Technological advancements have allowed graphic designers, Web developers, and marketing professionals alike to create innovative, world-class content. The impressive Adobe Creative Cloud suite is an essential tool with which these professionals can build the content that aids in enhancing many aspects of their business. On the morning of October 16th, 2018, this impressive portfolio was significantly enhanced with Adobe’s release of the latest generation of their Creative Cloud applications.
Adobe is a major player in almost all creative content production. The primary applications that allow Adobe to be a world-class company include Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects, all of which have been upgraded in their latest generation. Among these changes, Adobe also released a new application: Premier Rush, an all-in-one video creation tool that allows users to create branded content on all devices.
In speaking with Drew Cohen, a Marketing Strategist at SmartBug Media, it was evident how important the Adobe suite is to marketing professionals. “Software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign are critical elements to any design/dev team, and the great thing about Adobe is that they continue to evolve with the ever changing needs in the market. Having a cloud-based solution allows for continued innovation.”
Low let’s take a deep dive into the changes for each of the applications listed above, so you can see the features that Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers can take advantage of with the latest update.
Social Media Growth Over The Last Six Years
Over the past five years, smartphone ownership is estimated to be at 77%, up from 35% in 2011. It has been found that 75% of U.S. adults own either a laptop or desktop, and nearly half own a tablet. Combined with the large presence of smartphones, notebooks, and laptops, there have been large increases in social media utilization over the past five years. A recent study found that over two-thirds of U.S. adults utilize social media platforms multiple times per day. Over 94% of users 18–24 years old utilize the popular video-sharing website YouTube.
To cater to this environment filled with mobile technology and social media, Adobe has created a product that appeals to both of these groups: Adobe Premiere Rush.
Premiere Rush CC
Premiere Rush is a platform in which users can create, edit, and publish video content on any device to all of the major social platforms with the click of a button. Along with the ability to publish content with ease, Premiere Rush saves all content into the cloud, allowing content to be easily edited from any device.
Adobe is not done with this product and has plans of Android support, enhancing speed controls and performance, and allowing for additional publishing to multiple platforms in the near future. Adobe has also provided user with a tour of the Premiere Rush interface.
Photoshop CC
In the latest update, Adobe announced that soon iPad users will have access to one of Adobe’s most recognized applications, Photoshop, on their devices. PSD files will be exactly the same on the iPad as they are on a desktop or laptop. This will further cater to the popular trend of work on the go, providing users with access to the same desktop tools on their mobile device as well as the added bonus of being able to utilize the Apple pencil for increased performance. A user will be able to start a project while on the train to work and pick up where they left off as soon as they get into the office.
Adobe has made further enhancements to provide a more seamless end-user experience. The Creative Cloud app will allow for auto-updates to ensure that you always have the latest version. There are many additional features including the Content-Aware Fill, Frame tool, and Symmetry painting tool.
Other updates to Photoshop include the ability to creatively edit photos, design website and mobile apps, as well as utilize AR workflows. As of October 16th, Dimension allows for user to access 3D workflows. In the near future, Aero and Gemini will allow for AR experiences and focused drawing features, respectively.
Illustrator CC
Traditionally, Adobe Illustrator has been used as a vector graphics editor. The latest major updates include freeform gradients, global edits, customizable toolbars, and font integrations.
The Freeform Gradients function provides users the ability to create more realistic and colorful images by enabling users to create complex color blends. Global edits are another game-changing feature in which logos can be changed across art boards, limiting the time it takes to reproduce the same edit multiple times. All of these features are easily created using the fully customizable toolbar that provides over 80 tools. The Creative Cloud suite also gives users access to over 14,000+ fonts, providing a solution to any font-related need.
Other enhanced features of Illustrator include a scalable interface, true-size view, external GPU support, trim view, and performance enhancements to name a few.
InDesign CC
The new properties panel highlights the newest feature of InDesign, allowing for a more organized workplace. To enhance the overall usability of formatting, the Content-Aware Fit repositions the content to the appropriate scale. These updates not only help with the creation of the content, but also during the printing process, resizing images in order to fit printing specifications.
Additional features implemented into InDesign include Color font support, the ability to place footnotes into tables, spacing between paragraph styles, as well as the ability to export saved file preferences.
After Effects CC
For effective post-production editing of content, Adobe After Effects has been utilized to add visual effects to motion graphics, and can aid in tracking and animation effects. The newest update of After Effects gives user a faster and more precise way to create animations. Advanced pin features along with the bend pins allow users to bend, twist, and scale the layers of an animation. Another primary feature is the JavaScript expressions engine. This incorporation of newer coding techniques has allowed the program to run 5x faster.
Adobe Creative Cloud
We live in a highly connected, mobile world, with the large majority of individuals having access to smartphones and social media platforms. You never know when creativity will strike, and Adobe has further allowed for these creative moments to be captured and published in a world-class fashion with ease. Premiere Rush allows for users to create content and instantaneously upload to large audiences in a rapid manner. The latest updates to Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects will further boost the creation of innovative content.
If you’d like to learn more about how Creative Cloud can transform your business, reach out to your Account Manager.
