Magazine
ADOBE CS6 MASTER COLLECTION
6/27/2012 By: Carol S. Holzberg
www.adobe.com Retail Price: $800 (Master Collection for Students and Teachers). Student and teacher editions of individual applications in the Master Collection range from $119
for Acrobat X Pro to $249 for Photoshop CS6 Extended.
Users already familiar with Adobe’s
popular CS applications will find
some welcome improvements in
CS6 Master Collection, including
faster launch times for many of the
applications and added support for
64-bit processors.
Quality and Effectiveness: CS6 Master
Collection, the latest iteration of Adobe’s arsenal
of industry-standard digital tools, artfully provides
a collection of tightly integrated applications
used daily by design, photography, Web, and
production professionals around the world. These
are the “expert” tools that students should use
to craft their many projects. Adobe CS6 Master
Collection provides full access to nearly two dozen
applications. All but Adobe Flash Builder and Acrobat Pro X have
been updated. As with previous iterations of the suite, applications
can be tailored to individual user needs.
Ease of Use: Students and educators who have never experienced
a CS Master Collection suite likely will feel overwhelmed by the
sheer number of available
applications, but each
Adobe application has
extensive Help files
accessed from the
Help menu.
Creative Use of
Technology: In CS6
Master Collection, Adobe
recognizes that users are
probably creating content for multiple resolutions, aspect ratios, and
digital devices. For example, when you create a flyer in InDesign, you
can finesse the content at startup by indicating that you’re designing
for Web, print, or digital publishing (i.e. iPhone, iPad, Kindle Fire/
Nook, or Android 10).
Suitability for Use in a School Environment: Adobe CS6 Master
Collection tools are not just for students. Teachers, administrators
and staff can use the tightly integrated applications to produce flyers,
newsletters, video clips, and photo collections. If teachers or office
personnel manage a Web site, they can certainly use Dreamweaver to
prepare pages for Web display.
Overall Rating: Whether you’re editing a gallery of photos for a
year book, producing a video for a school Web site, or “publishing” a
research project for display on multiple devices, several Adobe CS6
tools get high marks for helping you do your best work.
TOP FEATURES
• Integrates industry-standard realworld
tools for creative design, video production and Web development.
• Increased support for HTML 5, CSS
transitions, and multiple presentation
formats.
• Improved support for 64-bit computing
and GPU acceleration.