When your Federal, State, or Local Government agency is ready to move to the next version of Adobe Creative Suite, let MacMedics help you find the best upgrade path. As an Adobe Government Reseller and as a well experienced Macintosh consulting firm, MacMedics has a long history with Adobe.

Call MacMedics Washington at 1-888-4-DC-MACS

MacMedics is also an Apple Authorized Government Distributor.

3/7/09 Update: Adobe extended it’s special pricing for upgrades. It was due to expire on 2/28/09.

For a limited time, upgrade from an earlier qualifying version of Creative Suite® software or Macromedia® Studio software for the same price as an upgrade from Creative Suite 3. Introductory price ends on April 30, 2009.

Call your local MacMedics office to place your order ASAP!

See Adobe’s website for more info.

A critical vulnerability has been identified in Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 (for both Mac and PC platforms) and earlier versions. This vulnerability would cause the application to crash and could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this issue is being exploited.

Adobe is planning to release updates to Adobe Reader and Acrobat to resolve the relevant security issue. Adobe expects to make available an update for Adobe Reader 9 and Acrobat 9 by March 11th, 2009. Adobe is planning to make updates for Adobe Reader 7 and 8, and Acrobat 7 and 8, available by March 18th. In the meantime, Adobe is in contact with anti-virus and security vendors, including McAfee, Symantec and others, on this issue in order to ensure the security of our mutual customers. More information on protection for this issue from anti-virus and security vendors is now available on the Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team blog.

Reports have been published that disabling JavaScript in Adobe Reader and Acrobat can protect users from this issue. Disabling JavaScript provides protection against currently known attacks. However, the vulnerability is not in the scripting engine and, therefore, disabling JavaScript does not eliminate all risk. Should users choose to disable JavaScript, it can be accomplished following the instructions below:

1. Launch Acrobat or Adobe Reader.
2. Select Edit>Preferences
3. Select the JavaScript Category
4. Uncheck the ‘Enable Acrobat JavaScript’ option
5. Click OK

A security bulletin will be published on http://www.adobe.com/support/security as soon as product updates are available.

All documented security vulnerabilities and their solutions are distributed through the Adobe security notification service. You can sign up for the service at the following URL: http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=szalert

AFFECTED SOFTWARE VERSIONS

Adobe Reader 9 and earlier versions
Adobe Acrobat Standard, Pro, and Pro Extended 9 and earlier versions

MacMedics offers Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and Pitstop training. Our trainer comes to your office anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic area (Baltimore MD, Richmond VA, Philadelphia PA, Washington DC, and Wilmington DE). We bring the software, the Macintosh computers, and fine tune all of our training so it closely matches your mission. We’re happy to take your material and incorporate it into our training so it’s more like a workshop and less like working from a text book or relying on a bunch of “canned content” from a workbook.

MacMedics has provided training for all type of firms and organizations in the area, including the Washington Post.

Many of our clients use MacMedics Adobe training as part of a migration from an older version of Creative Suite to a new one. If you’re ready to train up your design department, we’re ready to help! Get in touch with us today to learn more.

See our informational Adobe training brochure here.

We are surprised that more people are not writing about the issue or it’s solution as this has been a problem for a number of our clients. Adobe posted the following on their knowledge base website:

“Adobe InDesign CS3 or CS4 fails to respond to the show or hide commands when you use the Cmd+H keyboard shortcut or the “Hide InDesign” or “Show All” commands on the Application menu on Mac OS X10.5.x.

InDesign may enter into a hidden state and cannot be made visible again. This can occur when switching context from or to InDesign. For example, clicking on the desktop to switch to the finder, or using the Command+Tab keys to switch between InDesign and another application.

You might also have problems maximizing or minimizing the application.”

The number one fix is to install Apple’s 10.5.6. update which resolves this issue.

Read all the details on Adobe’s website.

MacMedics was a sponsor of the Washington DC area InDesign Users Group Official Adobe CS4 release event yesterday. We spoke to many of our clients and associates during the breaks in the action. We also gave away an Apple iPod touch to a lucky person who entered our door prize drawing.

What you may not know is that MacMedics offers Adobe and Quark training via our Adobe Certified trainer. Our training is more of a workshop, as we bring the equipment to your location and train your people with our famous hands-on style of instruction. We also strive to customize our training to meet your users needs. We don’t teach canned material, and we can focus on one feature that you want to use, and not go into super detail on one that might not be as important to you.

If you’d like to have MacMedics come teach your crew CS4, get in touch with your local MacMedics office.

We’ve refreshed our training gear with MacBooks.

Our first MacBook Pro arrived. First impressions: This computer is super cool! Our in-lab techs have already looked over the official Apple take-apart guides and troubleshooting info, so we’ll be ready if we see any for service anytime soon.

Stop by and visit MacMedics tomorrow at the Washington DC area InDesign Users Group Official Adobe CS4 roll out event being held in Washington DC tomorrow. We’ll have this sweet unit with us to show off. We’re also offering a number of door prizes for the official door prize pool (including an iPod). MacMedics will also be holding a door prize drawing of our own where we’ll be giving away an 8GB iPod touch. We’ll also have first aid kits, iPod cases, and lots of other freebies to give out. Come see us!

We’re also taking orders for the new Adobe CS4 suite, and all of the new MacBooks, and MacBook Pros. Call your local MacMedics office for details or pick up a business card tomorrow.

MacMedics will be offering a door prize drawing on an Apple iPod touch. We’ll also have show specials on popular Macintosh hardware (including the new MacBooks), discounts on new hard drives, and other give away items. Be sure to stop by our booth to enter and collect your fair share of goodies.

If you’d like assistance on pre-ordering or upgrading your Adobe software, please get in touch with your local MacMedics office.

On October 16th, Mac Medics is sponsoring the DC-Area InDesign User Group’s all-day Creative Suite 4 launch event (The first one in the country!) This year it will be held in Sidney Harman Hall (across from the Verizon Center on F Street), which seats more people then previous venues. The nominal registration fee of $49.95 covers refreshments in the morning and afternoon as well as a goody bag full of useful information and offers. All profits from this event go to support the activities of the DC-Area InDesign User Group.

Creative Suite 4 is full of new features that will really make you more productive by speeding you through functions and helping prevent common mistakes. Attendees will be among the first to learn about the new InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator features. And everyone will appreciate the enhancements made in Adobe Bridge CS4. Video pros and Web designers alike will be impressed by the changes made to Adobe Premiere Pro, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and other components within the Creative Suite family.

This release of Adobe Creative Suite is all about productivity, not just whiz-bang features. The focus will really be on providing you with what you need to do things faster and better, and now with schedules more compressed than ever!

In addition to presenting Creative Suite up close, the October 16 event will also feature a number of sponsor/exhibitors, many of whom will have special promotions and offers exclusively for attendees.

This is one event you can’t afford to miss, so register now. It’ll be assigned seating, so the sooner you register, the better your seats. (Hint: Assigned seating also means you can spend more time visiting the exhibitors and chatting with friends and colleagues.)

Speakers:

Noha Edell

Noha was an Adobe enthusiast long before joining Adobe Systems in 1996. With over 20 years experience in the prepress and graphics industry, her background includes operating her own training and consulting business, managing the educational services department for an Apple reseller, and working as an instructor at Parsons School of Design in New York. She is an Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, PageMaker, and Acrobat.

At Adobe, she has pioneered the development of the InDesign User Groups throughout North America as well as advancing the growth of the international User Group community, fostering relationships and vitality among InDesign users.

Noha’s knowledge is great, her enthusiasm infectious, and her unique ability to deliver the message of the power and accessibility of Adobe creative applications inspiring. An unflappable, engaging presenter, she is a frequently requested and popular speaker at Adobe-sponsored events and industry and professional organizations’ conferences.

Jerome (Jerry) Silverman

Jerry is an Adobe Solutions Engineer with over a decade of experience producing videos and applications for a diverse body of corporate, broadcast, retail, e-learning and sales training companies. Formerly a Producer and Project Manager with a focus on live networked multimedia event production, Jerry is currently an evangelist and instructor of Adobe’s web solutions, sharing his expertise and passion for technology with knowledge workers and educators across North America. He is a frequent presenter at Adobe customer events and industry conferences, offering demonstrations and tutorials to web designers, developers, IT managers, and professional trainers and coaches.

David Helmly

David has worked for Adobe Systems, Inc, for nearly 14 years and has specialized in Digital Video and Digital Imaging products for over 22 years. He was also involved at the early stages of Adobe’s entry into the DVD and Blu-ray software scene. Prior to Adobe Systems, David worked for a digital video pioneer, Radius Inc, a well-known hardware company developing Digital Video and Digital Imaging accelerator products for Adobe’s award winning line of software.

Currently David is working as the Sr. Business Development Manager for DV/DI for North America. In addition to his Sr. BDM role, David also manages the North American Field Sales and Support team for Dynamic Media. He occasionally travels abroad giving lectures and participating in various Panel Discussions. You can watch his latest videos on http://tv.adobe.com (or Adobe Media Player).He also has his own blog site on Adobe.com where he discusses new hardware and software tools and workflows for Adobe’s Video, Imaging, and Audio applications. http://blogs.adobe.com/davtechtable.

Steve Whatley

Steve Whatley is a Senior Solutions Engineer for Dynamic Media at Adobe. Steve travels the United States presenting Digital Video software and solutions to Adobe customers. You may have seen him at Digital Video tours and seminars, tradeshows like NAB, or an Adobe eSeminar where he presents Adobe software as well. You can also see Steve on the web with his blog called “aftereffectscookbook” and AdobeTV.

Steve’s career started in the 70’s as a commercial airbrush illustrator. 20 years of Illustration and design gave Steve the opportunity to work as Art Director and creator of most of the aftermarket Posters for the original 3 StarWars movies. After 20 years in his own Graphic Design Studio doing both print design and photography, Steve started moving into Video and Animation in the early 90’s. Steve worked in both 2D (After Effects) and 3D for corporate and Broadcast Television, with a stint doing nightly news graphics for the Fox Network. Steve is a multi-platform guy working with Mac, PC and SGI computers.

October of 2000 Steve was recruited by Adobe to become a Systems Engineer for Dynamic Media.

Steve is an Adobe Certified Expert in; Photoshop, Illustrator, PremierePro, After Effects, InDesign and is an Adobe certified Video Specialist.

So, register right now. Don’t wait. Visit http://www.dc-id.org to start the process.