If you're an educator, you need to check out the Adobe Education exchange at http://edexchange.adobe.com/pages/home. There are over 32,000 members and almost 2,500 free resources, with more being added all the time. Whether your subject is chemistry or art, there is a lesson plan or tutorial to help you bring the best to your students. You can access the Exchange for free by using your Adobe ID.

Right now the Adobe Education Exchange is running The 2011 Educators' Choice Awards. You can submit your projects, lesson plans, curricula, or tutorials to put you in the running for big prizes. Hurry, though, because the deadline is Oct. 14.

And if you join, be sure to check out my resources on the Exchange. Just do a search on Sheri German, and you'll find quite a few.

You've been asking, and now it's here - a section of the site dedicated to JumpStarts. You can find the link in the main menu at the top of any CMX page, or click it here now: http://www.communitymx.com/jumpstart_8.cfm

You'll find a list of every CMX JumpStart, along with an image of its home page, a description of its features, and links to its package as well as introductory article. We hope this makes it much easier to find the perfect Dw/Fw template for your next project.

Keep tuned to this blog as we roll out more new features on the CMX site!

If you haven't already, head over to Community MX and look at our gorgeous new face! Of course, our look is more than skin deep. Here are just a few of the exciting changes that go along with the new design.

We're running an open house for a week so that you'll have a chance to look around and see if what we have to offer is for you. You can also download the stunning new CMX stock photo collection of 12 images from New York City, look at scores of JumpStarts, and access thousands of extensions, tutorials, and articles that will give you a valuable technology lifeline.

It may seem a little quiet at CMX these days, but that's because we have been working hard on big changes behind the scenes.

What would you think about a brand new look? How about graded tutorials and a lessons section? Would you go for easier navigation and better search? And if none of that impresses you, surely you would be interested in new subscription prices - that we promise you're going to love! Keep your eyes on this site in the coming weeks. You won't want to miss the new and improved Community MX.

W00t! Happy to say I've been accepted as a speaker at the upcoming D2W Conference in Kansas City. I'll be talking about using Adobe Fireworks to wireframe and prototype mobile applications and web sites. It will be my first conference of the year, and I'm very excited to hook up with friends and make new ones. D2W is a designer/developer mobile workflow conference, it's goal being to improve communication and share workflow ideas between designers and application developers. 

Now in it’s second year, it’s definitely gaining in popularity and has attracted a great range of presenters, including yours truly.

Early Bird Pricing in Effect

If you book the conference before April 1, 2011, you’ll receive a $95 Early Bird discount on conference registration.That’s right, until April 1, the conference fee is only $200! After April 1, the registration fee increases to $295 (still a great deal), so you’re saving practically 30% by confirming by the end of March.

And if you’re looking for more in-depth sessions, D2W has them as well:

• Introduction to Adobe Fireworks CS5 with Dave Hogue
• InDesign to iPad Workshop with Pariah Burke
• Creating a Portfolio With WordPress with Justin Seeley
• COOP Hands On with John Farrar

These hands-on sessions will run on Thursday July 14 as a pre-cursor to the conference, which begins on Friday. What a great way to whet the digital appetite!

So if you’re a digital professional and you’re hankering for a fantastic way to network and learn at the same time, reserve yourself a spot at D2W this July.

I attended an excellent web cast last night, held by Dave Hogue. Dave is a user experience and interaction designer and uses Fireworks for building wireframes and prototypes every day in his position as Director of Information Design at Fluid Inc. in San Francisco.

In the web cast, Dave demonstrated several of the techniques he uses to keep his Fireworks files trim and organized, and shared many tips with us on how to streamline our own workflow process. This 30 minute web cast was recorded and is time well spent if you are learning about or working in the interactive design field. Be sure to check it out.

What a great time of year it is! Some time off from work, a chance to enjoy the company of family and friends and - hey - FREE access to the entire CMX database of articles for the rest of 2010! Wow!

Before my head hits the pillow this Christmas Eve, I wanted to give you all another gift.

I do a bit of writing, other than tutorials, from time to time. This story came to me a few years ago. I couldn't get it out of my head. I could actually see it all in my head as I was writing. It's my version of the Christmas Angel.

 I'm very fond of it and I hope you will be, too.

A Midnight Clear (pdf file)

The folks who run the Photoshop Facebook page have posted another of my Repoussé videos. This one covers compositing 3D text into a photograph.

So far, this and my previous video are getting good responses, which gives me hope for acceptance of 3D in Photoshop going forward. With any luck, folks will find new uses for this great tool, and maybe even push onward with dedicated 3D tools for their everyday work.

I really do think knowing 3D at least in a basic way will become vital not only for graphic designers and animators, but for photographers as well. Virtual sets, previsualization, and advanced compositing, not to mention shooting textures for other modelers to use, are becoming more common, and to keep up in the commercial fields, you gotta keep on top of the trends.

Stick around CMX and watch for more 3D tutorials in the near future - put 'em in your toolbox :)

I'm very happy to announce that my latest book, Fireworks CS5 Classroom in a Book is now available!

This revised edition builds on my first Classroom in a Book (CiaB), and covers new topics such as wireframing, working with Device Central, and exporting to Flash Catalyst.

Based on user feedback, I've also included more information on the relationship between Fireworks and Photoshop. The CiaB's are not intended to dig deep into other software. The focus needs to remain on the main product, but I did find more information about integration between the two programs. There are even a few improvements to integration since CS4.

I had an excellent Tech Editor; our very own Sheri German made sure this was the best book it could be and was an invaluable resource and friendly ear for me.

And as in the last book, I wrote too much, so there are two bonus chapters included on the disc that comes with the book, along with all the exercise files, so you can work right along with me in each lesson.

If you're new to Fireworks, I don't think you can go wrong by picking up a copy. And what do you know? Here's a handy link: Amazon.com

If you do pick it up, please let me know what you think of the book. I'm always looking for suggestions on how to improve it.

Wicked cool! On its Labs, Adobe has just released the Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 HTML5 Pack extension. Free, but of course.

Here is Adobe's description of this cutting edge new extension:

Adobe® Dreamweaver® CS5 HTML5 Pack is an extension for Adobe Dreamweaver CS5. This extension provides features to help users generate HTML5 and CSS3 code. Features include Multiscreen Preview, Media Query support, code hinting, starter layouts, and WebKit updates for rendering enhancements.

Want it? Download it at http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/html5pack.html

Not sure you want it? Watch a video of it in action, and you will: http://tv.adobe.com/watch/adc-presents/introducing-the-dreamweaver-cs5-html5

If you were able to watch the CS5 Launch event today, you might have wondered what happened to Fireworks.

You weren't alone.

I'm very happy to say though, that Fireworks CS5 is alive and well - and AWESOME! Fast, stable and easier to use than ever, the Fireworks team did an amazing job fixing bugs (900+) and addressing legacy issues.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be releasing a series of videos showing you some of the new features and enhancements, starting with a summary of my top features, which will be out early this week.

I'm also relieved I can finally say, I've been writing the new Fireworks CS5 Classroom in a Book. It's been fun - and challenging - and I think this version is even better than my first go-round for the CS4 Classroom in a Book.

So even though Adobe didn't say anything in the launch, I can safely say that you will be very happy with the CS5 version of Fireworks.

For a quick heads up, check out Bruce Bowman's article on the Fireworks Developers Center.

Capital Flash Camp

Full-day event focusing on the Adobe Flash Platform. Join us on April 16th at the The Heritage Center at the U.S. Navy Memorial and enhance your skills in ActionScript and Flex while learning from local and national industry experts. Flash Camp will provide an introduction to the Flash Platform as well as covering advanced topics for existing Flex and ActionScript developers. In addition to great training, this is also a fabulous venue for networking with other developers in the community. Reserve your seat now!

Register now and become eligible for our exciting giveaways, including a copy of Flash Builder and a license for FDT Pure!

Terrence Ryan, Platform Evangelist at Adobe, will be our opening keynote.

$20 discount code for all interested in attending: Click Here...

Well, it may not be fresh news anymore, but in case you've been living off the grid for the last day, Adobe has announced the launch of Creative Suite 5 for Monday, April 12 at 9:00 am PST.

You can register to be part of the launch by going to this url. You can watch some sneak peek videos there, too. They'll even mark your calendar for you!

Personally, I'm pretty excited to learn what Adobe has in store for us. I use Adobe products daily for business and personal use and it will be cool to see what new goodies they have - and frankly - what they've fixed.

I think Adobe heard loud and clear the dissatisfaction  of their customers with the CS4 release and I think they will have worked hard to address those issues in CS5.

So browse on over to http://cs5launch.adobe.com/ and sign up for the big launch event on April 12. See ya there!

Well, it' been a long time coming, but I'm very happy to hear that the Adobe  Fireworks team is working on a Fireworks CS4 patch to fix the Snow Leopard crash on quit bug, as well as other high priority crash and data loss bugs that they're aware of.

Adobe is expecting to release the update in the second quarter of 2010.

In the meantime, on the Fireworks Team blog, Bruce Bowman is asking all Fireworks users to submit bugs they want addressed, via the Feature Request and Bug Form. The FW team is paying close attention to the bugs filed here. It's very important though, to be as detailed as possible when reporting a bug, so the team can track it down. If you think you've hit on a bug, try to reproduce it and record the steps you took in order to do so. It's also helpful to know what other software was running at the time, and what your hardware configuration is.

I hope this comes as good news for many.

I receive the following email notice several times per week indicating some hacker's robotic effort to brute force attempt to crack the admin password for the site's Moodle installation.

Here is a list of failed login attempts at http://www.site.com/moodle since you were last notified(Sunday, 22 November 2009, 10:15 PM)

• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:38 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:38 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:37 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:37 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:37 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:37 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:36 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:35 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:35 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:35 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:35 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:34 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:33 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:33 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:33 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:33 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:32 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:32 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:32 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin
• Friday, 27 November 2009, 12:32 PM, IP: 91.213.121.24, User: admin

Whenever I install a CMS package, I always change the default values from those shown in the documentation:

• database name
• database tables prefix
• database username
• admin user name
• admin directory name
• data directory name
• user directory name

Looking at the installation now, I am wondering why I didn't change the name of the moodle directory, but if I recall correctly from many years ago when it was configured we kept it because that was the name our users were to type in their browsers. We weren't installing a LMS site as much as a Moodle site.

Basically, a simple way to increase security for the software installation is to not use any of the example variables shown in the documentation. This hacker can try all they wish to hack the admin password, but it will be fruitless because there is no admin user!

Yes that's right. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is now available for public beta testing at Adobe Labs.

And it's very cool.

For those of you who don't know, Lightroom is literally a digital photo darkroom.  Where Photoshop has many workflows - digital imaging, creative design and pre-press - Lightroom has a truly singular workflow: digital photography.

It combines many features of Bridge, Camera RAW, and digital image correction/enhancement in a very slick package. It also offers multiple output workflows: slideshow (with music, even), print (single images and packages) and web (photo galleries and direct to flickr upload).

If any of this has piqued your interest, be sure to drop by Adobe Labs for the beta, and to watch some excellent Lightroom 3 videos by Julieanne Kost

I will be presenting 'Using 3D Tools in Photoshop CS4 Extended' to the User Group and Experts community on September 16th via Adobe Connect. I'll cover the basics of how the tools work using a graphic design example, as well as a model from Google's free Warehouse 3D collection.

Here's the info you need:
Wednesday, September 16, 2009 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

If you are a member of Adobe Groups, you can check out the details here:
http://groups.adobe.com/posts/aebfa20efe
Or just join the meeting on the 16th:
http://experts.na3.acrobat.com/techweds2009/

This is a free community event, one of the last of the summer, so stop in and soak up some 3D goodness!

When I reviewed Extensis Suitcase Fusion 2 released last November, it was only available for Mac OS X. At the time, they promised a Windows version with feature parity. Now, Extensis has released Suitcase Fusion 2 for Windows.

A review of the product site reveals that the new Windows version does seem to have parity with the most critical features:

• font previewing featuring the floating preview
• plug-in based auto-activation for the latest creative professional applications
• robust database featuring SQL Lite
• portable built-in font vault
• font searching, tagging and classification options
• system font management

They promise the same graphic performance as on Mac OS X in Windows XP, Vista. Their blog mentions that they have been performing tests in the upcoming release of Windows 7.

If you do a significant amount of graphic design or wish to more easily manage a lot of fonts, I suggest you give Suitcase Fusion 2 for Windows a look. They have a free 30 day trial. If you are not familiar with the product, have a look at the videos.

Finally, the video training product many of us here at CMX have used on the Windows platform is now available on the Mac! 

Camtasia lets you easily create engaging presentations, demos, software tutorials and even marketing videos. If it's on your screen, you can recrod it in action!

I've used Camtasia for Windows for many years and love it. Now that I've recently switched to the Mac platform, I can't wait to add this software. And even better, Techsmith is offering a special promotional price of $99 US. If you're an educator who teaches software to your students, you have to try out Camtasia.

To learn more, check out Techsmith's press release.

I'm very excited to announce that my latest video training title is now available on lynda.com!

Recorded earlier this summer, the 4.5 hour course discusses and walks you through wireframing, storyboarding, interactive HTML prototyping, in a far more in-depth manner than my Essential Training title is able to. I also introduce you to creating Flex skins, exporting MXML and exporting FXG.

I had a lot of fun putting this course together and I think it will be a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about using Fireworks for prototyping web and other interactive projects such as AIR applications.

Here's a quick run down of the main lesson topics:

• Rapid Prototyping Options in Fireworks
• Wireframing
• Storyboarding
• Multi-page Mockups
• Adding Interactivity
• Creating AIR Prototypes
• Creating Flex Mockups
• Going Further with HTML Prototyping