Cheaper and more powerful Adobe Creative Suite 2, incorporating Photoshop CS2, set for May arrival

dpnow's illustrated introductory tour of Photoshop CS2 Official Adobe CS2 press releases Today Adobe has pre-announced Adobe Creative Suite 2, its imaging software suite that comprises Photoshop, Image Ready, InDesign, Acrobat Professional (Premium suite edition only), Illustrator, GoLive! (Premium suite edition only) Distiller and Designer. As before, most of the CS component packages will be made available separately or as a suite bundle and the good news is that we can expect slightly reduced prices and lots of feature improvements.

Of primary interest to dpnow visitors will, undoubtedly, be Photoshop CS2. We have been using beta versions for several weeks now and although these are still quite buggy (the Mac version less so than the Windows one), Adobe is on target to start shipping CS2 by the end of May.

Photoshop CS2 has a good list of improvements and we have put together a hands-on preview of Photoshop CS2. Headline improvements include integration with a new CS2 feature shared by all CS2 components, called the Bridge - which is basically a new and improved document browser, support for 32 bit editing, extended 16-bit editing features, lots of new user-customisation tools, more RAW processing features, improved healing brush tools and maximum image size no longer limited to 2GB.

There is also a new help system, improved colour management control, some new workflow-optimised creative filter options and enhanced features for Web developers. There is also a new vanishing point option that prevents unwanted distortion when editing images that display a lot perspective detail.

An important new feature is the Bridge. Not only is this a media management tool, but it simplifies colour settings between all the CS2 component applications - you only have to make settings once in the Bridge instead of individually within each application.

The Bridge also provides access to Photoshop Services, an online stock photography service plus a directory of professional photographers for users looking for specific imaging content.

UK pricing
Official UK pricing for Photoshop CS2 drops from £520 to £439. The upgrade price is reduced from £142 to £119.

Pricing for the two versions of the CS2 suite are £899 for the Premium edition and £669 for the Standard edition. If you have Photoshop CS or 7.0, you can upgrade to the Standard edition Suite for £349 or the Premium edition for £569. We don't yet have upgrade prices for existing suite owners.

US pricing
Photoshop CS2 $599
Photoshop CS2 upgrade from CS or 7.0 $149
Upgrade to Photoshop CS2 from selected earlier Photoshop editions $499
CS2 Standard suite $899
CS2 Premium suite $1199
CS1 Standard upgrade to CS2 Standard $349
CS1 Premium upgrade to CS2 Premium $449
CS1 Standard upgrade to CS2 Premium $549
Photoshop CS or 7.0 upgrade to CS2 Premium $749

Check out our tour of Photoshop CS2 a bit later today!

Official Adobe press releases:

Adobe Pushes the Boundaries of Digital Photography and Imaging with Debut of Photoshop CS2

Adobe Accelerates Print, Web and Mobile Publishing Workflows With Introduction of Adobe Creative Suite 2

Adobe Introduces Next Generation Authoring for Web and Mobile Platforms with GoLive CS2

Designers to Rediscover the Power of Vector Graphics with Adobe Illustrator CS2

Adobe Introduces InCopy CS2 With Enhanced Support for Collaborative Editorial Workflows

Adobe InDesign CS2 Leads Next Wave in Publishing and Design Innovation

Adobe's All-New Stock Photos Service Gives Access to Top Image Libraries