The software giant said in its preliminary financial results that the job cuts were a result of less-than-anticipated earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Adobe had been targeting a revenue of $925m-$955m (£635m-£656m) for the quarter ending 28 November 2008, however the preliminary results indicated revenue will in fact be between $912m-$915m.

President and chief executive officer Shantanu Narayen said: "The global economic crisis significantly impacted our revenue during the fourth quarter.

"We have taken action to reduce our operating costs and fine-tune the focus of our resources on key strategic priorities."

The company unveiled its Adobe Creative Suite 4 range in September, billing it as its "biggest software release to date".

CS4's product family includes the launch of CS4 Design editions, CS4 Web editions, CS4 Production Premium and Adobe Master Collection, as well as 13 point products, 14 integrated technologies and seven services.

The company said the planned restructuring and job losses will result in anticipated pre-tax charges of $44m-$50m.

Adobe will reveal its final earnings for the fourth quarter on 16 December 2008.