Bob Gilliland
New Member
There was a comment in another thread about the Help files inside the CS4 based software launching online and into Adobe Communities and not using the local, offline, help file. Not everyone has broadband internet service nor always the interest to see what the “community” has to say on any given matter. Adobe has provisions within the program to alter this default behavior. For CS4 based applications, visit Window >Extensions > Connections; this should launch the Connections panel (still want to call them pallets!). Select Offline Options and then Keep me offline. This will instruct Illustrator, Photoshop, and all the other CS4 based programs to use the local/offline file instead of the online/community help.
However. . . you know there has to be a “but” in there right. . . this is a universal setting and ALL online based activities for ALL CS4 based programs that share this functionality will now be defunct. So if you use something like Kuler within Illustrator, that ability will be gone not only there, but inside PS as well. So, while the provision has been made to use the local help file, it’s not necessarily implemented and configurable to allow the most flexibility that a user would want or desire (and not sure if CS5 will improve on this at this time).
One way to work around this (and “I” would call it a work around), is to bookmark/favorite the local file inside your preferred web browser or collect the shortcuts into a folder on the desktop and perhaps set an accelerator key for that folder (thinking windows OS here, not sure if the MAC platform allows hotkey assignments to desktop folders; ignorance on my part). Here are the default locations for some of the more common programs found within the CS4 Master Collection
Another, more involved way, is to use Configurator and make a custom Help panel that displays the local help file. That’s a little bit more involved but certainly attainable. Down side is that for now, it will be functional from within PS only. There are many that are hopeful this functionality will spread across all of the Adobe suite applications in the very near future. Think about it, having a Signs101.com panel from within any Adobe application. Now that is a community “help” panel I could get excited about! 
However. . . you know there has to be a “but” in there right. . . this is a universal setting and ALL online based activities for ALL CS4 based programs that share this functionality will now be defunct. So if you use something like Kuler within Illustrator, that ability will be gone not only there, but inside PS as well. So, while the provision has been made to use the local help file, it’s not necessarily implemented and configurable to allow the most flexibility that a user would want or desire (and not sure if CS5 will improve on this at this time). One way to work around this (and “I” would call it a work around), is to bookmark/favorite the local file inside your preferred web browser or collect the shortcuts into a folder on the desktop and perhaps set an accelerator key for that folder (thinking windows OS here, not sure if the MAC platform allows hotkey assignments to desktop folders; ignorance on my part). Here are the default locations for some of the more common programs found within the CS4 Master Collection- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Acrobat Pro\9.0\help.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\AfterEffects\9.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Bridge\3.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Dreamweaver\10.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Fireworks\10.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Flash\10.0_Welcome\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Illustrator\14.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\InDesign\6.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Photoshop\11.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\PremierePro\4.0\index.html
- c:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Help\en_US\Soundbooth\2.0\index.html
Another, more involved way, is to use Configurator and make a custom Help panel that displays the local help file. That’s a little bit more involved but certainly attainable. Down side is that for now, it will be functional from within PS only. There are many that are hopeful this functionality will spread across all of the Adobe suite applications in the very near future. Think about it, having a Signs101.com panel from within any Adobe application. Now that is a community “help” panel I could get excited about!