Today's tough economy demands creative problem solving-budgets are shrinking and you have to do more with less. Whilst some may think that choosing to sit still on the upgrade path can save immediate budgets, it's a short-term vision that can strangle long-term business prosperity. Adobe Creative Suite 4 software can save you time every day while arming your organisation with new ways to expand your services and deliver high quality in the face of tough competition.

As three research agencies and a leading technology magazine recently, publically deduced, Adobe Creative Suite 4 can be used by designers to achieve productivity gains - applying their creative thinking to ways to do more with less; to maintain profitability; and to deliver high quality work in the face of tough competition.

Adobe commissioned Pfeiffer Consulting to quantify the productivity gains CS4 offers for everyday tasks over previous releases as well as relevant competitive products-and the results are dramatic.
• Making three adjustments in Adobe Photoshop® CS4 software using the new Adjustments panel is more than 200% faster than using Adjustment Layers in previous versions to achieve the same results
• Finding and fixing an error in a 2-page Adobe InDesign® CS4 software layout with Live Preflight is 200% faster than finding and fixing errors using the Preflight options in InDesign CS3.

More than 100 benchmark tests focusing on design; print, digital imaging, web and interactive design, and video production were conducted. Tests covered workflow-related productivity measures as well as market-specific design and publishing activities.

Similarly, the OMNI Research Group independently reported an 18% productivity improvement in CS4 benchmark processing time and reduced steps in creating a finished content piece over a like comparison to CS3. The OMNI report commented:

‘With a single asset taking multiple shapes across print, Web, and mobile platforms, the intrinsic value of Creative Suite 4 is purposing content in these varied formats while retaining the designer's distinct intention for quality. While some competitive products singularly focus on threads of content production, the bundle of CS4 applications harmonises the creative process with flexibility of the desired output in mind. What is created in one application can easily be shelved into another with different rendering tools.'

"New features in Adobe CS 4 can dramatically increase productivity, efficiency and return on investment. Research shows that every unnecessary click has the ability to slow down users' productivity," says Andrew Larkin, Adobe Creative Suite Business Development Manager.

"Routine operations across Adobe CS 4 can be accomplished more quickly now than with previous versions, dramatically improving the user experience and saving hours every month. That is a compelling reason to upgrade, enabling users to dedicate more time to the creative side of a project."

Get closer, get more creative, and achieve your goals
The creative team at Sydney boutique design agency Birdcreative all chose a CS4 upgrade after being demonstrated its productivity benefits and new features. Producing work for print and web mediums, the further integration of all the applications within CS4 held particular appeal for the cross-platform focused agency.

"The team was particularly attracted by the Flash conversion from InDesign. We'd been creating Flash books for clients previously but in a roundabout way. Now, in no time at all, we can deliver an engaging book complete with animation, interactivity, video, and sound," says Kasia Froncek, Co-Director, Birdcreative.

A small team of three, Birdcreative prides itself on its accessibility. "The person you brief, who provides feedback, is the same person who works on the job. It enables us to build close relationships with clients, and that personal touch means productivity has to be optimum so we deliver when we say," explains Froncek.

With CS4 she notes processing is now faster, with the speed difference in Photoshop particularly noticeable: "Including exporting contact sheets. I even worked on a laptop through one week and didn't notice any issues." Similarly from her laptop, she comments how Photoshop's drop down menus are more streamlined, making everything easy-to-see and accessible.

Birdcreative has two studios. Working remotely means the agency chooses to invest heavily in up-to-date technology.

"We appreciate how all of the CS4 programs work together harmoniously, allowing us to complete our work more efficiently and with greater speed. Flash conversion from InDesign means we can quickly turning our print publications into web ready files for our clients to load directly to their sites, or for their corporate presentations," explains Co-Director Judith Martinez

Birdcreative's web designer Shane Lovejoy saw immediate productivity boosts, particularly after coming to grips with CS4s new Flash interface. "Live View saves me fantastic amounts of time. I still test in browsers, but not as much, allowing me to bring projects to completion faster, and be ready for the next."

He is similarly complementary about Smart Guides and the Blob Brush in Illustrator, which has made his exporting of SWF files to Flash easier and more consistent, "especially great for freestyle logos."

Lovejoy also shares Froncek's appreciation of Photoshop improvements in CS4: "Photoshop is certainly a lot faster and the new hand throw scroll is great when retouching at high magnifications. Finally being able to tab through open Photoshop documents was one of those 'Yay, about time'," he laughs. "I have also used the 3D feature to great effect while creating concept graphics for sign writing on vehicles, it's much easier and far quicker to now get the correct perspective."

According to Judith Martinez, Acrobat 9 has also freed the team at Birdcreative to enjoy true collaboration.

"The fact that Birdcreative has two locations means we rely on a heavy PDF workflow. The sophistication of Acrobat allows us to communicate effectively between offices and with clients. We encourage our clients to use the mark-up tools to send back edits - our clients are busy people and appreciate anything we can recommend to make their lives easier. We also use Acrobat 9 internally for feedback on each other's work. It feels like we are just a desk away, but really it's 100 kilometres!"