When Adobe switched from the old Creative Suite to the new Creative Cloud, it angered a lot of people. But for creative professionals, the Creative Cloud suite may actually be a better option.
After smaller updates to its individual apps in the suite, Adobe is updating Creative Cloud for 2014. This major release marks new versions for fourteen Creative Cloud desktop apps and new iOS apps.
There was a big focus on Creative Cloud services and how you can now connect to your files, photos, and other assets wherever you are. Adobe wants to give professionals access to all their files by using the cloud. Adobe wants all its apps to connect with each other to minimize the disruption between working on its desktop and mobile apps.
One major question was why Adobe only released apps for the iOS platform and Scott Morris, Senior Marketing Director for Creative Cloud, stated that the majority of Adobe’s users were on iOS, but if there was enough interest for other platforms the company would work to support them.
This follows Adobe’s plan for a persistent Creative Cloud profile that will you can access from any platform. Adobe showed an example by editing a photo in Photoshop Mix and pushing the file through Creative Cloud to Photoshop CC 2014 on Mac. It is interesting to see that the major tools are available on the mobile app and pushing files (including individual layers) to the desktop is possible.
Adobe spent a lot of time talking about Photoshop, which integrates with the new Adobe Photoshop Mix app for iPad.
There are also two pieces of hardware that Adobe is releasing in the form of Adobe Ink and Adobe Slide. Adobe Ink is an iPad-optimized stylus connected through Creative Cloud. Its connection to CC has extra support for access to files stored in CC. The stylus was designed to work with the iPad and its extended functions like copy and paste across devices is only supported on iPad. Adobe Slide is a three inch ruler designed for drafting. The ruler is designed to help with sketching on iPad.
Both devices require iOS 7 or later to function. The two devices will be sold as a pair for $199.99 starting in the United States only.
One of the final announcements was the Creative Cloud software development kit (SDK). This makes CC a bigger platform by allowing developers to access CC features. Photoshop Mix is the first app was developed with the CC SDK.
Along with Creative Cloud 2014, Adobe is releasing apps for iOS. All these apps will be free with an Adobe account.
Photoshop Mix
Even though the iPad has already has Photoshop Touch, the app was released before the launch of Creative Cloud and designed to be familiar to desktop users. The new Creative Cloud connected Photoshop Mix is designed to showcase the potential for CC connectivity between desktop and mobile.
With the apps, you can access local files and those stored in CC. Files include JPEG, PSD, and even layers within projects. Photoshop Mix can also access mobile uploads like those from Facebook or Instagram.
When editing a file, these changes can be applied selectively and are built to be non-destructive so you can reverse any changes. Photoshop Mix also has what Adobe calls “looks” that function more like filters seem in many photo apps. “Cloud fill” is another feature that will use Adobe’s cloud processing power to complete specific computations that aren’t possible on iPad. The app also integrates with Lightroom Mobile.
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Adobe Sketch & Adobe Line
Adobe Sketch is a “social sketching iPad app for free-form drawing,” designed for making mock-ups and drafts. Adobe Line is for “precision drawing and drafting.” The app is meant to be an app for digital drafting since it includes standard tools like rulers, T-squares, and templates. Both Sketch and Line also feel like they’re made to be paired with Adobe Ink and Slide for the best functionality.
Lightroom mobile for iPhone
There have been lots of rumors about Lightroom mobile for iPhone and now it’s finally here. I was shown a demo running on a iPhone 4s, which is likely the oldest iPhone model that can run Lightroom. The app can import photos from your camera roll for editing. The app will feature parity with the iPad version so you will have the same features on either version. A great feature is that you can edit both photos from the iOS camera roll and raw DSLR images with the app.
Creative Cloud for iOS
The Creative Cloud app is designed as a file manager for assets stored in CC. It isn’t necessary to run any of the other apps, but will be useful for people who have a lot of files stored inside their Creative Cloud account.
Massive update for Creative Cloud
Adobe is using Creative Cloud 2014 as a benchmark version release. Since Creative Cloud is updated more frequently, it’s more difficult to specifically assign a release number to the included apps. The 2014 update is a significant release because it updates 14 different apps.
Obviously a lot of these apps are used by creative professionals and casual users only need a few of the included apps. Adobe’s goal of connecting the design workflow between desktop and mobile through Creative Cloud even more possible with the release of the Creative Cloud SDK. The question is if developers will embrace the SDK and connect with Creative Cloud.
If you’re interested, below is the list of major updates for Creative Cloud 2014.
Photoshop CC
- More powerful Smart Objects
- Improved Layer Comps
- Blur Gallery motion effects
- Focus Mask
- Improved Content-Aware technology
Illustrator CC
- Live Shapes
- Pen Tool Preview
- Anchor point enhancements
- CSS extraction
- Desktop fonts from Typekit
InDesign CC
- Drag and drop columns and rows within tables
- EPUB fixed layout
- Seamless update
- Color swatch folders
- Enhanced effects
Muse CC
- Native 64-bit support
- In-Browsing Editing updates
- Creative Cloud Add-ons
- HiDPI support
- Dark UI
Premiere Pro CC
- Live Text Templates
- Masking and Tracking
- Master Clip effect
- Enhanced graphics performance in Mercury Playback Engine
- Faster editing workflow
After Effects CC
- Keying effects
- Live Text templates
- Share masks with Premiere Pro
- Kuler integration
- Mercury Transmit
Dreamweaver CC
- Live Element Quick View
- Live Insert
- Live View property inspector
- CSS Designer improvements
- Site management – Certificate support
Flash Pro CC
- SVG export
- Variable width strokes
- Tweening for variable width strokes
- Motion editor
- WebGL for animation
Edge Animate CC
- Native HTML video
- Sprite sheet import
- Article linking for Adobe DPS
- Actions Editor
- Copy and past SVG from Illustrator
Lightroom 5.5
- Edit and organize images
- Enhance smartphone and raw images
- Automatically sync all mobile edits with Lightroom 5.5 on desktop
- Support additional camera formats
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