bit-tech Shopping: Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium

• 2D Graphics/Digital Imaging
• 3D Graphics/Animation
• Clip Art
• Presentation
• Print/Desktop Publishing
• Web Design

• Microsoft Windows Vista Business
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
• Microsoft Windows XP

Rating: 6

Time with product: 2 Days

Strengths: Tool settings, auto align, auto merge

Weaknesses: Glitchy, activation system

Summary: I've used GraphicStudio for years without any problems. Decided to upgrade finally on my new computer running Vista, which I had spec'd out specifically to run CS3. Other than Photoshop taking FOREVER to load the smallest of JPGs, it ran quickly and worked well. I did some research online and found that having a network printer set to default was the cause of the slow image loading. I changed this and images loaded much faster. Why, it has to be be like this, I don't know, as it is a bit annoying not to be able to use my network printer as the default, but I can live with that. I ran into issues just after I was using my AIO printer to scan some documents as PDF files. Apparently, Acrobat 8, which comes with the Suite, didn't like this, and I started getting "acrotray has stopped working" error messages. Then Photoshop would no longer launch. I did some more research and downloaded a patch for this from Adobe, but it didn't fix the problem. Then I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the suite (which takes a LONG time) and that didn't fix it either. I noticed that after uninstalling the suite via the control panel, there was still leftover CS3 icons in my programs. I finally got the "clean script" tool from Adobe and ran it at the most drastic level to remove Acrobat since that seemed to be the cause of my problems. Then I reinstalled the suite (minus Acrobat) and it seems to be working again, so far. I like a lot of the new features that Photoshop has, especially, the way you can set the tools, like the Magic wand to stay on add or subtract from selection, and I like the way the brushes palette is set up. I especially like the auto align and automerge features as I'm primarily a painter, and I scan paintings in parts then patch them together. These features work very well on that and save me a lot of time in that regard. What I don't like, and this is why I'm giving it a satisfactory rating rather than anything higher, as I probably would have done, is their activation system, which I learned about during all the uninstalling and reinstalling as well as the bugs and glitches I've been encountering lately. I understand the need to keep the software from being pirated, and while you can have it installed on more than one computer, it can only be activated on one computer at a time. So, if you want to have it on a home computer and a laptop to take with you, you'll have to deactivate and reactivate between computers, and you can only do this 20 times. After which you have to call support and get permission basically to do it 5 more times. I find this unacceptable. There must be an easier way, considering what this software costs. Next, I'm pretty annoyed at having spent 1-2 days resolving the glitches I had with it and I'm still leery of reinstalling Acrobat, even if I may want to use it someday. Lastly, I find the updater can be problematic as well. When you are alerted to updates, it can take a long time to install, sometimes over an hour (or more) and seems to hang a lot. If Adobe would fix these issues and come up with a more reasonable activation/licensing method, I would give it the One of the Best ratings.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 6 Months

Strengths: My wife and I do graphic arts, web creation, and advertising, and it is all be done from this one bundle. If you buy all these apps seperately, you'll pay 5 or 6 times too much. Thanks PriceGrabber

Weaknesses: Running multiple apps at the same time will kill a system with 1GB of RAM..Thats why I run with a minimum of 4GB. I love the integration of these apps. Learn 1 and you kinda know them all.

Summary: I've test drove all the other big name web/design bundles and have not found anything as powerful and all inclusive as whats offered by Macromedia/Adobe. Only thing better than this bundle is the Master Collection, but for the money I can get by with whats offered in this package.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1

Strengths: Contains full versions of anything you will need for desktop publishing. Page layout, photo manipulation, web design, vector illustration, and asset management. Free stock photos and fonts.

Weaknesses: Photoshop runs very slow on computer with 1gb of ram or less. Running multiple applications at once will bring older computers to a crawl. No video editing components.

Summary: Adobe holds the pole position in the graphics field. InDesign is becoming the choice product for long document design (beating Quark). Photoshop is known around the world for its powerful photo editing abilities. Illustrator is for vector graphics -- ideal for logos and large format design. Dreamweaver