Kind of like at the gas station . . . hmmmmmmmm.

This regular unleaded version of the Creative Suite is accessible to the experienced graphic designer and newbie alike. I basically had taught myself Photoshop and Dreamweaver out of necessity for work but was understandably anxious about the responsibility of putting money into the Creative Suite and did not want to take the risk of not knowing how to use it.

First things first - test drive it with free DVD offered on the Adobe website and make sure your PC has enough memory to run the dang thing. But if necessary, it's very worthwhile to upgrade your PC or buy a new one (as I did) and invest in CS as opposed to sticking with Quark.

Requirements for the Standard Edition:
Intel? Pentium? III or 4 processor
Microsoft? Windows? 2000 with Service Pack 4, or Windows XP with Service Pack 1 or 2
384MB of RAM to run any one creative application with Adobe? Bridge and Version Cue? Workspace
Additional RAM required to run multiple applications simultaneously (512MB to 1GB recommended)
2GB of available hard-disk space to install all applications (installation of common files requires at least 1GB on primary hard disk)*
1,024x768 monitor resolution with 16-bit video card (24-bit screen display recommended)
CD-ROM drive
For Adobe PostScript? printers: PostScript Level 2 or PostScript 3™
Internet or phone connection required for product activation
QuickTime 6.5 required for multimedia features
Broadband Internet connection required for Adobe Stock Photos and additional services

To run the Premium suite you pretty much need all of the above but require one more gig of hard drive space.

Standard and Premium suites BOTH include newest versions of Photoshop (image and background editing), Illustrator (image creation), InDesign (page layout software), VersionCue (file version saving/organization), Adobe Bridge and Adobe Stock Photos.

Premium includes the GoLive (web design) and Acrobat programs not included in the Standard suite. THEREFORE, you simply don't need to pay extra for Premium unless you need these two programs.

Special features of the suite include the shared file system (VersionCue) that allows multiple users to easily store versions for wishy-washy (o.k. - let's just say MADDENING) clients, and ease of editing images and text between uses. Comes with a great video training. Adobe Bridge is new in CS2 and assists in the browsing and organization of images and files.

InDesign was not immediately intuitive but as soon as I became acquainted with the toolbar and shortcuts, I used it for everything. So far with no formal training I have designed a logo and brand identity for a small Chicago business owner, produced and transferred numerous communications tools from Word, and printed several docs with few prepress issues.

A few comments for InDesign - be careful with the fonts and transparencies. Use fonts from the fonts list or create .eps formats in Photoshop first whenever possible and keep transparencies at very low percentages.

Warning for template lovers - good templates for InDesign are hard to find though some come with the CS. Be prepared to start from scratch or transfer old art into an .eps format to import. However, Adobe Bridge gives you easier access to over 200,000 royalty-free images which makes up for hard to find templates!

Illustrator is Illustrator - I'm still learning the ins and outs of this extremely useful program.

I'm using Dreamweaver, though and did not make the switch to GoLive! Most nonprofessionals using Dreamweaver for web publishing will be fine getting the Standard as opposed to the Premium suite and continue using Dreamweaver.

Obviously, I am not a computer expert, but this Creative Suite gave me and my small nonprofit everything we needed to take our communications to the next level. Just familiarize yourself with a manual (the for Dummies ones are a good place to start) or via the tutorial (in a heavy British accent) and learn the shortcuts and prepress considerations. Should work out well for you!


Recommended: Yes