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     »  Adobe Home  »  Digital Imaging  »  Graphics Server
    Graphics Server



    » Adobe Production Studio Produces Spare Time
    Published 05/11/2006

    Video editing suite bundles powerful, well-integrated apps

    Even the best video and audio applications are huge time sinks. But innovations in Adobe's new Production Studio suite make working with multimedia far more efficient than it used to be.

    Production Studio comes in two versions. The Standard bundle includes Premiere Pro 2, a video editor; After Effects 7, a motion graphics editor; and Photoshop CS2, an image editor. The Premium version adds Encore DVD 2, a disc-authoring tool; Audition 2, a sound editor; and Illustrator CS2, a drawing program. All components except Photoshop and Illustrator receive big updates. Among the most welcome improvements: Premiere Pro 2 adds a nifty multicamera editing mode, in which you just click different windows to make camera cuts; After Effects 7's new graph editor gives you extremely fine control over keyframe editing; Audition 2's new spectral-frequency controls include a Photoshop-like lasso selection tool; and Encore 2's new Flowchart panel gives you a graphical view of your DVD's navigational structure.

    Bridging the Gap

    Two other pieces tie the applications within the suite together. The Bridge organizer, which first appeared in Adobe's Creative Suite imaging products, now works with Adobe's video apps as well. And Dynamic Link lets several of the applications share elements and, in some cases, permits you to delay time-consuming rendering until the last minute.

    For example, Dynamic Link enables you to share elements between After Effects and Premiere Pro, and you don't have to save your project or render it to make it available in the other application; changes update automatically. Not all of the suite's applications are linked, though--most significantly, Premiere Pro and Encore DVD aren't--and the Dynamic Link commands differ from app to app. But you can copy and paste or drag and drop some elements (such as timelines) between applications, and this process was actually easier to understand than Dynamic Link.

    Premiere Pro, After Effects, Encore, and Audition now have Adobe's auto-adjusting interface. If you drag a corner to resize a window or palette, all the other windows and palettes resize themselves, so you never have to move elements out of your way. Also, every application relies more heavily than before on workspaces--predefined layouts for certain tasks.

    But the biggest time-saver of all is the rock-solid stability of Production Studio's applications. Even though I was working with a late beta version, I never experienced a crash. On the other hand, the apps are power- and resource-hungry; I could comfortably run only two of them at the same time on a 3.4-GHz Pentium 4 PC with 1GB of RAM.

    Every component of Production Studio is extremely useful and highly complementary. They could benefit from further integration, but the steps Adobe has taken with this version of the suite are impressive nonetheless.

    » Run a silent installation of Adobe Production Studio
    Published 05/11/2006
    What's covered

    Prepare for a silent installation

    Create an installer XML file

    Set the default language

    Run a silent installation

    Confirm that the silent installation is working correctly

    When you purchase a volume license for Adobe Production Studio, Adobe provides an option that allows you to run a silent installation (that is, an installation with preselected options and no interface) on Windows. In a silent installation, a custom installer runs the installers for each application included in Production Studio by using command-line installation tools built into the operating system. To run a silent installation, you must create an XML file for the custom installer. Silent installation is ONLY supported for volume license users. If you attempt to run a silent installation on a single user version of Adobe Production Studio, installation will fail every time.

    Some of these procedures require you to locate hidden files and hidden folders or to locate files by their full file names, including extensions (for example, example_filename.ini). By default, Windows Explorer doesn't show hidden files, hidden folders, and file name extensions that it recognizes.

    To show hidden files, hidden folders, and all file name extensions in Windows Explorer:

    1. In Windows Explorer, choose Tools > Folder Options.

    2. Click the View tab in the Folder Options dialog box.

    3. In Advanced Settings, select Show Hidden Files And Folders.

    4. Deselect Hide Extensions For Known File Types.

    5. Click OK.

    Prepare for a silent installation

    To prepare to run a silent installation on Windows:

    1. Insert the Adobe Production Studio DVD in your DVD drive. Hold down the Shift key to disable Autoplay.

    2. Navigate to My Computer, right-click on the DVD drive, and choose Open.

    3. Drag and drop Adobe Production Studio folder to the desktop to copy it there.

    4. Insert each of the remaining Adobe Production Studio DVDs and copy the folders for each product to the Adobe Production Studio folder on the desktop.

    Create an installer XML file

    The Adobe Production Studio custom installer is driven by information provided in an XML file. This XML file describes the products you are installing, the location to which you are installing the products, and their serialization information.

    1. Create an XML file for a silent installation.

    Using a text editor (for example, Notepad or TextEdit ), copy and paste the following text into a new, plain text document:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>

    <AdobeInstallerConfiguration version="1.0">

    <InstallerInfo platform="win" silentMode="1" targetVolume="C:\" targetPath="Program Files\Adobe\" language="en_US" />

    <ProductInfo serial="0000-0000-0000-0000-0000-0000" licensedUserName="Adobe User" licensedUserCompany="Adobe Systems, Inc." />

    <Manifest>

    <Product name="Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe ImageReady CS2" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Illustrator CS2" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe After Effects 7.0" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Audition 2.0" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Encore DVD 2.0" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Audition Functional Content" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe After Effects Functional Content" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Encore Functional Content" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Photoshop Functional Content" selected="1" />

    <Product name="Adobe Premiere Pro Functional Content" selected="1" />

    </Manifest>

    </AdobeInstallerConfiguration>

    2. Replace the serial number, user name, and company name in the XML file.

    Replace the serial number, user name, and company name above with the appropriate information for your installation. If you enter information incorrectly, the regular installer user interface will start and the installation will not be silent. Make sure that you enter the valid serial number for your volume license and that you enter a user name and company name.

    Note: Some special characters like ampersand (&), that you may use in licensedUserName or licensedUserCompany, need to be changed to make a valid XML file. For example, enter "Dog & Pony" as "Dog & Pony."

    3. Set the installation path for Production Studio.

    By default, the installer installs Adobe Production Studio into the C:/Program Files/Adobe folder in Windows. If you want to install to a location other than the default; you will need to change the location listed in the XML targetPath="Program Files\Adobe\" to the new location. Please only install to internal drives.

    4. Select the applications to be installed.

    Specify which applications you want to install. By default, all applications are installed. Leave the value set to "1" in your text file to install an application; change the value to "0" (zero) if you don't want to install it. Deleting a product name from the XML list does not prevent it from being installed. If the installation value of a product is not set to "0" (zero) in the XML file, the product will be installed.

    Note: Adobe Audition 2.0, Adobe Encore DVD 2.0, and Adobe Illustrator CS2 are included only with the Premium Edition of Adobe Production Studio. These products are not available to be installed in the Standard Edition, even if the value is set to "1."

    5. Save the file to the desktop.

    Name the file "AdobeInstallerConfiguration.xml" (without quotation marks), and then close it.

    6. Verify the XML file.

    Check the validity of the XML file by opening the file in your web browser. Most web browsers can parse XML and will flag any errors.

    Set the default language

    Adobe Production Studio uses a multi-lingual installer with a language prompt dialog. To disable the language prompt dialog and set the correct language for a silent installation, complete the following steps:

    1. Open the Adobe Production Studio folder that you created on your desktop and locate the Setup.ini file. Open the Setup.ini file in Notepad.

    2. In the first paragraph of the Setup.ini file, change the key "EnableLangDlg=y" to "EnableLangDlg=n".

    3. Scroll down the text of the file to the Section: "[Languages]" to check the default language setting for the installation. The Adobe Production Studio language setting defaults to the language of your operating system. For example, if you are installing on an English operating system, the language is set to "Default=0x0409". If you wish to install in the default language, you do not need to make any changes to this setting, and you may proceed with the silent installation. To change the default language, complete the following steps:

    a. Use the key below the default [Languages] setting to determine the key name for the language in which you want to install Production Studio.

    b. Enter the key for the language in which you want to install in the Default setting under [Languages]. For example, to set the default language to Italian, type Default=0x0410 .

    Note: You can only install Production Studio in Tier 1 and Tier 2 languages, which are: English, French, German, Japanese, Italian and Spanish.

    Run a silent installation

    Use the following procedures to run a silent installation of Adobe Production Studio.

    To run a silent installation:

    1. Move the AdobeInstallerConfiguration.xml file you created in the previous section of this document to the Adobe Production Studio folder located on your desktop.

    2. Choose Start > Run.

    3. In the Open box, type the following text exactly as it appears (including quotation marks, spaces, and capitalization), replacing [User Name] with the name of the user account that you used to log into the computer:

    "C:\Documents and Settings\ [User Name] \Desktop\Adobe Production Studio\Setup.exe" - installerConfig "AdobeInstallerConfiguration.xml"

    Not e: You must use an Administrator account.

    If any of the products included in Production Studio are installed already on your system, the Production Studio installer will skip the installation of those products.

    Confirm that the silent installation is working correctly

    Because this action installs Adobe Production Studio silently, it may also fail silently (although, in some cases the splash screen may appear before the installation fails).

    To confirm that the installer is running, do one or more of the following:

    -- Check your Task Manager:

    1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to open the Task Manager and then select the Processes tab.

    2. Look for the "Setup.exe" file on the Processes tab. Ff it is there, then the installation is occurring. If the Setup.exe file disappears before installation completes (for example, in less than 20 minutes), then your installation may have failed.

    -- Check to see that Adobe applications begin to appear in your Start > Programs list.

    -- Check for the installation log file. The installer creates a log file called suiteinstaller2.0.txt. You can check for this file at <root>:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local Settings\Temp. Please refer the suiteinstaller2.0.txt file.

    Note: The Temp folder is a hidden folder. See instructions on revealing hidden files and folder in the "What's covered" section of this document.

    » Adobe Delivers Powerful New Graphics Server
    Published 05/11/2006

    Adobe Graphics Server 2.0 Automates the Creation and Reformatting of Images for Network

    Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in network publishing, today announced the newest version of its graphics and imaging server software, Adobe® Graphics Server 2.0 (formerly known as Adobe AlterCast). The new software dramatically reduces the time and cost of creating and updating images by automating image production tasks, and integrates easily with asset management and e-commerce applications.

    Visual communications and branding are essential to successful marketing and sales operations. Images of products and other visuals must be consistent across a range of media, from magazines and billboards to Web sites and wireless devices. With support for network publishing workflows, Adobe Graphics Server 2.0 enables businesses to easily create, update and repurpose high-quality images used in disparate mediums for more effective branding and merchandising. Additionally, businesses can use Adobe Photoshop®, Illustrator®, GoLive® and InDesign® software to create new templates that can be automatically updated by Adobe Graphics Server.

    “In our business, it is vital for the quality of an image to live up to the quality of our product and brand," said Robert Blau, director of E-Business Technology for CHANEL. “With Adobe Graphics Server, our creative team produces a single 'master' image which is reformatted by the Graphics Server to the various sizes and weights we require, while maintaining the same visual quality as the original image. This greatly benefits the production of our brand web site, our syndicated E-commerce site, as well as web advertising. With Adobe Graphics Server, we've reduced the time, effort and cost of producing these images, freeing our team for more complex projects."

    Tight integration with other Adobe applications and file formats enables businesses with complex workflows, graphically rich Web sites and print materials to set up an efficient process for creating, automating, and delivering high-quality, customized images in multiple formats.

    The software’s new features enable Adobe Graphics Server to be used in both Web and cross-media workflows, while meeting the requirements of asset management and prepress systems. New capabilities include robust support for Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF); conversion of SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) files to Adobe PDF; enhanced support for image metadata and Adobe Photoshop 7.0 native files and engines; CMYK image manipulation; and clipping path support.

    Adobe Graphics Server has attracted industry support from leading integrators and partners, including Artesia, Burntsand, Documentum, MediaBin, and Sun Microsystems. With support for open standards and APIs, Adobe Graphics Server runs on major application servers from BEA, IBM, iPlanet, and Oracle.

    » Security Advisory: Adobe Graphics Server and Adobe Document Server configuration security vulnerability
    Published 05/11/2006
    Advisory Name: Adobe Graphics Server and Adobe Document Server configuration security vulnerability

    Release Date: March 14, 2006

    Vulnerability Identifier: CVE-2006-1182

    Products: Adobe Graphics Server 2.0, 2.1 (formerly AlterCast), Adobe Document Server 5.0, 6.0

    Platform: Windows

    Overview: Adobe has been made aware of a potential security vulnerability in the recommended configuration of Adobe Graphics Server and Adobe Document Server on the Windows operating system. This potential security vulnerability might enable execution of code on servers that are accessed through interactive logon.

    Effect: If exploited, this vulnerability would allow an anonymous user to place code onto the server that is then run as the interactive user at the time they log on. Depending on the configuration of the server, this could be an administrative user.

    Details: The installation documentation describes a server configuration that uses a low privilege service account. Adobe is aware of a potential vulnerability that exists even when the product is installed following this best practice. In the configuration described in the installation documentation, it may be possible to exploit this vulnerability if a user interactively logs into the Adobe Server service account.

    In the default configuration, where the Adobe Server is installed as SYSTEM, it may be possible to exploit this potential vulnerability if anyone logs into the server interactively.

    This potential vulnerability is mitigated in most environments because interactive logon to systems running Adobe Graphics Server or Adobe Document Server is not a common user behavior. For a server configured following the installation documented with the product, no workflow requires interactive logon to the service account. Also, if the server is installed on an operating systems other than Windows, the installation guidelines do not allow interactive logon.

    Severity: Adobe categorizes this issue as a moderate issue and recommends that affected users make modifications to the service account as described below.

    Recommendation:

    The hardening process included in the documentation is not sufficient to mitigate this potential vulnerability. After completing the hardening steps described in the product README, the service account for the server (adbeserv) should be configured to restrict interactive logon. This can be accomplished through use of local security policies.

    The following steps should be performed after completing installation of the server:

    1. Open the Local Security Settings from the Administrative Tools control panel.

    2. Select User Rights Assignment.

    3. Open the Deny Logon Locally policy.

    4. Add "adbeserv" to the list of user accounts that are denied the right to log on locally.

    In some installations of AGS or ADS 5.0, an additional step may be necessary:

    1. Open "AGS or ADS 5 root"\server\conf\wrapper.properties in a text editor.

    2. Scroll to the bottom of the file.

    3. Add -Xrs as an additional command line option. The revised version would look like this:

    wrapper.cmd_line="$(wrapper.javabin)" -Xrs -Xmx512M -classpath "$(wrapper.class_path)" $(wrapper.startup_class) -config "$(wrapper.server_xml)" -home "$(AlterCastTomcatHome)"

    4. Save the changes.

    5. Restart the AlterCastDocEdition or AlterCastImageEdition service.

    Acknowledgement: Adobe would like to thank Secunia for reporting this issue and for working with us to help protect the security of our customers.

    Revisions: March 14, 2006 - Bulletin first created

    Reporting Security Issues

    Adobe is committed to addressing security issues and providing customers with the information on how they can protect themselves. If you identify what you believe may be a security issue with an Adobe product, please send an email to PSIRT@adobe.com . We will work to appropriately address and communicate the issue.

    Receiving Security Bulletins

    When Adobe becomes aware of a security issue that we believe significantly affects our products or customers, we will notify customers when appropriate. Typically this notification will be in the form of a security bulletin explaining the issue and the response. Adobe customers who would like to receive notification of new security bulletins when they are released can sign up for our security notification service.

    » Adobe® Graphics Server 2.0
    Published 05/11/2006
    Adobe Graphics Server 2.0

    Automate and accelerate image production

    Adobe® Graphics Server 2.0, formerly Adobe AlterCast™, automates the creation and repurposing of graphics for print and the Web. With Adobe Graphics Server you can maintain compelling visualization by ensuring that you are always using the most up-to-date approved assets. And, since Adobe Graphics Server integrates easily with asset management and content management systems, you can integrate it into your existing automated workflows.

     
    Language versions
    Adobe Graphics Server does not contain a user interface that requires localization.
    Purchase information
    Adobe Graphics Server is available via the Transactional License Program and Contractual License Program, as well as AlterCast systems integrators and partners.
    System requirements
    Windows
    Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0 Server with SP6a or Windows® 2000 Server
    Intel® Pentium® III 500MHz or faster processor
    512MB of RAM per CPU (1GB per CPU recommended)
    256MB of available RAM
    Swap disk space: RAM size plus 256MB
    350MB of available hard-disk space for installation
    CD-ROM drive
    Solaris
    Sun™ Solaris™ 7 or 8
    Sun UltraSPARC® IIi 440MHz processor (Enterprise 280R with two 750MHz UltraSPARC III processors or faster recommended)
    512MB of RAM per CPU (1GB per CPU recommended)
    Swap disk space: RAM size plus 256MB
    350MB of available hard-disk space for installation
    Swap disk space: RAM size plus 128MB
    CD-ROM drive

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