Adobe Links Publishing Apps

The new Creative Suite packaging includes illustration and publishing software that provide hooks into each other.

Adobe Systems Inc. is connecting its various illustration, publishing and Web site applications to create what officials are calling a digital desktop for designers.

The company on Monday will announce a bundled called the Adobe Creative Suite with new versions of its Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and GoLive software. Each application comes with a new feature called Version Cue that more tightly integrates the applications than Adobes earlier Collections suite, officials said.

Version Cue acts as a repository for project files that can be shared by workgroups of up to 10 users. It allows users to save successive versions of a file with embedded metadata that include user comments. Advanced administration features enable a manager to assign passwords and read/write access.

The suite also includes a paper design guide to show user how to best take advantage of the integrated suite.

Unlike Adobes Collections packaging, the Creative Suite, due this fall, comes with a single installer for the four applications and a single serial number, which eases administration, officials said. Adobes Video Collections will still be available.

Adobe, of San Jose, Calif., built the new bundle with the understanding that creative professionals need to use multiple products to get their jobs done, according to Caleb Belohlavek, group product manager for the Adobe Creative Suite.

"In the past we would design upgrade for one then figure out how to integrate with other Adobe products, now we plan for that integration up front," Belohlavek said.

Adobe Creative Suite comes in two versions: The Premium edition includes the Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and GoLive applications, plus Acrobat 6.0 Professional, Version Cue and the Design Guide; the Standard edition comes with Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign with Version Cue and Design Guide.

Adobe also is updating its pricing scheme so that users of earlier versions of Photoshop get a discount when upgrading to the Creative Suite.

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