Adobe Introduces Creative Suite Package
Adobe Systems on Monday revealed that it is lassoing together a collection of its most popular software products into a single design environment hailed as the Adobe Creative Suite. The Creative Suite retails in Standard and Premium editions that couple design tools with Adobe's new Version Cue file management system, and features the portable document format (PDF) to facilitate workflow.
Adobe product literature catalogs full-version upgrades of Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, InDesign CS, GoLive CS, Acrobat 6.0 Professional and Version Cue. The standard release strips out GoLive CS and Acrobat 6.0 Professional from the suite, resulting in a less pricey alternative geared toward print design and layout.
Despite the omissions, the standard edition does not lack Version Cue, Adobe's new file management system. Version Cue allows individual customers or groups to visually scan thumbnails throughout the suite or search through XMP metadata for embedded details.
The union of creation, management, and collaboration yields what Adobe deems a comprehensive design environment for print or the Web.
"Simplification of the creative workflow and tighter integration of applications into suites is a trend which will benefit designers collaborating on projects to become more efficient and productive," said Joshua Duhl, research director at IDC in a statement.
Like Microsoft and Symantec, Adobe employs product activation to curb piracy. For convenience, a single product key unlocks the entire suite.
Adobe's answer to cognitive dissonance and conservative upgrade schedules is a rebate offer valid for any customer that currently has a standalone copy of Photoshop installed on their system. These customers can upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite for an estimated street price of $749 USD, or the Standard Edition for $549 USD.
The estimated price for new users is $1229 USD for the Premium Edition and $999 USD for Standard. All products come with an instructional video CD produced by Total Training, a design guide and access to the online Adobe Design Studio.
Creative Suite will ship in the fourth quarter of 2003 for users of Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 and above, Windows XP Home and Professional, as well as Mac OS X 10.2.4. Advance orders are currently being accepted.