Every 18 months for much of the past decade Adobe has released a new version of its Creative Suite (CS) – bundling pro-level tools like Photoshop and Flash in various packages aimed at graphics, video and web development design professionals.
Starting this spring with its new release of CS 5.5 coming just 12 months after the previous version, Adobe has picked up the pace, promising updated versions every year – a response to the explosion of mobile and tablet devices.
These new devices have posed a problem for designers needing to make content accessible in multiple sizes for print and online for computers, smartphones and tablets. And they’ve posed a problem for Adobe given its commitment to Flash as a standard for delivering multimedia content online. Apple has refused to allow Flash on its iPhones and iPads, while performance and battery life on mobile devices that do support Flash have been mediocre at best.
Adobe hasn’t abandoned Flash in its new release. CS 5.5’s Flash builder can create apps for the 131 smartphone models that Adobe expects will offer Flash support this year. But Adobe is also offering tools for developers needing to work with Flash alternatives.
CS 5.5’s Dreamweaver will let web developers continue to work with Flash or to move their work to platforms like HTML 5 and jQuery supported on iPhones and iPads.
Other new features also aim to help developers cope with the increased popularity of mobile devices. The new version of Dreamweaver, for instance, supports CSS3 formatting, allowing the creation of websites that adapt to multiple screen sizes.
The new InDesign CS 5.5 allows page designers to output more sophisticated e-pub-format e-books and produce documents with images that automatically resize to fit different screens. InDesign’s Folio Producer offers tools to produce digital magazine editions aimed at tablet users.
To show off CS 5.5’s new Photoshop touch software development kit – used to build tablet or smartphone apps that interact with Photoshop Adobe released a trio of iPad apps. Color lava lets Photoshop owners use an iPad to “mix” colours and create custom Photoshop colour schemes. Nav lets an iPad act as a control panel for Photoshop tools and documents.
CS 5.5 does not include a new version of Photoshop, however, just a modest update to the previous CS 5 version to allow it to work with the new touch apps.
As with previous Creative Suite versions, the new CS 5.5 applications can be bought individually, bundled into collections targeting developers primarily working in print, web or video or as a $2,600 master collection for all of them. Upgrade pricing is available for current CS users.
New this time around, though not really a feature – subscription editions.
While many professional graphics shops will continue to buy their preferred version of Adobe’s suite, renting the software monthly can make sense for some users – those who want to try it before committing to an expensive purchase, for instance, or for design firms needing additional licences for temporary staff hired on for specific projects.
Monthly subscription costs range from $49 for Photoshop alone to $139 for the design premium suite and $195 for the master collection. Prices are discounted (about 30%) with one-year contracts.
Subscribing for two years would be more expensive than paying upgrade prices for every second annual version, but would have the advantage of always providing the most recent version.
Alan Zisman (www.zisman.ca) is a Vancouver educator and computer specialist. His column appears weekly.
