Adobe’s “milestone” release of its flagship Adobe Creative Cloud tools and services includes major, unprecedented updates to its industry-defining desktop tools – including Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, Premiere Pro CC and InDesign CC – as well as new connected mobile apps for iOS and Android. The company is also shipping Adobe Stock, the industry’s first stock content service to be integrated directly into the creative process and the tools that creatives use every day. In addition, Adobe announced an expanded Creative Cloud enterprise offering that includes enterprise-grade administration, security, collaboration and publishing services for design-driven brands, businesses and large organizations.
“The 2015 release of Creative Cloud is packed with innovation,” said David Wadhwani, Senior Vice President, Digital Media, Adobe. “Adobe Stock, our brand new stock service, makes 40 million photos, vector graphics and illustrations accessible directly within your favourite CC desktop apps. Our CreativeSync technology deepens the connections between desktop apps and mobile apps on iOS and Android. Major updates to Creative Cloud’s infrastructure and administrative capabilities make this an essential upgrade for enterprise customers. Creative Cloud 2015 is our most powerful and comprehensive release to date.”
At the heart of Creative Cloud is Adobe CreativeSync technology that intelligently syncs creative assets including files, photos, fonts, vector graphics, brushes, colours, settings, metadata and more. With CreativeSync, assets are instantly available in the right format when designers need them – across desktop, web and mobile apps. Available exclusively in Creative Cloud, CreativeSync means work can be initiated in any connected Creative Cloud mobile app or CC desktop tool, accessed again later in another, and finished in the designer’s favorite CC desktop software. With the 2015 release of Creative Cloud, Adobe provides “speed and technology breakthroughs” across 15 CC desktop applications including:
- Photoshop CC Artboards to design cross-device user experiences in a single Photoshop document and quickly preview them on a device. This also includes a preview release of Photoshop Design Space, a new work environment focused on the needs of mobile app and website designers.
- Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC both add the new Dehaze feature that eliminates fog and haze from photos (including underwater shots) for “startling clear images.” Haze can also be added to a photo for artistic effect.
- Premiere Pro CC adds the Lumetri Color panel for powerful colour corrections using intuitive sliders and other simple controls. Morph Cut (which makes it easier to deliver polished interview content by smoothing out jump cuts in talking-head shots to create a cohesive, polished sequence) has also been added.
- After Effects CC now has an Uninterrupted Preview to allow designers to adjust a composition’s properties and even re-size panels without impacting playback. Also, Adobe Character Animator brings 2D figures to life using a webcam to track facial movements, record dialogue and apply movements in real time onto a pre-configured character.
- Illustrator CC is now 10 times faster and 10 times more precise than CS6. Powered by dramatic boosts to its Mercury Performance Engine, users can now pan and zoom smoothly without delays. Designers can also create beautiful custom charts and share them with others via CC Libraries.
- InDesign CC gets its own Mercury performance surge with zooming, scrolling, and paging through complex documents now twice as fast. InDesign now also allows users to publish and distribute documents with a single click.
- Dreamweaver CC has new responsive web design capabilities that let designers quickly lay out and build production-ready sites that adapt to any screen size.
- Adobe Muse now includes instant access to premium fonts from Typekit.
Additional updates to these and other CC desktop applications make this one of the biggest releases in recent years, said Adobe.
Updates to CC desktop and mobile apps are immediately available for download by Creative Cloud members as part of their membership at no additional cost. Membership plans are available for individuals, students, teams, educational institutions, government agencies and enterprises.
