Adobe released CS5. Does Timeline work well with Photoshop CS5?

What about other Adobe products?

“svn+ssh://” protocol is used for SVN access by many hosting providers. For example, if you use Media Temple hosting, you can easily create an SVN repository inside your Media Temple account which can be accessed via “svn+ssh://”.
Here are some quick instructions on how to use Timeline with your Media Temple SVN repository.

1. First you will need to enable SSH for your account and create a repository inside your data folder. Follow the instructions in this Media Temple article to create a repository.

2. Download and install Timeline

3. Once Timeline is installed, Timeline Project Assistant will be automatically started. Timeline Project Assistant is the tool that helps you to map the project folder on your machine to a folder in your repository.

4. On the “Authorization” page of the Project Assistant you will need to choose “Other repository” from the “Connect to” drop-down box:

5. Now you will need to type the URL of your repository in the following format:

svn+ssh://yourdomain.com@s#####.gridserver.com/home/#####/data/svn/repo1

You will need to replace yourdomain.com with your domain name and ##### with your site number. Also, if you want your project folder to be in a subfolder of the root repository folder, you can add the name of the subfolder to the path. For example, if you want your project folder to be in the “trunk” subfolder, you should use

svn+ssh://yourdomain.com@s#####.gridserver.com/home/#####/data/svn/repo1/trunk

as the repository url.

6. Type your domain name into the “User” field:

7. Type your password into the “Password” field

8. Now you will need to create your first Timeline project. Please read Create a new project section in Timeline help for more instructions on how to do it.

We have decided to make our small and useful utility ComparePSD freeware. You can now download it for free on the ComparePSD page

What is ComparePSD?

ComparePSD is a utility for graphic designers that compares 2 Adobe PSD files layer-by-layer, effect-by-effect and highlights the differences.

Key features:

• ComparePSD compares PSD files layer-by-layer
• ComparePSD handles layers styles (effects), styles attributes and layers visibility flags
• ComparePSD provides a scaled view of the files that helps you to find differences easier
• ComparePSD allows you to select the files in Windows Explorer by right-clicking on them

Currently ComparePSD is only available for Windows. We plan to release a Mac OS version later.

Why is it free?

We used to sell ComparePSD for $29.95, but now we are making it completely free.

We are doing this because we want to concentrate on our core product Timeline (http://pixelnovel.com/timeline)- the Subversion plug-in for Photoshop, and we hope that making ComparePSD free will attract a lot of relevant visitors to our website and help us promote the main product.

We are excited to announce a partnership with Beanstalk - the hassle-free Subversion hosting!

Now you can easily sign into your Beanstalk account from Project Assistant - just select “Beanstalk account” from the list of repository types (this only applies to the standalone version). For more information on how to use Timeline with your Beanstalk repository click here

You can also download Timeline Standalone directly from your new repository page in Beanstalk. And to top it all up we are also giving a 30% discount on Timeline Standalone to all Beanstalk customers (you should get a discount code in your customer newsletter), and Beanstalk is offering a 30% dicount on the first month payment to all PixelNovel subscribers - please check your Pixelnovel newsletter for the discount code!

For most developers version control tools are the most important tools in their toolbox. Every development project starts with choosing the right version control system.

However the majority of designers are still not familiar with the concept of version control, and a very few designers actually use some versioning tools in their work. This article will help you to understand why version control is important for designers and help you to start using it for your projects.

What is version control?

The easiest way to understand the concept of version control is to think of it as of the file history in Photoshop.
However version control is much better than history in Photoshop: you also get a never-ending “undo”, effortless backup, peace of mind and a tidy hard disk.
And all these for the price of taking 20 minutes of your life to understand what version control is and 1 sec every time you submit a version of your file.

With version control systems file versions are stored in a special database (usually called “repository”). The fact that the history of a file is stored separately from the file itself adds extra safety: even if the file gets corrupted you can always restore any of its versions from the history. One more advantage is that you can store the versions of your files on a shared resource (such as a computer in your local network or an internet-based repository) and, therefore, you can edit the same file together with other designers in your team without the fear of overwriting each other’s changes - both yours and your colleague’s changes will be saved.

In order to submit a new version of a file or get an existing one you will need to use a client application that connects to the repository. Whenever you feel you have done something worth saving, click the “submit” button (it may also be called “commit”, or “check in” is some systems). Now this version of the file is saved in the repository and you can always get it from there. When you get an older version the client application replaces the file on your computer with the version from the repository.

How can designers benefit from using version control?

There are multiple benefits of using version control, and some of the benefits make it especially attractive for designers. The most obvious benefits are:

• it helps you keep your files structured and tidy - you don’t need to create multiple copies of the same file cluttering your hard drive
• hassle-free backup - all your files are securely stored in the repository along with all their versions
• centralised and shared storage of all your assets - this feature becomes important when you are working on a project in a team environment as everyone always knows where to get the latest version of some asset

Some benefits that are especially important for designers:

• the ability to easily save multiple versions of the same file - ideal for brainstorming
• simplified collaboration with developers - if you are working on a web project together with developers who use Subversion or Mercuial for the source code then you can use the same SVN/Mercurial server as they do. This will help your team to keep all project files organised in one place and backed up

What version control tool is right for you?

Are you ready to give version control a go? Now let’s decide what tool is the best for you.
First we will review the tools that were made specifically for designers, and then we will discuss generic tools suitable for both designers and developers.

Tools for designers

Adobe VersionCue

The first tool aimed at designers is Adobe VersionCue.
Adobe VersionCue is the Adobe’s vision of version control. VersionCue is a part of Adobe Creative Suite family and is not sold separately, so in order to enjoy VersionCue you will need to have some edition of Creative Suite.
VersionCue also relies upon other Adobe applications from the Creative Suite package (namely Adobe Bridge and Adobe Drive), so it’s not a standalone solution. However it’s a pretty powerful and is integrated into Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Here is a very brief guide on how to start using it.

First you will need to setup a VersionCue server. Server may run on the computer where you do your design work, or it can run on a dedicated machine, and you don’t need to buy another Creative Suite license for the server as it doesn’t require activation.
To create a server you need to open VersionCue settings in the system preferences (Mac OS) or control panel (Windows). You will need to enter the name and visibility for the server (private or accessible by other users):

Now press “Start” and finish server configuration by providing the admin password:

Once the server is started you can connect to it using Adobe Drive: Start Adobe Drive on the computer where you will be doing your design work and you should see the newly created server on the “Visible servers” page:

Select the server, enter your user name, password and press “Connect”:

Now you will need to create a project for your files. Project is just a folder with the logically related files or subfolders - for example you can have one project for each of your clients or for each advertising campaign. To create a project please open Adobe Bridge and select the “Version Cue” item on the “Favorites” tab:

You should see your server in the “content” panel. Double click it and select the “Tools->Version Cue->New project…” item from the main menu:

Now choose the name and description for your project and click the “Share the project with others” option if you want this project to be visible to others:

Once the project is created you can drag and drop a file into it, and it will be automatically checked in - this means that the first version of this file will be saved on the server. You will need to add a comment for the first version - describe what was done in this version:

If you right-click your file in the project and open it in Adobe Photoshop you can make some modifications to it. Select the “File ->Check in” menu item to save the second version:

Go back to the Adobe Bridge, and you will see that the file now is at Version 2. Right-click the file is Adobe Bridge and select “View versions” from the context menu - both of your versions will be displayed in the content panel:

You can right-click the first version and select “Promote to Current version” - this will get the first version and replace the current file with it.

To read more about VersionCue please visit Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/versioncue/

PixelNovel Timeline

The second version control tool made for designers is PixelNovel Timeline. Timeline is a Subversion client integrated into Photoshop. Though it is not a version control system as such (it’s just a front-end for Subversion), it is interesting because of the user interface: it features a unique interface that makes versioning as intuitive as possible:

One more advantage of Timeline - it comes with a hosted online repository on PixelNovel that you can use straight away, so you can avoid the efforts needed to set up a Subversion repository. This makes Timeline the ideal choice for those who want to try version control for the first time and don’t want to put too much effort in setting up.

To use Timeline with the PixelNovel online repository you will need to sign up at http://pixelnovel.com/signup
After confirming your email and choosing your account settings you will be able to download and install the Timeline plug-in. After you install it, Timeline Project Assistant will be started.
Timeline Project Assistant creates a mapping between the folders on your machine containing your files and the folders in the repository - just choose the folder on your computer that contains all the files related to one project, and provide a name for this project:

Now you can open any file from the selected folder in Photoshop, and you will see an unsubmitted revision in Timeline palette:

Click “Submit” and the current version of the file will be saved in the repository:

The preview of the first version will be displayed in Timeline palette:

Now you can edit the file - Timeline will display the unsubmitted revision once again:

You can press “Submit” once more to submit your second version and so on:

You can view your files online if you log into your account at PixelNovel:

Timeline is also available in a standalone variant that can be used with your own repository.

Being a Subversion client Timeline inherits all the pros and cons of Subversion that are covered in the next section.

To find out more about Timeline visit PixelNovel website: http://pixelnovel.com/timeline

Generic version control systems

If you are not happy with the version control solutions oriented at designers you may want to consider a generic Version control system suitable for any files. Using a generic VC system may also be a good choice if you work on a cross-functional project involving both designers and developers. I will cover the 3 systems that are most popular right now: Subversion, Git and Mercurial(Hg).

1) Subversion (SVN).

Subversion is the most popular Version Control system used in many high-scale open source projects, though it has started to lose its positions to Git recently. Subversion server is reasonably easy to set up, and there are plenty of hosted online servers ready to use, some of them are tuned for designers - for example PixelNovel and Beanstalk.
Subversion is liked for:

• being easy to understand
• reliablility
• plenty of various clients readily available

Subversion is disliked for

• being slow
• weak support of branching and merging (not very important for design files - read below why)
• not being distributed (not very important for design files - read below why)

More Subversion resources:

http://subversion.tigris.org/ - the official Subversion project page
http://carsonified.com/blog/features/design/subversion-for-designers/- a brief introduction into Subversion

2) Mercurial (Hg)

Mercurial is a distributed version control system designed with speed in mind. Distributed version control system means that it may have multiple repositories branched from each other and synchronised on a regular basis. Distributed version control systems offer lots of benefits to teams of developers disributed across multiple locations. Unfortunately this feature gives little benefit to the designers. The reason for this is as follows: synchronisation between multiple repositories usually involves merging operatin. Merging means manually choosing the best parts from 2 different versions of a file. This operation can only be done on text files such as source code. However designers usually work with binary files (*.psd, *.ai, *.swf and so on), and if the same binary file gets edited in 2 repositories one set of modifications will be lost.

Still Mercurial is a great and fast system, so it may well be used for design projects. There are a number of hosted online Mercurial repositories such as http://freehg.org/ and http://bitbucket.org/ that you can use to avoid setting up your own repository. There are also some great Mercurial GUI clients such as TortoiseHG for Windows and Mac OS X.

More Mercurial resources:
http://mercurial.selenic.com/ - the official Mercurial project page
http://betterexplained.com/articles/intro-to-distributed-version-control-illustrated/ - an illustrated introduction into distributed version control with Mercurial usage examples

3) Git

Git is a creation of the main programming superstar - Linus Torvalds, and as most of Linus’ creations Git quickly became fashionable amongst programmers. It has a number of advantages compared to SVN (though these advantages mostly make difference for source code, not for binary files), but it’s fairly complicated to use and is not the best tool to be your first version control system. If you are new to version control I would recommend you to start with either Subversion or Mercurial.
Git also has a number of hosted online services, Github is the most popular one.

Git’s strengths are:

• It’s a distributed system with strong support of branching
• It’s faster than SVN

More Git resources:
http://git-scm.com/ - the official Git project page
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/intro-to-git-for-web-designers/ - a brief introduction into Git

More version control resources:
http://betterexplained.com/articles/a-visual-guide-to-version-control/ - a visual guide to version control
http://joshcarter.com/productivity/svn_hg_git_for_home_directory - performance comparison for SVN, Git and Mercurial based on binary files

Subversion repository is the central storage of all your versioned files, and it’s the main thing that you need to start using Subversion for your design work. If you are familiar with SVN you might have already used some existing repositories.

However, it is really easy to create your own repository on your hard drive, and there are certain advantages to it.

• It doesn’t cost you a penny - you don’t need to pay monthly subscription fees for online storage
• You have the full control over access to the repository - since repository is just a folder on you machine you know exactly who has access to it
• You are fully in control over the back ups - you will have to backup the repository yourself, and if you do it properly (i.e. regularly and fully) then you can be sure that your files are safe and secure.

So if you decide to keep all your files to yourself, here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a repository.

IMPORTANT: The repositories created using the instructions below should only be accessed from one machine, i.e. they should never be accessed from other computers in your network in a shared mode! Using a local repository in a shared mode may result in the repository being corrupted. If you need to share a repository between multiple machines you will need to set up access to the repository via an Apache server or use an online repository.

We will start with the instructions for Mac OS. If you have a Windows machine please jump here

Instructions for Mac OS

1) First you will need some command line SVN client. On Mac OS X you can use the official ColabNet binaries. Download the DMG file and start the installation package inside:

2) Once you have installed your command line SVN client, open up Terminal.app.
If your SVN installation was successful you should be able to start typing SVN commands. To check type

/opt/subversion/bin/svnadmin

You should see

Type 'svnadmin help' for usage.


3) Next you will need to choose where your SVN repository will reside. Let’s say we will save our repository into /work/design_repo
So we type the command to create a repository at this location:

/opt/subversion/bin/svnadmin create /work/design_repo/

Now you have a repository at the specified path. If you are curious you can take a look at the subfolders created inside the repository folder, but please don’t modify anything manually as this would corrupt the data format.

4) If you already have the Standalone version of Timeline, you can start Timeline Project assistant from the Timeline menu:

If you don’t have the Standalone version you can download it from http://pixelnovel.com/timeline/download/

In Timeline Project Assistant select “Connect to local repository”, then press the Browse button and go to select the folder where you have created your repository:

Press next and then select “Create a new project”. Choose a folder where you have the .psd files related to your project and type the name for your project.
Now you can open any of the project files in Photoshop and press “Submit” in the Timeline panel - the current version of this file will be saved in the local repository.

Instructions for Windows

1) First you will need some command line SVN client. For Windows you can use the official Tigris binaries. Download and run the setup wizard:

2) Once you have your command line SVN client, open up the command line prompt. To start the command line prompt on Windows XP, go to the start menu, then select Run and type cmd. On Vista or Windows 7, go to your desktop or any other folder, then hold down the “Shift” key and do a right-click and select “Open Command Window Here” from the menu.
If your SVN installation was successful you should be able to start typing SVN commands. To check type

svnadmin

You should see

Type 'svnadmin help' for usage.


3) Next you will need to choose where your SVN repository will reside. Let’s say we will save our repository into c:/work/design_repo. So we type the command to create a repository at this location:

svnadmin create c:/work/design_repo

Now you have a repository at the specified path. If you are curious you can take a look at the subfolders created inse the repository folder, but please don’t modify anything manually as this would corrupt the data format.

4) If you already have the Standalone version of Timeline, you can start Timeline Project assistant (either from the Start Menu->Programs->PixelNovel->Timeline Project Assistant or from the Timeline menu):

If you don’t have the Standalone version you can download it from http://pixelnovel.com/timeline/download/

In Timeline Assistant select “Connect to local repository”, then press the Browse button and select the folder where you have created your repository:

Press Next and then select “Create a new project”. Choose a folder where you have the .psd files related to your project and type the name for your project.
Now you can open any of the project files in Photoshop and press “Submit” in the Timeline panel - the current version of this file will be saved in the local repository.

Your repository path

The most important thing that you need to know is the path to your SVN repository. The path is

http://pixelnovel.com/svn/[accountname]

So if your account name is, for example, demoaccount, your repository path will be

http://pixelnovel.com/svn/demoaccount

You will need to enter this path into the SVN client of your preference - it may be TortoiseSVN, Versions, RapidSVN, DreamWeaver (I am going to publish a dedicated posting covering the usage of PixelNovel Timeline with Dreamweaver soon), or any other SVN client.
Also you will need to provide you log-in details - i. e. the email address and the password you used when registered with PixelNovel.

Now you can perform all standard operations with your repository. You can checkout your whole repository or any part of it into a folder on your machine, or you can import the files from your machine into the repository. For example, if your account is called demoaccount, and you want to check out your whole repository into the folder C:\projects\Logo, you can use the following command line:

svn co http://pixelnovel.com/svn/demoaccount C:\projects\Logo

If you are using TortoiseSVN, your checkout window would look like:

And if you using Versions on a Mac, you will first need to add a repository bookmark - your bookmark window would look like:

Now you can use store all your files in your PixelNovel account - we will make sure that all your work is secured and backed up. Also, very soon we are going to significantly reduce prices for storage space making PixelNovel Subversion storage one of the cheapest SVN hosting on the market!

Fancy a free copy of FlickrShop? - tweet about Timeline!

For a limited time only, tweet about Timeline and get a FREE copy of FlickrShop - the Photoshop plug-in for uploading photos directly to Flickr!

Here’s how to get it

1. Tweet about Timeline - the SVN client for Photoshop. Having 20 or more followers is required!
2. Send us the link to your account and your Computer ID (see below)
3. FlickrShop is yours!

Read more about this…

Being a software developer I have been using various version control tools (CVS, SourceSafe, Perforce, ClearCase, Subversion) for ages, and literally cannot imagine doing any serious project without some sort of VC system to hand. So I was shocked to discover that my wife (who is a graphic designer) didn’t use any VC system at all. We decided to do some market research, and it turned out that apart from VersionCue and some extremely expensive industrial-scale systems such as Softimage Alienbrain there was nothing what designers could use to control versions of their files. Of course it’s always possible to use a generic SVN/Git client to control versions of graphic files, but very few of the clients available on the market are intuitive enough to help the creativity flow.

That’s how Timeline was born.

So, why should designers use Version Control?

This topic has been a popular one recently with various respectable blogs and websites giving numerous reasons for designers to start using some version control systems.

I will just highlight the most important benefits of using a version control system:

1) The ability to easily save multiple versions of the same file - ideal for brainstorming
2) Automatic backup - all your files are securely stored in the repository along with all their versions
3) Centralised storage of all your assets - this feature becomes important when you are working on a project in a team environment
4) Simplified collaboration with developers - if you are working on a web project together with developers who use Subversion for the source code then you can use the same SVN server as they do. This will help to keep all project files organised in one place and backed up when necessarily.

Why PixelNovel Timeline is the best version control for designers?

Timeline was created specifically for designers, so I would dare say that it’s the best version control system for designers.
Here are the features that make it the best choice for Photoshop professionals.

• Photoshop plug-in with the unique UI - see all your versions, submit and get older versions with one mouse click
• easy set-up without the need to understand SVN-specific terminology (”repository checkout”, “working copy”, “conflicts”, “clean-ups”) - we tried very hard to make everything as simple and intuitive as possible
• hosted SVN server with previews of all your files and versions and with the ability to download any version
• access and user rights management for your team
• standalone client for those who already have an SVN server/repository

We also have a lot of work in progress to make Timeline even better for creative professionals. Here are just some of the features we have planned:

So, are you ready to give Timeline a go? If you have any doubts or questions feel free to contact us at contact@pixelnovel.com