Adobe introduces Creative Suite 4 product family

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Adobe on Tuesday officially announced its Creative Suite 4 product family, a new series of media applications scheduled to begin shipping next month with more tightly integrated workflow solutions aimed at advancing the creative process across print, Web, mobile, interactive, film and video production.



The San Jose-based software developer said the release, billed as its "biggest" ever, features new levels of integration and expressiveness for Flash technology across the entire product line, which includes Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design editions, Creative Suite 4 Web editions, Creative Suite 4 Production Premium, Creative Suite 4 Master Collection, as well as 13 point products, 14 integrated technologies and seven services.



Photoshop CS4 with GPU acceleration



Photoshop CS4 will cost $699 and take advantage of the latest graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware to deliver improved performance, such as a smoother pan and zoom experience, allowing users to easily edit images at the highest magnification while maintaining clarity.



A new Canvas Rotation tool was also designed to make it easier to rotate and work on an image from any angle, while a Content-Aware Scaling feature provides a way to intelligently size and scale images with a simple drag of the mouse. At the same time, new Auto-align and Auto-blend modes generate composites based on extended depth of field and 360 degree panoramas now with seamless tones and colors.



The new version of Photoshop also sports a new "clutter-free" unified application frame with a tab-based interface and self-adjusting panels that provide quicker access to advanced tools and a more fluid way to interact with the application.



Adobe said finding, previewing and managing image assets are enhanced by Adobe Bridge CS4, which offers faster start-up performance and speedier transfer of images to Photoshop CS4. New path-bar navigation and workspace selection buttons across the top of the Bridge window should let users quickly jump to the right display for every task. Also included are new Camera Import controls, visual folder navigation, and a Carousel View for larger image-group selections.



Photoshop CS4 Extended



Photoshop CS4 Extended will retail for $999 and include all the new features of Photoshop CS4 plus the ability to manipulate 3D imagery, such as painting directly on 3D models and surfaces, merging 2-D files onto 3D images, and animating 3D objects.



The new 3D engine has been rebuilt from the ground up, Adobe said, to provide faster performance, allow editing of properties like light and the ability to create more realistic renderings with a new high-quality ray-tracer. Video professionals will also have the ability to turn any 3D object into a video display zone and can animate 3D objects and properties. In addition, the core motion graphics editing has been improved with more efficient single-key shortcuts, the company said.



InDesign CS4



A new version of Adobe's InDesign page layout program will retail for $699 and include a Live Preflight feature that highlights potential production problems in real-time from within the layout and directs users to the problem area to resolve the issue. A customizable Links panel will let users to find, sort, and manage placed files in a document, view attributes such as scale, resolution and rotation -- and identify files faster using thumbnails.



Designers can export InDesign CS4 documents as an XFL file and then open them in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional to add interactivity, animation, and navigation. Alternatively, Adobe said designers can produce interactive brochures, dynamic presentations, and other online materials by adding page transitions, interactive buttons, and hyperlinks to documents and then exporting them as SWF files -- for playback by the Adobe Flash Player -- or interactive PDF files.



InDesign CS4 also includes new productivity enhancing features that make it easier to create and manage long documents such as manuals and textbooks. The new Conditional Text feature lets users quickly produce multiple versions of a document for different uses such as multi-lingual documents or Teacher/Student materials. Designers can apply conditions to selected paragraphs, words or characters and then hide or show that text depending on the required context. Additional time-saving advancements are provided by a new Cross-References feature that simplifies the writing, production and management of long form documents by dynamically updating referenced text as content is changed or moved within a document.



InDesign CS4 also includes Adobe InCopy CS4 and InDesign CS4 Server, which can be customized, scaled and extended to meet the evolving needs of publishers.



To solve specific workflow challenges, Adobe is introducing IDML (InDesign Markup Language), an open, extensible XML representation of InDesign documents that allows third-party developers and systems integrators to programmatically create, modify and deconstruct InDesign documents outside InDesign or InDesign Server — using standard XML editing tools.



Creative Suite 4 Design Premium



Creative Suite 4 Design Premium will cost $1799 for new users, $599 for CS3 Design Premium users, and $799 for users of Creative Suite 2.X and 1.X, Adobe Studio 8 and Adobe Studio MX 2004. It includes Adobe InDesign CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro and the newly integrated Adobe Fireworks CS4 for quickly prototyping websites and applications.



A new version of Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Standard will also be available for $1399 with the standard version of Photoshop CS4, and without Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, and Adobe Fireworks CS4.



Creative Suite 4 Web Premium



The new version of Adobe's Web design and development bundle Creative Suite 4 Web Premium will sell for $1699. Upgrade pricing start at $599 from Creative Suite 3 and $799 from Creative Suite 2.X and 1.X, Adobe Studio 8 and Adobe Studio MX 2004. For a limited time, however, validly licensed customers of any version of Adobe Creative Suite Design, Web and Production Premium will be able to upgrade to Creative Suite 4 for the CS3 upgrade price



Creative Suite 4 Web Premium includes Adobe Fireworks CS4, Adobe Dreamweaver CS4, Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe Contribute CS4, Adobe Device Central CS4, Adobe Soundbooth CS4, and Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional software.



A version of Adobe CS4 Web Standard will also be available for $999 and lack Photoshop CS4, Illustrator CS4, Acrobat 9, and Soundbooth.



Creative Suite 4 Production Premium



Adobe Creative Suite 4 Production Premium edition will sell for $1699. Prices for upgrading to Creative Suite 4 Production Premium from CS3 will be $599 and from previous versions will be $799. For a limited time, licensed customers of any version of Adobe Production Studio are eligible for the $599 upgrade price.



The bundle includes Adobe After Effects CS4 Professional, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4, Adobe Encore CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended, Adobe Illustrator CS4, Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, Adobe Soundbooth CS4 and Adobe OnLocation CS4 -- now redesigned to natively support Intel-based Macs.







Creative Suite 4 Master Collection



Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection includes every component of the aforementioned suits and is priced at $2499. Upgrades start at $899.



Availability



Adobe is currently taking pre-orders for all Creative Suite 4.0 bundles via its US online store. The company also operates online stores in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and Germany.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    $599 for CS3 Design Premium users?

    Sorry, that's way too much. I think I'll stick with CS3.
  • Reply 2 of 38
    $ 599,- for an upgrade?? In Holland for the English version it is $ 1137,-!

    Guess we'll be sticking with CS3 for a few more years....
  • Reply 3 of 38
    Wow. Absurdly expensive, AND with such crappy package design? Kudos Adobe, kudos.
  • Reply 4 of 38
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,616member
    $599 isn't too bad considering what we make on website design. That would be paid out of the profit from one site for us. We will probably test it on one of our backup Mac's and if its a big improvement over CS3 speed wise then we will purchase it.
  • Reply 5 of 38
    Absolutely ridiculous prices of course, but here's what I noticed ...



    How the heck can you trust DESIGN software from a company that thinks that this piece of poop below, is a great new logo for their products? If you came up with this in design class you would get a C at best and probably be made an example of before the class. It's like something someone would do in grade 10 or something.









    Ugh!
  • Reply 6 of 38
    All fine and dandy with the InDesign and Photoshop enhancements, but what about Dreamweaver? Are they just taking Dreamweaver CS3 and slapping a CS4 sticker on it?
  • Reply 7 of 38
    Adobe is out to rob you all. It's almost criminal. Although nothing beats Wall Street's recent robbing of America.



    Have fun Adobe fanbois.
  • Reply 8 of 38
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    I wouldn't mind paying the asking price if the software actually worked properly.



    But CS3 doesn't work with OS X 10.5, because Adobe didn't follow Apple's GUI guidelines. I'm sick of InDesign windows disappearing only to never reappear ? I don't see why I should pay for what is effectively a bug fix. Adobe should have rectified that bug free of charge, because it was of their own making.



    You can also be damn sure that CS4 won't work properly with the upcoming OS X 10.6 release, and that you'll be back to square one, waiting on Adobe to release CS5.



    Why can't Adobe just stick to the standard fucking interface like everyone else? Why do they think they know better than everybody else and go and do their own thing only for it to blow up in their face, and then expect their customers to pay for a bug fix?



    Having shelled-out for CS, CS2 & CS3, I don't think I'll be paying for Adobe software again.
  • Reply 9 of 38
    I had Photoshop installed in my Mac 2 days before it went on sale (hehehe), it is pretty fast compared to CS3. Maybe I will also get Illustrator 4 too to try it out to see if it is better than canvas X.
  • Reply 10 of 38
    I am actually impressed with the new feature set for the applications. Last week we all had a glimpse of some new features and needless to say they didn't exactly exhume confidence in a worthwhile upgrade. Why Adobe chose to leak a load of boring sh1te first is beyond me - if all they had said about was the canvas rotation in photoshop I would have been far more excited.



    But I have to agree with other commenters on the Prices. If I lived in the US i wouldn't complain too much, but in Europe we are being shafted by greedy %*@!s Adobe once again. They call it "the cost of doing business abroad" I once read. I'm sorry Adobe, it does NOT cost you several hundred dollars extra to sell ONE BOX of CS4 abroad. Twats.
  • Reply 11 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Phizz View Post


    I am actually impressed with the new feature set for the applications. Last week we all had a glimpse of some new features and needless to say they didn't exactly exhume confidence in a worthwhile upgrade. Why Adobe chose to leak a load of boring sh1te first is beyond me - if all they had said about was the canvas rotation in photoshop I would have been far more excited.



    But I have to agree with other commenters on the Prices. If I lived in the US i wouldn't complain too much, but in Europe we are being shafted by greedy %*@!s Adobe once again. They call it "the cost of doing business abroad" I once read. I'm sorry Adobe, it does NOT cost you several hundred dollars extra to sell ONE BOX of CS4 abroad. Twats.



    I make money with Adobe's apps and i live in Europe and i've never bought their software here. I'd be crazy , prices without taxes are $2500 in US and 3000 Euro's ( about $4500 ) in Germany. Really , who in their right mind would pay Euro prices for Adobe product is beyond me. Difference in cost pays for nice vacation in New York and you still have some money to blow on couple iPods.
  • Reply 12 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wally007 View Post


    I make money with Adobe's apps and i live in Europe and i've never bought their software here. I'd be crazy , prices without taxes are $2500 in US and 3000 Euro's ( about $4500 ) in Germany. Really , who in their right mind would pay Euro prices for Adobe product is beyond me. Difference in cost pays for nice vacation in New York and you still have some money to blow on couple iPods.



    Finally a smart guy. I would get the entire suite for free if I wanted to but that is a huge download. Better off trying the products I may use one at a time.
  • Reply 13 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by satchmo View Post


    $599 for CS3 Design Premium users?

    Sorry, that's way too much. I think I'll stick with CS3.



    Adobe has been charging upgrade prices like this for a while...



    If you are using a suite of programs in one of these collections professionally you are probably clearing that much and more with even a small job. If the suite provides enough feature enhancements to improve your workflow significantly enough for the upgrade to matter, the price is a no-brainer.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Messiah View Post


    But CS3 doesn't work with OS X 10.5, because Adobe didn't follow Apple's GUI guidelines. I'm sick of InDesign windows disappearing only to never reappear – I don't see why I should pay for what is effectively a bug fix. Adobe should have rectified that bug free of charge, because it was of their own making.



    Effectively a bug fix? How long have you been using Adobe products?

    I'm not going anywhere near this suite until I see how bug-ridden it is in production.
  • Reply 14 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande View Post


    Adobe has been charging upgrade prices like this for a while...



    If you are using a suite of programs in one of these collections professionally you are probably clearing that much and more with even a small job. If the suite provides enough feature enhancements to improve your workflow significantly enough for the upgrade to matter, the price is a no-brainer.





    Effectively a bug fix? How long have you been using Adobe products?

    I'm not going anywhere near this suite until I see how bug-ridden it is in production.



    Yes, but why pay $700-2500 when you could be paying $0?
  • Reply 15 of 38
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    Pirates unite
  • Reply 16 of 38
    I think that while CS4 may not seem like it is a huge update, the proof that it is huge is in the sum of its parts. Sure you have no new programs added, not exactly a boatload of new features, and a bigger price tag. If you actually study these improvement carefully on Adobe's website, you will find that this program will actually allow creative people to work much faster and more intuitively. What was time consuming with CS3 can now be done in a fraction of that time thanks to CS4. This is not just a bug release, folks; Adobe actually took the time to make all of these applications better and more expressive than ever before. As clunky as these apps have been in the past, that alone makes me want to buy this suite.



    CS3 probably seemed like a bigger release because of all of the stuff Adobe was doing in picking up Macromedia along the way. CS3 was definitely a quantity release. CS4, however, is a quality release.
  • Reply 17 of 38
    Well, there are no professionals who find Adobe expensive, because of all the money it earns them, and it's on par price-wise to Logic, and a lot cheaper than Final Cut, so unless you think they're overprices too, you can't fault Adobe.



    I think pretty much everybody that has and will comment/complain in this thread has nothing to do with the professional design industry, and most likely pirate most of their software anyways, or are used to paying max $60 for their Lego Star Wars. I at least haven't heard nearly as many people complaining about paying $130 bucks+ for a .1 upgrade of OSX. (oh really, Time Machine and Spaces are worth 25% of an Adobe Suite, you say?)
  • Reply 18 of 38
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Am I the only that feels adobe has done this really quickly? I mean CS3 didn't come out that long ago.
  • Reply 19 of 38
    I am a professional designer, and have been using Adobe products since Illustrator 3, Photoshop 1, and have even worked with Indesign 1.... (only playing though)

    With an experience of 26 years in the graphic industry I can tell you that no client gives a damn with what kind of software we produce their product. Some think it is MS Paint....

    We have to justify our prices with everything we do, I work at a printing company, desktop publishing is a tool, we are not a pure design and advertising firm, we can not ask the same prices as a 'official' designer perhaps would charge. CS3 is a very expensive piece of software, it is invaluable and well made. Sure, there are bugs, and we stay with 10.4 for now. I have read a lot of articles already about CS4, I like it, but the price is just too high, my boss would never accept a new investment after such a short time, we would not need just one license, we would need 6, we are talking about around 6000 euros, if we would buy the localized version, then it would be close to 7000 euros, that is almost 10.000 dollar!! I only wish that Adobe would get some more competition, and stop squeezing every cent from their overseas clienst... At this rate, the sales figures will drop, the economy is weak and new software is not a very high priority at this moment...

    software pirates will be upgrading their servers very soon.... and that is not a good thing.
  • Reply 20 of 38
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Phizz View Post


    ... Why Adobe chose to leak a load of boring sh1te first is beyond me - if all they had said about was the canvas rotation in photoshop I would have been far more excited...



    I agree. Multiple pages and page sizes in Illustrator is enough for me, lol. Someone needs to counsel Adobe on what product features actually make for a good teaser.
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