Adobe said that the upgrade, which is expected to reach Australia and New Zealand in mid-May, would allow creative professionals to “work faster and with greater precision”.
The US-based developer added that the software upgrade incorporates more than 250 new features, including more than three dozen that were based specifically on user requests.
One key productivity gain comes from the addition of expanded native 64-bit support for After Effects, Premiere Pro and Photoshop, which Adobe said would allow users to work 10 times faster in high resolution.
Graphics Processing Unit acceleration in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended also enables quicker image cropping, colour picking and brushwork, while the Truer Edge selection technology makes highly precise selections quicker and easier.
Adobe said that the Truer Edge technology could speed complex cut-outs by offering better edge detection and more accurate masking for complex subjects, such as hair.
“Automatic colour decontamination helps you eliminate background colour around the edges of a selection, resulting in more seamless compositions when placing extracted subjects onto new backgrounds,” said the company.
CS5 incorporates one of the most requested features in any CS upgrade: the ability to handle multiple pages of different size and orientation in one InDesign document.
The new feature will allow users to lay out a magazine complete with foldouts, or a marketing collateral project with brochures of different dimensions, all in a single document.
InDesign also takes advantage of 64-bit multi-threading in order to allow users to export large files to PDF while continuing to work on other projects.
Adobe CS5 also includes features to make it easier to create cross-media content, such as a new text engine in Flash Professional that retains typography created in InDesign, including threaded text frames.
The full version of CS5 is available to preorder from Adobe’s online store for $2,172, including GST. Users upgrading from CS4 may do so for $838.
Adobe will host an online launch for its APAC users at 2pm tomorrow, AEST.
It also has planned roadshows in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth throughout May, and in Brisbane and Canberra on 8 and 10 June respectively.
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