Scoop: Dynamically changing with new presets, allowing previews of multiple pages, and exporting to XHTML, Adobe's Illustrator CS2 and InDesign CS2 are packed with "radical" new features, sources say.Photoshop CS2 and the new Adobe Bridge file browser may be the stars of
Adobe Creative Suite 2 when it ships next month, but Illustrator CS2 and InDesign CS2 may land best supporting roles with some significant new capabilities of their own, according to sources.
One of the most significant new features of Illustrator CS2 is called Live Trace. With a single click, Live Trace will automatically convert bit-mapped, raster art, such as a sketch or photograph into editable vector art containing fully editable anchor points and paths.
Live Trace creates a vector image based on customizable presets for different types of raster images. For instance, one set of presets will convert a JPEG photo to a vector image. One source said that this "radical" feature could let a fashion design business translate sketches into vector art in under a minute—a task that now takes hours.
Different settings will also yield different styles of results. The "live" in the feature's name refers to the dynamic nature of Live Paint. As you change the presets, Live Trace will regenerate the vector art based on the new values.
Adobe Bridge, the file browser that comes with Creative Suite 2, will come with scripts that launch Illustrator and convert multiple bit-map files to vector images using Live Trace.
Another new Illustrator feature, called Live Paint, will enable users to apply color to vector art without regard to layers of objects. Live Paint will eliminate the need to create objects for the specific purpose of coloring art in a certain way.
Live Paint treats the visible portion of a group of objects as a single layer, allowing the user to color the intersections of objects or the visible interiors and eliminating the need for precise alignment of edges and reworking of paths in order to change coloring.
Illustrator CS2 will also have a new context-sensitive Control palette similar to the one in InDesign CS. This will enable the user to have access to a majority of Illustrator's tools without having to have multiple palettes open.
Integration between Illustrator and Photoshop will also be better in CS2 than in previous versions. For instance, you'll be able to access the Photoshop Filter Gallery from within Illustrator CS2 and apply Photoshop filters to vector and raster images in Illustrator.
Additionally, both Illustrator CS2 and InDesign CS2 will let you control the visible layers of Photoshop artwork. An Image Import Options dialog appears in Illustrator or InDesign when you import Photoshop art, enabling you to preview layer comps and to select which ones to import.
One of the more significant new features in InDesign CS2 is Object Styles, the ability to save groups of settings for fill, drop shadows, text characteristics, and other settings as a style that can be applied to other objects.
InDesign CS2 will also let you save the positioning information of graphics and text elements on a page. This information can then be used in other layouts.
InDesign will also include a new Position tool that works like the Crop tool in Adobe's old PageMaker program. It functions like the Direct Selection tool, letting you crop a graphic residing within a frame, but it also lets you resize the object's frame.
The Premium edition of Creative Suite 2 will also include GoLive CS2 and Acrobat 7.0 Professional. The updated Web authoring package will push Adobe's standards-based Mobile Authoring capabilities. GoLive CS2 adds support for the XHTML (Extensible HTML) standard and the SVG-t standards used by mobile devices to display Web information.
GoLive CS2 will also add the ability to export InDesign layouts to XHTML Web pages, and its user interface for creating CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) Web pages has been improved with a visual drag-and-drop layout of CSS objects.
All of the CS2 applications include access to the same global PDF-creation presets, with criteria ranging from small file size to Web quality to high-end print production. The presets are customizable and can be loaded into all of the CS2 applications on multiple computers.
Graphics Tools 
