Adobe’s Creative Cloud represents a fundamental change to the way the industry leader will be distributing its products. Creative Suite has been a mainstay for creative professionals for years and we have all become used to the linear version releases, but now it’s official: there will be no CS7.

The next generation of Adobe applications will follow the principles of ‘software as a service’. Creative Cloud is to be charged via a monthly subscription which gives you constant access to all 26 programs and toolkits. You can then pick and choose the applications you wish to download and install, and receive updates and new features as they are rolled-out, instead of having to wait for the next CS release as before. It is like a car company adding features to the car while you are driving it, rather than making you wait for the next year’s model. Essentially you now pay for the ongoing services of Adobe in their development of the applications. You can still use the programs offline, but you do need to connect to the internet at least once a month so the programs can verify that your subscription is valid.

It is a big change, but a necessary one. In just the last few years we have seen the explosion of enormous brand-new markets centering around mobile devices. Creative Cloud gives Adobe’s software the ability to evolve at the same aggressively fast rate as the industry; to react more quickly and give designers what they need when they need it.

This is a fairly drastic modernization of Adobe’s business model and we have been hearing a few recurring questions from our students about the transition. In particular the new subscription types take some explaining:

If you have never purchased CS3 or later, full Creative Cloud subscription is $49.99/month. If you are an existing customer (own a valid serial), the first year is $29.99/month, and for teachers and students signing up before June 25th 2013, the first year is $19.99/month. These individual plans come with 20GB of Cloud storage and are a 12 month commitment.

For businesses, it is $69.99 per team member per month, which includes 100GB Cloud storage and extended one-on-one support. And again, if you already have a CS3 or later serial, the first year is $39.99.

The services provided are intended to go beyond mere software. With Cloud storage, enhanced file syncing through CC Connection, and other tools emphasizing live collaboration, Creative Cloud is recognizing the increasing mobility of todays creative professionals. It addresses the growing need we have for access to all of our resources from whatever location we’re at, and whatever device we’re on.

Part of this modernization is the introduction of web services like Behance, hailed in this year’s MAX Keynote presentations as “the ultimate creative ecosystem”, it serves as online space for creatives to showcase their work in a format reminiscent of Pinterest, but with the self-promoting elements of LinkedIn. You can even share unfinished projects directly from the program you’re using and receive live feedback from the creative community – coined ‘the credible mass’.

CC also seems to have a theme of creating synergistic workflows between several existing programs. Below is a rough example of a comp started in Photoshop, made responsive in Edge Reflow, and tested in Edge Inspect to make the design compatible on multiple devices:

Comp made in Photoshop…

…layout configured with media breakpoints in Edge Reflow…

…and tested in Edge Inspect on my smartphone.

Essentially the vision is for there to be an always-accessible, swirling cloud of resources, support and inspiration from the creative community above our heads, and an equally collaborative and intuitive suite of programs under our noses; signaling a new-age for the creative design process.

Judging by the reviews on the Creative Cloud site, this transition will be a hectic time for Adobe’s customer service staff. The drastic changes to the pricing structure may have alienated more casual users, and the option of a single program subscription for $19.99 per month does little to appease them. But amongst those with higher levels of usage at least, the benefits outweigh the apparent cost commitment and CC seems generally well-received.

Ascend’s scheduled classes will start being taught in CC 30 days after the official release from Adobe on June 17th.

An animation today needs to be independent of the hardware it is sitting on. This is the only way developers can realistically roll their work out across the entire multitude of devices that are out there. With the continuous evolution of Web Standards and the power of today’s coding libraries; what can be achieved within the constraints of a web browser alone has become increasingly impressive. As a result, many developers are looking to convert existing Flash elements into pure, stand-alone HTML5 code.

To help with this transition, Adobe has been backing a new set of tools known as CreateJS.

CreateJS is a collection of prewritten code libraries geared up to make it easy for those who are used to working in Flash, to create in languages like HTML5 or Javascript. The tools let you export the HTML and Javascript code that manages the preloading of graphics, sound, and animation in a Flash animation. This way you can take Flash assets and convert them to work in an HTML5 canvas. There is even an extension toolkit for Flash Pro’s developer tools which allows users to work entirely in Flash and then export to HTML or Javascript.

It is far from perfect at this stage, but it does allow the conversion of vector, bitmaps, classic tweens and sound to HTML5. However more complex animations are not yet accommodated by CreateJS, so keep an eye on their updates for shape tween, mask and blends support, among other things.

Type styles in Photoshop CS6 enable us to have far more control over text, similar to Adobe InDesign. In the past, global changes to text were just not possible. In Photoshop CS6, we can now define styles for both paragraphs and characters. Normally Paragraph styles are most used, with Character styles used within paragraphs for special emphasis.

In addition, you can change several type layers at the same time by selecting all of them and making the change, and even insert a Lorem Ipsum text.

• Character Styles: Defines attributes derived from the Character panel such as font size, kerning, leading.
• Paragraph Styles: Control both character and paragraph attributes including alignment, spacing, indents.

We now have InDesign style formatting in Photoshop CS6.

Join us June 26th at our Chicago training facility for a jam packed day full of Adobe CS6 presentations!

Join us to see the future of Kinect and how it interacts with Adobe AIR. There are now endless possibilities to take interactivity to a new level.