My main reaction to the first 1998 edition of Photoshop for the Web was surprise. After all, Photoshop 5 was a print-based photo editor with no dedicated Web features and little to offer apart from the ability to save to JPEG and GIF...

Throughout its long and chequered career – first under MetaCreations, then Procreate and now Corel – Painter has always stood out as the artistic and creative computer application bar none. The reason is simple: Painter's unique range of natural media brushes.

Our massive guide to Adobe's huge overhaul of the Creative Suite, including reviews of Photoshop CS4, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver.

A new interface, drawing engine and programming language, but surprisingly little new power.

Macromedia Flash (May 2002, page 60), Dreamweaver, Fireworks and FreeHand (Studio MX, November 2002, page 71), have all been given the MX treatment, and now it's Director's turn.

A period of transition as Adobe deals with its Macromedia inheritance and the changing nature of the web.

Four powerful and long-serving Photoshop plug-ins at a cut-down price.

An excellent release that reworks Photoshop’s core colour-correction capabilities, making them even more powerful

COREL DESIGNER 10

Adobe builds on its print strengths to take its rich design mission online. And it has made a success of it, too.

Improved handling of templates, tracing, text and layers along with new table support, but ultimately X4 disappoints

Microsoft prepares to march into Adobe territory with its forthcoming suite of graphics and web development software.

What makes PDF (Portable Document Format) unique is that it can provide an exact electronic replica of any document from any application on all major platforms, including all text, graphics and fonts. It’s an amazingly flexible format with a myriad of uses ranging from electronic manuals and e-books, through secure document exchange and archiving, to multimedia presentation and high-end commercial print.

A simplified interface, strong photo-to-art Focus and the low price make painter essentials a great buy.

A wide range of power, but too old-fashioned and confusing for most users.

Photoshop moves beyond photo editing to conquer completely new territory.

Existing export capabilities and new support for dynamic components make this a must for professional users

Adobe significantly strengthens its print, web and production workflows – and the integration between them

With Web Standard/Premium, Design Premium AND Macromedia’s products now absorbed into CS3, choosing the right suite is EASY.

Improved interface and drawing capabilities, new photo matching and hand-drawn effects – and it’s still free