Adobe Creative Suite 4

Adobe Creative Suite 4 is the pinnacle of graphics software. The applications included in this package can accomplish virtually any graphics task you might have. But they are, collectively and individually, very complex programs. For that reason, you will need to gather all possible resources while trying to learn how to use them.

1. Read the manuals that come with the software. This may seem obvious, but many people who buy a piece of software never once crack open the manual. Also, avail yourself of the access you have to Adobes online tutorials and forums (see Resources). They contain a wealth of information, from printed tutorials to how-to videos.
2. Step 2

   Go to some of the many sites online that already have tutorials for Adobe Creative Suite 4 (see Resources). Make sure the site looks reputable, and also make sure that the particular tutorials they offer are for version 4, not one of the previous versions.

3. Step 3

   Go online and visit bookstores like Amazon.com to see what they have to offer in terms of books about Creative Suite 4. They will have a range of options, from Adobe officially sanctioned works to those “… for Idiots” books. By searching what they offer, you should be able to find something useful.

The Adobe Creative Suite is a designer’s software playground. The suite includes applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver and Flash.
The Creative Suite is designed to meet the needs of print, Web and multimedia designers, and the applications within the suite work together. Designers can prepare files in one application to be opened or exported to another application.
For example, if a designer is working on a project for a local zoo that involves creating a logo, poster, brochure, and website. The designer can use the applications in the Adobe Creative Suite to complete the project.

1. Photoshop is an image editing application. In Photoshop, designers can resize, retouch, refocus and combine images, manage color and even apply effects and filters to images they want to use for the zoo project. Although Photoshop is for editing photos, it also could be use to create the poster and design and layout the web pages for the zoo website.
2. Step 2

   Illustrator is a drawing application. Illustrator is the best application for creating a logo for the zoo. The logo can be resized without distortion. But Illustrator also would be the best application to use for producing the poster for the zoo. Text is much easier to manipulate in Illustrator than in Photoshop.

3. Step 3

   InDesign is a layout application. InDesign can be used to produce your poster as well. But it’s better used to produce the zoo brochure. InDesign allows designers to add several pages. Photoshop and Illustrator weren’t created for multiple pages. In addition to brochures, InDesign can be used to lay out books, catalogs, newsletters and other kinds of print media that require several pages.

4. Step 4

   Dreamweaver is the web design and development application. If web pages were designed and images edited in Photoshop, those can be inserted into html pages you create in Dreamweaver.

5. Step 5

   Flash is the multimedia application that streams animation or allows the viewer to interact with what’s happening on a web page. Some websites are built entirely using Flash. The application also is used to produce ads and to embed video into web pages.

Adobe groups its most popular software programs in Creative Suite. Three collections bundle software applications in web design, graphic design and video production, and a master collection contains all the programs. Creative Suite offers users the benefit of software integration. For example, if a picture you are using in Premiere video editing software needs a touchup, right clicking that picture would take you directly to Photoshop.

Design

1. The Design collection of Adobe CS is for people who need graphic applications for printing, web design, photo editing and publishing. Popular programs include Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

Web

2. With the Web Design suite you can build and publish websites with Flash, Dreamweaver and Contribute and add all your own photos, graphics, and sound using Photoshop, Illustrator and Soundbooth.

Production

3. The Production Suite caters to video and film professionals and features industry leader Adobe After Effects. Also included are Premiere Pro for video editing, Encore for DVD Authoring, Photoshop, Soundbooth, Illustrator, Flash and OnLocation, a video clip recording and management tool.

Master Collection

4. Most of the Adobe creative applications are included in the Master Collection. This large suite of software would be used by advertising agencies, video production companies or television stations that need tools for web design, graphics and video production.

Consumer Applications

5. Adobe offers their most popular products in easier to use and cheaper consumer versions. Photoshop Elements for picture editing and Premiere Elements for video editing are substantially less expensive than the professional versions but include most essential features.

History

6. Adobe bought the first Creative Suite to market in 2003 and released three more versions by 2008: CS2, CS3 and CS4.

The Adobe Creative Suite includes a complete library of software to accomplish most media production tasks. As of 2010, Adobe includes 17 individual software titles in their “Master Collection” edition of the Creative Suite that can handle everything from video production to web design. An individual or media production business can use multiple computers running CS4 to increase the efficiency of their workflow. When the computers are networked together, Adobe Version Cue and Adobe Bridge allows users to share Adobe documents used in the same project.

1. Install Adobe Creative Suite on two or more computers.
2. Step 2

   Assign a task specific to each workstation. For example, in a web design production environment, one workstation can complete preparation of graphics using Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, while another uses Adobe Dreamweaver to arrange the completed graphics in a web page layout.

3. Step 3

   Designate a computer where shared resources will be stored. Other computers will use this computer to store documents created by each CS4 application. Install Adobe Version Cue server on this computer.

4. Step 4

   Manage documents using Adobe Version Cue. Adobe Version Cue allows multiple users working with the same documents to check in and check out documents, track changes and control document access between computers.

5. Step 5

   Open Adobe Bridge to access CS4 documents managed by the Version Cue. Bridge allows you to view the metadata stored with Adobe documents. Metadata can include important production notes saved with each file. These notes can be useful to others engaged in the workflow of the project.

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Adobe Creative Suite is an integrated package of graphic design software programs. Creative Suite 4 (CS4) is Adobe’s fourth version of the package, which bundles several applications that most graphic artists use on a regular basis. CS4 was released in late 2008, and is available in multiple permeations, with each edition geared toward a different type of user. The interface of all the components in CS4 is consistent throughout, and allows users to view and open documents created in different applications in a single window, using the newly designed tabbed interface.

Types

The CS4 suite is mostly used on Macs.

There are six different editions of CS4: Design (available in standard and premium versions), Web (also available in standard and premium versions), Production Premium and the Master Collection, which contains all the different components. Design Standard is the lowest-priced edition of CS4, and includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat Pro. Programs that are available in other editions of CS4 include Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Premiere Pro, Flash and Encore, along with several others.

History

1. 
   
   Photoshop was popular long before CS debuted.

   The first release of CS in 2003 contained graphics and design programs that had previously been available as stand-alone packages, but were bundled together for a lower price point. Adobe had previously purchased PageMaker from Aldus, Dreamweaver and Flash from Macromedia, and it included these packages as well as adding some new programs to subsequent versions of Creative Suite, including Adobe Bridge, a file organization and photo cataloging software.

   Significance

2. 
   
   InDesign has replaced Quark as #1.

   The greatest impact that Adobe Creative Suite had in the industry was the widespread recognition of InDesign. Prior to its release in CS, InDesign was a previously obscure program that was a direct descendant of PageMaker, the default desktop publishing (DTP) package during the initial computer boom of the late 1980s. By the mid-1990s, QuarkXPress was the undisputed king of layout software, replacing PageMaker. But in a rare case of a new software package quickly overtaking an industry’s Goliath, InDesign delivered a knockout blow that Quark never recovered from. However, some tech pundits cite Quark’s arrogance and bullying tactics as another major reason for its demise.

   Considerations

3. 
   
   Do your homework before buying.

   Adobe Creative Suite has become the default package for virtually every designer and creative agency, due to its integration ability and familiar commands in all the packages. Unfortunately, it is not cheap: At Adobe’s Web store, CS4 Design Standard lists for $1,399 for a full version and $399 for users of a previous version to upgrade (all prices as of 2009). Because buying any version of Adobe CS4 is expensive (the least expensive is Web Standard at $999; the most expensive is Master Collection at $2,499), so deciding what your current and future needs are is time well-spent. Although every component of CS4 is available a la carte, it is always more economically feasible to buy them as a bundle, rather than separately.

   Benefits

4. 
   
   All print shops use Adobe CS.

   Adhering to a set of standards in the graphic industry is mandatory; production houses, graphic shops and printers have to work with a uniform standard that allows diverse users to work with the same format and versions of files. Adobe has found the sweet spot that virtually every user of graphic software is looking for; the ability to easily and efficiently work with files created in multiple applications. Furthermore, by offering different edition of CS is also a helpful tactic to allow users to only pay for what they need, so designers who don’t need software to build websites can opt for the Design Standard package, which doesn’t include Dreamweaver, Adobe’s Web software.