Adobe Illustrator CS6 sneak peek and Astute Graphics’ plugins news
On 26 March 2012, Adobe provided a “sneak peek” of a forthcoming release of Adobe Illustrator. Product manager for Adobe Illustrator, Brenda Sutherland (interviewed by Astute Graphics on this blog earlier this year), previewed both the new pattern creation tool in the forthcoming CS6 release as well as the new user interface, now matching other professional Adobe products.
Read the sneak preview announcement on the official Inside Adobe Illustrator blog. You can also preview the video via YouTube below:
Updates of Astute Graphics plugins
Important change made to Astute Graphics policy, 29 March 2012
Please read about the extended complimentary upgrade period by clicking here…
For the new release of Illustrator, Astute Graphics is working on updates to all its Illustrator plugins; Phantasm CS, VectorScribe and DrawScribe. We are currently working hard towards ensuring that the necessary updates will be available around mid 2012 to help maintain our customer’s improved design, publishing and pre-press workflows in the latest releases of Illustrator.
What if I buy now?
Purchases of all Astute Graphics plugins made from 28 March 2012 onwards will result in Illustrator CS3 to CS6-compatible product license keys. These license keys may be applied to all existing download versions of Phantasm CS, VectorScribe and DrawScribe. And when the CS6 updates are issued, activated computers using these license keys will continue to operate fully. There will be no additional charge.
What if I bought an Astute Graphics plugin prior to midday (GMT) 6 March 2012?
We offer all customers upgrade paths to newer versions of the Astute Graphics software they own. This will include upgrades to Illustrator CS6-compatible license keys for Phantasm CS, VectorScribe and DrawScribe.
We have yet to set final upgrade prices, but are considering an initial discounted upgrade period following the release of the CS6-compatible versions of our products. Stay informed by following us via this blog (or it RSS news feed), through Twitter or via Facebook.
All upgraded license keys compatible with Illustrator CS6 will continue to work on any other installation of Illustrator CS3, CS4 or CS5/5.1 you may also own.
Why do we charge for upgrades?
Due to the considerable resources required for major Illustrator plugin upgrades, we have to charge a nominal price to cover the development costs. We always attempt to keep the cost to a minimum, but must also be realistic and ensure that we are in a position to continue to develop acclaimed plugins such as the recently-launched DrawScribe.
Why can’t we release updates as soon as Adobe releases Illustrator CS6?
Astute Graphics has always provided updates as quickly as possible. But we also pride ourselves in thoroughly testing our products before release. This, combined with the significant investment in time required for the new release updates means that we wish to be realistic with our release estimate of mid-2012.
When will Adobe release Illustrator CS6?
Adobe retains this information but will be sure to make further announcements in due course.
When will VectorScribe v2 be released? Do you have any idea of the upgrade path from v1 to v2?
Hi Scott – we are working on VectorScribe v2, but it’s still some way off. There will be a very agreeable upgrade path from v1 as we always offer. But it’s far too early to discuss details (even if we did openly discuss new product specifics so far in advance, which we don’t…)
Will there be an upgrade path from, say, VectorScribe for CS5 to DrawScribe for CS6? After watching the videos I don’t think I would need both.
Hi Les – upgrades are based on individual products and the upgrade option(s) would only be for the same product.
I was wondering on the progress of the update for drawscibe and vectorscribe for illustrator cs6. i ran the install for my cs3 and cs6 and cs3 is working great but nothing on cs6. i see you are working on it but i was wondering if you have an E.T.A. for the cs6 platform
Hi Scott – unfortunately due to the depth and extent of work necessary (it’s not just a changing UI color thing, unfortunately!) we can only give loose timescales. Currently we stick by summer 2012.
All significant Illustrator plugin developers are facing the same situation. But once all this work is done, we are hoping that it’s easier sailing for future releases of Illustrator.
But please remember that if you buy today (or have bought for the past few months) that your license key will allow you to immediately activated the CS6 plugin upgrades when made available.