Summary: Adobe Creative Suite 4  (10/2008)

    by Douglas Dixon

CS4 Summary Chart
Suites and Applications
Individual Applications

                   
            Adobe CS4 Suites  - Design - Web - Production - Master Collection

Adobe has done it again -- Adobe Creative Suite 4 shipped on October 15, 2008 for Windows and Macintosh, with a major update to its to its collection of design and development tools, spanning the creative workflow across print, web, video, interactive and mobile (www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite). 

This is another impressive piece of software engineering and project management by Adobe -- CS4 includes upgrades to 13 core applications plus auxiliary components, following a year and a half after the release of CS3. It's available bundled in 6 suites (like CS3), including the full Master Collection with all the applications.

PR - 10/08 - Adobe Creative Suite 4 Now Shipping
    9/08 - Adobe Introduces Creative Suite 4 Product Family

Find Adobe Creative Suite 4 on Amazon.com - Adobe CS4 Design Premium - Adobe CS4 Web Premium - Adobe CS4 Production Premium - Adobe CS4 Master Collection

Adobe CS4 - Summary Chart

Compare CS4 editions at www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/compare

Adobe is offering lower upgrade price for upgrades from CS3 than it offers for upgrades from older versions. A limited time introductory offer has the same lower price for older qualifying products.

                   
        Adobe CS4 Suites - Design Premium & Standard  - Web Premium & Standard - Production Premium

Changes from CS4: Design Standard +$200, Web Premium +$100, 
    Photoshop + $50, Contribute +$50, Soundbooth -$50
    Design Premium adds Fireworks, Web Premium adds Soundbooth
    Version Cue dropped from Production Premium
    Ultra dropped (Production Premium & Master Collection)

CS4 is available for both Windows and Macintosh
    Macintosh: Multicore Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.4.11-10.5.4
    Windows: 2 GHz or faster processor for DV; 3.4 GHz for HDV; dual 2.8 GHz for HD
        Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (SP 3 recommended)
        or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with SP 1 
        (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista)
        Photoshop Extended and Acrobat Pro natively support 64-bit editions of Windows Vista
        Premiere Pro, After Effects, Soundbooth, Encore, OnLocation certified on 64-bit Windows Vista

Adobe Creative Suite 4 - Suites and Applications

CS4 includes full version upgrades of 11 stand-alone applications that are available individually, 2 more applications bundled with Premiere Pro, and 4 additional components. It is available bundled in six suites (like CS3).

The additional components are: Bridge CS4, Version Cue CS4, Device Central CS4, Dynamic Link

Design Suites: Adobe CS4 Design Premium, Design Standard

       

Photoshop CS4 / Extended, InDesign CS4, Illustrator CS4
    plus Acrobat 9 Pro
    (Premium adds Photoshop Extended, plus Web tools Flash Pro, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks)

Cross-media design toolkit for crafting precise page layouts, creating stunning images and graphics, developing eye-catching web pages and rich interactive experiences, and producing them all with utmost fidelity. 

Web Suites - Adobe CS4 Web Premium, Web Standard

           

Flash CS4 Professional, Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4, Contribute CS4
    (Premium adds Design tools Photoshop Extended and Illustrator, plus Soundbooth and Acrobat Pro)

Comprehensive solution for the professional web designer and developer, from world-class image editing prowess to sophisticated code-handling capabilities to multiplatform deployment options. Work with websites, applications, user interfaces, and other digital experiences.

Production Suite - Adobe CS4 Production Premium

               

After Effects CS4, Premiere Pro CS4, Soundbooth CS4
    plus Encore CS4 and OnLocation CS4 (bundled with Premiere)
    (Plus Design tools Photoshop Extended and Illustrator, plus Flash Professional)

Tightly integrated pre- and post-production toolset for video and audio editing, still and motion graphics, visual effects, and interactive media, as well as DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and mobile authoring.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 - Individual Applications

Design tools

           

Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Image editing - digital imaging
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended - Edit, manipulate, analyze images, including 3D
Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Illustration - Create and edit vector graphics
Adobe InDesign CS4 - Page layout - Design page layouts for print and web
Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro - PDF - Organize, manage, and combine content with PDF 

Web tools

           

Adobe Flash CS4 Professional - Interactive - Create animations and interactive content
Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 - Website design - Create websites and applications
Adobe Fireworks CS4 - Create and optimize web graphics; prototype websites and applications
Adobe Contribute CS4 - Web publishing - Edit and update site content for nonprogrammers

Production tools

       

Adobe After Effects CS4 - Effects - Create motion graphics and visual effects for video
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 - Video editing - Capture and edit digital video editing
Adobe Soundbooth CS4 - Audio editing - Create, edit, and enhance digital audio
Adobe Encore CS4 - DVD authoring - Produce video for DVD, Blu-ray, and web
Adobe OnLocation CS4 - Shoot video with direct-to-disc recording and monitoring

Additional technology components

Adobe Bridge CS4 - Visually organize and browse creative assets
Adobe Version Cue CS4 - Centrally manage shared project files
Adobe Device Central CS4 - Preview and test mobile device content
Adobe Dynamic Link - Eliminate intermediate rendering of video assets