Adobe has announced 14 new versions of CC desktop applications, including tools such as Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe Dreamweaver CC and Adobe Premiere Pro CC.
The biggest Adobe software release since CS6, it also includes four new mobile apps, the immediate availability of creative hardware, updates to Creative Cloud services and new offerings for enterprise, education and photography customers. Adobe says there are now over 2.3 million Creative Cloud subscription.
The company has launched three new mobile apps for iPad — Adobe Sketch, Adobe Line, and Adobe Photoshop Mix; and began shipping new creative hardware called Adobe Ink, a new digital pen, and Adobe Slide, a new digital ruler. The mobile apps were developed using a new Adobe Creative SDK [software development kit] that unlocks over 30 years of Adobe innovation and makes it available on mobile devices for the first time, says David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe.
He adds that these new apps are professional-grade quality but easy enough for anyone to use, similar to the recently launched Lightroom mobile for photographers and Adobe’s new animated video app for storytelling, Adobe Voice, which were also updated with this release. These apps add mobile capabilities to Creative Cloud, integrate workflows with the CC desktop apps.
There are new capabilities in Photoshop CC for photographers such as, Blur Gallery motion effects for creating a sense of motion; Focus Mask that makes portrait shots with shallow depth of field stand out; new Content-Aware capabilities; and the recently introduced Perspective Warp for adjusting the perspective of a specific part of your image without affecting the surrounding area.
Designers using Photoshop CC will enjoy enhanced Mercury Graphics Engine performance as well as the ability to link Smart Objects and share them across multiple documents. Improved Layer Comps allow you to change the visibility, position, or appearance of one layer and simply sync to see the change reflected in all other Layers. Photoshop CC also has ability to pinch and zoom images, create smoother strokes, and more.
Also for designers, new capabilities in Illustrator CC include Live Shapes to transform rectangles into complex shapes and then return to the original rectangle with just a few clicks. In InDesign CC, layout artists can now select table rows and columns and use EPUB Fixed Layout to create digital books. Adobe Muse CC now includes 64-bit support, HiDPI display support and the ability to preview and optimize desktop, smartphone and tablet versions of your sites before going live.
New features in the video apps include Live Text Templates and Masking and Tracking, new integrations that leverage the power of Adobe After Effects CC inside Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Premiere Pro gets enhanced graphics performance. There are: new keying effects in After Effects; a more flexible Direct Link color pipeline in Adobe SpeedGrade CC; and enhanced multi-track tools for audio work in Adobe Audition CC. Integration between apps has also been further improved to save time when working between Premiere Pro and After Effects or SpeedGrade.
Web tools now include the ability to look at the markup in a document using the new Element Quick View in Dreamweaver CC, which allows Web developers to see, navigate, and modify the HTML structure of pages. CSS Designer improvements help apply CSS properties like gradients, box shadows and borders and then easily undo. SVG export in Flash Pro CC lets developers export any frame in Flash projects as an SVG file, while native HTML video support in Edge Animate CC allows the direct import of HTML5-friendly video clips.
Adobe has also introduced a new Creative Cloud app for iPhone and iPad that allows users to access and manage their files, assets, and more from their mobile device.
Adobe Creative Cloud for enterprise is an offering designed specifically for large-scale software deployments that works with other Adobe enterprise offerings such as Adobe Marketing Cloud, Acrobat, Adobe Anywhere, and Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Updates include more services with collaboration and file storage, expanded options for deployment, and a new dashboard for managing users and entitlements.
For education, Adobe now has a device-based licensing offer for classrooms and labs, which allows multiple users to access software on a single device rather than tying it to an individual with an Adobe ID, critical in an environment where students come and go. And for photography customers, Adobe has introduced a new Creative Cloud Photography Plan for US$9.99 per month.
The updates to CC desktop tools are immediately available for download by Creative Cloud members as part of their membership at no additional cost. The new mobile apps are free to everyone. To join Creative Cloud, special promotional pricing is available to existing customers who own Adobe Creative Suite 3 or later. Membership plans are available for individuals, students, teams, educational institutions, government agencies and enterprises. To download free trials of any of the new Creative Cloud desktop apps, go to: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/catalog/desktop.html. For pricing details, visit: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html#buy.