Salutations. For five years, I've been running a large site using Dreamweaver MX. I created the graphics with Paint Shop Pro. The pages are basic HTML with tables, a few layers, and basic JAVA / rollover effects available via DW's pull down menus. While I know basic HTML coding, anything else I've done with the web pages has come from what I've been able to do using DW's pull down menus. I want to take the site to the next level, and I'm willing to learn more (XHTML, CSS, PHP, Java, Flash, etc.) to get there. I understand that I am going to have to invest a substantial amount of time in actually learning scripting to do that. As a side note, I also want to improve my graphics and art, as well. Currently, I have Dreamweaver MX and the various other programs that came with that suit (Flash, Fireworks, etc) and Paint Shop Pro 7 for graphic creation. I recently saw Web Master CS4 Collection for $800 on ebay. It includes... * Dreamweaver CS4 * Flash CS4 Professional * Photoshop CS4 Extended * Illustrator CS4 * Fireworks CS4 * Soundbooth CS4 * Acrobat 9 Pro * Contribute CS4 I know I can learn and do a lot more with the software I already have. However, I do not know if an investment in these newer programs would be worth it. On one hand, I wonder I should be learning how to do some of this new stuff using the newest software, in case the newer software has more shortcuts, different locations for functions, etc. On the other hand, as a heavy user of MS Excel, I can tell anyone that the differences between Excel 2000 and 2007 are superficial at best and add little actual functionality. I'm hoping that someone with more experience (especially with Dreamweaver, Photoshop and/or Paint Shop Pro) can highlight the contrasts between the versions mentioned and give advice as to whether or not doing an upgrade, given where I'm at and what I want to do, would be worth it. You can see my site at cyberlightcomics.com christiangamerconnection.com And my artwork is featured on the comic, Wildlight at cyberlightcomics.com/wildlight My main goals are (in order).... *Improve the professionalism of my artwork on Wildlight *Make the Cyberlight site more professional overall. Centering the page would be a great start! *I need to be able to make signficant changes to the way the bulletin boards and news blog on both sites look. They are way to generic. *Currently, hundreds of pages of comics are coded by separate HTML pages. I would love to be able to make a PHP program of some sort to automate the process. *Lastly, I would like to be able to spruce up both sites with some flash animation. Thank you very much for your time and assistance, in advance. It is very appreciated.
I can't comment on a lot of the packages that you listed because I have never used them other than Fireworks and Dreamweaver (I've been using this since version 4 (currently using CS3). Also web development (coding and scripting) is more my thing than graphics so my focus is probably different. In my humble opinion, the earlier versions of a package such as Dreamweaver are perfectly good for your needs. Yes, the newer versions have more functionality enabling you to supposedly produce PHP and ASP etc. with some inbuilt AJAX capability, but I use other tools to do this in any case. Also, these packages have become much more bloated since they became part of the Adobe camp and are much more resource hungry than before. Hope this helps, Jonathan
While your individual need for certain updates within the programs could be discussed at great length there is one big improvement that this suite would provide over your current setup--outstanding integration. As a web designer it can be very easy to lose focus on the creative side of a project. The integration that is provided by the Adobe suite is truly top-notch. That is one of the many reasons it is #1 in the market. Good Luck.