Adobe introduces Touch Apps series to the Android Market, Photoshop Touch now a reality
Adobe first demonstrated its Touch Apps suite back at MAX 2011 and left us impressed with the possibilities. Now, after long waiting for them, Adobe Photoshop Touch and the rest of the applications have hit the Android Market.
There are five more apps in the Touch Apps family - Adobe Ideas, Kuler, Proto, Collage and Debut. The apps will run on Honeycomb and future Ice Cream Sandwich tablets with a screen no smaller than 8.9 inches on the diagonal, and with a resolution of no less than 1280x800 pixels. Each one of them costs $9.99, but that tells little about the actual functionality, so let's take a separate look at each of the apps for that.
Adobe Photoshop Touch brings the "essence of Photoshop compositing," rather than fully replacing the ubiquitous image editing solution. It makes full use of the tablet form factor with an optimized user interface, made to be easy on your fingers with large, simple to tap buttons. There are some limitations you may also hit with Photoshop Touch - processed images are limited to 1600x1600 pixels and there is a cap of 16 layers.
Additionally, the application supports only the JPG and PNG formats, while when saving it uses its own proprietary PSDX format read by Photoshop CS5. The application however packs a lot of pre-installed fonts and more are coming soon as Adobe integrates recently purchased TypeKit assets.
Second on the list is Adobe Ideas, a sketchpad designed from the ground up with tablets in mind. Simple and with plenty of functionality, you can enjoy pens in different sizes, colors, all in a multi-layer environment helping productivity.
Adobe Kuler brings you color themes - something you'd find useful if you're trying to match and mix colors. You can create your own themes in two ways. The first one is via image extraction so you can instantly get the colors of say a photo that inspires you. The second one is going all manual with the palette. The app is not perfectly knit in the Touch Apps lineup, which is a downer, but you can still export your color themes to Adobe's Creative Suite and later leverage them from there.
Adobe Proto on the other hand makes perfect use of gestures - it's a wireframing tool for quickly drawing designs, which you can save in a WebKit preview and quickly show to your clients. Gestures seem very easy to get used to. For example, drawing a triangle inserts a video element, while a rectangle creates a box.
Adobe Collage is pretty straightforward in functionality allowing you to mash up images, drawings and text. You can combine moodboards and the app supports such formats as PDF, PSD and AI. You can also export your Collages to the Adobe Creative Cloud.
Last but not least is Adobe Debut which is Adobe's take on tablet presentation. You can import PDFs, AI and Photoshop files from Google, Flickr and the Creative Cloud and annotate them on the go. Moreover, Debut will automatically resize images and mash them up together in a presentation-friendly format.
Finally, it should be mentioned that the company is hard at work to implement Creative Cloud integration across its lineup. The Touch Apps family brings a much needed creative layer to the otherwise media consumption machine that a tablet usually is, and that means a lot. Luckily, Adobe seems to have gone at great length optimizing the experience for tablets. However, the applications don't match desktop versions in functionality and that's reflected in the price. Weirdly, the Android version of the applications come earlier than iOS Touch Apps, planned for early next year. Good news for Android lovers, isn't it? What do you think of Adobe's tablet suite, does it make the tablet a true creative tool?
source: Adobe
Adobe Touch Apps Available in Android Market
Six New Tablet Apps Enable Creativity Anywhere, Anytime
November 15, 2011 12:46 AM Eastern Time
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the availability of the Adobe® Touch Apps in the Android Market. Adobe Touch Apps are a family of six intuitive touch screen applications, inspired by Adobe Creative Suite® software, to bring professional-level creativity to millions of tablet users. Designed to work with both finger and stylus input, the apps address multiple areas of the creative process: Adobe Photoshop® Touch for image editing; Adobe Collage for moodboards; Adobe Debut for presenting and reviewing creative work; Adobe Ideas for sketching; Adobe Kuler® for exploring color themes; and Adobe Proto for website and mobile app prototyping. Announced at MAX 2011 in October, the apps are available today for Android 3.1 or higher. Adobe Ideas is already on iOS and Adobe expects iOS versions of the other five apps to be available in early 2012.
"Our touch apps will be a key component in Adobe's full Creative Cloud offering, coming in 2012."
In addition to availability as individual apps, Adobe Touch Apps will be essential components of Adobe Creative Cloud™, a new initiative expected in the first half of 2012. Adobe Creative Cloud will be a worldwide hub for creativity, with membership options that will enable users to access desktop and tablet applications, find essential creative services and share their best work. With the creative file capabilities of Adobe Creative Cloud launched today, files created via Adobe Touch Apps will be able to be shared, viewed across devices or transferred into Adobe Creative Suite software for further refinement – all key features of Adobe's vision for the Creative Cloud*.
"Adobe Touch Apps will transform how people use tablets – from mere consumption devices to vehicles for expression and creativity," said David Wadhwani, senior vice president and general manager, Digital Media Business Unit, Adobe. "Our touch apps will be a key component in Adobe's full Creative Cloud offering, coming in 2012."
Headlined by Adobe Photoshop Touch, a groundbreaking app that brings the legendary creative and image-editing power of Photoshop to tablet devices for the first time, the new Adobe Touch Apps include:
Adobe Photoshop Touch lets users transform images with core Photoshop features, in an app custom-built for tablets. With simple finger gestures, users can combine multiple photos into layered images, make essential edits, and apply professional effects. The tablet-exclusive Scribble Selection Tool allows users to easily extract objects in an image by simply scribbling on what to keep and, then, what to remove. With Refine Edge technology from Adobe Photoshop, even hard-to-select areas with soft edges are easily captured when making selections. Additionally, the app helps users quickly find images, share creations and view comments through integration with Facebook and Google search. Using Adobe Creative Cloud, files can be accessed and opened in Adobe Photoshop.
Adobe Collage helps creatives capture and refine ideas and concepts by allowing them to combine inspirational images, drawings, text and Creative Suite files into modern, conceptual moodboards. Features include importing of images, four customizable pen types for drawing, adding text and applying color themes. A virtually unconstrained canvas grows as needed to accommodate more assets. Files can be shared or transferred for access in Adobe Photoshop using Adobe Creative Cloud.
Adobe Debut allows users to present designs to clients and stakeholders virtually anywhere. Adobe Debut quickly opens tablet-compatible versions of Creative Suite files for convenient and beautiful viewing on the tablet, including Photoshop layers and Illustrator® art boards. Feedback is gathered using a markup pen tool to add notes and drawings on top of the work.
Adobe Ideas is an easy-to-master, vector-based tool for drawing. By using a stylus or finger, strokes appear smooth at any zoom level. Starting with a blank canvas, users can choose color themes and pull in tablet-compatible image files that can be controlled as separate layers. Finished results are easily accessed in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. Adobe Ideas is also currently available for iOS.
Adobe Kuler makes it easy to generate color themes that can inspire any design project. Color can be explored and discovered, with hundreds of thousands of Kuler themes already available via the creative community. Social engagement in the community is enhanced by rating and commenting on themes, which can be exported as color swatches for Adobe Creative Suite projects.
Adobe Proto enables the development of interactive wireframes and prototypes for websites and mobile apps on a tablet. Ideas are communicated and shared with teams and clients using a touch-based interface. Gestures quickly express a design concept, explain website structure or demonstrate interactivity. The wireframe or prototype then can be exported as industry standard HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and shared in popular browsers for immediate review and approval.
To learn more about the Adobe Touch apps, please visit Adobe.com, Adobe TV, Facebook or Twitter. News about the Adobe Creative Cloud can also be found on the Creative Layer blog or Facebook. The new Adobe Touch Apps follow the launch of the Adobe Carousel™ application for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and Mac OS – an all-new way to browse, enhance and share photos across devices.
Pricing and Availability
The six Adobe Touch Apps for creative professionals are immediately available on the Android Market, at an introductory price of $USD9.99 each. The Touch Apps are available in most geographies in English. The Adobe Touch Apps will run on tablets running Android 3.1 or higher with a minimum 8.9" screen size and resolution of 1280 x 800. Adobe Ideas is currently available in the iTunes App Store for $USD5.99. Adobe expects iOS versions for all Touch Apps to be available in early 2012. The Adobe Touch Apps integrate with the creative file viewing, sharing and transfer features of the Adobe Creative Cloud also made available today. More information regarding the additional capabilities of Adobe Creative Cloud, including applications, services and community and full Adobe Creative Cloud paid membership options will be available in the first half of 2012.
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