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 Our Adobe Creative Suite III review is of the
CSIII DESIGN SUITE PREMIUM which includes
· InDesign CS3
· Photoshop CS3 Extended
· Illustrator CS3
· Flash CS3
· Dreamweaver CS3
· Acrobat 8 Professional
· Adobe Bridge CS3
· Version Cue CS3
· Adobe Device Central CS3
· Adobe Stock PhotosAcrobat Connect
Please go to Adobe.com to get information on all of the available suite variations.
Creative Suite II vs. Creative Suite III has major differences. Adobe has done a wonderful job of packaging different versions, which version is right for you depends upon your workflow. If you are an ad agency, graphic artist, photographer, etc., with mostly print media as your primary output, the Design suite is the ideal version. If you lean more towards the online graphics, the Web version is ideal. However, if you are a glutton, and got to have it all, the Master Collection has everything Adobe offers. It is really cool, however its $2500 price tag may discourage the timid.
With each new incarnation in the Creative Suite series, Adobe has worked hard at integrating each program so that they work well together, back and forth, in and out of each. Those of us who are notorious for having 5-10 programs operating at the same time, this integration is a Godsend.
Adobe’s purchase of Macromedia has made it possible to include Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks in their suites. Bringing all of these web wizards together in one place is an awesome benefit to users. Ironing out a more common interface will make the ease of moving between programs a breeze. They’re still refining that, but the first version is awesome.
The new Creative Suite III features include:
Experience the ultimate creative toolset with
- · Adobe® InDesign® CS3 for page layout,
- · Photoshop® CS3 Extended for specialized image editing,
- · Illustrator® CS3 for vector graphics creation,
- · Flash® CS3 Professional for interactive design,
- · Dreamweaver® CS3 for web design and development, and
- · Acrobat® 8 Professional for Adobe PDF workflows.
- · Unparalleled integration
- Use native files any way you need to: Open native Photoshop files in Illustrator, import them into InDesign layouts or Flash projects, and copy them into Dreamweaver. Open Illustrator files in Photoshop and import them into InDesign layouts and Flash projects. Open and edit Adobe PDF files in Illustrator and Photoshop, and place them in InDesign layouts.
Support for the latest Macintosh and Windows systems
Get the most out of Adobe Creative Suite® 3 Design Premium on Intel® based Macintosh systems and Microsoft® Windows Vista computers. Work smoothly on legacy PowerPC® based Macintosh and Windows® XP systems as well.
Efficient, powerful page design with Adobe InDesign CS3
Explore more creative possibilities and experience new levels of productivity using InDesign CS3, which offers powerful features for creating graphically rich, complex documents; professional typographic controls; and robust, reliable printing.
Industry-leading image editing and illustration
Experience unrivaled image editing and compositing, and even perform advanced image analysis, using Photoshop CS3 Extended. Produce inspired vector graphics with Illustrator CS3, which lets you interactively explore, apply, and control color. And work seamlessly between the two components with native file format support.
Fluid web workflows
Become more proficient at web and interactive design. Get up to speed quickly in Flash, which now features a more familiar Adobe-standard interface, an object-oriented drawing mode, and a Pen tool like the one in Illustrator. And jump-start web page designs using CSS layouts in Dreamweaver.
Designer-developer workflows
Import layered Photoshop and Illustrator files into Flash, animate them, and export them automatically as ActionScript 3.0 to hand off to developers. Use new CSS layouts in Dreamweaver to jump-start standards-based web pages, and collaborate with developers to produce interactive web experiences using the Spry framework for Ajax.
Adobe PDF print workflows
Use widely available Adobe PDF to create reliable and consistent final output, streamline print production including automatically fixing mistakes before they get to press and automate workflows using JDF.
Visual media management in Adobe Bridge CS3
Easily organize, browse, locate, and preview assets with Adobe Bridge CS3, which offers faster performance; customizable workspaces; nondestructive batch-editing of TIFF, JPEG, and camera raw files; playback of SWF and FLV files; and direct access to useful services such as Adobe Stock Photos.
Integrated support for mobile design
Produce compelling mobile graphics in Illustrator and Photoshop Extended, add interactivity in Flash, and code pages for mobile display in Dreamweaver. Then preview and test your designs using mobile device profiles in Adobe Device Central CS3.
THE ANALYSIS
Whew, with all that said, we believe the most awesome single reason to upgrade is the InDesign enhancements. The new interface with the pallets docked out of the way is such a huge improvement that this amenity alone is worth the upgrade. But one other upgrade that was a major irritant before is the fact that when you are in your type mode now, you don’t have to switch between paragraph and type menues to get the alignment commands (right, center, etc) they are on both tabs. Hooray, the brain dead have arisen!
The tabs in Photoshop are also now docked on the right as well, which as far as I’m concerned, is the biggest change from CSII to CSIII. There are many others, but that is my favorite.
Adding the revamped Flash, Dreamweaver, and in some versions, Flash to the mix for web designers is a huge reason to upgrade. I still find Dreamweaver much more difficult that NetObjects Fusion 10, as I have for the past six versions of Fusion. Adobe’s old GoLive was no better, and replacing that with Dreamweaver will make many Dreamweaver fans very happy.
All in all, upgrading to CSIII is a must for any production shop.
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