 BAT has pronounced this the “Summer of Adobe,” and it’s an indisputable fact with the release—some might say juggernaut—of Adobe Creative Suite 3. Other products, too, like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 (reviewed here) geared to professional photographers, and the forthcoming Adobe Production Premium CS3 (with added availability for the Mac) add to the feeling of ubiquity. And one need only pay a visit to Adobe Labs to see what’s in store for the future. Indeed, Adobe has extended its reach to every corner of the design process, across all platforms of rich media, from print to web to mobile device, from vector graphic to RAW photo, from interactive Flash animation to DV and beyond.
June is abloom with Adobe products—a veritable garden of digital delights. And now with the acquisition of Macromedia’s star applications, Flash and Dreamweaver, there can be no doubt that Adobe’s vision has blossomed into a tangible reality. Having personally reviewed Adobe products for more than ten years (starting with the first release of Photoshop for Windows), I'm not surprised by the breadth and depth of CS3. I have watched the company's products grow and spread their wings. I have seen each application mature, ripen, and integrate with the others in a system that spans every creative sphere in the design universe. The customizable interface features collapsible panels that free up more work space, or can be docked and combined in configurations suited to the task at hand. Drag and drop functionality across the suite has become a guiding principle in Adobe's Divine Book of Workflow.
Over the years there have been few missteps and amazingly few bugs. I don't think anyone has ever accused Adobe of rushing half-baked software to market. Even their betas have been remarkably stable. And while each new release offers new tools and capabilities, the emphasis has been (and remains) on enhancement of established proven features, the continued integration with other complementary apps, and the unification of the overall GUI.
I must admit I feel like I’m part of the company, although I own no stock, nor have I met the Powers That Be. I have come to know some of the developers and gurus, like John Nack, who have helped shed the veil of Corporate Behemoth and have shown Adobe to be a company filled with creative people, visionaries, artists, and the best engineers and programmers on earth. And when you consider that my (and this magazine's) workflow depend on Adobe products for existence, well then, you can't get much tighter than that.
Since my written words and words of mouth (not to mention my book on LiveMotion) have sold quite a few Adobe products, some might label me a salesman. I loathe that term and, instead, prefer to think of myself as an evangelist, spreading the good word, helping people expand their creativity and the rhythm and flow of their creations. That feels good.
No profit for me, just prophet.
Again, it's no surprise that Adobe has been in the running for BAT's Best of Year Award nearly every year since we began publishing in 1997, and they've won more Editors' Choice awards than I can count (including the one here for CS3). Indeed, the only surprise is how Adobe has managed to maintain its vision and integrity in a chaotic industry that's perpetually evolving. But that's a subject beyond my scope. All I know is that the Summer of 2007 is an exciting time to be alive and using the new CS3 tools. I trust Shakespeare will forgive me when I say, Adobe doth make artists of us all.
—The Editor
The various editions of CS3 may seem bewildering, but a close look at the individual bundles shows there's a method to the maddening array. For the purposes of this review, we focus on Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and, in particular, its flagship application: Photoshop CS3 Extended. (We previously reviewed Acrobat 8 Professional and you can read our feature here.) Included in this edition (we've omitted the CS3 designation from the product names for the sake of simplicity) are Adobe Bridge, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional, Adobe Device Central, Adobe Stock Photos, and Adobe Version Cue.
 The first version of Bridge may have left a lot to be desired, but this version has blossomed into a nimble creature that ties the Creative Suite together like a brightly colored ribbon on a luxurious gift. (I just realized I'm infringing on Acrobat's image.) Put it this way, Bridge is fast and flexible and has a spiffy new look that resembles Photoshop Lightroom.
You can select multiple files for comparison, and drag and drop images into other CS3 apps. Bridge CS3 builds on previewing capabilities, such as the ability to preview multi-page PDF files, by introducing new support for previewing SWF, FLV, and MOV files. With Bridge you're firmly in control of all your digital assets. Batch process files in a blink, filter, sort and find files quickly, label and rate your faves. It's the center of the Adobe universe. And with the new Photo Downloader you can automate the process of copying and moving files from memory cards and cameras.
Dare to compare.
In combination with Acrobat Connect you can host real time web-based meetings. Adobe Bridge is, for me, a lot like Starbucks... it's the first stop in the morning, a place to gather your resources and prepare for the tasks ahead. You can, as before in CS2, double-click on a thumbnail to launch, say, Photoshop, or a vector drawing in Illustrator. One thing we'd like to see in the next version are buttons to launch each Adobe application. We've effectively accomplished this in Windows by creating a toolbar (shown below, left) that's "always on top" while Bridge remains open for business 24 / 7.
Bridge CS3 offers a cool new way to sort your thumbnails via "stacking." For example, you can stack a series of images for comparison, create a stack of photos that fall under a common theme, or pictures you want to batch process. The circled numbers in the screen below indicate the number of thumbs in the stack. If you click on the number, the thumbnails fan out for viewing. Click again and they snap back to the stack.
If you stack 10 or more images, when you hover your mouse over the stack a play button and scrub tool appear for quick previewing—sweet!
 InDesign CS3 has become the de facto software for creating material for print. The new version leaves its only competitor Quark in the dust. The interface is so intuitive, so comfortable, it's an app that inspires creativity. No matter what you want to design, all the tools are at your fingertips when you need them—whether you're designing a post card or a 500-paged hardcover book. But hey, InDesign is no longer just for print.
Use it to design web pages or simply repurpose content that started out for print by exporting directly to XHTML, then open the file in Dreamweaver—cool!
The screen-shot below illustrates one of our favorite new features shared by both InDesign and Bridge: Multi-file Place.
Drag, drop, and place multiple files in InDesign CS3 from Bridge
The process is simple: selecting multiple files (the large CS3 icons) in Bridge (red arrow); dragging the three files to InDesign (green + blue arrows) and then clicking three times to place each file. A thumbnail appears at your cursor so you can see which file you're about to place. You can also place multiple files in InDesign using the Place command and loading the cursor. Remember the old days when each file had to be placed separately? Well this is truly a great workflow enhancement!
InDesign offers non-destructive Transparency and Object Effects which can be applied separately to the fill, stroke, and text of a single object. The design possibilities are limitless. And you can even add interactive elements like sound files, Flash animations, and movies for playback in an exported Acrobat PDF file.
 Adobe Illustrator is another intuitive gem with some nifty new features, like integration with Adobe Flash. You can copy and paste vector artwork directly into Flash with paths, gradients, anchor points and clipping masks preserved.
Illustrator is so damn quick-on-the-draw that users of the discontinued FreeHand won't miss their former favorite software. Indeed, they'll be glad they switched.
If we had to pick one favorite feature it would definitely be Live Color. (with Live Trace a close second). .
Live Color enables you to interactively test color variations and view the changes in real time. You can sample different tints and color combinations via Illustrator's Color Guide panel.
With the new Eraser Tool in hand you can simply drag through a shape to split paths and objects. In the above sample we made three quick swipes. The size of the resulting gap matches the size of the eraser. Sweet!
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