Adobe CS3: What You Get

Which bundle is right for you? We break down some of their key new tools, suite by suite.

It's difficult to overstate the importance of the apps included in Adobe's Creative Suite line. Adobe puts out some of the most indispensable design, Web, and production titles - Photoshop , Dreamweaver and After Effects, to name but a few - for pros and amateurs alike.

The release of Creative Suite 3 (CS3) marks the largest product rollout in Adobe's 25-year history. The suite will be released in six different versions: Design Standard, Design Premium, Production Premium, Web Standard, Web Premium, and the Master Collection, which combines all of the apps offered in the other suites into one premium package. All of the suites began shipping on April 16, save for Production Premium and the Master Collection, which are set for release this summer.

The apps have all received a collective facelift from Adobe, across the board. There are plenty of new features worth highlighting, not the least of which is support for Windows Vista and MacIntel systems. The real keyword for this latest Creative Suite, however, is "integration." The first Creative Suite to be released since Adobe acquired Macromedia back in 2005, CS3 users will find a level of compatibility between tradition Adobe apps like Photoshop and Illustrator, and formerly Macromedia-branded apps, such as Dreamweaver and Flash.

To help you figure out which one of these bundles may be right for your needs, we've broken down some of their key new tools, suite by suite.

Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Design Standard ($1,199)
Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Design Premium ($1,799)
Created with print professionals in mind, Adobe's Design suites include new versions of InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Dreamweaver, and Acrobat . Design workflow has been improved to include the mobile and Web spaces. The Premium version of the suite integrates Web design, by adding Dreamweaver and Flash into the mix. InDesign users will be able to export layouts as XHTML or XML for publishing in Dreamweaver. Flash's interface has been redesigned to take on a more Adobe-esque appearance. Multi-layered Photoshop files can also be quickly imported into Flash for easy animation. In the mobile space, Illustrator and Photoshop Extended (Extended is available only in the Premium version of the suite) allow users to code pages from mobile displays. Adobe's new Device Central app has a quick preview of mobile pages in a wide variety of handset environments.

Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Web Standard ($999)
Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Web Premium ($1,599)
The standard version of the CS3 Web suite includes Flash, Dreamweaver, Adobe Contribute, Fireworks, Bridge, Version Cue, Device Central, Stock Photos, and Acrobat Connect. Premium adds non-Web specific design apps Photoshop Extended, Illustrator, and Acrobat. Photoshop and Dreamweaver have a new level of support for Web design tools, such as CSS and AJaX. Streaming content creation via Flash has been enhanced, and Flash now boasts a video encoder, embedded cue points, video import support, QuickTime import, and closed-captioning. Mobile content authoring has also been enhanced with Device Central in this version, as well.

Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Production Premium ($1,699)
Set for release this summer, Adobe's Production Premium suite bundles new versions of Photoshop (Extended), Illustrator, Flash, After Effects, Premiere, Soundbooth, Encore, Bridge, Device Central, Dynamic Link, OnLocation, Ultra, Stock Photos, and Acrobat Connect. After Effects includes new animation tools, such as the Puppet tool, and improved integration with Photoshop. Illustrator features new document profiles for video, and Flash FLV videos can be exported with cue points from After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Adobe Soundbooth.

Adobe Creative Suite (CS3) Master Collection ($2,499)
Available this summer, the Master Collection pretty much has it all, featuring all of the tools available in the Design, Web, and Production suites. For those who can't wait, Adobe is offering a trade up program, allowing users to purchase any of the four suites currently available, and upgrade to the Master Collection, once it's available.

Copyright 2007 by Ziff Davis Media, Distributed by United Press International

Related stories:

Intel Upgrades Software Tools to Support Mac OS X Leopard
Intel Corporation today announced an upgrade of its popular software tools suite for Mac OS X Leopard, the sixth major version of Apple's advanced operating system. The latest 10.1 version of the Intel C++ Compiler and Intel Fortran Compiler, as well as the Intel® Threading Building Blocks, Intel Math Kernel Libraries and Intel Performance Primitives, have been optimized for Apple's Leopard and Xcode 3.0 development environment launched last month.
Corel Intros Free WordPerfect Lightning Software
Corel Corp. today introduced the first public beta of Corel WordPerfect Lightning. WordPerfect Lightning is a free word processing and note taking software that makes it easier to capture, use, and reuse ideas, information and images.
Adobe Production Suite is rock solid
Adobe seeks to reclaim the title of best of breed PC Video application with the release of their new Adobe Production Studio Premium -- an almost dream suite of applications, but at a stratospheric price. The old adage you get what you pay for certainly applies in this case.
AMD Delivers Three New AMD Phenom X3 8000 Series Processors
AMD today announced the availability of three new AMD Phenom X3 triple-core processors that, when combined with the AMD 780 series chipset, can give consumers a full HD experience and visually stunning gaming and digital performance. As the world’s only triple-core x86 processor, AMD Phenom X3 processors bring multi-core technology to a broader audience in search of desktop processors that easily handle today’s multi-threaded digital entertainment workloads.
Want FiOS from Your Cable Company? Motorola Can Help
Motorola on Monday unveiled a cable passive optical network (PON) solution intended to provide an upgrade path for cable-based broadband companies to shift to fiber.
Adobe Takes New CS3 Suite to Phones, Too
At the CTIA show here, Adobe showed off Adobe Device Central CS3, an integrated software component that works across different applications in their new Creative Suite family, offering both professional and individual web designers an easier way to create WAP sites for cell phones.
Sony Delivers Living Room PC With Blu-Ray Disc
Sony today introduced a high-definition living room PC with integrated Blu-ray Disc technology.
Television programming execs in Vegas
The old saying, "Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," doesn't apply to this week's National Association of Television Programming Executives meeting at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center -- Jan. 24-26 -- with a special day devoted to mobile content on Monday. NATPE is where television program buyers and sellers meet and greet to strike programming deals. Most of next fall's U.S. television programming will be purchased or launched here. But this year's NATPE is going to be different than in the past; this year's show will be about the future of television.

News discussion:

Technology news