As reported earlier this week, Adobe is set to reveal details of the much-anticipated Creative Suite CS3 on March 27. Further fueling interest is Adobe's latest announcement of an entirely new version of Photoshop. Photoshop CS3 is now positioned as the tool of choice for designers and professional photographers, while the new Photoshop CS3 Extended adds capabilities of value to those working in vertical graphics and design realms. This is the latest move by Adobe in its broadening of the Photoshop range of image editing solutions, following the recent release of a vastly slimmed down version as an online service.

Extended adds a new set of capabilities for the integration of 3D and motion graphics, image measurement and analysis, as well as simplifying workflow for those in the domains of architecture, engineering, medicine and science. 3D model visualization and texture editing is now possible, as well as the ability to paint and clone over multiple video frames. Animators can now render and incorporate 3D content into their 2D compositions, while graphic and Web designers can create an animation from a series of images and export it to such standard formats as QuickTime and Adobe Flash video. As an example of the kinds of applications Adobe envisages for Extended, radiologists can apparently monitor a patient’s progress over time, while scientific researchers can create animations from medical images for presentation purposes, and architects can make accurate measurements of objects in their 3D images.

Adobe has posted a brief comparison of the two versions, with full details to follow during the announced March 27 launch event. Creative Suite C3S will ship in Spring, 2007.