In this blog, I talk about some of the highlights from the new features recently announced at Adobe MAX and why they’re beneficial to creatives in corporate teams.
It’s easier than ever to work together
Let’s face it, creative people work best when they can bounce ideas off each other; however, this hasn’t always been well supported by workplace realities. Even the best teams could find themselves working in siloes. The process might go something like this: an initial brainstorming meeting, then the copywriter puts together words, the designer creates images and layout, and there is some back and forward to get it to fit well together. Somewhere in the middle, the project owner may direct the traffic, and each step takes time. Any changes may mean repeating multiple steps of this cycle, which leaves plenty of room for disconnect.
Working remotely hasn’t always been the easiest either, so when COVID-19 came along, it presented some extra challenges. I sympathise with anyone who found themselves working from home, dealing with huge files and limited home internet, all while trying to get creative projects approved. Fortunately, collaboration technology has come a long way, and this is illustrated brilliantly by Adobe’s new Creative Cloud Canvas feature.
The Canvas is a virtual collaborative whiteboard, where teams can brainstorm on projects, review and add comments via the web in real-time, and connect as a team to reach better outcomes, faster. Adobe is providing 1TB of storage per user to provide a centralised space for teams to access shared asset libraries, whether images, videos, or other creative resources. Users can even share links to projects with wider teams or clients, who can review and mark up work in their browser, triggering notifications natively in Adobe Creative Cloud. Link recipients can access the link even if they don’t have their own Creative Cloud licence, making it especially handy for anyone working with extended teams. All this happens without the headache of exporting or sending large files.
Photoshop and Illustrator are extended to the web
Aiding the process further, Photoshop and Illustrator web versions now remove the need to download or launch the apps. If you’ve ever needed to make a few quick edits without the benefit of having your usual work device close by, you’ll know just how handy this addition will be. Aside from the convenience of working on multiple devices, you won’t have to wait until you get back to your (home) office when an idea strikes.
Protecting Intellectual Property with NFTs
When you’ve poured your heart, soul, and a chunk of your marketing budget into creating the perfect digital artwork, finding it has been stolen by a competitor, or a random internet scavenger, is beyond frustrating. Adobe announced the inclusion of a ‘prepare as NFT’ (non-fungible token) feature to Photoshop. Whether you’re creating digital art or the perfect ad campaign, you can use the feature when creating and exporting work to reduce the chance of it being exploited. Inversely, if you are looking to purchase NFT art, you can do so more confidently, knowing the true creator will be rewarded fairly for their endeavours.
AI-powered image edits
Perhaps the icing on the cake for creatives is Adobe’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Adobe Sensei. Adobe is expanding on the capabilities of Photoshop by utilising AI, making time-consuming and complex editing actions take just mere seconds. You can quickly transfer colours and tones between images, or change someone’s expression, age or pose using AI-powered neural filters to generate new contextual pixels not present in the original. Imagine, for example, lockdowns have delayed a product launch, and those beautiful springtime images you commissioned just won’t work for autumn ads. Using Adobe Sensei, you can switch seasons faster than a Melbourne weather change. Check out the current filter gallery list here.
There’s plenty to love about Adobe’s new features, and I’m looking forward to putting them through their paces as they are released. Want to know more about what’s new in Adobe Creative Cloud? Download a new features round-up from Adobe here, or contact our Adobe licensing specialists today.