integrated Layer Search/Filtering – by name, effect, style, mode, or attribute
• Easy migration tool that imports/exports custom presets and settings
• New “Bicubic Automatic” default for Image Size always does the right thing
• Path snapping & anti-aliasing improvements – critical for exacting work
• Easy insert of Lorem Ipsum text from the Type Menu
• The return of Contact Sheet II and PDF Presentations in Photoshop
• A completely redesigned and enhanced Print dialog

For more information on most of these, see the Photoshop FAQ: New Feature Overview…

To the disappointment of some, the much-buzzed Photo Deblurring feature demoed at MAX hasn’t made it into CS6… that is still considered “early-stage research” – but we can always hope for it in Photoshop CS6.5 or CS7!

Top Favorite Features in Photoshop CS6

Here’s a great video series reviewing all the major new features in detail… (runtime 40 mins.)

Lynda.com also has an excellent and free 2½-hour video introduction to everything new in Photoshop CS6, with 29 chapters from Deke McClelland, who calls it “a remarkable upgrade.”

Your Turn

Have you used Photoshop CS6 yet – either purchased it or tried the beta or run the free trial? What do you think?

Share your thoughts in the comments below or at Adobe’s Photoshop CS6 Feedback Forum or the new published User Reviews…

Related Posts

• 8 Photoshop CS6 Sneak Peeks – New 3D, Video, Depth-of-Field Tools
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This is one of the most common questions we get, and the answer may pleasantly surprise you… The place to look to find the answer is the Software License Agreement, also called the EULA. This agreement governs the use of your Adobe product, and is translated into 28 languages within each document. It also covers some basics about product activation.

So, in general, how many systems can you install Adobe software on, including CS5.5 and CS6? The answer for individuals (as opposed to businesses) in most cases is two. The catch is that both computers must be used only by you and the two systems cannot be used at the same time. This policy was designed so that you could run (say) Creative Suite at home on your desktop PC, as well as while travelling with your laptop. But the types of computers and their usage has blurred so much now that you can just pick any two you own and the product should install and properly activate on both…

For example, here is the key text from the EULA for Photoshop CS6:

2.5 Portable or Home Computer Use. Subject to the important restrictions set forth in Section 2.6 [having to do with volume licensees], the primary user of the Computer on which the Software is installed … may install a second copy of the Software for his or her exclusive use on either a port­able Computer or a Computer located at his or her home, provided that the Software on the port­able or home Computer is not used at the same time as the Software on the primary Computer.

In other words, the primary user may install another copy on a secondary computer for their own use, but the two installations cannot be used simultaneously.  Generally, for Creative Suite and Adobe Acrobat, the two machines should also be of the same operating system (Windows/Mac), because the software is licensed and delivered for use on a specific platform – but anyone who gets a “business license” can run the applications on both platforms.  Subscribers to the Creative Cloud can also install the tools on both a Mac and a PC.  Other Adobe products like Photoshop Elements and Lightroom are always sold multi-platform, making it a bit easier to mix-and-match Windows and Mac OS for your two installations.

Importantly, Adobe defines a computer as “a virtual or physical device,” not just a CPU – so that encompasses running on virtualization platforms such as VMware, Citrix, Parallels, and VirtualBox. The same thing goes for a dual-boot system with a product installed on both partitions, including Apple Boot Camp.

Note that these policies work exactly the same for Adobe’s Education versions – there is no distinction for those…  However, one major difference in restrictions for the Student and Teacher Editions is they can be run only on the customer’s privately-owned computer(s).

So there’s your answer for most current Adobe software, although we recommend confirming the terms for your particular product or suite because the license agreements are somewhat different for each package (including Creative Suite, Acrobat, Lightroom, Elements, etc.) and version (CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6).

If you’re part of a company or business, and/or need more than one computer running the software at the same time, then you might want to take a look at the online discounts and ease of maintenance available through Adobe’s Volume Licensing Store. There you can save money, time, and headaches for multiple users.

Related Posts

• How to Move Adobe CS6 Between Computers, or from PC to Mac
• How to Install or Run Adobe CS6 on Both Windows PC and Mac OS
• Adobe CS6 vs. CS5.5 Comparison – What’s the Difference Between?
• Buy CS5 Now + Get Free Upgrade to CS6: Adobe Sets Grace Period
• Adobe CS6 Upgrade Policy Changes Postponed! CS3 & CS4 on Track

Creative Suite 6 was released today – and is now available through Adobe’s Business Store, which was formerly called the Volume Licensing Store…

But this online store is not just for businesses or big volume – it’s for anyone who would like to run more than one copy of the CS6 software at one time, or has multiple concurrent users. The standard licensing for Adobe’s off-the-shelf retail products permits only a single user running on up to two installed computers – which is usually not enough for most members of a company, group, office, team, school, or enterprise. And it’s occasionally not enough for some homes!

Regardless, the benefits of going with an Adobe CS6 volume license even for a simple or small purchase are numerous and clear:

• A single serial number for all installations, open and switchable.
• The license management and maintenance is easier and flexible.
• The number of seats you buy is how many users can run the product.
• Adding new users or additional computers (as needed) is simple and fast.
• You can install on both the Windows and Mac platforms simultaneously.
• You can access and run older versions if you need to, like Creative Suite 5.
• There is no paperwork and no signature “contracts” to sign.
• You can buy online with a credit card with no minimum order size.
• PayPal and purchase orders are also accepted, if you prefer.
• Instantly download the software online for free (or get media by mail).
• All CS6 suites & products (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, etc) qualify.
• Easy web-based license management tool for all seats in your organization.
• Just like elsewhere, each user’s license can install on up to two computers.
• Convert a standard Adobe trial to volume-licensed just by entering the key.
• In some cases, set up a flexible or floating license scheme across a network.
• Gain access to the Adobe licensing community and associated resources.
• Volume licenses are transferrable or resellable to other users, if necessary.
• Can get credit for past qualifying purchases of retail or off-the-shelf versions.
• No sign-up or membership or subscription costs, no hidden or extra fees.
• Despite the name, the online store is not just for businesses or large purchases.
• Called TLP (Transactional Licensing Program), it gives options not found elsewhere.
• Offered for all: individual, commercial, academic, or government customers.
• Now open for education too: schools, colleges, universities, students & teachers.
• Available direct from Adobe all over the world – with no reseller needed.

Questions about how it works?  Please see our previous in-depth article on Creative Suite volume licensing for all the answers and details on the program.

Or go right to the Adobe Business Store to see all the CS6 products plus more information, including an Instant Quote for the applications you’re interested in, no matter how many seats for your group or site.

Not in the U.S.? No worries… Adobe now has online volume licensing stores all over the world – in North America, Europe/UK, Asia, and Africa…  Just visit the Adobe Store Selector and choose your country, and then “Business Store.”  That’s it – buy and download (or ship) your volume-licensed product in your local currency with your local address.

Related Posts

• How to Run Multiple User or Computer Licenses for Adobe CS6
• How to Install or Run Adobe CS6 on Both Windows PC and Mac OS
• New Adobe Volume License Store is Online
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• Free New Adobe CS6 Tutorials: 18 Hours of Online Video Training

Missed the big event? No problem! You can watch a full replay… It’s about an hour and twenty minutes in length, and available on-demand below. Creative Suite 6 offers hundreds of new capabilities and focuses on four main areas: Application Performance, Enhanced User Interface, Efficient Development for Multiple Devices, and Killer Features. The launch event illustrates these themes through the true story of a fashion designer and how her company benefits from the new features added in CS6.

Adobe says it’s taken more than 10,000,000 person-hours to produce this version… If you assume salary, benefits, office and other expenses come out to around US$50/hour, then that’s $500 million invested into Creative Suite 6 – and onto your desktop!

If you want to just watch the 22-minute segment with demos of CS6, without the intro pieces or coverage of the Creative Cloud, it’s the second video below. For more details on the release such as product adds/drops, suite configurations, system specs, upgrade paths, plus pricing and availability, see our CS6 Launch Guide. Or check out a detailed product-by-product breakout of what’s new in every CS6 application.

Meanwhile, the free CS6 trials will be available soon, but if you’d like to get started with Photoshop right away, just download the Photoshop CS6 beta release. You can also enter to win Photoshop CS6 for free…

Creative Suite 6 Demonstration Segment (Only)

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