Adobe Creative Suite

Adobe Creative Suite (CS) was a series of software suites of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications made or acquired by Adobe Systems. The collections consisted of various groupings of Adobe's applications (e.g., Photoshop, Acrobat, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects) based on various technologies (e.g., PostScript, PDF, Flash) and organized by industry. The last version, Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6), was launched at a release event April 23, 2012, and released on May 7, 2012.

On May 6, 2013 Adobe announced that CS6 would be the last version of the Creative Suite,  and that future versions of their creative software would only be available via their Adobe Creative Cloud subscription service. Adobe also announced that it would continue to support CS6 for OS compatibility and would provide bug fixes and security updates as necessary. The Creative Suite packages were pulled from Adobe's online store, but still remain available via a section of their website.

Applications


Brief descriptions of the applications in the various Adobe Creative Suite editions:
 * Adobe Acrobat is a software family dedicated to Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Adobe Acrobat Standard, Adobe Acrobat Professional, and Adobe Acrobat Professional Extended all allow for the creation of PDF files. Adobe Reader is an application that allows the reading of PDF files.
 * Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. It is often used in film and video post-production.
 * Adobe Audition is a digital audio editor that provides the modern interface and workflow of Adobe Soundbooth with the capabilities of Audition.
 * Adobe Bridge is an organizational program. Its primary purpose is to link the parts of the Creative Suite together using a format similar to the file browser found in previous versions of Adobe Photoshop.
 * Adobe Contribute can edit the content of a website. It allows a wide variety of people within an organization to update web pages.
 * Adobe Device Central's primary purpose is to integrate parts of the Creative Suite together to offer both professional and individual creative professionals, web designers and mobile developers an easier way to preview and test Flash Lite, bitmap, web and video content for mobile devices.
 * Adobe Dreamweaver is a combination code / GUI web development application.
 * Adobe Dynamic Link integrates After Effects with Premiere Pro and with Encore.
 * Adobe Encore is a software tool for authoring DVD and Blu-ray - produced by Adobe Systems and targeted at semi-professional video producers. Files are automatically transcoded to MPEG-2 or H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video and Dolby Digital audio. DVD and Blu-ray menus can be created and edited in Adobe Photoshop using layering techniques.
 * Adobe Fireworks is a bitmap and vector graphics editor, aimed at web designers (with features including: slices, the ability to add hotspots etc.).
 * Adobe Flash is a software family dedicated to various Adobe multimedia technologies:
 * Adobe Flash Professional, a multimedia authoring program used to create web applications, games, movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices. It features support for vector and raster graphics, a scripting language called ActionScript and bi-directional streaming of audio and video.
 * Adobe Flash Catalyst, an interaction design tool that allow users to transform Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Fireworks artwork into interactive Adobe Flash projects without writing code. Flash Catalyst was discontinued in 2012 (CS 5.5) and not included in CS 6.
 * Adobe Flash Builder, formerly Adobe Flex Builder, is an integrated development environment (IDE) built on the Eclipse platform meant for developing rich Internet applications (RIAs) and cross-platform desktop applications for the Adobe Flash platform.
 * Adobe Flash Player, a free software application which allows the playing of standalone Adobe Flash (SWF) multimedia files.
 * Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor.
 * Adobe InDesign is a desktop publishing application.
 * Adobe OnLocation (formerly Serious Magic DV Rack) was direct-to-disk recording and monitoring software included in Adobe CS from 2006 to 2012.
 * Adobe Prelude is a tool for importing (ingesting), reviewing, and logging tapeless media.
 * Adobe Photoshop is a raster-graphics editor (with significant vector graphics functionality).
 * Adobe Premiere Pro is a real-time, timeline-based video editing software application.

Editions
Adobe sells Creative Suite applications in five different combinations called "editions", these include:
 * Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design Standard is an edition of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family of products intended for professional print, web, interactive and mobile designers.
 * Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design & Web Premium is an edition of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family of products intended for professional web designers and developers.
 * Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium is an edition of the Adobe Creative Suite 6 family of products intended for professional rich media and video post-production experts who create projects for film, video, broadcast, web, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and mobile devices.
 * Adobe Creative Suite 6 Master Collection contains applications from all of the above editions
 * Adobe Creative Cloud is a subscription-based edition of Adobe Creative Suite 6 which allow users to download applications from all of the above editions, as well as access to services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing.

Adobe also sells Student and Teacher Editions (Student and Teacher Licensing) of the above suites. Starting with CS5, commercial use after graduation is now permitted worldwide. Though the license is perpetual, Student and Teacher versions of the software must be used only by the original purchaser (a student or teacher at the time of purchase) and the software must not be resold or given away. Please note that these terms and conditions are slightly different for Adobe's Creative Cloud as it is a subscription model and not a perpetual license. However, the Creative Cloud for Students permits commercial use as well.

Below is a matrix of the applications that are bundled in each of the software suites for CS6:

Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Contribute, Adobe OnLocation, and Adobe Device Central, previously available in CS5.5, have been dropped from the CS6 line-up. Adobe Prelude and Adobe Encore are not released as standalone products. Adobe Encore is available as part of Adobe Premiere Pro. Adobe InCopy, a word processing application that integrates with Adobe InDesign, is also part of the Creative Suite family, but is not included in any CS6 edition; it can be ordered from Adobe, third party plug-in developers, or systems integrators.

In March 2013, it was reported that Adobe will no longer sell boxed copies of the Creative Suite software, instead offering digital downloads and monthly subscriptions.

Creative Suite 1 and 2
The first version of Adobe Creative Suite was released in September 2003 and Creative Suite 2 in April 2005. The first two versions (CS and CS2) were available in two editions.

The Standard Edition included:
 * Adobe Bridge (Since CS2)
 * Adobe Illustrator
 * Adobe InDesign
 * Adobe Photoshop
 * Adobe Version Cue
 * Design guide and training resources

The Premium Edition also included:
 * Adobe Acrobat Professional (Version 8 in CS2.3)
 * Adobe Dreamweaver (Since CS2.3)
 * Adobe GoLive

In January 2013, Adobe offered existing CS2 users the opportunity to download a version of CS2 that no longer required Adobe server authorization. Due to Adobe's closing of the CS2 activation servers on December 15, 2012, this release allowed existing users of CS2 to reinstall their licensed copies without needing authorization from the now-closed servers. Though Adobe was careful to note that the CS2 serial number provided with the download was only for people who had "legitimately purchased CS2", many users ignored this warning and began treating CS2 as freeware.

Creative Suite Production Studio
Adobe Creative Suite Production Studio (previously Adobe Video Collection) was a suite of programs for acquiring, editing, and distributing digital video and audio that was released during the same timeframe as Adobe Creative Suite 2. The suite was available in standard and premium editions.

The Adobe Production Studio Premium edition consisted of:
 * Adobe After Effects Professional
 * Adobe Audition
 * Adobe Bridge
 * Adobe Encore DVD
 * Adobe Premiere Pro
 * Adobe Photoshop
 * Adobe Illustrator
 * Adobe Dynamic Link (Not sold separately)

The Standard edition consisted of:
 * Adobe After Effects Standard
 * Adobe Bridge
 * Adobe Premiere Pro
 * Adobe Photoshop

Since CS3, Adobe Production Studio became part of the Creative Suite family. The equivalent version for Production Studio Premium is the Adobe Creative Suite Production Premium.

Macromedia Studio
Macromedia Studio was a suite of programs designed for web content creation designed and distributed by Macromedia. After Adobe's 2005 acquisition of Macromedia, Macromedia Studio 8 was replaced, modified, and integrated into two editions of the Adobe Creative Suite family of software from version 2.3 onwards. The closest relatives of Macromedia Studio 8 are now called Adobe Creative Suite Web Premium.

Core applications from Macromedia Studio have been merged with Adobe Creative Suite since CS3, including Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. Some Macromedia applications were absorbed into existing Adobe products, e.g. FreeHand has been replaced with Adobe Illustrator. Director and ColdFusion are not part of Adobe Creative Suite and will only be available as standalone products. The final version of Macromedia Studio released include:
 * Macromedia Studio MX Released May 29, 2002, internally it was version 6 and the first incarnation of the studio to use the "MX" suffix, which for marketing purposes was a shorthand abbreviation that meant "Maximize". Studio MX included Dreamweaver, Flash, FreeHand, Fireworks and a developer edition of ColdFusion.
 * Macromedia Studio MX Plus Released February 10, 2003, sometimes referred to as MX 1.1. MX Plus was a special edition release of MX that included Freehand MX (replacing Freehand 10), Contribute and DevNet Resource Kit Special Edition in addition to the existing MX suite of products.
 * Macromedia Studio MX 2004 Released September 10, 2003, despite its name, it is internally version 7. Studio MX 2004 included FreeHand along with updated versions of Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks. An alternate version of Studio MX 2004 included Flash Professional and a new interface for Dreamweaver.
 * Macromedia Studio 8 Released September 13, 2005, Studio 8 was the last version of Macromedia Studio. It comprised Dreamweaver 8, Flash 8, Flash 8 Video Converter, Fireworks 8, Contribute 3 and FlashPaper.

Creative Suite 3
Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) was announced on March 27, 2007; it introduced universal binaries for all major programs for the Apple Macintosh, as well as including all of the core applications from Macromedia Studio and Production Studio.

Some Creative Suite programs also began using the Presto layout engine used in the Opera web browser.

Adobe began selling CS3 applications in six different combinations called "editions." Design Standard & Premium and Web Standard & Premium began shipping on April 16, 2007, and Production Premium and Master Collection editions began shipping on July 2, 2007. The latest released CS3 version was version 3.3, released on June 2, 2008. In this version Fireworks CS3 was included in Design Premium and all editions that had included Acrobat 8 Pro had it replaced with Acrobat 9 Pro. Below is a matrix of the applications included in each edition of CS3 version 3.3:

All of the above editions included shared applications and services including Adobe Bridge, Adobe Version Cue (except Production Premium), Adobe Device Central, Adobe Acrobat Connect and Adobe Stock Photos. Adobe Dynamic Link, Adobe OnLocation (Windows only) and Adobe Ultra (Windows only) were included in Production Premium and Master Collection editions.

CS3 included several programs, including Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks that were developed by Macromedia, a former rival acquired by Adobe in 2005. It also included Adobe OnLocation and Adobe Ultra that were developed by Serious Magic, also a firm acquired by Adobe in 2006.

Adobe dropped the following programs (that were previously included in CS2) from the CS3 software bundles:
 * Adobe GoLive (replaced by Adobe Dreamweaver)
 * Adobe ImageReady (merged into Adobe Photoshop and replaced by Adobe Fireworks)
 * Adobe Audition (replaced by Adobe Soundbooth)

Adobe had announced that it would continue to develop Audition as a standalone product, while GoLive had been discontinued. Adobe GoLive 9 was released as a standalone product on June 10, 2007. Adobe Audition 3 was announced as a standalone product on September 6, 2007. Adobe had discontinued ImageReady and had replaced it with Fireworks, with some of ImageReady's features integrated into Photoshop.

Creative Suite 4
Adobe Creative Suite 4 (CS4) was announced on September 23, 2008 and officially released on October 15, 2008. All applications in CS4 featured the same user interface, with a new tabbed interface for working with concurrently running Adobe CS4 programs where multiple documents can be opened inside multiple tabs contained in a single window.

Adobe CS4 was also developed to perform better under 64-bit and multi-core processors. On MS Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS4 ran natively as a 64-bit application. Although they were not natively 64-bit applications, Adobe After Effects CS4 and Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 had been optimized for 64-bit computers. However, there were no 64-bit versions of CS4 available for Mac OS X. In early testing of 64-bit support in Adobe Photoshop CS4, overall performance gains ranged from 8% to 12%, due to the fact that 64-bit applications could address larger amounts of memory and thus resulted in less file swapping — one of the biggest factors that can affect data processing speed.

Two programs were dropped from the CS4 line-up: Adobe Ultra, a vector keying application which utilizes image analysis technology to produce high quality chroma key effects in less than ideal lighting environments and provides keying of a subject into a virtual 3D environment through virtual set technology, and Adobe Stock Photos. Below is a matrix of the applications that were bundled in each of the software suites for CS4:

Creative Suite 5
Adobe Creative Suite 5 (CS5) was released on April 30, 2010. From CS5 onwards, Windows versions of Adobe Premiere CS5 and Adobe After Effects CS5 were 64-bit only and required at least Windows Vista 64-bit or a later 64-bit Windows version. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition was no longer supported. Adobe Version Cue, an application that enabled users to track and manipulate file metadata and automate the process of collaboratively reviewing documents among groups of people, and the Adobe Creative Suite Web Standard edition, previously available in CS4, were dropped from the CS5 line-up. Below is a matrix of the applications that were bundled in each of the software suites for CS5:

Creative Suite 5.5
Following the release of CS5 in April 2010, Adobe changed its release strategy to an every other year release of major number installments. CS5.5 was presented on April 12, 2011, as an in-between program until CS6. The update helped developers optimize websites for a variety of tablets, smart phones, and other devices. At the same time, Adobe announced a subscription-based pay service as an alternative to full purchase. On July 1, 2011, Adobe Systems announced its Switcher Program, which will allow people who had purchased any version of Apple's Final Cut Pro (or Avid Media Composer) to receive a 50 percent discount on Creative Suite CS5.5 Production Premium or Premiere Pro CS5.5.

Not all products were upgraded to CS5.5 in this release; applications that were upgraded to CS5.5 included Adobe InDesign, Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Adobe Device Central. Adobe Audition also replaced Adobe Soundbooth in CS5.5, Adobe Story was first offered as an AIR-powered screenwriting and preproduction application, and Adobe Acrobat X Pro replaced Acrobat 9.3 Pro. Below is a matrix of the applications that were bundled in each of the software suites for CS5.5:

Creative Suite 6
During an Adobe conference call on June 21, 2011, CEO Shantanu Narayen said that the April 2011 launch of CS5.5 was "the first release in our transition to an annual release cycle", adding, "We intend to ship the next milestone release of Creative Suite in 2012." On March 21, 2012, Adobe released a freely available beta version of Adobe Photoshop CS6. The final version of Adobe CS6 was launched on a release event April 23, 2012, and first shipped May 7. Adobe also launched a subscription-based offering named Adobe Creative Cloud where users are able to gain access to individual applications or the full Adobe Creative Suite 6 suite on a per-month basis, plus additional cloud storage spaces and services.

Move to Creative Cloud subscription-only service
On May 5, 2013, during the opening keynote of its Adobe MAX conference, Adobe announced that it was retiring the "Creative Suite" branding in favor of "Creative Cloud", and making all future feature updates to its software (now appended with "CC" instead of "CS", i.e. Photoshop CC) available via the Creative Cloud subscription service rather than through the purchasing of perpetual licenses.

Customers must pay a monthly subscription fee and if they stop paying, they will lose access to the software as well as to the work they saved in proprietary file formats, which is not backward-compatible with the Creative Suite (Adobe admitted that this is a valid concern ). They must have Internet connection to download the software and to use the 2 GB of provided storage space (or the additionally purchased 20 GB ), and must validate the license monthly.

Adobe's decision to make the subscription service the only sales route for its creative software was met with strong criticism (see Creative Cloud controversy). Several online articles began offering replacements of Photoshop, Illustrator, and other programs, with free software such as the GNU Gimp and Inkscape or competing products such as CorelDRAW, PaintShop Pro, and Pixelmator directly offering alternatives.

In addition to many of the products formerly part of the Creative Suite (one product, Fireworks, was announced as having reached the end of its development cycle), Creative Cloud also offers subscription-exclusive products such as Adobe Muse and the Adobe Edge family, Web-based file and website hosting, Typekit fonts, and access to the Behance social media platform. The new CC versions of their applications, and the full launch of the updated Creative Cloud service, was announced for June 17, 2013. Adobe also announced that it would continue to offer bug fixes for the CS6 products so that they will continue to run on the next versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X