Adobe expands Photoshop with second CS3

Adobe Systems, weeks away from delivering its Creative Suite 3 version of Photoshop, said on Wednesday that it's adding a second edition that expands the software's abilities significantly beyond its traditional role of editing static, two-dimensional images.

In addition to Photoshop CS3, which has been in public beta testing since December, Adobe will sell Photoshop CS3 Extended, the company announced in Las Vegas at the Photo Marketing Association trade show. The Extended version can be used to create 3D graphics, add graphics to multiple frames of video or film, stitch images together into videos, and measure and analyse images, Adobe said, and it has features geared for architects, engineers, scientists and medical researchers.

The move spotlights the company's effort to maintain the dominance of the image-editing package. But at the same time it's accelerating the core Photoshop package's feature sprawl, it's also launched a cousin called Photoshop Lightroom with a much narrower scope — editing and managing photographs from high-end cameras.

Adobe also plans a basic online version of Photoshop, chief executive Bruce Chizen said earlier this month.

The company is expected to announce the full line of CS3 products on 27 March and ship the products in the spring. The CS3 products are the first from the company to support Apple's newer Intel-based Macs, which are widely used in design circles.
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