Adobe/Macromedia merger

[paganbabe]

The merger of two graphics giants, is much like the merger of Mothercare and Habitat, producing Mothertat.

I use adobe for pdf's , I have an ancient copy of photoshop that does the job efficiently.

Perhaps if the Gigantic price tag of the combined software decreased I might be tempted. My ideal price for the software would be approx £150.
But then my squadron of flying pigs are still in their pens.

Merger is not a good idea at all, the software is prohibitively expensive!!!

[Availor]

Economically, the lack of completition will create monopoly, or in our case, duapoly. The prices will get lower to eliminate other small companies like Corel. But after the market will be "clean" of competitors you will have to buy the Adobe products and the prices will go up. Moreover, the development will not be as effecient as when there is much competition.

Even now Quark has difficulties winning adobe since the release of version que.

Workers will get lower payments etc....

[sallybode]

I don't think that the prices will get lower. Adobe invests in colleges to be sure that theirs is the only software taught to students consequently students who try to get a job in the print industry have a miserable time at first as they don't really know how to do the work and get it to press.

How can they learn from people whose work isn't printable, 50% of the time, the work from the college is not right and has to be fixed. Other times it is just not fixeable. And so we have teachers who can't teach working on software which is all generated out of a dialogue box. That is anything but efficient. You need all three programs to create a book, Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. And for less than a third of the price you get 97% of the function in CorelDRAW and 90% of it in Xara.

Why does Adobe spend so much time infiltrating colleges? It is brainwashing. That way they have willing Adobe addicts who are pleased as punch to chuck out a major chunk of change every year. And bash whatever is out there in their competition.

A sincere Adobe user of Illustrator cannot even admit that Xara and CorelDRAW draw better gradients than they do. Taking eight times longer to accomplish anything tells you how superior you are. Then you can go down the line to drop shadows, transparency, selecting objects, etc. With such sincere worship, I am surprised that the Adobe affecianado doesn't pray facing his store of software five times a day.

InDesign can do a few things and it is good for long publications, and I actually do like Photoshop. However, both are not the only guys out there and they are so overpriced for what they do, it isn't funny.

Meanwhile many people are having their website built in India, so maybe the software merger has an impact there on homelessness vs. mass homelessness.

I've come to the conclusion Mac users have such a superior attitude that they are impervious to everything that makes sense to anyone else.

[dustdevil]

I used Macromedia Fireworks and Freehand for quite awhile and loved them both, however when Macromedia sold out to Adobe I was so mad I dumped them both and purchased Canvas (an excellent program) but it has many features that I do not use.
Now Canvas was sold to ACD and they seem to be doing nothing with it, perhaps they bought it just for the code to beef up ther ACDSEE photo software.
Now I am using the trial version of Xara X and love it and when I need to do some pixel editing I use The Gimp (anouther excellent program) it is cross platform and FREE.
I will be purchasing Xara probably next Month.

[PsychoTeapot]

I often reach for Fireworks over Photoshop for certain functions.

Huh? Photoshop isn't MEANT for web graphics anymore! That's why Adobe released ImageReady.... do you reach for the milk when you fancy a beer?

[PsychoTeapot]

I've come to the conclusion Mac users have such a superior attitude that they are impervious to everything that makes sense to anyone else.

That's exactly the same platform snobbery that Mac users spout about Windows users. I use both, and they're BOTH just fairly good operating systems. And I've also met people who were totally incompetent on both platforms, so please - no more of this elitism. After all, can you imagine Leonardo being obsessed about which pencil was best?

[PsychoTeapot]

The only area where this doesn't dominate is within the print industry, where neanderthals insist we do it their way

Well that's not particularly helpful, is it? So everyone that doesn't do it your way is therfore a neanderthal? Shall we round up all the gypsies and jews yet?

I actually work in the print industry, and only this last week have spent several long hours explaining to three (unrelated) pc users that although they've made their flyer in Microsoft Publisher and it looks all nice & pretty on the monitor, the code to colour separate correctly simply isn't written into the software. So I spent four lunch hours converting their publications to a RIP-friendly format. Unpaid. Thanks for calling me names and insisting that you do it our way. Next time I won't be sympathetic or helpful - and I hope it'll be with your work!

[jamesmc]

Well that's not particularly helpful, is it? So everyone that doesn't do it your way is therfore a neanderthal? Shall we round up all the gypsies and jews yet?

I actually work in the print industry, and only this last week have spent several long hours explaining to three (unrelated) pc users that although they've made their flyer in Microsoft Publisher and it looks all nice & pretty on the monitor, the code to colour separate correctly simply isn't written into the software. So I spent four lunch hours converting their publications to a RIP-friendly format. Unpaid. Thanks for calling me names and insisting that you do it our way. Next time I won't be sympathetic or helpful - and I hope it'll be with your work!

I think you just identified why computer users get the wrong idea about the print industry. That is, the Printing Industry are unwilling to adapt. They have had years to develop software to translate out any application to meet their standards.

Instead, they demand that people use a particular software, in a particular format, using particular styles to meet the PRINTER's demands.

In 99.9 percent of the industries, it's the other way around. The people that provide the service comply to the customer and don't set an industry standards like what software to use.

That's why 99 percent of most people avoid Print (Printers) Shops like the plague. They are stuck in doing it Printer's way; or they can use display devices (TV's, screen projectors, computer crt or LCD displays, portable devices) of which they can have ANY, I repeat ANY ANY ANY image on their display.

The Printing Industry are forcing themselves into extinction because they refuse to comply with people's needs.

Even newspapers online are easier to handle now. No more stacks of old newspaper's to throw away.

[Unregistered]

I think you just identified why computer users get the wrong idea about the print industry. That is, the Printing Industry are unwilling to adapt. They have had years to develop software to translate out any application to meet their standards.

Instead, they kdemand that people use a particular software, in a particular format, using particular styles to meet the PRINTER's demands.

In 99.9 percent of the industries, it's the other way around. The people that provide the service comply to the customer and don't set an industry standards like what software to use.

That's why 99 percent of most people avoid Print (Printers) Shops like the plague. They are stuck in doing it Printer's way; or they can use display devices (TV's, screen projectors, computer crt or LCD displays, portable devices) of which they can have ANY, I repeat ANY ANY ANY image on their display.

The Printing Industry are forcing themselves into extinction because they refuse to comply with people's needs.

Even newspapers online are easier to handle now. No more stacks of old newspaper's to throw away.

kieron!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

[PsychoTeapot]

I think you just identified why computer users get the wrong idea about the print industry. That is, the Printing Industry are unwilling to adapt. They have had years to develop software to translate out any application to meet their standards.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but that's just nonsense! "the Printing Industry ... have had years to develop software" So are printers now software developers? Sorry, pal, but all printers merely buy their software off the shelf just like the rest of us. And if you'd bothered to read my post you'll notice that there's an awful lot of software available that simply isn't fit to print with. Address your criticism to the software writers NOT the printers.

I'm a freelance designer & work a couple of days each week at a local digital printshop. They're doing pretty well, considering all the scorn you seem to have for the trade. You're right about display devices opening up the market. I haven't bought a newspaper in years. But if your company wants to type on letterheaded paper, leave someone a business card, produce a leaflet, poster or (God forbid) produce direct mail - then the printer needs software which is accurate & will colour separate. Why is that their fault?