Confused by All of the
Creative Suite Choices?
Why Design Premium
is My Choice.
Brief History of Creative Suite
There's never been much doubt in my mind that the first three releases of Creative Suite were a work in progress. The first version was really nothing but a collection of applications with one installer but with each new release things have became more integrated.
CS2 introduced Bridge and with CS3 the Macromedia products were integrated and new suite combinations were made available capped off with the grand daddy of them all, the Master Collection. Along the way, the user interface become more recognizable from one application to the next.
Until the release of CS3, the choices didn't work for all customers and the Web vs. Design debacle that forced users to make the choice between InDesign and Fireworks when choosing between the almost identical Web and Design suites in was an example of poor marketing. The good news is that Adobe did listen to the complaints and corrected the situation with CS3.3 with the inclusion of Fireworks in the Design Premium package.
CS4 and CS5 further refined the suites, added Device Central for those designing for mobile devices and even added a user selectable Windows-like application frame to most of the Mac applications.
With CS5 Adobe streamlined the choices and eliminated the "Standard" for Production and Web suites. Additionally, Version Cue was discontinued. On the Mac side support for PPC machines was dropped as was Tiger support.
And now for the first time, Adobe is releasing an intermediate version of Creative Suite. CS5.5 was announced in April of 2011 and includes a mix of updated and non-updated applications. Adobe will also begin offering software subscriptions with CS5.5.
System Requirements
Still hanging on to that G5 Mac? Its time has come...and gone.
Apple stopped supporting the Power PC platform with the release of Snow Leopard and Adobe has followed suit. All CS5 and CS5.5 applications will run on Intel machines only. On the Windows side, most requirements haven't changed much, but of course, Windows 7 is supported.
64 Bit Support
Photoshop CS4 on Windows was the first Creative Suite application to ship with a 64 bit version. Because there are so many third party plugins that are only available as 32 bit, Adobe includes the 32 bit version, as well. With the release of CS5, Mac users will also enjoy a 64 bit version of Photoshop. For those working on very large images, the performance gains are noticeable when using a system with 8 gigs or more of RAM.
64 Bit Required
For those interested in the Production Suite or the Master Collection, it's important to note that Premiere Pro and After Effects will be 64 bit ONLY. This differs from Photoshop in that there will be no 32 bit version of either application for CS5.
For those using older 32 bit systems, the CS4 version of both applications will ship with CS5.
64 Bit Systems
In order to take advantage of 64 bit applications you'll need a computer with a 64 bit operating system. On the Mac side that means Snow Leopard or Leopard.
For Windows users, things are a "bit" more complicated since there are both 32 and 64 bit versions. In the past, many vendors were slow to provide 64 bit drivers which slowed the adoption of Windows 64 bit. I can assure you that this is no longer the case and I highly recommend Windows 7 64 bit to those who use Windows.
The 64 bit version of Windows XP is unsupported for all versions of Creative Suite.
What's Included in What for CS5.5?
The suite suite choices for CS5.5 remain the same as CS5. For web and print designers, there's Design Standard and Premium and Web Premium. Production Premium focuses on motion graphics (Pemiere Pro, After Effects, Encore) and sound (Soundbooth) and the Master Collection will also be available for CS5.5.
Being a print and web designer, I'm going to concentrate on the Web and Design suites and assume that if you're going to buy the Master Collection there's not a whole lot you need to know.
The Web and Design Premium packages both contain Photoshop Extended CS5, Illustrator CS5, Acrobat Pro X, Dreamweaver CS5.5, Flash Professional CS5.5, Flash Catalyst CS5.5 and Fireworks CS5. The Design Premium package adds InDesign CS5.5 to that while the Web Premium package adds Contribute and Flash Builder Premium (note that CS5 only included the Standard version).
Doing Basic Print Design? Design Standard Might Do.
If you're only doing print design, the Design Standard package includes only InDesign CS5.5, Illustrator CS5, Photoshop CS5 (standard version) and Acrobat X Pro. If you read a bit further you'll see just how much (or little) you'll save by going this route.
Design Premium Continues to be the Clear Choice
For me, there's simply no contest here. Unless you're a dedicated web only designer and have a need for Contribute or Flash Builder the Design Premium package has all the tools to handle the day to day responsibilities of a designer doing print and web work.
Because I've found that it's very difficult to survive in today's environment without having some web capabilities, if you're using Design Standard now and considering CS5.5, you might want to give very careful consideration to upgrading to Design Premium.
Whether you're creating a high end brochure, a publication for tablet devices such as the iPad, building a website or a even a Flash banner, it's all there for you.
What's the Bottom Line?
Pricing and Upgrade Eligibility
How can we talk about software without at least touching on the pricing and upgrade eligibility? Adobe hasn't always done a bang up job in explaining this very clearly so I'll give it whirl here.
If you're new to this, you're going to have to buy a full version of whatever software you need and the price for the Design Premium package is a hefty $1,899. If you're sure you can live without the web tools you can opt for the Design Standard suite. You'll save $600 but you'll give up a lot of capability, so think very carefully about it. For the majority of experienced designers however, there are highly discounted upgrades.
Upgrade and Upsell Eligibility
Tiered upgrade pricing remains in effect for CS5.5. If you have CS5 Design Standard or Premium license, the price to upgrade to the Creative Suite 5.5 Design Premium is $399.00. For that price you'll get upgraded versions of InDesign, Acrobat Pro, Dreamweaver, Flash Professional and Flash Catalyst. Depending upon your needs, that's a pretty attractive price. As above, if you don't want or need the web tools you can go with the Design Standard package and save yourself $100.
From any CS4 suite to CS5.5 Design Premium the upgrade price is $649.
Upgrading from CS2 or CS3 suites or Macromedia Studio 8 to CS5.5 Design Premium is $949. If you have a license for any suite application such as Photoshop or Illustrator for CS2, CS3, CS4, or CS5 the list price for the upsell is $1,499 or $400 less than the full retail version.
Limited Window of Opportunity for users of CS2-CS4
If you're already using CS5 and you're primarily a print designer, you may be able to comfortably skip this upgrade but if you're using CS2-CS4 and you've been thinking about upgrading now is the best time.
Why? Because the upgrade price for CS5.5 is higher than the price for CS5 (the difference ranges from $50 to $200 depending up the upgrade path). And to add to the savings, Adobe has had a policy of offering free upgrades to those purchasing a retiring version of a product.
If you buy CS5 during its waning days of availability you may be entitled to a free upgrade to CS5.5. This is a time limited offer and I advise you read this document on Adobe's website which explains the requirements and outlines the process to receive your free upgrade.
Can I Upgrade Just One Program in the Suite?
In a word, no.
Don't be mislead by the wording on Adobe's site saying that you can upgrade to InDesign CS5.5 from InDesign CS5, CS4, CS3, or CS2. If you've installed InDesign as part of a suite, Adobe doesn't consider that an InDesign license, they consider that a suite license. You must upgrade the entire suite.
Short Term Work? Subscribe Month to Month
One complaint I've heard often is from freelancers that only need to use the software for short period of time or from agencies that need to hire a temporary worker and don't want to spend the money for a full commercial license.
For situations like that Adobe now offers monthly software subscriptions. For $139 you can use Design Premium for a full month. You can also subscribe for a full year for $95 per month.
While certainly not for everyone, this does fill a need for some and should make it much easier for those needing an additional license for a short period of time.
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Is...
If they'll steal from Adobe, Microsoft, Corel, and other major software vendors, they certainly won't think twice about stealing from you.
I'm well aware of the fact that software is expensive. I've only hit on the U.S. prices here. In other areas of the world it's far worse. But please, don't get sucked in by the claims of OEM versions or other assorted come-on's claiming that you can save 80% or more off the price of the software.
These are scams, plain and simple. Not only will you have purchased pirated software, but you will have provided your credit card information to thieves.
...With One Possible Exception
If You're A Student or Educator, Please Read This
Like most software companies, Adobe sells highly discounted versions of its programs to eligible students and teachers. Don't cheat yourself out of a great deal if you're eligible. While details vary from country to country, in North America, if you're eligible for student and teacher versions, you're permitted to use it for commercial work*.
*I don't work for Adobe and I advise you contact them directly with any questions regarding academic eligibility.
Did you find this article useful?
If so, and you're ready to move to CS5.5, you can order from the widgets to the left or click the following links to visit Amazon.com or Adobe.com.
