Complete Benchmark Results. The Adobe Creative Suite Benchmark Report. Productivity Measures of the Adobe Creative Suite. Client: Adobe Systems

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1 Complete Benchmark Results The Adobe Creative Suite Productivity Measures of the Adobe Creative Suite Client: Adobe Systems Pfeiffer Reproduction and distribution prohibited without prior written permission For information contact: Pfeiffer

2 Table of Contents About the Benchmark Project... 2 About this Report... 3 About the Benchmark Project... 3 Productivity Measures: Methodology Overview... 3 Overview... 3 About the methodology of the productivity benchmarks... 3 Scripting... 4 Keyboard shortcuts and productivity features... 4 Hardware Overview... 4 Hardware platform... 4 Hardware configurations used... 4 System software... 4 Configuration Overview... 4 System setup... 4 Benchmarks and Productivity Measures: Detail... 5 Application Integration Benchmarks... 6 Overview... 6 Benchmarks... 6 Administration Benchmarks... 6 Overview... 6 Benchmarks... 6 Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks... 7 Overview... 7 Benchmarks... 7 Results and Charts... 8 File Integration Benchmarks: Application Integration Benchmarks... 9 File Integration Benchmarks: Multiple Media File Integration Benchmarks Administration Benchmarks Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Version Cue vs. File System Navigation Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Saving Versions Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Versioning Project Convert Image Benchmarks: Camera Raw Conversion Section: Table of Contents 1 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

3 About the Benchmark Project Section: About the Benchmark Project 2 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

4 1 About this Report This report presents the results of the benchmarks conducted for the Adobe Creative Suite Productivity Benchmark Project. 2 About the Benchmark Project This benchmark project was conceived and conducted to document differences in productivity between the Adobe Creative Suite and standard workflows, focusing specifically on the productivity impact of the integration and workflow features provided by the Adobe Creative Suite over workflows using standardized file formats and workflows. 3 Productivity Measures: Methodology Overview 3.1 Overview The integration benchmarks covered several aspects of integration: file format integration between different applications of the Adobe Creative Suite, support for native file formats such as Camera Raw. Workflow management and versioning benchmarks compared the impact of Version Cue version management with file system based management of files and versions. Administration benchmarks measured the time necessary to deploy the Adobe Creative Suite as opposed to installing individual applications. (See also Benchmarks and Productivity Measures: Detail on page 5) InDesign CS benchmarks: A specific benchmark project was conducted comparing InDesign CS functionality with QuarkXPress 6.1 based workflows. For more details, please see The InDesign CS. 3.2 About the methodology of the productivity benchmarks Productivity Benchmarks were composed as a number of phases. Every phase of the benchmark was then defined as several sets of clearly defined, repeatable steps. These steps were then executed in a strictly identical way by trained professionals. Measured results for each set of steps were rounded to the closest second. Each set of steps was executed three times; the average of all three results were used in the charts. The total times for each benchmark were obtained by cumulating the average measures obtained for each individual set of step. Section: About this Report 3 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

5 3.3 Scripting No scripting was used in the execution of the benchmark: The main aim of these measures was to show real-world productivity increase, and had to take into account the time necessary for a trained operator to perform all the steps required in a project. 3.4 Keyboard shortcuts and productivity features Keyboard shortcuts and productivity features were authorized in certain sets of benchmarks, and used in an identical way in all programs. 4 Hardware Overview 4.1 Hardware platform Most benchmarks and productivity measures were conducted on the Macintosh platform. Assorted benchmarks (indicated in the text) were also conducted on Windows XP Professional. 4.2 Hardware configurations used 733MHz Power Macintosh G4 (512MB RAM) 1.7GHz Dell Precision PC 4.3 System software Mac OS 10.3 Windows XP Professional Edition 5 Configuration Overview 5.1 System setup All tests were performed using a standard system installation and configuration. All computers were completely re-initialized prior to tests, using the default values for installation. All hard drives were re-formatted using a single partition. All software was installed from scratch, using default settings. The only software installed on the systems were the applications necessary for the benchmarks. No peripherals were connected to the systems during performance benchmarks. Section: About the Benchmark Project 4 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

6 Benchmarks and Productivity Measures: Detail Section: Benchmarks and Productivity Measures: Detail 5 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

7 6 Application Integration Benchmarks 6.1 Overview 6.2 Benchmarks Application integration benchmarks were defined to measure the productivity gains linked to the use of native file formats in a creative workflow, as opposed to a workflow which relies on intermediary files saved in standard file formats such as TIFF, EPS, JPEG or GIF. Integration was tested between the following applications: Photoshop CS and GoLive CS Illustrator CS and GoLive CS Photoshop CS and InDesign CS Illustrator CS and Photoshop CS In addition, a multiphase, multiple media integration benchmark measured the impact of Adobe s Smart Object technology on productivity, by measuring the productivity gains when creating multiple revisions of a graphic in a web design project using Smart Objects rather than standard files. 7 Administration Benchmarks 7.1 Overview 7.2 Benchmarks The administration benchmark set out to quantify productivity gains linked to the installation of the Adobe Creative Suite as opposed to installation if individual applications. The benchmarks measured the time necessary to install the core applications contained in the Adobe Creative Suite, first individually, entering the serial number for each application, then by triggering the installation of the Adobe Creative Suite (The test did not include installation of Version Cue). This benchmark was conducted on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Section: Application Integration Benchmarks 6 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

8 8 Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks 8.1 Overview 8.2 Benchmarks This series of benchmarks was defined in order to measure the productivity impact of Version Cue technology, as compared to manually managing files using the operating system file structure. The benchmarks covered several distinct aspects of versioning and workflow management. Version Cue vs. file system navigation This benchmark measured the time necessary to click through several levels of folders in the computer s file system as compared to accessing a file using Version Cue. Saving versions This benchmark measured the time necessary to save several versions of the same document. For Version Cue, the benchmark measured the time necessary to save the file for the first time into the Version Cue workspace, and then recorded the time required to save several versions including a short comment. For the file system, the benchmark measured the time necessary to save a new version by saving the file under another name in the same folder as the original document. Versioning project This assignment based productivity benchmark consisted in setting up a small workgroup (two layout workstations, one image retouching workstation, and one Illustrator workstation), working together on Gigabit Ethernet network. This team collaborated on a project involving creating and saving several versions of a page layout document, image files and Postscript illustrations. In one case, all files of the project were accessed through the shared Version Cue workspace. In the second, all files were placed on a shared server volume on the network, and the last case the files were copied from the server to the local hard drive, and then copied back to the server to share the new version with the group. Only the times necessary for the file management tasks were measured. N.B. This benchmark involved both Macintosh and Widows computers exchanging files during the project. Section: Benchmarks and Productivity Measures: Detail 7 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

9 Results and Charts 8 For further information contact: reasearch@pfeifferreport.com July 5, 2004

10 File Integration Benchmarks: Application Integration Benchmarks Time in seconds. Lower is better File Integration Adobe Creative Suite Standard Photoshop CS to GoLive CS Illustrator CS to GoLive CS Photoshop CS to InDesign CS Illustrator CS to Photoshop CS

11 File Integration Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 80,00 90,00 100,00 Photoshop CS to GoLive CS Illustrator CS to GoLive CS Adobe Creative Suite Standard Photoshop CS to InDesign CS Illustrator CS to Photoshop CS 10

12 File Integration Benchmarks: Multiple Media File Integration Benchmarks Time in seconds. Lower is better Multiple Media File Integration Adobe Creative Suite Standard Initial step st revision cycle nd revision cycle Total

13 Multiple Media File Integration - Detail Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 80,00 90,00 Initial step 1st revision cycle Adobe Creative Suite Standard 2nd revision cycle 12

14 Multiple Media File Integration - Total Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 20,00 40,00 60,00 80,00 100,00 120,00 140,00 160,00 180,00 Total Adobe Creative Suite Standard 13

15 Administration Benchmarks Time in seconds. Lower is better Administration Mac Windows Install Photoshop Install Illustrator Install InDesign Install Acrobat Install Golive Total: Installation of individual applications Install Adobe Creative Suite

16 Administration - Detail Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 100,00 200,00 300,00 400,00 500,00 600,00 700,00 800,00 900,00 Install Adobe Creative Suite Install Photoshop Install Illustrator Mac Windows Install InDesign Install Acrobat Install Golive 15

17 Administration - Total Time in seconds - shorter is better Install Adobe Creative Suite Mac Windows Total: Installation of individual applications 16

18 Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Version Cue vs. File System Navigation Time in seconds. Lower is better Version Cue (connected) Mac Windows Save Version 6 8 Time in seconds. Lower is better File System Navigation Mac Windows 1 Folder (Desktop) 2 Folders 3 Folders 4 Folders 5 Folders 6 Folders 7 Folders

19 Version Cue vs File System Navigation - Mac Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 5,00 10,00 15,00 20,00 25,00 Save Version 1 Folder (Desktop) 2 Folders 3 Folders 4 Folders Version Cue (connected) File System 5 Folders 6 Folders 7 Folders 18

20 Version Cue vs File System Navigation - Windows Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 5,00 10,00 15,00 20,00 25,00 30,00 Save Version 1 Folder (Desktop) 2 Folders 3 Folders 4 Folders Version Cue (connected) File System 5 Folders 6 Folders 7 Folders 19

21 Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Saving Versions Time in seconds. Lower is better Saving Versions Save new document Save a version Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Network/PC Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Network/Mac G4 Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Local

22 Saving Versions Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 5,00 10,00 15,00 20,00 25,00 30,00 35,00 40,00 45,00 50,00 Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Network/PC Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Network/Mac G4 Save new document Save a version Save Photoshop file (3GMB) via Local 21

23 Versioning and Workflow Benchmarks: Versioning Project Time in seconds. Lower is better Versioning - Step 1 Version Cue Local hard drive + Server Server direct Versioning Design: Page Layout Versioning Design: Photoshop Versioning Design: Illustrator Time in seconds. Lower is better Versioning - Step 2 Version Cue Local hard drive + Server Server direct Versioning Design: File Integration Versioning Design: File Integration Versioning Design: File Integration Versioning Design: File Integration

24 Versioning - Step 1 Time in seconds - shorter is better Versioning Design: Page Layout Versioning Design: Photoshop Version Cue Local hard drive + Server Server direct Versioning Design: Illustrator 23

25 Versioning - Step 2 Time in seconds - shorter is better Versioning Design: File Integration 1 Versioning Design: File Integration 2 Version Cue Local hard drive + Server Server direct Versioning Design: File Integration 3 Versioning Design: File Integration 4 24

26 Versioning - Total Time in seconds - shorter is better Total Version Cue Local hard drive + Server Server direct 25

27 Convert Image Benchmarks: Camera Raw Conversion Time in seconds. Lower is better Camera Raw File Photoshop CS Canon File viewer Total

28 Camera Raw File Time in seconds - shorter is better 0,00 10,00 20,00 30,00 40,00 50,00 60,00 70,00 Total Photoshop CS Canon File viewer 27