For years, Adobe’s quietly worked to keep further integrating design necessities such as InDesign and Illustrator, and updating the Creative Suite bundle every few years. And in just a few days, it completely rewrote its place in the industry.
At the recent “Adobe MAX: The Creativity Conference,” the company announced that as of June it would no longer release updates or new versions of Creative Suite on disc.
Instead, it’s reworked its Adobe Cloud software system into Creative Cloud, meaning all your favorite applications will now be available by subscription only: $50/month for full access; $20/month for access to a single product such as Photoshop. (There are some other tiers and discounts offered, too: check the pay plan.)
Though this news promptly touched off a chorus of “Oh great!” online, there were even more interesting announcements at MAX. (Check out our Paper Tip for answers to some reader questions about the new Creative Cloud arrangement.)
- Tablet stylus: Dubbed “Project Mighty,” this pencil-like tool allows you to make and manipulate sketches on your Tablet PC, move them to another device (like a smartphone) with one motion, and store it all in your Creative Cloud account.
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- Napoleon: An electronic ruler to assist in your tablet designs, giving you the ability to make straight, fine lines that can be easily manipulated digitally.
And then there were the MAX Sneak Peeks: feature-enhancements for existing applications that are still in development. Highlights include:
- Liquid search: Forget text. Search for things by drawing and reshaping a silhouette.
- Playing with Lighting (After Effects and Photoshop): Experiment with photo lighting in movies and images.
- Perspective Warp (Photoshop): “Ever wished you had gotten closer to take a picture? Perhaps you were not right in front of your subject or took the picture from too high or low? This Photoshop sneak lets you adjust the perspective for parts of your shot while still keeping the rest of the image intact.”
