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Software Reviews

When you are ready to purchase the most recent release of your graphic design or desktop publishing application to get the latest and greatest tools, make sure you know what you're paying for. We've taken a look at some of the most popular titles and provided a list of reviews from around the Web. Before you head off to the computer store, find out if the upgrade is worth the price or whether you might want to wait until the next version.

Adobe Acrobat 6 Professional (macworld.com ) With all the features of the Standard version and then some, Acrobat 6.0 Professional is a dream come true for graphic artists and prepress pros. But it may leave its secondary market, engineers and architects, stranded by the side of the road.

Adobe Illustrator CS (macworld.com ) Though Illustrator CS doesn't pack a lot of new drawing tools, Adobe's extensive reworking of the program's text tools makes this upgrade a typographic dream. Add a smattering of new illustration tools and an improved printing interface, and you've got a valuable upgrade.

Adobe InDesign CS (macworld.com ) This publishing program is poised to topple QuarkXPress. InDesign CS is a subtle yet very powerful update to Adobe's publishing flagship.

Adobe Photoshop CS (macworld.com ) Photoshop CS is a broad and deep upgrade to the company's anchor image editor. Despite its low-key presentation -- its interface is almost the same as version 7's -- it has amazing new tools for Photoshop's traditional users.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 (macworld.com ) Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 sports numerous editing features that were formerly available only in the $699 Photoshop CS, and it wraps its new powers in a revamped user interface that makes image editing more approachable for casual photographers and inexperienced image editors.

CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 (macworld.com ) Geared toward corporate communications professionals, CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 covers everything from digital illustration to image editing. But even graphics pros will discover many pleasant surprises -- and improvements upon Graphics Suite 10 -- in this collection, once they put aside preconceived notions.

Corel Painter 9 (macworld.com ) Corel continues to do an excellent job improving Painter's interface, and the new features are well conceived and well executed.

Extensis Mask Pro 3 (macworld.com ) Mask Pro 3 is the latest upgrade to Extensis's excellent masking plug-in for Photoshop, and with a number of new selection tools and masking utilities, as well as OS X support, it is essential for the avid Photoshop user.

Extensis Portfolio 7 (macworld.com ) Portfolio 7 is a powerful cataloging and inventory tool, and a great way to organize your digital assets.

Extensis Suitcase XI (macworld.com ) Extensis's Suitcase XI has an improved windowpane interface that makes font management easy. And it's quite fast in Classic, Jaguar, and Panther.

Insider Software FontAgent Pro 2.1 (macworld.com ) Font Agent Pro 2.1's evolutionary new features -- autoactivation, font subsets (called Cascading Sets), and Classic font activation -- keep it in-line with its competitors.

Macromedia Flash MX (macworld.com ) As the first program to emerge from Macromedia's new, tightly integrated MX product line, Flash MX offers an improved interface, new video support, OS X compatibility, and a host of powerful scripting tools that, when used in conjunction with the new Flash Player 6, produce leaner--and significantly meaner--Web sites.

Macromedia Freehand MX (macworld.com ) Freehand MX's new feature set and interface innovations not only expand a user's potential repertoire, but its newfound stability once again makes it an essential tool in a digital artist's arsenal.

Microsoft Office X for Mac (cnet.com) If you've been waiting for a good reason to purchase Mac OS X, Office X is it.

QuarkXPress 6.0 (macworld.com ) The release of QuarkXPress 6.0 should let designers at last switch to OS X-only environments, leaving behind the unsavory alternatives: the iinconsistent screen redraws of XPress 4 and 5 in OS X's Classic mode, constantly booting between OS 9 and OS X, and forgoing OS X completely to use XPress 4 or 5 without bother.

-- Review Summaries --

Adobe Creative Suite (zdnet.com) At the end of 2003, Adobe's three Collections morphed into Creative Suite. What distinguishes a suite from a collection? In this case, it's improved work-flow integration and interface similarity among the various applications.