Adobe MAX 2021: Unleashing Creativity for All with the Next Generation of Creative Cloud
At Adobe MAX, the company announced major updates across Creative Cloud flagship applications powered by Adobe Sensei, accelerated the video creation process with the addition of Frame.io and advanced 3D and immersive authoring abilities. Adobe also previewed new collaboration capabilities with the introduction of Creative Cloud Canvas, Creative Cloud Spaces and betas of Photoshop and Illustrator on the web.
In support of the company’s Content Authenticity Initiative, Adobe shipped Content Credentials in Photoshop, an opt-in feature that shows a creator’s identity and edit history to ensure they are getting attribution for their work; Content Credentials will also connect to NFT marketplaces. The company also introduced a subscription model on Behance to enable creators to monetize their work.
“Creativity is evolving to meet the new realities of work. Adobe is bringing new collaboration capabilities, more AI-powered features and web-first applications to Creative Cloud to unleash our customers’ full creative potential,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president, Creative Cloud, Adobe. “We are reimagining Creative Cloud products and services to connect creative teams, enable new ways to create and empower more creative careers.”
Unleashing Creative Innovation
Through the latest updates to Creative Cloud flagship apps—powered by Adobe Sensei AI technology—Adobe defines the future of creativity through continuous innovation. Major releases at MAX include:
- Photoshop : Three AI-powered Neural Filters in Photoshop desktop and Camera Raw file support on the iPad.
- Lightroom/Lightroom Classic : More powerful and precise ML-powered masking capabilities, recommended presets and Community Remixing.
- Premiere Pro : Enhanced Speech-to-Text capabilities and a Sensei-powered beta Remix feature.
- After Effects : Faster Previews and Renders with Multi-Frame Rendering and beta Sensei-powered Scene Edit Detection capabilities.
- Illustrator : Improved 3D effects and access to Substance 3D materials on desktop and a Sensei-powered Vectorize Technology Preview on iPad.
- Character Animator : Powered by Adobe Sensei, creators can now animate their entire body with Body Tracker, using movements and gestures to animate their puppets.
- Substance 3D : Tighter integration of 3D content, effects and capabilities across Illustrator, XD and Stock. A new Modeler (Private Beta) app joins the Substance 3D Collection, showcasing the role that 3D and immersive technology will play in helping users create the future.
- Fresco : Turn any drawing layer into an animation layer to create motion, draw with new perspective guides and grids, and use non-destructive adjustment layers to explore and enhance colors.
Enabling Connected Creativity
At MAX, the company previewed the future of creativity on the web, which is designed to help creative teams collaborate in real time, across multiple surfaces and stakeholders, regardless of device or location.
- Frame.io : The recent acquisition of Frame.io combines Adobe’s industry-leading creative video editing software, Premiere Pro and After Effects, with Frame.io’s review and approval functionality to deliver a powerful collaboration platform that will radically accelerate the creative process. Frame.io’s cloud-native platform is a secure and elegant way to gather feedback from everyone involved in the video production process and will enable every stakeholder to effectively contribute to the creative process.
- Photoshop (Beta) and Illustrator (Private Beta) on the web : Browser-based experiences where millions of individuals, teams and stakeholders can view, share and comment on cloud documents on the web. Collaborators with a Photoshop subscription can make quick edits and retouch/adjust images, while Illustrator subscribers can access essential design tools and editing workflows using a set of early features.
- Creative Cloud Spaces (Private Beta) : A digital space built to fuel collaboration among teams, Creative Cloud Spaces simplifies decision-making by putting everything they need in one place. This includes project files, libraries and external links so everyone on the team has universal access to drive creative projects from start to finish. Spaces will be accessible across desktop and mobile through Creative Cloud Web and available in Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco and XD.
- Creative Cloud Canvas (Private Beta) : To unlock a new level of collaboration, Canvases enable teams to lay out, visualize and review creative work together, in real time, without ever leaving the browser. On a Canvas, teams can place shapes, text, images and stickers, as well as linked documents from Creative Cloud apps, so anyone can make quick edits to the original creative in the corresponding app with a single click.
In addition, an all-new Workfront plugin for Photoshop gives creatives the ability to collaborate in context. Through an embedded Workfront update screen in Photoshop, creators can see tasks and issues, and post and view comments related to the project they’re working on.
Empowering Creative Careers
Adobe is supporting creators by enabling Creative Cloud subscribers to monetize their work through paid subscriptions on the Behance platform. Creators have full control over what they share, and the subscriptions are seamlessly integrated into Behance projects and livestreams, so creators can reserve any content for subscribers only. Creators keep 100% of their subscription revenue, with a 0% platform fee charged by Adobe.
Combating Misinformation: The Content Authenticity Initiative
Two years after introducing the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), Adobe is making its content attribution technology available to millions of customers. Through a CAI-driven feature called Content Credentials, attribution capabilities are now available in Photoshop, enabling users to turn on the opt-in feature to share content provenance details about their images; these include the creator’s identity, edits they’ve made and the time and place the photo was taken.
To ensure creators are getting credit for their work, the company is connecting the Content Credentials feature to NFT marketplaces for further attribution. Lastly, Adobe Stock will also automatically attach Content Credentials to images when they are downloaded.
Celebration of Creativity for All
Adobe MAX showcases a diverse roster of highly prolific creatives and entrepreneurs, including Jose Andres, Riz Ahmed, Zazie Beetz, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, Henry Golding, Casey Neistat, Tilda Swinton, Young Thug, Chloe Zhao and Imagine Dragons. Emmy Award-winning comedian and producer Kenan Thompson will host this year’s MAX Sneaks – a behind-the-scenes look at the experimental technology being developed in Adobe Labs.
MAX offers more than 400 content sessions and Labs, and 29 hours of global content designed to inspire and educate. To watch the keynote, attend global sessions and network with peers, visit max.adobe.com.
Pricing and Availability
All Creative Cloud subscribers—including those on individual, student, team, educational institution, government agency and enterprise plans—can download updates to Creative Cloud desktop software today. Additionally, updates to mobile apps are rolling out globally and can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store starting today. Creative Cloud subscribers can apply to join the private beta for Creative Cloud Spaces, Creative Cloud Canvas and Illustrator on the web here.