Adobe Reconceptualizes Photoshop And Creative Suite As Cloud-Based Monthly Rental Service Only
Monday at its Adobe MAX Creativity Conference, in Los Angeles (http://max.adobe.com/), Adobe announced Photoshop CC, the next iteration of Adobe’s flagship digital imaging software that will now be available only as a monthly rental via Creative Cloud.
In addition, Adobe made some other significant announcements:
• Adobe has accelerated its shift to the cloud with a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud. Available in June, Creative Cloud reimagines the creative process through a feature-packed set of desktop applications and sophisticated cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities.
• The company will focus all of its creative software development efforts on its Creative Cloud offering moving forward. Adobe’s desktop tools, previously known as Creative Suite (CS), are now branded CC to reflect that they are an integral part of Creative Cloud and have been reinvented to support a more intuitive, connected way of creating. While Creative Suite 6 products will continue to be supported and available for purchase, the company has no plans for future releases of Creative Suite or other CS products. This update to Creative Cloud includes the next generation of Adobe desktop applications – including Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC.
In a letter addressed to its creative users, Adobe explains:
At Adobe, we believe our customers are some of the most influential people in the world. You are storytellers. You capture and relate the human experience be it through a Hollywood blockbuster, an interactive iPad app, or photos from your childs school play. For decades, building the tools that shape those stories and the world around us has been our passion.
We believe that the creative process is going through dramatic changes. As our world becomes more connected and mobile, we have grander aspirations for how we create and interact with others.
Today’s tools and services are not living up to the creative communitys expectations. Assets are difficult to track across computers. Mobile devices arent integrated tightly enough into creative activities. There is a continuous struggle to find effective ways to collaborate. And creative processes do not fully embrace the benefits of the broader creative community.
As the world changes, so must the tools and services we use to create. This presents a unique opportunity to re-imagine the creative process.
The path to Creative Cloud, in which next generation of Adobe’s creative applications with hundreds of new features become deeply integrated with a host of new services to provide a workflow where:
• You have access to the full set of Adobes creative tools, with frequent updates
• Your assets, settings, styles, colors, and fonts are synced and available across your desktop and mobile devices
• You are connected to the people you collaborate with and the people who inspire you
• You are able to share your work and get feedback from the community throughout the creative process
• You can broaden your skills through access to the best training from the best teachers
You can find the full text of the Adobe letter here:
http://www.adobe.com/cc/letter.html
You can view a complete overview of how Creative Cloud enables this new creative process at:
http://max.adobe.com/sessions/online.html
Adobe Accelerates Shift to the Cloud New Products Heretofore to be Delivered Exclusively Through Adobe Creative Cloud
At Adobe MAX, Adobe announced an accelerated shift to the cloud with a major update to Adobe Creative Cloud, the company’s flagship offering for creative users. The update to Creative Cloud is packed with features, reimagining the creative process through a new set of CC desktop applications and enhanced cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities. With this update, creative files can be stored, synced and shared, via Creative Cloud, on Mac OS, Windows, iOS and Android; and the Behance online creative community, is integrated with Creative Cloud, so Adobe customers can showcase work, get feedback on projects and gain global exposure.
Creative Cloud now claims more than a half million paid members, and well over 2 million free members have signed up for Creative Cloud since it was launched in April 2012.
Adobe also announced that the company will focus creative software development efforts on its Creative Cloud offering moving forward. While Adobe Creative Suite 6 products will continue to be supported and available for purchase, the company has no plans for future releases of Creative Suite or other CS products. Focusing development on Creative Cloud will not only accelerate the rate at which Adobe can innovate but also broaden the type of innovation the company can offer the creative community.
“We launched Creative Cloud a year ago and it has been a runaway success,” says David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media, Adobe. “By focusing our energy – and our talented engineers — on Creative Cloud, were able to put innovation in our members hands at a much faster pace.”
On top of new collaboration and publishing services and the integration of Behance, Monday’s announced update to Creative Cloud includes versions of Adobe’s next generation of desktop applications – including Adobe Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC. Adobe’s desktop tools, previously known as Creative Suite (CS), are now branded CC to reflect that they are an integral part of Creative Cloud and have been reinvented to support a more intuitive, connected way of creating.
Adobe is facilitating the transition to Creative Cloud with attractive pricing plans and promotions for individual members, teams and enterprise customers. For more details, visit:
https://creative.adobe.com/plans
Adobe will continue to sell licenses for all CS6 products via electronic download from adobe.com and participating resellers.
Adobe Creative Cloud is a membership-based service that provides users with access to download and install Adobe creative desktop applications; game developer tools and integration with the Adobe Touch Apps. With Creative Cloud membership, users also have access to: a global creative community; publishing services to deliver apps and websites; cloud storage and the ability to sync to virtually any device; and new products and exclusive updates as the’yre developed.
Adobe Unveils Major Update to Creative Cloud
Adobe on Monday announced a significant update to Adobe Creative Cloud, the company’s flagship offering for creatives. Available in June and packed with new features, Creative Cloud enables the creative process through a set of CC desktop applications with sophisticated cross-device collaboration and publishing capabilities. Creative files can be stored, synced and shared, via Creative Cloud, on Mac OS, Windows, iOS and Android; and Behance, the world’s leading online creative community, is now integrated with Creative Cloud, so Adobe customers can showcase work, get feedback on projects and gain global exposure. With Creative Cloud publishing finished work has never been easier, with enhanced services that build and power websites, mobile apps, tablet publications, online portfolios, and content for virtually any medium and device.
“Creative Cloud brings together everything you need to create your best work. Were delivering incredible new versions of our desktop tools, services that take publishing content to the next level and were making it easier than ever for creatives to collaborate and share their work worldwide,” says David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media, Adobe. “Creative Cloud is a destination that champions inspiring work and builds lasting connections within a vibrant global creative community.”
Adobe Creative Cloud Powers Frictionless Creative Workflows
This milestone update to Creative Cloud simplifies the entire creative process. Core features include:
• Desktop, Web and Mobile Access
Creative Cloud allows users to stay connected with workgroups and the creativecommunity via their desktop, website, or mobile device. With Creative Cloud, your entire creative world gets its own centralized hub whereideas, files, fonts, settings, notifications, and team members are connected and organized. Join group folders to work collaboratively; track updates and comments to shared files; stay connected to work on Behance; get notified when app updates are available and download the latest updates; and access favorite colors, fonts and settings, wherever you are.
• Integration With The World’s Leading Creative Community
With Behance now integrated with Creative Cloud, members will be able to publish their own portfolios, follow other creatives, publish work-in-progress from within a growing number of CC apps and solicit feedback from the worldwide creative community. Over 1.4 million creatives globally are part of the Behance network.
• Synchronize, Store, Share and Collaborate
All files and assets will be automatically synchronized between the desktop, cloud and mobile devices. A designer can take a photo on their iPad, use Photoshop Touch to refine the photo while on the go, then access that file, via the cloud, and use Photoshop CC on their Mac or Windows PC to further enhance the image. Designers can designate shared folders and invite others to collaborate on files. Edits are stored with version history so users can share their files with confidence. Individual members receive 20GB of storage.
• Seamless Publishing
Creative Cloud members have access to the services necessary to publish highly personalized portfolio websites using Behance ProSite, high-impact digital magazines for iPad using Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) Single Edition, and PhoneGap Build to create and publish mobile apps for any device. Adobe Typekit features an unmatched library of old-classic to new-favorite fonts for use on websites and, with this update, creatives can use many of these same fonts directly in their desktop applications.
New Family of CC Desktop Applications Available Exclusively to Creative Cloud Members
This update to Creative Cloud includes the next generation of Adobe desktop applications – including Adobe Photoshop CC, InDesign CC, Illustrator CC, Dreamweaver CC and Premiere Pro CC. Adobes desktop tools, previously known as Creative Suite (CS), are now branded CC to reflect that they are an integral part of Creative Cloud and have been reinvented to support a more intuitive, connected way of creating. Adobe Creative Cloud includes more than 30 tools and services that enable professional-grade content creation and delivery across print, web, mobile apps, video and photography.
Hundreds of new features are included in these latest versions of Adobes industry-defining desktop tools. Innovations include:
• Photoshop CC will ship with new sharpening technologies and designer workflow enhancements. Camera Shake Reduction deblurs images that would have otherwise been lost due tocamera movement. All-new Smart Sharpen makes texture and detail pop, and Adobe Camera Raw 8 adds even more powerful photographic controls to straighten and perfect images. Photoshop CC is the first Adobe desktop application to include the ability to post files directly to Behance from within the application, showcasing work immediately and integrating peer feedback into the creative process.
• For designers, the Touch Type tool in Illustrator CC offers a new level of creativity with type. Move, scale, and rotate text characters knowing that it remains editable. This feature works with a mouse, stylus or multi-touch device. Illustrator also enables painting with a brush made from a photo. Art, Pattern, and Scatter brushes can contain raster images, so designers can create complex organic designs quickly, with simple brush strokes. A new, modern architecture for InDesign CC turbocharges performance, and in-browser editing in Adobe Muse CC — a tool for designers to create and publish HTML websites without writing code — allows clients to make edits to a published website, which can then be reviewed, approved, and updated by the designer.
• For video customers Adobe Premiere Pro CC includes dramatic new editing features, customizations and improvements to help editors work efficiently. Premiere Pro CC integrates powerful color workflows, with the addition of the Lumetri Deep Color Engine to easily apply rich color grading looks. A high-impact version of Adobe After Effects CC brings motion graphics and visual effects artists more creative possibilities and allows them to work more easily in 3D with the new Live 3D Pipeline with Maxon Cinema4D integration. There are also all-new versions of Adobe Speed Grade CC, Audition CC, Prelude CC and Adobe Story CC Plus.
• Web designers and developers can look forward to significant advances in Adobe’s family of Edge tools and services. The latest Edge Animate CC lets web designers create animated and interactive content with amazing ease and precision, using native HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Adobe is also previewing a new workflow from Photoshop CC to Edge Reflow CC that will enable creatives to build web designs in Photoshop that can easily be turned into responsive web sites. Dreamweaver users can look forward to the most up-to-date CSS and properties via the intuitive visual editing tool, CSS Designer. And Adobe Flash Pro CC features a modern, modular 64-bit architecture rebuilt from the ground up to be fast and reliable.
Membership Plans and Availability
This major update to Creative Cloud is available in June. By signing up for Creative Cloud now, customers will be set up to immediately download and use these latest cloud-enabled innovations from Adobe, when they are available next month. Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership; existing customers who own CS3 to CS5.5 get their first year of Creative Cloud at the discounted rate of US $29.99 per month. Students and teachers can get Creative Cloud for $29.99 per month. Promotional pricing is available for some customers, including CS6 users.
A team version of Creative Cloud includes everything individual members receive plus 100GB of storage and centralized deployment and administration capabilities. Creative Cloud for teams is priced at US $69.99 per month per seat. Existing customers, who own a volume license of CS3 or later, get their first year of Creative Cloud for teams at the discounted rate of US $39.99 per month per seat if they sign up before the end of August 2013.
Adobe also announced Creative Cloud for enterprise and special licensing programs for educational institutions and government. For more details, visit:
https://creative.adobe.com/plans
New Adobe Photoshop CC Debuts at MAX – New Version of Industry Standard in Digital Imaging Anchors Major Update to Adobe Creative Cloud
At the Adobe MAX, The Creativity Conference, Adobe announced Monday Adobe Photoshop CC as part of its major update to Adobe Creative Cloud . Photoshop CC will be available, exclusively to Creative Cloud members, in June.
Adobe’s desktop apps, including Photoshop, were previously known as Creative Suite (CS), and will now be branded CC to reflect that they are an integral part of Creative Cloud and have been reinvented to support a more cloud-oriented creative dynamic. Photoshop CC includes a wide range of innovative enhancements, including new image deblurring and sharpening features to improve design workflows, and new Camera Raw capabilities. This update combines Photoshop standard and Photoshop Extended features to deliver greater accessibility to 3D tools and image analysis, while Creative Cloud integration offers flexible collaboration and sharing capabilities.
“With the ability to quickly deliver new innovations, were empowering photographers and creatives to push the boundaries in digital imaging and design,” says Winston Hendrickson, vice president of products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Our customers will no longer have to wait 18 to 24 months to access new Photoshop innovation. When a new Photoshop feature is ready whether its the next Healing Brush or something as mind-blowing as Content Aware Fill well deliver it via Creative Cloud.”
New Features in Photoshop CC
Photoshop CC brings a wide range of new features and enhancements designed to unleash creativity and boost efficiency whether optimizing photographs, designing for online and offline media, creating 3D artwork or shooting video.
A fleet of new tools introduce the most advanced deblurring and sharpening technologies to date. The new Camera Shake Reduction tool analyzes and corrects for blur from camera movement to produce a better image. The new Smart Sharpen tool uses adaptive sharpening algorithms to minimize noise and halo effects while producing high-quality results. With intelligent upsampling users can increase the size of an image large enough for a billboard without pixelating the image.
Adobe Camera Raw 8 brings three new photo-editing capabilities to Photoshop CC. The Advanced Healing brush allows photographers to heal or patch images with a brush stroke instead of a circular area. The new Radial Gradient offers powerful controls to draw attention to the focus of an image without applying a standard vignette, and the Upright tool automatically straightens horizons and applies perspective corrections without distorting the image. Camera Raw edits can also be made to any layer or file within Photoshop CC.
For designers, improvements to rounded rectangles add the ability to adjust corner radii at any time. Users can also now select multiple paths, shapes and vectors at once, providing a faster, easier workflow for working with multiple objects.
In previous releases, Adobe Photoshop Extended was released as a separate application comprising all Photoshop features as well as 3D and image analysis capabilities. Beginning with Photoshop CC, all Photoshop Extended features will be integrated within one application, providing all users with advanced capabilities for 3D image editing and image analysis.
Photoshop CC is the first Adobe desktop app to include the ability to post files directly to Behance fromwithin the application, showcasing work immediately and integrating peer feedback into the creative process. Behance is claimed to be the world’s leading online creative community, with over 1.4 million members.
Photoshop CC includes all the Photoshop feature innovation delivered exclusively to Creative Cloud members over the last year, including: Smart Object support for Blur Gallery andLiquify effects, Conditional Actions, andCSS support for faster web design.
Adobe is also previewing a new workflow from Photoshop CC to Edge Reflow CC that will enable creatives to build web designs in Photoshop that can easily be turned into responsive websites, viewable across devices. Adobe expects to update Photoshop CC with this new capability this summer, underscoring the constant steam of innovation delivered to Creative Cloud members.
“I capture thousands of images for my ‘Day to Night’ projects and am always looking to improve my creative process,” says Stephen Wilkes, an award-winning photographer, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Time, Life Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine. “With Photoshop as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud, I don’t have to wait every year for a new set of tools and features, like Smart Sharpen and the new upsampling capabilities, to help achieve my vision. I’m also excited about the integration with Behance. As a photographer, the ability to connect to a global community of artists, art directors, and designers is very inspiring.”
To find out more about Photoshop CC, users can connect with the Photoshop team on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/Photoshop
YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/photoshop
Photoshop.com blog:
http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/
or via Twitter:
http://twitter.com/photoshop
For more information, visit:
http://www.adobe.com
More info is also available on the Photoshop blog:
http://blogs.adobe.com/photoshopdotcom/
Counterpoint: Adobe Still Doesn’t Get It
AppleDailyReport’s Greg Mills is not impressed by Adobe’s shifting Photoshop CS et al. to a monthly rental cloud-only paradigm, noting that the issues that annoy him with Adobe software are the same ones that confound me when he tries to use Microsoft programs; inconsistent user interface, counterintuitive methods of doing things, and a learning curve that gets lost in the clouds. Having to learn an entire vocabulary just to use an app sucks, he says, and vows that he won’t do it.
Mills says he’s used Pixelmator (US$20 at the Mac App Store) as his image editor some time, and that it generally does everything he needs it to do to edit photographs, but recently ran into an issue that had him considering afres Adobe Photoshop and taking a look at upgrading his graphics software from Pixelmator to Photoshop if he could afford it. However, he’s underwhelmed by Adobe’s new Creative Cloud business plan, and says he refuses to rent software and get dinged for money each month for an application that historically one would simply buy, and has figured out a workaround that’s kept him using Pixelmator.
Adobe Creative Suite Termination Came Faster Than Expected
The Register’s Iain Thomson notes that Adobe’s dropping of boxed software wasn’t unexpected, as the site had warned in March, but says the speed of the shift will take some by surprise, since Creative Cloud was launched barely a year ago, and while its growth has been impressive it still has only half a million paying users.
Thompson suggests that the move to cloud runs the risk of alienating users who’ve been with the company for a long time and don’t want or need a cloud service, and whether all the new Creative Cloud features and special projects will be enough to win over those who prefer to have their software where they can see it (and not have to pay a monthly fee) remains to be seen.
In the short term, The Register expects to see an uptick in CS6 boxed copies as people grab them while they can. But looking ahead, if you want the latest features from Adobe it’s cloud only from now on.
