Chapter twenty-one. Using Photoshop with the Adobe Creative Suite

ALTHOUGH PHOTOSHOP HAS A LONG AND STRONG HISTORY as a standalone software product, it is also available as part of the Adobe Creative Suite collection of Adobe graphics programs. The goal of the Creative Suite is not merely to sell several Adobe products in one box, but also to integrate their functions. For example, using non-Creative Suite programs you typically need to convert copies of graphics to a common file format before importing them into another program. Using the Adobe Creative Suite, you can take advantage of Photoshop features such as layers and styles and then import the Photoshop document into an Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator print layout without further conversion. By supporting the Photoshop file format directly, you can avoid making additional documents, which simplifies file management.

Adobe Creative Suite integration goes further than file format compatibility. In many cases, importing a Photoshop document into other Creative Suite programs is as easy as dragging and dropping.

Instead of having to learn the complete tool sets of several different programs, you can take advantage of the consistent user interface across Creative Suite programs. If you know how to use the direct selection tool in Adobe Illustrator, you already know how to use that same tool when editing paths in Photoshop. In addition, Adobe Bridge ties together all of the Creative Suite products, making it easier to manage projects and preview and identify the documents you want to use in your projects.

Adobe Creative Suite comes in two versions: Standard and Premium. The Standard suite includes Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Stock Photos, and Adobe Version Cue version-tracking and collaboration software. The Premium suite adds Adobe GoLive and Adobe Acrobat Professional.