Find a college student. They can buy the same exact version for much less. $200.00 ??? CS3 I believe is short for College Student, 3rd version.
They just need to prove they are a student. The price varies widely. I believe you can buy it from Adobe also. http://www.adobe.com You can call them at 1-800-585-0774.
I need to do the same thing.
If anyone uses it already, is it hard to program to use?
I use CS2 and LOVE it! I have been able to take the ad templates off the HB site and change the prices and voilaaaa, you have a very professional looking ad! I have used it for my YP ads magazine, you name it. I would say that it is definately worth the investment. I just got sick of my ad being messed up. So, eliminating the middle man has saved me lots of headache. Actually on one of my camera ready ads the advertiser messed it up the other day, I was very surprised. What had happened is that I had the image as a pdf, and they tried to make it a pdf again. Minor flaws, but they felt so bad that they gave me about $250 worth of advertising.
It took a few hours learning but you can catch on really fast. I know just the basics and can operate it fairly easily. There are only a few tools I use too. I imagine to actually go in and create artwork, it would take alot more, but it is already created, you are just going in and changing it to make it how you want it.