Spring Launch For Adobe Creative Cloud Application Suite

Adobe’s promised cloud initiative, Adobe Creative Cloud,  aimed at creative professionals will go live this spring.

Adobe announced the Adobe Creative Cloud at its MAX 2011 conference last October. In an interview, Heidi Voltmer, director of Product Marketing for Web and Interactive Solutions at Adobe, told eWEEK the Creative Cloud would go live to customers this spring along with Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6) and other applications.

Creativity focus

At MAX Adobe officials said Creative Cloud would become the focal point for creativity, where millions can access desktop and tablet applications, essential creative services, and share their best work. Adobe Creative Cloud was announced in parallel with a set of Touch Apps for content creation on tablet devices.

These bring professional-level creativity to millions of tablet users – from consumers to creative professionals – and use hosted cloud-based services to share files, view them across devices or transfer work into Adobe Creative Suite software for further refinement.

“We’re shifting the way we deliver our software to bring forth the Creative Cloud,” Voltmer said.

With Creative Cloud, Adobe will be able to deliver innovation faster and provide users with workflows for new media. Moreover, Voltmer said customers will not have to wait another product cycle for additional features because the cloud transforms the company’s relationship with its customers to centre on delivering continuous value.

When the Creative Cloud goes live this spring it will be accompanied by Creative Suite 6, Adobe Touch Apps, Muse 1.0 and a preview version of Adobe Edge.

Edge is Adobe’s new HTML5 motion and interaction design tool that is bringing Flash-like animation to Websites and mobile apps using the latest capabilities of HTML, JavaScript and CSS. Muse enables graphic designers to create HTML Websites without writing code.

Voltmer said the Adobe Creative Cloud will deliver everything creative people need from idea generation to content publishing for $49.99 (£31.62) a month. The Creative Cloud will feature all of Adobe’s creative applications including: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Audition, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Fireworks, Flash Pro, Acrobat, Edge and Muse. It will also feature all the new Touch Apps including: Kuler, Photoshop Touch, Collage, Proto, Debut and Ideas.

Creative Cloud will also feature a Creative Community, which will include capabilities that encourage creative types to present and share their work and ideas with peers around the world and a forum for feedback and inspiration that will foster connections between creative people. Creative Cloud will become a focal point for anyone creative, the company said.

In addition, a Creative Cloud membership enables users to take advantage of creative services, including device and PC sync services and 20GB of cloud storage. Users also get to tap into Adobe cloud services such as: Typekit, Adobe’s cloud-based service for Web fonts; Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite Single Edition, for publishing content to tablets; and Adobe Business Catalyst, for building and managing businesses online.