Sources Fill in Adobe Road Map

Adobe Systems Inc. this year will extend the capabilities of three core software applications for creative professionals, sources said.

Major new versions of Adobes Photoshop image editor, Illustrator vector-based drawing program and InDesign page-layout application will pack innovative features and enhancements. All three are slated to ship by the fourth quarter, sources said.

Photoshop and ImageReady 8

Code-named Dark Matter and Taconite, respectively, the next installment of Adobes image-editing duo will reportedly feature non-destructive filtering that resembles the adjustment layers in Adobes After Effects video-effects package.

Photoshop 8 will also include Layer Palette presets that will let users maintain multiple palette sets that they can invoke via a menu. Photoshop 8 will also let users select multiple layers, then execute a single change to all of them simultaneously.

Other Photoshop improvements will include enhancements to the File Browser, improved keyboard customization and support for non-square pixels. The upgrade will also boast enhancements to the user interface, support for JPEG 2000 and a GUI-based Picture Package layout manager.

ImageReady, the Web-graphics package bundled with Photoshop, will also ship with its own slew of enhancements, including nested layer sets, greater integration with Photoshop and user-interface tweaks.

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