If you currently have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, did you know that you have access to a variety of mobile apps developed by Adobe? Even their least expensive subscription plan (the Photography plan, which includes access to Photoshop and Lightroom for $ 9.99 per month) includes access to eight different mobile apps that have so much to offer! In this article, I’ll take you through an overview of all the Creative Cloud Mobile apps included in the Photography Plan, and explain some different ways that you can use them.
1. Adobe Photoshop Fix
The first app is a mobile version of Photoshop (called Photoshop Fix) that includes simple retouching with the ability to liquify, heal, patch, smooth, lighten, and darken images. You can also do some basic image adjustments such as controlling exposure, adjusting contrast, and saturation. You also have the capability to send your image directly to the Photoshop CC desktop program with layers intact, to continue editing there if you’d like.
The mobile app is certainly a scaled-down version of the desktop program. But it does offer lots of options for simple retouching and adjustments of images you’ve taken with your cell phone, and is a fantastic (FREE) resource!
Screenshots of Adobe Photoshop Fix for iPhone.
2. Adobe Lightroom for Mobile
Once again, the Lightroom Mobile app is a scaled-down version of the desktop program which allows you to make basic adjustments to your images via your smartphone or tablet. Easily make adjustments to temperature, tint, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks, clarity, saturation, sharpness, noise, moire, color hue, and more. The real gem of the Lightroom mobile app is the access to 40
The real gem of the mobile app is access to 40 Lightroom presets that can help elevate your images in one touch. I especially enjoy the 11 black and white presets, which are significantly better (in my opinion) than other apps that offer one-touch editing. They also offer everything from low contrast to film versions.
Screenshots of Adobe Lightroom app for iPhone
3. Adobe Photoshop Mix
Adobe Photoshop Mix allows for more creative editing than the original Photoshop Fix app. It specializes in cutting out portions of different images and merging them together into one image. I haven’t found this app to be particularly useful for the type of photography I prefer, but if you ever find yourself in the position of needing a photo of Santa on the beach, with no time to make a photo session happen, this app would be your go-to.
I found this app much more difficult to use with my finger than any of the other Adobe apps, but it may be easier to manage with a stylus. Like the other Adobe apps, it runs seamlessly with the desktop programs, so you can fine-tune your images on the computer later if you wish.
4. Adobe Spark Post (formerly Adobe Post)
Adobe Spark Post allows you to quickly create graphics combining photos and text for social media. You can begin using a number of different templates, import your own photo, or search from Adobe’s free photo library. Next, enter your text, choose your font, spacing preferences, and color palate. With one touch, you can select whether you’ll be posting to Facebook, Instagram, on a blog post, or a number of other options, and the app will automatically size the image for you.
I have found this app to be so useful in so many different ways. Need a quick graphic advertising mini-sessions? Check. Want to combine a photo with a quote you love? Check. Need a pinable image for a blog post or article? Check. All of these examples are things that I could certainly do from scratch in Photoshop, but the ease and speed with which I can create very similar graphics with Spark Post has completely won me over. It’s the app you didn’t know you were missing!
Sample graphic created with Adobe Spark Post on iPhone.
5. Adobe Spark Page (formerly Adobe Slate)
Adobe Spark Page is a quick and easy way to create easy photo journals and web stories that are shareable on social media. It is suggested to use Spark Page to easily create newsletters, presentations, and travel journals. Once again, you can begin with a number of different layouts from Adobe that take all the guesswork (and time) out of the project. Spark pages automatically adjust to a plethora of different devices, and you can preview the way that your particular page will look on each. I haven’t implemented Adobe Spark Page into my process as of yet, but am currently contemplating using it as an avenue to share collections of images on social media.
6. Adobe Spark Video (formerly Adobe Voice)
All of the Adobe Spark apps are similar in that they are designed to elevate what you’re sharing on social media, while simultaneously streamlining the process. In this instance, Spark Video allows you to create simple and easy videos with lots of different options and layouts.
When you first begin creating a project with Spark Video, it asks whether you’re promoting an idea, sharing something that happened to you, telling a story about someone overcoming something difficult, telling about something important to you and attempting to engage your audience to participate, or sharing an experience that changed your view on the world. Depending on which option you select, Spark Video moves into a template that prompts you with what to include on each 2-second clip of your video. You also have the option to start from scratch and build your video from the ground up.
You can also record yourself narrating the video, or chose from a stock music library. There are so many different ways that you could think about utilizing Spark Video–whether making a video of a particular session, easily explaining what to wear for a family session, or creating a quick ad to use on social media. The possibilities are endless.
7. Adobe Portfolio
With Adobe Portfolio, you can build a website in just a few minutes. Again, there are many different templates available, including several designed especially for photographers. You can select images to act as feature images to link to albums, include some brief information about yourself, and gives you the ability to enable or disable right-clicking to save images. The process to build and edit your site is simple and requires no knowledge of HTML or CSS. You can even use your own domain name in conjunction with the portfolio you create. You can also achieve a similar but even more streamlined effect, by using Adobe Spark Page to create a portfolio of your work.
An example of a basic portfolio created with Adobe Portfolio. More galleries could be included as you continue to scroll down past the header.
8. Adobe Premiere Clip
With Adobe Premiere Clip, you have access to some amazing video editing capability right from your phone. Drag and drop videos, trim them and arrange into a video. The app is smart enough that you can add music and set it to auto-fade during any dialogue. If you have an iPhone, you can also import an entire collection from Lightroom for mobile to Premiere Clip to easily create a video of your images.
Accessibility
In order to use these apps, simply search for them individually in the app store (or use the links provided for you above), and download them. Once you open the app, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Adobe ID. Simply sign in using the same ID you used to purchase your Creative Cloud subscription, and you’ll have access to the app! Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that many of these apps (Spark Page, Spark Post, Spark Video, and Adobe Portfolio) are also available via web browser, so you aren’t necessarily limited exclusively to your mobile device.
In all, these apps pack a big punch and are a huge bonus to the desktop access to Photoshop and Lightroom! If you have a Creative Cloud subscription and are not already using the Adobe Creative Cloud Mobile Apps, I’d absolutely encourage you to check them out. Whether you’re a professional photographer or just someone who enjoys taking photos in their own backyard, there’s likely at least one app that you’ll find useful!
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