The Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) comes in many editions, each with a different focus. The “Design Standard” edition, which includes Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat Professional, is ideal for graphic designers.
Photoshop
Photoshop is the industry standard software for image editing, with a wide variety of tools for perfecting or enhancing photos. It is also an excellent application for creating web layouts and elements. It is ideal for:
- Retouching and editing photos
- Designing websites
- Designing web elements (such as button bars and banner ads)
Illustrator
Illustrator is built for the creation of vector graphics, which can be scaled to any size without loss of quality. It is ideal for:
- Logo design
- Poster design
- Digital illustration
- Complex use of type
InDesign
InDesign is Adobe’s page layout application, perfect for multi-page projects. It is ideal for:
- Book design
- Brochure design
- Magazine layout
- Desktop publishing
Acrobat Professional
Acrobat Pro is for the creation of PDFs, which maintain a consistent look regardless of the user’s computer, platform or browser. It is ideal for:
- Posting documents for download from websites
- Creating files for delivery to printers
- Sending design mockups to clients
- Securing contracts and other forms
