iOS (iPhone/iPad)

9.7-inch iPad Pro

iPad Pro 9.7 inch and iOS 9.3: Color management progress

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro and iOS 9.3 demonstrate that Apple is gradually implementing color management in iOS, and has made it available to developers. While the presence of color management isn’t obvious on the surface, Apple has added multiple new features that would typically depend on color management.

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Curious about Astropad? I reviewed it for CreativePro.com

Walk into a graphic design or photography studio and you’ll probably see a graphics tablet on the desk. With an app called Astropad you can use an iPad or iPhone as a graphics tablet for a Mac, painting and drawing with your finger or stylus. Astropad even supports pressure sensitivity with a compatible stylus or with 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But how close does it get to using a Wacom graphics tablet?

To see what I think, read Review: Astropad, published on CreativePro.com.

Astropad review on CreativePro.com

Read my overview of Adobe Comp CC in InDesign Magazine

Read my overview of Adobe Comp CC in InDesign Magazine

It’s a time-honored tradition to sketch a design idea on the nearest piece of paper, such as the back of an envelope or a cocktail napkin. You then have to take that paper over to your computer and manually translate the sketch into a document you can take through production to final output. Today, with Adobe Comp CC on the Apple iPad, you can design layouts by sketching gestures with nothing more than your fingers. You can then send that design directly to Adobe InDesign CC, Adobe Photoshop CC, or Adobe Illustrator CC as a fully editable layout, ready for immediate refinement and production.

I take a step-by-step look at this mobile and fully digital idea-to-production workflow in Issue 77 of InDesign Magazine. If you just want to read the article, Adobe has made it available as a free PDF at this link:
InStep: Adobe Comp CC

Here’s the whole issue (paid):
InDesign Magazine, Issue 77: Fresh Tips

The issue’s called Fresh Tips because it features a long list of genuinely useful InDesign productivity tips…I’m learning from them myself! In addition to my article on Adobe Comp CC, the issue also introduces the new Publish Online feature in InDesign.

The article is part of an issue of InDesign Magazine that you can buy as a single issue or as part of a subscription. You can download a free trial issue, and you can save $10 when you sign up for a 1-year membership by using this coupon code: friend.

InDesign Magazine is a bimonthly PDF periodical devoted entirely to Adobe InDesign and to the thriving community of InDesign professionals. With editorial direction by page-layout guru and author David Blatner and CreativePro.com editor in chief Mike Rankin, InDesign Magazine brings you the in-depth features, reviews, and tutorials you need to master Adobe InDesign.

Adobe Lightroom CC 2015.1, Camera Raw 9.1, and Lightroom Mobile 1.5 now available

Lightroom CC 2015 and Camera Raw 9.1 updates in Adobe Creative Cloud desktop app

Adobe has released Adobe Lightroom CC 2015.1 and 6.1, Adobe Camera Raw 9.1, and a corresponding DNG Converter 9.1 update. There’s also a Lightroom Mobile 1.5 update, as well as Photoshop CC 2015.1. All are free updates for current licenses of the software; update links are at the end of this article. The Lightroom and Camera Raw updates include the usual new camera profiles and lens profiles, and fix a number of bugs, and the Creative Cloud versions add new features. For more details, go to:

In this article I summarize some of the main points.

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Rethinking the Pixel: It’s All Relative Now — CreativePro.com article

How big is a pixel? It’s widely thought that a pixel is the smallest dot that screen hardware can physically display: One pixel is one pixel. That was safe to assume for over a quarter century because the pixel density of most of our screens was stuck between 72 and 120 pixels per inch (ppi) during that era, even while everything else about our computers got exponentially faster and bigger. But screens would finally make their move, and for designers that would change how a pixel is defined.

Want the whole story? Click the link below to read my article at CreativePro.com:
Rethinking the Pixel: It’s All Relative Now

Rethinking the Pixel: It’s All Relative Now