Adobe Creative Suite 3 Premium, released in 2007, was a product of its time: the twilight of the single-purpose application and the dawn of cross-software workflows. Its very name, "Premium," suggested excess, luxury, and an all-in-one toolkit. It was a sprawling metropolis of applications. At its heart lay Photoshop CS3 Extended (with 3D and animation capabilities), Illustrator CS3, InDesign CS3, Acrobat 8 Professional, and the oft-forgotten gems: Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, and Fireworks CS3.
Enter CS5 Design Standard, released in 2010. The first and most jarring change is lexical: "Standard." The upgrade is a reduction. The "Premium" moniker is gone, replaced by a tiered system that segments creative labor. CS5 Design Standard is a disciplined, focused suite: InDesign CS5, Photoshop CS5, Illustrator CS5, and Acrobat 9 Pro. Notice the absences: no Dreamweaver, no Flash, no Fireworks, no video tools. The upgrade path from CS3 Premium to CS5 Design Standard is, in effect, a downgrade in scope, but an upgrade in specialized power. upgrade adobe premium cs3 to design standard cs5
This upgrade forces a painful question upon the user: What kind of creative professional are you? CS3 Premium allowed you to be undefined, a generalist. CS5 Design Standard demands you choose print and static digital output. It says, "You are a graphic designer, not a web designer. You do not animate. You do not prototype. You make magazines, brochures, and logos." The upgrade is a rite of professional self-identification, stripping away the "pretend" capabilities of CS3 in favor of ruthless efficiency in a narrower domain. Adobe Creative Suite 3 Premium, released in 2007,
The most profound aspect of this upgrade is the psychological whiplash. You are paying Adobe for less software . The box is thinner. The feature list is shorter. But the features that remain are so much deeper, so much more refined. This forces a crucial realization: scope is not value . CS3 Premium was wide but shallow in places (Flash and Fireworks were powerful but niche). CS5 Design Standard is narrow but deep. At its heart lay Photoshop CS3 Extended (with