Software

New Adobe Product Simplifies Digital Design

Creative Cloud Express reduces the learning curve for design software, giving all K–12 students the chance to explore their creativity.

Rebecca Torchia

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Rebecca Torchia is a web editor for EdTech: Focus on K–12. Previously, she has produced podcasts and written for several publications in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and her hometown of Pittsburgh.

Last month, Adobe announced the release of Creative Cloud Express, a product that aims to bring design capabilities to all creators. Web- and mobile-friendly Creative Cloud Express is intended for a wide audience, including K–12 students working on presentations, students in art and design classes, educators and other content creators.

EXPLORE: Learn more about Adobe’s suite of creative solutions for schools.

“Creative Cloud Express is the start of a brand-new journey to introduce first-time creators to Adobe creative tools while adding significant value to our current Creative Cloud subscribers,” David Wadhwani, chief business officer and executive vice president of Adobe, said in a press release.

The app is built with tools and features from Adobe’s suite of popular products, including Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro. Creative Cloud Express additionally provides templates, stock images, fonts and graphics, giving new users a place to get started and making designing and creating easy to learn. This can greatly benefit students in design classes and those doing design work in extracurriculars, as the learning curve of new software is one of the constraints named by educators as a barrier to creative problem-solving.

43%

The percentage of U.S. educators who said a lack of time to learn new tools prevented access to the knowledge and training needed to nurture creative problem-solving

Source: Adobe, “Creative Problem Solving in Schools,” January 2018

However, the available assets can also provide inspiration to seasoned design professionals, who can quickly create and showcase their work with a few simple steps. Creators on this platform can easily convert and export PDFs from Adobe Acrobat, making it easy to share files and designs. In a classroom setting, students can work on group design projects thanks to the Creative Cloud Libraries, which can store fonts, colors and logos for a project or brand.

Schools with the Creative Cloud Single App plan or the Creative Cloud All Apps plan will find the platform in their library, ready to bring students’ and educators’ imaginations to life.

“Everyone has a story to tell, and it’s our mission to empower everyone to express their ideas,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president of Creative Cloud at Adobe.

DISCOVER: Interactive panels are a key tool for teacher-driven learning in K–12 classrooms.