Bridge CS5 continues its development with improved speed, more output options, better customization in creating web galleries and PDF exports, better batch renaming, and the introduction of Mini Bridge, to name just a few of the new features in CS5. Despite all that, Bridge took baby steps compared to all of the other CS5 applications. Thus, while some of the changes are welcomed and desired, they are also limited and not fully fleshed out.

The task is truly daunting: the release of eighteen major applications along with a wide peripheral collection of many supporting applications, web-based applications, Flash-based applications, and associated shared resource applications. To release any one of these is a big task, to release them all, on the same day is, well, either risky or reckless. To be successful at it is amazing. To do it 5 times in a row, is battling luck. But if Pixar can be successful time after time, why not Adobe? And they have. The range of product improvements in Creative Suite 5 goes from subtle and cool to drop-down amazing.

For many years, Alien Skin's Eye Candy has been one of the most used plugins for creating eye-catching effects for image design enhancement. This current version continues to build on previous versions to provide even more effects and greater variety to make your designs "work." The catch is that working with Eye Candy is at its best if you have Photoshop CS4. If you have Photoshop CS3, it's good. If you have Fireworks CS4 or Photoshop Elements, it's okay. This is partly due to the fact that the amount of features has fully passed the inharent user-interface design limitations.

After a nine year absence and a promise that a Mac OS X version would be out "soon," Strider Software has finally released TypeStyler for Mac OS X. This vector program that can stylize text like Photoshop—but with significantly more potential for customization—is once again back on my computer. The new TypeStyler has significantly more features, but it also has a curious amount of limitations and/or gaps; features are either missing or only partially there. Trust me, though; despite the holes here and there, this is an application I've truly missed.

The art of the blur. That's what we are talking about here: blurring images. We see this blurring all the time in movies when the camera shifts its focus from one protagonist to another so that person A is in focus at one point and person B is in focus at another. The quality of that "out-of-focus" is Bokeh, and if you didn't properly get that blur in your camera, the Photoshop plug-in, Bokeh, will do a great job of giving you a second chance for great bokeh in your computer.

As a long time Photoshop user, I'm always intrigued about what can be accomplished with its younger sibling: Photoshop Elements. Truth is, a lot. That's good news, because Photoshop Extended, with all of its 3D charm and extra features, retails for $999 while the standard version of Photoshop is a svelte $699. So what do you get for the austere sum of $99? A lot of the technology from the big Photoshop, but designed for the user who wants to just "get it done." What you do not get is the depth and degree of control that big Photoshop can provide. But for many people, the power you will get is very likely more than you will use. Simply, I'd take Photoshop Elements over iPhoto any day.

It's fun to watch programs grow and develop. Some of the new features of Adobe Illustrator CS4 have been begged for by users for years and years (that'd be Pages) while other snuck up on us seemingly out of the blue (that'd be Blob Brush). Yet, other features continue to sit idle with no change or update in sight (that'd be 3D effects). So, let's take a trip to see some of the highlights in Illustrator CS4, a worthy upgrade.

In my review of Adobe InDesign CS3, I lamented how Adobe still had a lot of work to do to fill in the shoes of the missing FrameMaker for Mac. They did it! Well, mostly. There still are some corners to sand and polish, but, for the most part, one can finally, really, truly do long format documents again on the Mac. Now, InDesign CS4 has Conditional Text and Cross References, not to mention Smart Guides, GREP nested styles within paragraph styles, and a whole lot more. If you use InDesign, this is one of the best upgrades in many years.

As I said in my review of Photoshop CS3, "Photoshop remains the kingpin of the Suite programs. It is the heavyweight contender that tells the 800 pound gorilla where to sit. Each iteration of Photoshop not only has to be better than the last, but has to be significantly better than the last." However, Photoshop continues to move from its primary base as an application solely focused on photographic images to include (as of CS3) movies and animation, to now, in CS4, image manipulation in 3D of 3D objects. In either, you are still manipulating pixels in images, but Photoshop is expanding to move far beyond what could even be considered just a few years ago. The good news is that even if you never go near animation or 3D, there is still a lot to like in this new release.

Bridge has gone through some extensive and subtle changes since CS3, and the vast majority of them are fantastic. For viewing images and being sort of a central command point for most of the Adobe Suite, Bridge continues to keep me happy, productive, and on track with my work. It's one program that is always running on my computer. Sadly, not all is a happy road...

Stitcher has long been known as one of the leading panorama stitching applications on the market. For the vast majority of its existence, it was run by a company called Realviz. Then, about a year ago, with little fanfare, Realviz was purchased by Autodesk (the company known for AutoCAD and many other image related applications). Stitcher v5.7 was released soon after that. But now the latest release has a new icon, has dropped PowerPC support, and provides some disappointing HDR support. On the other hand, there is improved Preview interaction (albeit somewhat broken) and has added Sunex Fisheye lens support. One of the best things about this new version of Stitcher is that the price has finally been placed at a point where more people might be willing to try it. Stitcher is a great program, but this is a disappointing update.

For an application that exists as a plug-in only, ACR is pretty amazing. Adobe Camera Raw has been around for sufficiently enough time that it is now a full, in-depth application; feature rich, with a complete range of power. For those who are already "shooting raw," ACR is already part of their main bag of tools. For those who are not shooting raw, it's time you stepped up to the plate. Either way, not bad for an application that you can't find if you look for it amongst your CS applications; that's because it's a plug-in.