Why We Love Adobe Creative Cloud For Creators

Disclaimer: The software suite we speak of, is Adobe Creative Cloud. We personally have hands-on experience in using this software and pay for our own subscription.  It is only after years of use and satisfaction with their software, that we asked Adobe for their permission to share our experience and opinion of their suite. We may receive a small commission at NO additional cost to you, if you find this article helpful and purchase their software through one of my affiliated links in this blog article.

I would never recommend something that I do not use myself or find to be a negative experience. This is a real review. Your support will help us continue to grow and share our experiences. 

 

Top Reasons to Use Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps Suite

 

1. It’s affordable for the value you receive

 

 Ever since Adobe launched its program-packed Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps program, it became a game-changer. The subscription allows you live access to so many features and mentorships, that the opportunities are endless. Whether you’re a student, a YouTuber, an artist in drawing, a photographer, or a graphic designer, there are features for you! Best of all, you can pay monthly to help work with your budget or get a discount if you pay annually. If you’re a student or teacher, you’re in even more luck, because they have special pricing to help those in the education field. For the value Adobe offers you, it doesn’t get much better than this!

 

2. There are free resources to help you learn

 

Based on my experience, I believe many Adobe users start out learning one or two of the programs like the very popular Photoshop or Illustrator and expand from there. For me, I started out wanting to improve my skills in completing some common edits with a more professional touch, so I first learned Photoshop. As I learned more and discovered the potential growth Adobe has to offer, I craved to learn their other programs. I believe you too, will become passionate about advancing your skills because creating can be so exciting! Don’t worry, if you’re overwhelmed thinking about being new to the Adobe community, you’re not alone. Fellow Adobe users just like you, had to start from scratch too! Below are a few tips to help get you started.

 

Rest assured; Adobe offers a wide range of tutorials built directly into their platform to help creators step-by-step. First, here are a few of my personal tips to help make the most of your learning experience:

 

• Block out time in your schedule. Put it on your calendar and stick to it. Be realistic with your time. Don’t over promise yourself and then underdeliver. If you only have time once a week, then block out that time. I personally recommend at least 30 minutes a day or every other day. Regardless of how much time you can dedicate, tell yourself that it’s your time and that you’re going to sit and practice the program and learn something new. You’ll find it more difficult to advance in the software if you’re not dedicating some time and effort into it!
• If possible, use two monitors or devices. Trying to learn Adobe programs by tips and tricks while toggling back and forth to click your way through all on one small screen, can be a frustrating experience. For example, I use my iPad or tv screen to play the tutorials while I work in the program using my laptop. This enables me to have one larger screen I can watch step-by-step directions on, while clicking through to follow along on the other.
• Find a forum to help you. You’ll probably have questions along the way, and the internet is your friend 24/7. Don’t be afraid to seek help from one of the many forums. If you have a question, chances are that some else has had it too. Photoshop Gurus forum is just one example of a place you can go to ask for assistance. A lot of times, I search for “How to” video tutorials on YouTube if I can’t find what I am looking for in Adobe’s tutorials.
• Give yourself a small project to start with that has meaning to you. I recommend this because too often people tackle a project without meaning, and then lose interest shortly after. In my experience, I ultimately felt more empowered to learn the programs when I was working toward heartfelt projects similar to the designs I made to encourage gratitude in others.

 

3. Be inspired

 

I’ve been using Adobe for many years now, and while I’m no master, I’ve had the blessing to digitally create art and share it with others. In times like a global pandemic, it’s been a tool that’s helped me to cope and express my gratitude. Maybe you too, can help make a difference with your art.

 

Ask yourself, how can you help people through your creative skills? Is it salvaging that old family photo that is worn out or stained? Is it a friend that needs help creating a special logo? Maybe you have a sibling or two that likes to post on Instagram, but doesn’t know how to make their postings or videos pop differently from the rest. Adobe Creative Cloud puts these tools right into your hands!

 

 

Additional Benefits That Are Included In The Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps

 

With a collection of 20+ apps that allow you to explore your creativity, Adobe pushed the value even further by extending themselves into mobile apps such as Adobe Fresco, Adobe PS Express, Adobe Draw, Adobe XD, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Spark just to name a few. Not only are these included in Creative Cloud subscriptions, but you can sync them across your devices on the go!

 

Being a member of the Adobe community, you’ll receive notices and invites to their updates, new releases, contests, and their very special Adobe Max events!

 

 My Personal Experience With Some Of The Adobe Creative Cloud Programs

 

Adobe Photoshop-

 Even if you’re completely new to Adobe, you’ve likely heard of Photoshop. It’s one of the most used and probably most convenient for photographers. Photoshop allows you to do everything from simple photo edits to animating still shots. The “Aloha Orchid” design I made is a great example of how I’ve put Photoshop to use in my work.

 

Here are the main steps I used to achieve the design:

 

1. I captured a photo image of a real live orchid
2. Uploaded it into my Creative Cloud Storage
3. Imported image from Creative Cloud Storage into Adobe Photoshop
4. Using the pen tool, I selected only the orchid itself as the main subject
5. I used the brush tool to clean up the orchid selection to reveal a more defined edge.
6. Sent the file into Adobe Lightroom to change and correct light balance
7. Create background and font layout

 

Adobe Capture-

 Adobe Capture is an app that allows you to transform images into shapes, color palette, and patterns all from your mobile device, turning them into assets using a powerful vector converter. This is a mobile app for on the go that syncs to your Creative Cloud account as assets. For example, I used this application's tools to help create the following designs “Thank You Healthcare Workers” and “Support Our Frontline Workers.” 

 

 

Here are the steps I used to achieve these designs:

 

1. The designs were hand sketched using paper and pencil
2. Adobe Capture was used to capture the drawing and convert it into a shape
3. The shape was then imported into Photoshop
4. In Photoshop, we made our edits, added layers of colors to give depth and texture for a stretched material look, and then shading to induce a more realistic appearance

 

(Yes, there are other ways and techniques to make such a design, but utilizing different methods, is what makes artists different).

 

Adobe Illustrator-

 In my opinion, Adobe Illustrator is the industry-standard for vector graphics and is used by designers to create web and mobile graphics for logos, business cards, icons, book illustrations, billboards, and more. It’s highly popular, just like Photoshop. The main difference between the two is the type of graphics. Adobe Illustrator creates vector graphics while Adobe Photoshop generates raster graphics.

 

Raster graphics are composed of pixels, which are great for editing photos and creating image files like JPEG and GIF. This is why Photoshop is excellent and mostly used for photo editing. Vector graphics are composed of paths using geometric forms (curves, shapes, lines). This is optimal in certain cases, because when scaled, paths do not become distorted (unlike pixel-based graphics).

 

To help visually compare the two different types of graphics, you can take a look at our “Collectible Impressions (Style 1)” design. Style 1 is a raster-based graphic created in Photoshop of an actual butterfly (pixel-based image). Now, take a look at “Collectible Impressions (Style 2).” This is a vector-graphic designed in Illustrator to mimic the same butterfly. While the edges may look more defined, the butterfly in this design is “flatter” and is less realistic appearing. A lot of graphic designers utilize Illustrator for that solid, yet flexible graphic.

 

 Adobe Lightroom-

 Adobe Lightroom is a lighting editor that helps you edit your shots to perfection. You can tone down distracting glares, tweak exposures, adjust scenic contrast, shadows, and more. You can even add lighting to brighten an area as if there was a light fixture already there. This program has a wide range of flexibility in lighting effects and harmonizes well with the original image, unlike most lighting edits from other apps. It’s the perfect software to have on hand when you capture something beautiful, but the lighting just isn’t quite right. This is a must-have for all of those who love taking pictures day and night!

 

Adobe Stock-

 Adobe Stock is where you can find the perfect high-resolution, royalty-free stock images, templates, and audio to enhance your creative projects. This platform also offers more advanced files for a license fee. Adobe Stock image library also includes mockup files that you can license and use as assets across your Adobe Creative Cloud programs. Not only is Adobe Stock a great resource to obtain images, it’s a great place to sell your images too if you want to get even more serious.

 My own experience has been nothing but pleasant. So far, I’ve utilized their mockup files to help me practice during tutorials and a few images for use with Adobe Spark Page and Adobe Spark Post. All were high-quality and user-friendly.

 

Adobe Spark- 

 

Adobe Spark is the app you can create impactful social media thumbnails, web pages, and short videos in mere minutes with Spark Post, Spark Page, and Spark Video. I've loved using these tools because they help me create the visual graphics that I need for sharing and standing out on multiple platforms. 

 

While I use a lot of Adobe’s tools personally, I also need to market. I love that I don’t have to go outside of Adobe Creative Cloud in order to do this. If I want to create a social media post or design a web page, I am able to do that on the go right in Adobe Spark Post or Adobe Spark Page via my iPad and iPhone.

 

Are You Ready to Get Started with Adobe Creative Cloud?

 

 As you can see, by utilizing Adobe Creative Cloud, artists and creators can bring ideas and designs to life. I’ve only named just a handful of my most frequently used programs, but there is so much more like Adobe Premier for video production, Adobe InDesign for brochures and advertisements, Adobe Dreamweaver for building websites from scratch, and so much more. I firmly believe these programs are for everyone who likes to create in any form, and if many others were able to learn from scratch, you can too! Get started today by joining the Adobe community and bring your uniqueness with you!

So, ask yourself, are you ready to get started? Visit here to get Adobe Creative Cloud.