New Name; Same Game Updated! » By Scott Kelby

Welcome to Layers , The How-To Magazine for Everything Adobe (formerly Mac Design Magazine). Now, based on that last sentence, you probably have a lot of questions, so I thought I’d cut to the chase and do a quick Q&A right off the bat. Ready?

Q. Okay, so what happened to Mac Design Magazine?
A. Actually, you’re holding it right now; it’s pretty much the same magazine - it’s just got a new name.

Q. So why the new name?
A. The magazine has grown, changed, and evolved so much over the past few years that the word “design” doesn’t really explain all that we are anymore. If you’ve read us for any length time, you know we’re also a magazine for digital photographers, with digital photography news, tips, tutorials, and camera and printer reviews in every issue. Plus, from the very beginning, we’ve been the only Mac magazine to have an entire section dedicated to digital video editing. But we found that most photographers and video editors didn’t really know that because they don’t generally reach for a magazine that has the word “Design” in big letters on the cover.

Q. So why the name “Layers”?
A. We were looking for a simple, yet bold word that had real meaning for designers, photographers, and video editors alike, and the name “Layers” does that on many levels. The most obvious being that designers, photographers, Web designers, and video editors all do their editing using layers. In fact, most of the core applications they use even have a Layers palette. But beyond the software, it’s a way of thinking, of creating, of shooting, of editing, of laying out a page - it all happens, in your mind or on your computer, in layers.

Q. But now you’re just focusing on Adobe products, right?
A. Adobe products are at the core of nearly every professional designer’s, photographer’s, and video editor’s workflow, and we wanted to create a magazine that pros would have an instant connection with. We were already pretty much doing that in Mac Design (you just might not have noticed). In fact, in any given issue of Mac Design there were only two tutorials that weren’t already on Adobe products—our Final Cut Pro column and our Dreamweaver column.

The really exciting news is that with Adobe’s recent announcement that they are acquiring Macromedia, we’re also going to continue our coverage of both Flash and Dreamweaver, Macromedia’s most popular applications that are used by many professional Web designers on a daily basis. So that actually just leaves Final Cut Pro, which will now appear on the Mac Design website (www.macdesignonline.com) instead.

Q. What does Adobe have planned for Macromedia’s products in the future?
A. That one we can’t answer. But whatever Adobe has planned, we’ll continue to bring you the best tips, tricks, and tutorials that you’ve come to expect from us when we were Mac Design Magazine.

Q. So what will be new in Layers magazine?
A. We’ve had a ton of requests to bring back our GoLive column (you’ve probably seen that in the Letters column from previous issues), and the premiere issue heralds its return, plus we’re adding a new section that covers Adobe’s Video Collection. But beyond that, in Layers magazine we’re adding even more content and more of what you told us you want (including adding more pages to some of our key tutorials, a digital workflow column, and a new Adobe tech-support Q&A column). Plus, as mentioned above, we’ll be covering the key Macromedia products acquired by Adobe.

Layers is a magazine for creative professionals, and we’re going to focus on continuing to provide more real-world content than anyone in this entire industry.

Q. Are you still going to cover Apple stuff?
A. Absolutely. Anything Apple does for the creative community will be covered here in Layers in a big, big way (hey, we’re Mac guys—what can I say), but it doesn’t end with just covering Apple. We’re not owned, funded, or underwritten by Adobe—we’re still a completely independent magazine, so we’ll still cover everything that happens in the “creative space,” and we’ll continue to provide some of the industry’s most trusted product reviews, outspoken commentary, and in-depth feature articles on any product that our readers want to know about, no matter who makes it.

Q. So this is nothing to get really freaked out over?
A. Oh no, you should absolutely freak out. Change of any kind is bad, and this is a great opportunity to completely lose control of your faculties.

Q. Really?
A. No. Seriously, when you gets your hands on the first issue of Layers, take a look around, and you’ll see that we’re still the same magazine, with the same look, same ideals, same people, and the same attitude. It’s still us, and we still want you with us. We just want you to bring your photographer and video friends along for the ride.

All my best,

Scott Kelby Editor-in-Chief