Product Reviews

So the new professional platforms for both print and web design have arrived. With four CS3 Design and Web bundles based on nine major applications, it's a lot to get your head around. This month, we're concentrating on the applications that have given Adobe its stranglehold in the design and publishing markets: InDesign for commercial print; Photoshop for professional photo editing; Illustrator for vector drawing and design; and the Creative Suite 3 Design Standard edition that brings them together.

As you'll see, each is a major upgrade, but it's comparatively rare these days for each to be used independently. Instead, the focus is on larger workflows, and there's a natural logic to combining Photoshop's bitmaps and Illustrator's vectors together with InDesign's

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text handling and multiple page support. Put it all together and you have an integrated publishing platform that's creative, productive and - crucial in the context of commercial print - reliable.

That's the reason behind Adobe's bundling of the three flagship standalone applications, along with the latest version of Bridge for shared media management as well as throwing in Acrobat 8 Professional too. With pricing that makes the suite much cheaper than buying or upgrading separately, it's hard to argue with if you use all the apps.

However, before you get out your credit card, do consider your options. First, the Design Standard edition doesn't include the extraordinary new Photoshop CS3 Extended which, if you're interested in 3D or video you'll want to get your hands on. More importantly, the CS3 Design Standard edition doesn't include any web-orientated application and, after its take-over of Macromedia, Adobe is now as strong here as it is in print.

If you produce work for both print and screen, you'll want to wait until next month to see what Adobe has done with the latest versions of Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks and Contribute before deciding which of the Design and Web suites best meet your needs. But, outrageous UK/US price differences aside, Adobe CS3 Design Standard offers some exceptional print-orientated design power.