When the complete Adobe Creative Suite 3 package is revealed on March 27, Adobe will announce not one, but two distinct flavors of Photoshop, including a standard Photoshop CS3 and the new Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Photoshop CS3 Extended includes the same tools as Photoshop CS3, but also contains a brand new set of features for the integration of 3D and motion graphics, and image measurement and analysis functions. This marks the first occasion (since Photoshop 5.0 Limited Edition?) in which more than one version of Photoshop will be made available, with the new version targeted at individuals in the fields of video, architecture, engineering, medicine, and science.

With the new PS CS3 Extended, video editors and artists can perform 3D model visualization and texture editing functions, as well as gaining the ability to paint and clone over multiple video frames. Final animations can be exported as QuickTime, MPEG-4, and Flash video, among others formats. Additionally, users in the scientific, medical, and architectural fields will be able to extract quantitative and qualitative data from images with special measurement and analysis tools, with support for specialized image formats. Kevin Connor, senior director of product management for digital imaging says: "At one point in time, we considered separate versions, but we found a lot of overlap in the features that these people needed.... Rather than create a new application, Extended is a superset of features that can specifically benefit people in those markets."

An official list of features for Photoshop CS3 Extended, in addition to pricing information will be unveiled on March 27, and the complete CS3 suite will launch later in the spring.