I recently received my copy of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 Web Premium Edition (henceforth to be known as simply CS3). Being in a hurry to learn enough to introduce the included Dreamweaver update to my web design students, I immediately installed it. (Note: Check out Installation Pain at SEOrefugee for tips for a pain-free installation.) This is Adobe’s first update of DW since purchasing Macromedia. In spite of worries about Adobe’s near monopolistic lock on the graphics market, I’ve been looking forward to the update since the buyout was announced. Adobe has earned their dominant position by churning out great products and I’ve been anxious to see what additions they’d bring to DW and, more importantly, how they would better integrate the program into Creative Suite.

First Impressions

After spending a bit of time with the program, I’m not disappointed. DWCS3 is a must-have update.The big changes come in three areas:

1. Better support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
2. AJAX integration through the inclusion of Adobe’s Spry framework.
3. Integration with other Creative Suite products.

CSS Support

As a web developer who designs AND builds websites, the switch from HTML formatting to Cascading Style sheets has been, to say the least, challenging. I’ve found creating cross-browser, CSS-based (rather than table-based) page layouts difficult and, at times, impossible. While I recognize the superiority of CSS over tables for positioning elements, I’ve often chosen to compromise and abandon “pure” CSS in order to get a project out the door.DWCS3 should make most of those compromises a thing of the past. It ships with several one, two and three column fixed and “liquid” CSS design templates. With customization, the selections offered should address the vast majority of page design issues users will face. The templates are well constructed and, from my brief experience, easier to modify without “exploding” than the solutions I’ve “borrowed” in the past.DWCS3 also sports a robust Browser Compatibility Check. The Check scans pages for a wide variety of possible cross-browser CSS problems. It flags potential problems, describes them succinctly, details which browsers are affected and offers a link to solutions at Adobe’s online CSS Advisor. The feature worked so well that I can’t wait to try it out on my other sites. If my initial impressions stand, this feature alone will justify the price of the update.

AJAX

AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript And XHTML) is the basis for much of the interactivity (pop-up menus, expanding boxes, etc.) that defines Web 2.o. It’s included in DWCS3 through the integration of Adobe’s Spry framework. I suspect it will prove to be a mixed blessing. While it will make the creation of highly interactive web pages and web applications easier, I’m also dreading the possible Chinese puzzle user interfaces that inexperienced designers will create.Still, the functions work well. In a relatively small amount of time I was able to put together and customize a drop-down menu. I was also able to create expandable/collapsible panels, accordion panels and growing/shrinking graphics. I have to admit that I’m now desperately looking for a reason to use them.

Integration With Other Creative Suite Applications

As I said, this is Adobe’s first version of Dreamweaver and, not surprisingly, they’ve taken the opportunity to fully integrate it into the Creative Suite. The most striking example is the ability to copy a selection across multiple layers in Photoshop CS3 and paste it directly into a DW document. Upon pasting into DW, you are presented with a preview of the selection and prompted to save the selection in an optimized and web-friendly file format. The new image retains a link to the original, layered, Photoshop file which can be opened directly from DW (although, if you make changes, you’ll need to make a new selection and repeat the copy and paste process). I haven’t had a chance to explore DW’s integration with the rest of the suite yet but the included Workflow Guide suggests it’s extensive.

Other impressions

Speaking of image editing, one surprising change in CS3 is that ImageReady has been replaced by Fireworks (also a former Macromedia application) for editing web images. While the new Fireworks is a more powerful program, I suspect I’m not the only one who will find adapting to the Fireworks interface, which betrays its Macromedia origins, difficult.

Recommendations

I normally recommend caution when buying new software or upgrading existing software. However, given the relatively few reports of problems (other than with installation by users who previewed a beta version of Firework or Photoshop CS3), I’d recommend an immediate upgrade to DWCS3. This is especially true if you’re using, or plan to use, CSS on your websites. The templates and Browser Compatibility Check will justify the cost in short order.Given the cost of purchasing a CS3 suite, I’m more hesitant to recommend that purchase. However, if you qualify for an upgrade and will be updating DW anyway, you can probably justify the cost of upgrading the suite. And, if you’re a student or instructor, don’t forget that Adobe offers academic discounts. Check with your school store.