Adobe releases Creative Suite 4

Adobe released details Monday about Creative Suite 4, its first update to more than a dozen design and editing tools since Adobe CS3 some 17 months ago.

The costs of the applications, set to reach consumers in October, haven't changed since CS3, but remain hefty. Should longtime users upgrade?

Click on this image for more details about the Adobe CS4 suites.

(Credit: Adobe)

Of course that depends on the specific tools you need. However, we suspect that only the most well-heeled will jump at the chance, as CS4 shares the majority of tools with its predecessor. Perhaps more dramatic, life-changing alterations will come with the next Creative Suite. That said, time-saving tweaks to Illustrator and Flash in particular could lure professionals immersed in them to upgrade.

With CS4, Adobe aimed to unify the interfaces of more than a dozen applications, including Flash and other former properties of Macromedia. You'll see similar pull down menus for toggling among workspaces that you can customize, as well as Flash-based panels that nicely snap open and shut. Corporate design departments will find plenty of enhancements for their teams to share work more quickly.

Adobe continues to improve integration among the applications. After Effects, as only one example, can import Photoshop 3D layers and export content directly into Flash.

Options for working with high-definition video and mobile content expand too, with support for the latest formats as well as for making Adobe AIR applications. Among other highlights:

Photoshop CS4 will use your computer's graphics chip for the first time, while offering support for 64-bit Windows.

At long last, you can handle more than one project at a time in Illustrator, thanks to the new multiple Artboards feature.

Flash CS4 has a rebuilt animation model, so you can make objects move on the stage in two quick steps. And Flash introduces a new, XML-based file format.

Dreamweaver provides plenty of shortcuts to CSS coding, including within the Properties panel.

We've been toying with the beta code of CS4 for several weeks. Check out our first take reviews and videos of the six suites and their individual applications for more details. We'll report back with rated reviews after working with the final code.

[jeremyschultz]

You posted this before Adobe lifted their embargo

[jeremyschultz]

Never mind, I learned CNET had the go-ahead from Adobe before posting! :)

[Goodbye Helicopter]

anything truly compelling for the price?

[Breederfeeder]

Amazing price tag, made of Gold by the hand of a thousand virgins is it?
So the Linux client is available when??

I don't like windows.

[hc2008]

I doubt with these few enhancements that I'm going to be upgrading any time soon. Adobe needs a pricing oversight committee. Too expensive for too few enhancements.

[MaggieRed]

Amazing, after all these years of Apple having 64-bit hardware and OS, and yet Adobe still refuses to write their code to take advantage of it. But of course the moment it's available for Windows and PC hardware vendors right away they make a 64-bit version for Windows only.

"Adobe couldn't do the 64-bit version of Photoshop CS4 for Mac OS X because it was busy moving to a new underlying programming foundation from Apple, called Cocoa." Uh, Apple told them in the beginning to rewrite and not port the old OS9 apps using Carbon. But Adobe decided to continue to screw the Apple user, writing and porting after 18 months a poorly acceptable set of applications.

Nope sorry Adobe I will not recommend this upgrade to our people. I predict that within the next few years Adobe will cease making any application for Apple's OS X platforms. Mark my words.

[skellener]

You said it MaggieRed!

[Remi Qaine]

While Apple has had 64-bit for quite some time, they have not and still have extremely limited 3d graphic card support, to the point of the manufactures having to create a custom firmware just to get basic use of the cards in OSX. So it makes sense to not bother until 64-bit windows platform becomes more prevalent to write a 64-bit version; seeing as Windows doesn't have the same limitations in 3d graphics hardware and they are touting the ability to use the GPU as a feature.

[contentcreator--2008]

It's Windows that has had 64-bit for years, they are about 3yrs ahead in the 64-bit ecosystem. There are many 64-bit windows apps, but virtually no 64-bit OS X apps. Not even Apple's own. They have made it as hard and expensive as possible for developers. Apple decided to force expensive rewrites onto developers as the NextStep developers take over Apple --- they used 64-bit as the choke point to push their development environment down developers throats. There was no technical reason for it at all, they had largely completed and beta-tested the tools to let developers port to 64-bit smoothly as on Windows. So make sure you complain to Apple, loudly please, and plan to pay more for OS X apps.

[fdg008]

Apple renegged on their promise to deliver 64-bit Carbon APIs (what most of Adobe products were built on) and Adobe's revenue stream (30-40% Mac these days) and need to do one app for both platforms has made them hesitant to speed the bucks for a ground-up rewrite of the app to Cococa Nibs. This happened late (or so I hear) in the CS4 dev cycle. I guess Apple had to pull folks off of legacy projects like Carbon and move them to iPhone or other non-computing projects.

So, no 64-bit for MacOSX in the CS4 delivery window. Adobe usually delivers every 18-24 months, so the next time for Mac 64-bit native may be CS5 in 2010.

Or else Adobe will have to decouple Mac and Windows development entirely and offer true native API UI support for each platform and duplicate its dev and testing and support costs. This might not be good news for Mac support given the current revenue split.

[Gromit801]

Adobe has a rather short memory. They wouldn't exist today if it weren't for the original Mac, and desktop publishing. Apple essentially made sure companies like Aldus and Adobe made money with the invention of desktop publishing.

[tech_knight]

The headline "Adobe releases Creative Suite 4" is misleading. Adobe has definitely not released CS4 and won't release it until sometime in October.

[Nickleman]

What off the shelf PC will even come close to meeting the hardware/software requriements of CS4?

In most cases, you cannot even talk Dell or HP or any other mainstream PC mfg into installing the hardware required to run CS4. Any suggestions?

[fdg008]

You are kicking right?

The vast majority of Adobe's sales of creative software have been Windows on x86 for years now.

I run CS3 Photoshop daily on a HP business laptop every day. I don't know of any machine that won't run CS3 reasonably well - perhaps except a super low end Walmart special.

Just get the precursory 4GB of RAM (it's either coming with that from the factory or you can upgrade 2x2GB sticks for $95. And avoid integrated video machines or buy a $79 PCI-E video card upgrade.... you should be golden...

I just went to Vista 64-bit a month ago to take advantage of CS4's native support.

[t rasa]

Nickleman;

How about buying the hardware and installing it? And your statement that Dell or HP won't make a machine that will run CS4 is ********. They'll make you anything you want. I've bought 3 that ran it right off the rack. My current machine is a $ 700 special that I added $300 or so in bump-ups and it runs CS3 and several geophysical modeling apps like an F-16. What are you running; a 286 with Win, 3.11?

[m2tno]

Ok! (takes a deep breath)
I just upgraded to CS3.3 and now I have to pay $599 for an additional upgrade. First of all the the 3.3 update only upgraded Acrobat. No other application was touched. This is not mentioned anywhere on there site and is misleading.

"pins and needles, needles and pins, it's a happy man that grins"

[caijusjulius]

No comments at this moment

[hermitlife]

This is what I have been waiting for to finally switch to Vista Ultimate 64-bit.

[Commanderlewis]

I'm hoping for something that surpasses what they've accomplished in the past!

[bmdmedia]

Ya I think it's kind of early to release CS4.... I'm still using CS2 still haha. I haven't found good enough reasoning to upgrade to CS3 yet, and now they are out with CS4?

Getting a little impatient fellas? Why not CS3v2 or a patch etc...

[Vegaman_Dan]

The more and more they keep upgrading and improving the product, the less I actually need or use it. CS2 was filled with bloatware and I use only perhaps 20% of its capabilities. I don't see any need to upgrade when their older products exceed my needs now.

It doesn't do any good to keep producing race cars that can do 500 mph and offer hyperspace jump technology when I only drive 3 miles to the grocery store on 35 mph roads.

[Gromit801]

With the economy the way it is, we're not going to buy new computers just to use CS4. What upgrades Adobe has done doesn't justify the cost.

[QuetzalcoatlUSA]

If you have CS3.3, you only have to pay $440 to upgrade. But you have to call and order a physical copy. From their store website "To order an upgrade from Adobe Creative Suite 3.3 Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, or Master Collection, contact Adobe Sales at 800-585-0774."

[annahD]

When you say $440 you mean from the Master CS3.3 to Master CS4 or some other suite? If not do you know how much that would be? Otherwise it would make sense to get the upgrade to CS3.3 which would cost $159 and then get the upgrade to CS4. This way the final cost would be $159 + $440 = $599 which would be a lot better than $899 which is the upgrade cost from CS3 Master Suite to CS3 Master Suite.
So how is it than? I've got my CS3 Master Suite 5 mo ago so paying now an extra $899 is not an easy option.
I'm waiting for replies. Thanks.

[ruthbawarshi]

17 months? Seems like yesterday I was shelling out for the new software. Think I will wait another 17 months and buy a new printer instead.

[rodLX]

As a satisfied CS3 web premium user i'm not finding enough compelling reasons to upgrade the whole studio. Plus seems its too early for a new complete version. Companies like Adobe (and Corel too) simply rush products to the market, so no wonder users like me will pass some of the upgrades.
That said, it seems that CS4 at least includes some important improvements for Flash (complex animations, including 3D, simpler tweening and object handling, etc). A new file format in Flash gets me worried, as i found that Flash CS3 can't even export FLA files compatible with previous versions like Flash MX 2004... only Flash 8 and up. Better retrocompatibility please!
As to Phototoshop CS4, the new content-aware scaling seems very interesting, but the other novelties doesn't, at least to me. Adobe, we'll meet again in CS5 ;)

[design_ebooks]

they really enter nice features in the product
http://allfree.fermanaziz.com

[mightyhypnotoad]

Regarding Adobe's decision not to port the 64 bit version for mac os. It has absolutely nothing to do with favouritism and everything to do with the fact that the Apple development team were unable to provide the 64bit version of Carbon when the CS4 development cycle kicked into gear. CS5 will provide full 64 bit integration for Macs. Follow the link for more info:

<href="http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2008/04/photoshop_lr_64.html">