New Software Spotlight: Adobe Creative Cloud for Mobile

Adobe Creative Cloud is more than just desktop applications. It also includes tight integration with mobile applications that allows you to take your creative work with you. Currently there are nine applications available to integrate with your Creative Cloud license: Adobe Color CC, Brush CC, Shape CC, Voice, Premiere Clip, Illustrator Draw, Photoshop Sketch, and Photoshop Mix.

These applications require the use of the October 2014 update or later of the Creative Cloud library. If you want to see more online about this package or check out the various membership plans you can go to Adobe Creative Cloud Mobile Apps.

Adobe Color CC gives you the ability to create color themes anywhere you go. This application, formerly known as Kuler, helps you find colors that work well together in a variety of situations. By using the methods of color theory, Color CC will analyze colors that result in color themes for any situation. You also have access to collections of themes created by designers from all over the world as well as the ability to add your own themes to the collection.

The way this works is that you point the camera to an area you would like to use for the color theme. Color CC will automatically place five circles on your screen. You can move those circles around for finer tuning of the selected colors. Once you have all of the colors selected you can save the theme to your device, or send it via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

If you have an image already on your mobile device that you would like to use for your theme, you can pull it up in the Color CC applications and build your colors from it to create your theme. Adobe Color CC is very easy to use and for those of us whose ability to create color schemes is all but nonexistent, it is a necessity for design, illustration, or Web creation.

Adobe Brush CC provides the capabilities to create custom brushes on your mobile devices that you can then use in Photoshop CC, Illustrator CC, and Photoshop Sketch. To create your brush you can use an item from an existing image or draw something on paper and take a photo of it.

Once you have either selected or captured your image, you can crop any unwanted information out of it. Then you select the application you want to use the brush in – Illustrator, Photoshop, or Sketch. You can specify the brush as a ribbon-based or scatter-based image, black and white or color, and whether it repeats in a linear form, a mirror form, or stretches. You can then refine the masking, size, flow, pressure, velocity, and texture. When you save it, it will be stored in the Creative Cloud for use with your applications. The Brush CC application is really easy to use and since I work with compositing and frequently create brushes to accomplish tasks, I will find this very useful.

Adobe Photoshop Sketch is a lightweight drawing application that allows you to use the full range of your creativity. You can work with a realistic pen, pencil, and marker, and when you are connected to Creative Cloud, your sketches are automatically backed up. The Cloud is also where your Color CC themes are stored along with any brushes you created in Brush CC. You can also publish your sketches to your Behance account.

When you open Photoshop Sketch you start off in the Sketches Gallery where you can begin by looking for inspiration from other artists. Once you are ready you open up a new document and by using either your finger, or for more control an Adobe Ink (or Slide device) electronic pen, create your images. Then you can save them as PSD files, send them to Photoshop or Illustrator, or publish them to your Behance account where you can garner feedback on your work. This one is for the artist in you as it will have you working as well as if you were drawing on canvas while providing a very natural feel and look to your work.

Adobe Shape CC allows you to convert shapes that you take on your iPhone/iPad into vector shapes. When you start it up you will be in the main capture mode. You first need to select a CC library where your shape will be stored. Once that is done you can press the + symbol to create a new shape. This can be done from the camera, the camera roll, or a file you have stored on Creative Cloud.

With the camera you can capture a shape from just about any item – a photo, a sketch or even a real-world item such as a pencil. You control the amount of lines via a slider on the app. You can remove elements by enabling the minus button and using your finger to remove them, and you can enable the plus button to add items. Once you are happy with the shape you accept it and store it with a filename. From here you can use your shape with other applications such as Adobe Illustrator. Shape CC has a lot of possibilities for graphic designers and artists as well as web designers who need to put something together fast and then use what they capture to create more permanent work.

Adobe Illustrator Draw delivers the ability to create scalable vector designs on your mobile device that can be edited in Illustrator CC and placed in Photoshop CC. Draw is also compatible with Adobe Ink and Slide. When you open Adobe Draw you will be greeted with a series of project panels. By moving all the way to the left you will see a list of community drawings that have been published to the Behance network.

When you want to work on a project you either create it or select it by tapping on it. On the left you will see the currently selected brush along with the size, opacity, and color. You even have the ability to work with layers. There are multiple options for brushes and once you select one, you can just use your finger to draw with.

For more accurate drawing you can use the Ink and Slide or you can use Touch Slide – a feature within Draw that allows you to create an accurate guide that you can drag your finger across to create smooth shapes. You can use a variety of shapes for your guides. You can even use Adobe Shape to create your own shapes. Once you are done, you can send your work to Illustrator or Photoshop, or store it on your Creative Cloud Library.

In effect, draw is the vector equivalent of Photoshop Sketch. It lets you work with vector drawing tools on the go to create new ideas and turn them into reality. This too will work for graphic designers, artists, and web developers to create new work.

Adobe Photoshop Mix provides you with the ability to edit, enhance, and composite images on your mobile devices. Mix offers several of the features of Photoshop without all of the complexity. To begin, you select an image from either your camera roll, Creative Cloud, your Facebook or Dropbox account, or Lightroom, or take a picture yourself.

Once the image is open you can rotate it, crop it, change its look via the “Looks” presets, remove items through content-aware fill, reduce shake, and fix parallax problems. You can also open existing PSD files. Once you have completed working with the image on your mobile device, you can send it to the desktop version of Photoshop for further refinement.

Photoshop Mix will really be helpful to photographers who want to take Photoshop work to the next level on their mobile devices. Even while traveling you will have a lot of capabilities to get your work cleaned up so you can share and promote it while you are away from your Photoshop CC app. And when you get back, your work is there waiting for you if it needs more advanced finishing.

Adobe Illustrator Line combines organic drawing with the ability to create beautiful straight lines and shapes so that you can draw in plan and elevation views or perspectives. This brings you the ability to use the art of drafting on your iPad. It also uses Adobe Ink and Slide to create more accurate lines. When you first load the app you will have three drawings available to show you what can be done with this application.

Using Touch Slide, you can control the lines and shapes in your image with ease. Using the Perspective Grid, you can easily create drawings in perspective. Then with Touch Slide you can align with the vanishing points to keep the image in perspective. Using motion controls you can add, remove, rotate, and change objects in your drawing. Then you can share your work on Behance or store it in the Creative Cloud.

For someone who works in a field that requires the use of perspective and detailed lines, such as an architect, landscaper, conceptual artist, or draftsman, Illustrator Line will be the perfect fit as combines the capabilities of a drawing program with the detailed needs of a craftsman, and since it is really easy to use, it will be the go-to application.

Adobe Voice will let you pitch an idea, explain a concept, or perhaps just inspire action. By using your voice you can do just that. Then by adding pictures, drawings, and other items you can present your idea and share it on Facebook, Twitter, by message, or email.

You speak your story to the application, and then choose from thousands of images to illustrate your ideas. Once it is all together you can make your story move through Voice’s cinema-quality animation to bring it to life. While this is a “little” application, it has some big potential in that it allows you to put together ideas quickly and get them out there for people to see.

Adobe Premiere Clip lets you create videos right where your media is – on your mobile device. This means that you can take that video of your day at the lake and turn it into a movie right there on the spot and share it with friends via messaging, email, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube, or upload it to Creative Cloud and work with it in Premiere Pro CC from your desktop.

First you load a clip or series of clips into Premiere Clip from your camera roll or your Creative Cloud account. Then you can rearrange clips, change the starting/ending points, adjust image qualities, add slow-motion, adjust the volume, add color gradients, add titles, and add sound tracks.

Premiere Clip is one of those apps that should have been out there a long time ago. I have captured so many little things on my phone that never really went anywhere because there was not an app that performs as well as Premiere Clip. Add to this the fact that your work can automatically be pushed to the desktop product, this is really a must-have app for anyone who captures things with an iPhone or iPad.

Overall, each one of these applications is very easy to use. Each targets specific needs that many users of the corresponding desktop products have. Depending on exactly what kind of work you do it seems to me that just about everyone can find several of these apps that will help them with their work, and since they are all part of the Creative Cloud license, it only makes sense to select the ones that seem most appropriate and check them out. It is for that reason that I highly recommend Adobe Mobile apps.