tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28416661.post621542479549975877..comments2024-02-17T10:23:58.479-06:00Comments on Tips & Techniques: Reflecting on Adobe MAXKeith Gilberthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17639216496820581739noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28416661.post-17252980551818084332014-10-11T09:58:44.260-05:002014-10-11T09:58:44.260-05:00Thanks for your conference take-aways - very usefu...Thanks for your conference take-aways - very useful for those of us who couldn’t make it.<br /><br />I would like to pick up on a point that Michael W. Perry made regarding the ‘grunt work’. I think this ‘grunt work’ spreads far wider than magazines, catalogs etc. with ID and especially into the areas of people who use Adobe software on a limited basis for very specific tasks. One of the comments I increasingly hear when I am training and I am enthusiastically promoting all of the latest Adobe updates, software and gadgets is: “ Given what I have to create and produce in my normal day job, and I do understand some of these new things will make me more efficient, when will I ever get time to look at all these updates, software and gadgets, let alone use them! I am still trying to take in the last lot, I feel there are too many, too fast and I am getting very frustrated simply trying to keep up with it all”.<br /><br />Simple message to Adobe - keep creating, keep innovating, it’s brilliant, but don’t take your eye off the front-line guys that are using your software everyday and keeping you in business.Pete Owennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28416661.post-12883119057516857452014-10-10T08:18:52.549-05:002014-10-10T08:18:52.549-05:00Thanks for a great report. Wish I could have been ...Thanks for a great report. Wish I could have been there.<br /><br />I was surprised by the visibility of Microsoft. From my POV it's a bit like finding out the homecoming queen is dating the class nerd. Microsoft definitely lacks the cool it had during the mid-1990s when Windows was king. I do hope Adobe doesn't do an NFL on us and make deals with Microsoft that mean Surface devices gain an advantage over Android and iOS devices.<br /><br />I hope those UI changes you mention bear fruit. I do think that Adobe needs to create:<br /><br />1. An optional UI that's like the existing one but perhaps 50% larger. The mouse targets of the current on are so small they slow users down. I suspect the current panels were developed when a single 19" monitor was high end. I have a 23" and 24" one and that's not unusual. We have the space for larger panels and tool bars. It wouldn't hurt to use it.<br /><br />2. You suggest that Adobe is beginning to use tablets as part of a desktop-based UI. I like that trend and hope to see it include new features:<br /><br />a. Don't just replicate desktop menus and panels. Make what's happening on an attached tablet more task-oriented. The desktop UI must offer every option. Create tablet screens that do one thing and do it well. I'll give InDesign as an example, since it remains without a tablet tool. Laying out magazines and books mean a lot of tedious grunt work that could be made easier.<br /><br />* Include a screen designed to make index entry assignment far easer than it is with that tiny panel. Have a scrolling list of all the entries and make a simple tap apply one to a place in the document. <br /><br />* For extensive search and replace actions, it'd be great to have a panel designed just for that. Since the desktop screen doesn't always show the context of a change well, have it mirrored on the tablet. Even more important, don't just have one replace option, allow two or more, all implemented by a simple tap.<br /><br />* Something desperately needs to be done about proofing markup and documents. The old paper mark up code was far better than all these PDF, note-taking tools. I've been wrestling with them for three books. It'd be great to have something that uses PDF displayed on a tablet when changes are entered. <br /><br />It wouldn't need to automate replacement. That is complex. But it would save a lot of time if the PDF-displaying app were smart enough to communicate to ID and go to the passage in that PDF that needs correcting. It'd also be great if it'd be smart enough to go backwards or forwards to the next correction. In correcting documents, it usually makes sense to go back to front to avoid the confusion of text moving around. Hunting for them manually opens up a potential for missing one.<br /><br />Finally, Adobe should keep in mind, that, in comparison to the other Adobe apps, laying out magazines, catalogs and books with ID involves far more grunt work than creativity. The creativity comes mostly from the author. The person doing layout and correcting the text, needs tools that add efficiency more than creativity.<br /><br />I've already conferenced with Adobe about some of these ideas. If they'd like to talk again, I'd be happy to assist.<br /><br />--Michael W. Perry, Inkling Books<br /><br />Inklinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05272203500649628022noreply@blogger.com