Comparison of Differences: CS6 vs. CS5.5 vs. CS5 vs. CS4 vs. CS3
One of the most common upgrade questions we see out there is asking what’s new, what’s different, what’s better, what’s changed between Adobe CS6 and CS5.5 or CS5? Or more fundamentally, what are the key new features in CS6 versus prior versions, even compared to CS4 or CS3?
Creative Suite 6 contains hundreds of new or enhanced features and functions across the 14 point products that comprise it. So the easiest way to look at it is by major product… For example, Photoshop CS6 Extended has 62% more new features added in this cycle compared to the previous one, and nearly twice as many JDI requests (user-focused “Just Do It” items) addressed. You’ll find the details on these linked from the table below.
Adobe turns 30 this year. Over the decades the company has excelled at creating software that abstracts the latest technology in a way that makes it easy for customers to express unique ideas and deliver those ideas in a variety of media. Whether you’re editing an image with Photoshop, creating vector graphics in Illustrator, or laying out a page in InDesign, the goal of Creative Suite 6 is to give you total creative freedom along with the control and precision to ensure the highest quality when it comes to production. And when you combine the new time-saving features in CS6 together with the major reengineering of key user interfaces – in particular Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro – plus further deep optimization of tool performance, you should be able to get that work done faster and more efficiently.
So here they are, the breakouts by individual product – the CS6 vs. CS5.5 vs. CS5 vs. CS4 vs. CS3 version comparisons:
What’s New in Adobe Creative Suite 6 | ||
---|---|---|
Product | At-a-Glance | In Depth |
Photoshop CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Photoshop CS6 Extended | Version Comparison | New Features |
Illustrator CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
InDesign CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Dreamweaver CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Fireworks CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Flash Professional CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Flash Builder 4.6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Premiere Pro CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
After Effects CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Audition CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Encore CS6 | Version Comparison | New Features |
Creative Suites | ||
CS6 Design Standard | Version Comparison | New Features |
CS6 Design & Web Premium | Version Comparison | New Features |
CS6 Production Premium | Version Comparison | New Features |
CS6 Master Collection | Version Comparison | New Features |
See also our Creative Suite 6 Launch Guide plus a focused comparison of CS6 vs. CS5.5, including specific details on all the new features added product-by-product.