Tutorial A:
Dreamweaver: Get Up to Speed Fast
Jim Maivald

This session will introduce you to Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, as well as the principles of HTML, CSS, and CSS-based layout. We will start by creating a Dreamweaver site project, then we’ll format content, create links, insert images, and even add in a Dreamweaver JavaScript behaviors, all using Dreamweaver’s WYSIWYG interface.

• CSS made easy
• Developing pages, sites, and Web application
• Integrating with the rest of the Creative Suite
• (Nearly) Effortless XML
• Finding the resources you need

Tutorial B:
How to Wow! With Photoshop
Jack Davis

Jack Davis is known far and wide as one of the world’s great Photoshop masters. Whether you’re a digital photographer wanting to make your images pop or a designer trying to achieve just the right cool effect, this fast-paced, half-day InDesign course is perfect for you.

• Getting a great image in a few basic steps
• Nondestructive photo collages
• Retouching cosmetic undesirables
• Making your images and graphics pop

Tutorial C:
It’s Time to Learn Flash
Brian Wood

Many of us have held off learning Flash as long as possible, but now that it’s an Adobe product, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon and get up to speed quickly! This class covers the basics and sends you off with what you need to know to create cool Flash artwork.

• Importing graphics from other Suite programs
• Managing frames in the timeline
• Drawing in Flash
• Why symbols are so crucial

Tutorial D:
Adobe InDesign Quick Start
Sandee Cohen

This fast-paced, half-day InDesign course will get you up to speed quickly and help you make InDesign really fly. Taught by an internationally-known instructor, this is the class you need if you’re new to InDesign or need to learn this rich, powerful program fast.

• Open to both conference attendees and the public
• Optional: Bring your own laptop or reserve one in advance for a nominal fee
• Topics include: Overview of the tools, workspace, palettes, and document construction.

Get Smart: Smart Filters and Smart Objects
Mordy Golding and David Blatner

One of the most important rules of electronic publishing is: Stay flexible and keep your options open! Watch us avoid commitment and benefit from the ability to change our minds at any minute—even right before a deadline.

• Using Layers and Layer Comps the Smart Way
• Smart Objects and Smart Filters
• Building a good foundation in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop that can withstand an art director’s whims
• Keeping your vectors when moving artwork among Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Acrobat

Retouching and Repairing Photos
Jack Davis

Learn how to retouch images like the pros! Join us in learning why some of the coolest Photoshop CS3 image retouching skills are also surprisingly easy.

• Auto selection techniques that will make you gasp
• Using the Healing Brush to remove and reduce wrinkles
• Retouching and still giving a natural appearance
• Enhancing eyes, teeth and skin
• Reshaping and even swapping body parts and people

Paths vs. Pixels: When, What, Where, and How
Sandee Cohen

Paths will be paths, and pixels will be pixels, and never the twain shall meet. But in this indepth exposé, we pry into the hidden secrets of vectors and bitmaps, uncovering tasty morsels such as:

• How to ensure your vector artwork stays that way
• Converting pixels to paths and vice versa

Images and Frames and Links, Oh My!
David Blatner

Placing and manipulating images in InDesign is one of those constant daily tasks. This session will reveal essential time-saving tips and techniques for managing images and links.

• Death to clipping paths.
• Tricks for picture linking and the Links panel.
• Frame fitting options and tricks.
• Linking versus embedding images
• How to import one InDesign file into another (and why!)

Patterns, Symbols, and Brushes
Mordy Golding

Just when you think you know Illustrator and Photoshop pretty well, you realize just how deep these amazing programs are. Come explore some of the most powerful yet misunderstood features in the Suite.

Color Management 101: Without the Jargon!
Conrad Chavez

The color on screen doesn’t match the color in print? The color in Photoshop doesn’t match the color in InDesign? You need color management! Learn the basics in this fast-paced tutorial on one of the most important features in desktop publishing.

• Getting colors to match across all your Creative Suite programs
• Color management in three steps: Where did this image come from, How do I want to edit it, and Where is it going?
• Softproofing: Trusting what you see on screen

Getting Started with XML
Jim Maivald

XML sounds like something for geeks, but it can truly become a “one-click .. done! technology.” Come and see why you could care about smart and easy automatic document creation.

• The important link between styles and XML tags
• How to bind graphical rules to information structure
• The tremendous power of keeping content and presentation apart

Getting Great Images
Jack Davis

Learn Photoshop from a pixel-master! This indepth session covers some of the most important Photoshop skills you need to get great-looking images.

• Automating your workflow the easy way
• Optimizing the tonal information and bring out detail in the highlights and shadows
• Color enhancing and black & white magic
• Combining multiple exposures and sharpening your sharpening skills
  

Dreamweaver and CSS
Jim Maivald

Building a Web site without CSS is like building a skyscraper without rebar steel—the CSS is what provides strength and flexibility! Get up to speed fast with CSS and learn how to tweak and style like the masters.

• Converting table-based layouts to CSS
• How Dreamweaver makes CSS easy
• Managing multiple CSS files

Adobe Bridge for InDesign Users
Anne-Marie Concepción

Bridge CS3 is a significant update to Adobe’s asset management tool, and understanding it is key to being efficient in the Suite.

• Why Bridge makes managing your assets a breeze
• Common keyboard shortcuts you just have to know
• Organizing InDesign snippets and templates
• Automating the Suite
• Demystifying metadata

Blend Mode Magic
Mordy Golding

The layer blending modes in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are a big mystery, right? If you are one of those designers that forever cycle through the different blend modes, then this session is for you.

• Which blending modes are the most important, and how to incorporate them into your daily workflow.
• Instant image correction
• Build up image density
• Painting with light
• Unsharp Mask on steroids
• Reveal hidden details in blown-out image

Awesome Dreamweaver Pages Made Easy
Brian Wood

What if you could build a site with all kinds of amazing gadgets, tabbed interfaces, collapsible panels, animated transitions, and more... without having to write any code? That’s what Adobe is delivering with the Spry Framework for AJAX in Dreamweaver CS3. These features have to be seen to be believed!

• Integrate dynamic data into Web pages quickly!
• Let Spry Effects add visual transitions to your page elements
• Finding and implementing the components you need
  

Essential InDesign Tips & Tricks
David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepción

Come rollick and roll with the co-hosts of the InDesignSecrets podcast while they have fun exploring hot tips and cool techniques. Learn how to make your pages fly with the essential shortcuts and techniques that top InDesign demons use every day.

• Super-charging InDesign for a real-world production setting
• Hidden and undocumented productivity features
• Vital keyboard shortcuts for navigation and formatting

I Didn’t Know Acrobat Could Do That!
Brian Wood

Acrobat is the cornerstone of many print and interactive workflows these days. But most Acrobat users only use a small percentage of this incredibly rich application’s features. Whether you’re a new user or a seasoned pro, join us as we uncover some of the most helpful yet underused features in the program!

From Digital Camera to Press: Bridge, Photoshop, Camera Raw, and InDesign
NEW!
Conrad Chavez

Most users still use a 20th-century workflow. It’s time to get efficient and start using 21st century tools! This session guides you through the process of prepping files with Camera Raw, editing in Photoshop, and placing in InDesign.

• Which image adjustments you should do in Photoshop vs. Camera Raw
• New in CS3: Using Camera Raw for JPEGs and TIFFs

Mind Your Q’s: Text and Typography Across the Suite
Ted LoCascio

Do you care about type? See how to get the best-looking type on the block, no matter which program you’re using.

• The top five font myths
• Solving the top five typography and font problems in InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator
• The scoop on CID, TrueType, and dfonts

Creating and Using Flash with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Mordy Golding

Few people realize how much Adobe has integrated Flash technology into the whole suite (both in CS2 and CS3). Follow Mordy through an eye-opening survey of how each program in the suite lets you import or create Flash files.

• Importing Flash into InDesign for rich-media PDF files
• Building layers and using symbols
• Interactivity, blends, and animations

Bridging the Gap: Managing Files Across the Suite
Ted LoCascio

Adobe Bridge is the glue that holds the Creative Suite together, and you have to know how to use it if you’re going to be efficient with these programs. Managing your images, text, InDesign documents, and other assets is one of the most challenging tasks in today’s fast-paced world. Join us for the inside scoop on keeping track and keeping up with Bridge.

• New CS3 features, including stacks and the loupe tool
• Automation in CS2 and CS3

Interactive PDF, Part 1
Sandee Cohen

Join us as we demystify InDesign’s confusing interface for making hyperlinks, bookmarks, and other essentials elements for interactive PDF files.

• Making your table of contents clickable
• Using hyperlinks and bookmarks for navigation inside InDesign

Color Me Simple
Mordy Golding

Illustrator CS3 takes a huge leap forward in managing color on your page. Learn hot tricks and cool techniques for managing and manipulating color in your documents.

• How Live Color helps you stay flexible
• The magic of kuler and the Color Guide
• Handling complex objects with Live Paint

Photoshop for the Web
Jim Maivald

You thought you knew the basics of making Web graphics in Photoshop, but Adobe has snuck in a number of cool features over the past few versions that you probably don’t know about.

• Best practices for Web graphics
• Slicing and dicing
• Making the most of Photoshop’s HTML features
• Web graphics in CS3

Interactive PDF, Part 2
Sandee Cohen

InDesign is quickly becoming the world’s best tool for building “rich media” PDF files, full of audio, video, Flash, and hyperlinked buttons. Learn how to build interactive PDF files and what pitfalls might await you.

• Supercool rollovers
• Using transparency effects to your advantage
• Dual-purpose files that play and print!

“Need to Know” Add-ons
Ensemble

Think outside the “CS” box and learn which plug-ins and utilities for Mac and Windows our presenters find essential in their day-to-day work!

• Favorite font management
• Essential InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator plug-ins
• Cool (and often free) utilities you should be using

Colin Smith
This session’s focus is on realism. From 3D in Photoshop to Hyper-realistic Photoshop illustration, HDR photography and blending everything together in Flash, this entertaining and informative session will raise the bar on what’s possible visually. You will be amazed at what’s possible with a little out of the box thinking. What you'll witness:

• Working with 3D in Photoshop
• Plugins, that make you look like a star
• Crafty ways of creating ultra realism in Photoshop
• Extending the dynamic range of any photograph
• Making a Photo look like an illustration
• Merging Video into a Flash Environment (AKA Blade Runner Style)
  
  

Photoshop CS3 for Print Design and Production
Ted LoCascio

This session will focus on using the most powerful new Photoshop CS3 features for print design and production, including:

• Making tonal corrections with the new Curves dialog box
• The new Quick Selection tool
• Refining selection edges for image extraction
• Smart filters and adjustment layers
• and more!

Transparency: What You’d Better Know in All the Adobe Apps
Claudia McCue

If there is one topic that draws admiration from designers and fear from output providers it’s Transparency. Learn why transparency effects don’t have to be scary, as well as how to “design responsibly” with these powerful tools.

• What is flattening and why you need to care
• Differences in transparency between InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat
• Making transparency effects work from one program to the next

Designing for Mobile with Adobe Device Central
Mordy Golding

Come learn how you can use Flash, Photoshop, and Illustrator to create content for mobile devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. It’s not nearly as difficult as it might seem!

• Previewing and testing with Adobe Device Central
• Building parallel sites for desktop browser vs. mobile
• Building Flash Lite content

PDF in, PDF Out: Best Practices
Claudia McCue

In this session you’ll be immersed into the world of PDF workflow for print publishing using the Adobe Creative Suite applications. Includes important, detailed background information which will help you in your daily production, including:

• General file format issues
• PDF Print Publishing Workflows
• Principles for Reliable PDF workflow
• PDF File Creation Methods
• Technical Realities (fonts, color, transparency, images, etc.)
• PDF/X Standards (including the new PDF/X-4 standard)
• The Adobe PDF Print Engine

Preparing Images for Layout
David Blatner

Join Real World Photoshop and Real World InDesign co-author David Blatner as he separates myth from fact and delves into what you need to know to prepare your images for InDesign or QuarkXPress.

• RGB vs. CMYK
• Resolution
• Why metadata is your best friend
• Linking vs. embedding
• What to use: TIFF, PSD, PDF, or...

Video and Flash CS3
Colin Smith

Flash has become one of the primary methods for distributing video on the Web, but many designers aren’t clear about how to do it and why. Come get the low-down with clear step-by-step instructions that will get you up and running quickly. You will learn how to create a shell to play various videos on the web and on disc. We will wind up the session with some creative new ways of displaying Flash video that will set you apart from the masses, including the use of green screen, vector video and colorizing effects.

Blogging and Podcasting: Pointers for Publishing Yourself
Anne-Marie Concepción

There are a myriad ways to publish content on the Web, but not enough designers know how to blog and podcast. It’s not hard and there are some great benefits of “getting out there” in these media.

• Why blogs and podcasts work (and why they don’t)
• Blogging sites vs. software
• Free software to get you started
• Tips for effective posts
• Understanding Adobe Contribute

Fireworks
Sandee Cohen

Adobe Fireworks CS3 is the ultimate blend of vectors and pixels, letting you create cutting-edge Web graphics in a world that mixes the best of Illustrator and Photoshop. If you create Web graphics but haven’t learned Fireworks yet, you owe it to yourself to check out this session!

Adding the Wow Factor to Flash Animations
Colin Smith

Okay, so you can animate something in Flash. Now it’s time to take the next step and make your animations sizzle and pop!

Creative Suite Scavenger Hunt Results & Tipster Showdown
Ensemble

Everyone loves tips and tricks — those cool techniques that use the software in ways you don’t expect to achieve the results you didn’t think possible. Which of our presenters has the most useful tip for Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Flash, Bridge, or any other program we know and love? Plus, stay until the end for a chance to win great prizes, including a copy of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Premium!

And watch for the winning presentations of The Creative Suite Scavenger Hunt. Find out who scored the most points by taking pictures of people, places, and things in the Nashville area. And watch a presentation of the various images. Who knows, YOU could be part of the show. Winner of the Scavenger Hunt will receive a copy of the Creative Suite Design Premium package!