creative

Offbeat photo apps to make something unique on your iPhone

Photo taking apps are a dime a dozen in the App Store, but if you look a little deeper, you can make some really cool projects as long as you use some creativity.

Instead of simply giving your photos a retro look like many of the popular camera apps, there are a number of options that turn your images into a creative project in which you can use your imagination to come up with something unique.

This week's collection of apps are all about doing something different with your images on your iPhone. The first quickly turns your photos … Read more

Retina Display support coming to Adobe CS6 software

Adobe Systems' Creative Suite 6 will soon tap into the higher resolution of Retina Display on the MacBook Pro.

Adobe said yesterday that the CS6 versions of Photoshop and Lightroom will receive free updates in the coming months to support the Retina Display. Other CS6 products slated for the update include Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, Edge Animate, SpeedGrade, and Prelude.

Also on the list is the mobile app Photoshop Touch, which is designed for the iPad.

Apparently out of the running for the Retina Display update are such CS6 products as Flash, InDesign, and Fireworks. The budget-conscious Photoshop Elements … Read more

Adobe releases new Illustrator tools through Creative Cloud

A new set of Adobe Illustrator tools for users of Adobe Creative Cloud -- the hub that provides online access to the company's most popular products, such as Creative Suite, via subscription -- has been released today.

Among the new Illustrator features is Package Files. The tool allows users to automatically package their projects -- including linked graphics and fonts -- into one folder to make project hand-offs easier.

Another new addition, aimed at speeding up design and production, is the ability to un-embed images that have been put in place by customers or another designer.

The link panel … Read more

Can alcohol make tech companies more creative?

Silicon Valley believes in neither inhibition, nor prohibition.

Openness is encouraged, drunkenness is often cast upon blind eyes.

And yet some still frown on the idea that alcohol is anything other than an evil liquid, sent by the forces of darkness to make man incoherent.

I have scientific evidence that this might not be the case.

The Economist, its writers perhaps a little tipsy on the weekend, today offers an inebriating piece entitled: "The sad demise of the three-martini lunch."

It explains how America's battle with its puritan posture has meant an increased frowning on the presence … Read more

YouTube breaks records with 4M Creative Commons videos

YouTube topped all records today by tallying up 4 million Creative Commons-licensed videos in its trove -- more than any other video hosting company in the world.

This means that users have literally millions of choices for snipping bits of footage, adding scenes, and building onto videos they're making. Everything in this collection comes branded with the Creative Commons Attribution license, meaning users don't have to get explicit permission to use the content from the creators.

YouTube launched its Creative Commons video library last year and since then it said its users have added in "40 years' … Read more

Virtual reality vs. PTSD: Helping combat vets heal

LOS ANGELES--I'm sitting across from a soldier named Garza, trying to get him to open up about why he got caught drinking and driving.

This is a serious offense in the military, and Garza could lose his rank, if not get kicked out of the Army altogether. And it's my job as his superior officer to try to understand that Garza -- who used to be among the best in his unit -- may be struggling with the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

This, of course, is a simulation. I'm not in the military, and Garza doesn'… Read more

Creative unveils 'new genre' of audio device: Sound BlasterAxx

Not surprisingly here at CNET we get a ton of press releases e-mailed to us announcing new products. Most are fairly bland, but Creative's media pitch for its upcoming Sound BlasterAxx line of speakers is one of the more amped-up ones I've received lately, reading like an ad for a new energy drink. In fact, I think the PR person who wrote it had three Red Bulls before he or she started typing.

Here's a little taste. Careful, it's rich:

Creative Technology Ltd today announced the Sound BlasterAxx, a whole new generation of Sound Blaster and … Read more

Blame the app stores: Adobe Touch apps not in Creative Cloud

When Adobe Systems launched its Creative Cloud subscription last week, it turned out not to be as comprehensive a package of software and services as the company first planned.

The company initially pitched the $50-per-month subscription plan as an all-you-can-eat offering, but limits on app store sales meant that Adobe had to strip its Touch apps for Android and iOS tablets out of the Creative Cloud.

"Our intention is to have Touch Apps included in the annual membership. However, we use iOS App Store and Google Play to deliver this software and unfortunately, the infrastructure of the app marketplaces … Read more

Adobe launches Creative Cloud subscription service

Adobe is among the most successful purveyors of boxed software, but today it began a new chapter in its history: the expansion to a $50-per-month subscription service called the Creative Cloud.

Traditionally, Adobe has sold perpetual licenses to products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and other members of the Creative Suite. With the Creative Cloud, people get access to the full range of programs -- plus online services -- for a monthly fee. Adobe had hoped to include its Touch collection of tablet apps, too, but the app store sales models don't integrate well, so instead … Read more