Today, Adobe made a number of announcements at its MAX event, including the addition of five new apps to its Creative Cloud portfolio: XD, Dimension, and Spark are all to be used for design. Character Animator is for video, and Lightroom is for photos.
At this point, you"re probably most curious with the latter. Yes, Lightroom existed previously, but that version is now being rebranded as Lightroom Classic. And before we go any further, Adobe is still promising to support the legacy application, and is even adding some features as a new update, such as preview generation, switching between Library and Develop Module, responsive brushing, and more.
The new Lightroom CC is an entirely cloud-based service, with apps for desktop, mobile, and the web. Adobe says that it was built with three guiding principles:
- Powerful yet simple — Lightroom CC will offer the powerful image editing that you want while being simple and intuitive to use. Our goal is that it will have everything you need and nothing you don’t.
- Seamless experience across all your devices — Lightroom CC will work the same across desktop, mobile, and web. This allows you to move across your devices without needing to relearn or figure things out. Your photos and edits are all where you’d expect them to be.
- Cloud Based — Everything you do in Lightroom CC is synced to the cloud. This means that you can access and work with your photos from any device (including multiple computers), and can easily share photos with others. All of your photos and all of the work that you do with them will be automatically backed up all the time.
Adobe also pointed out that Lightroom 6 will be the last version of the app that can be purchased with a perpetual license. There will not be a Lightroom 7, and while version 6 will still be sold, it will not be updated with camera support or bug fixes after the end of 2017.
And then there"s XD, Dimension, and Spark for design. Adobe XD has been in beta for over a year now, and while it"s not available in the Windows Store, it"s actually a UWP app (the one for Windows is, at least). The company says that it"s "built from the ground-up to quickly prototype and design engaging experiences, whether for mobile, web, or any digital touchpoint."
Adobe Dimension, as you can probably guess from its name, is all about allowing designers to work in 3D. The company says that "3D has been difficult and expensive for graphic designers", but making this type of design seems to be a trend lately, with virtual and augmented reality becoming more popular.
With Adobe Spark, the company says that you can create "stunning graphics, web pages, and video stories in minutes". It will even create custom templates automatically.
Finally, Character Animator is coming out of beta, after over a year and a half. You may recall that in mid-May, 2016, a live episode of The Simpsons aired using the software. The app can track lip and eye movements for live animations.
All of these apps should be coming to Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers soon.