Adobe has long been recognized as providing industry-leading software when it comes to video editing and photo manipulation but you may not have realized just how many apps they have.
You might even call Adobe the Heinz of the software world. Where Heinz has its 57 varieties, Adobe isn’t far behind with a whopping 56 different apps currently available.
While some of these programs are different versions of the same piece of software such as Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, there are also numerous other apps that you may never have even heard of.
Whether you work in marketing, business, web design, illustration, or just use your computer casually there is sure to be something here to make your life easier.
How did all these apps come about?
Back in 1982 Adobe was founded by two ex-employees from Xerox who had an idea for a new programming language; PostScript. This language went on to revolutionize the office and kicked off the whole desktop publishing (DTP) boom after Apple released a laser printer that used PostScript.
Adobe released Illustrator, Photoshop, and PageMaker and it could be said that this was the precursor to the current Adobe bundles (Creative Suite) available today. While Illustrator and Photoshop have become industry standards in their own fields, PageMaker struggled due to QuarkXpress muscling in, however, Adobe came back with InDesign later on.
So now that brings us to today where there are over 50 different apps from Adobe to choose from. You can see all the apps that Adobe has to offer but here are some of the best in their respective areas:
For social media
You probably already knew before coming here that Adobe was involved in graphic design and photo editing but they have a finger in the social media pie too.
Adobe Spark is an app that lets you create short videos, add titles, filters, and animation to photos and post them instantly for sharing. Although Adobe Spark lets you create content for social media it also lets you create one-page websites quickly and easily.
For graphic designers and illustrators
Adobe Illustrator set the standard a long time ago for graphic design software. Although many prefer Corel Draw and other illustration software, Adobe Illustrator is still the go-to choice for many.
What many people find works so well is that Adobe has tried to make the interfaces throughout the Creative Suite similar so that moving between apps appears seamless. But, while Illustrator and Photoshop look very similar they are extremely different pieces of software.
There is another app that you may not have heard of and that is Adobe Photoshop Sketch. Although the word Photoshop implies it should be for photographers it is actually a drawing tool that lets you use the textures and tools you would find and normally use with paper. It works on Android and Apple and is only 39Mb which is remarkable when you consider that you can port to the desktop versions of Illustrator and Photoshop and upscale by 4x for hi-res printouts.
For photographers and editing photos
It would be impossible to talk about photo editing software and Adobe without mentioning Photoshop. This is the industry standard and is packed full of functionality and tools but if this seems overwhelming for you as a beginner then there are other options.
Photoshop Elements, Photoshop Portable, and Photoshop Express could be described as lighter versions of the full version of Photoshop. However, it is not as simple as all that.
Photoshop Elements will be familiar to anyone who has used Photoshop and it truly is a lightweight version. It is aimed at beginners and anyone who needs to edit photos quickly and has no need for some of the more complex features of the full program.
Photoshop Express can be confusing to anyone who is expecting another version of Photoshop as it is a separate program entirely. It looks similar but is a photo editing app all of its own and the big difference is that it was designed specifically for mobile devices so you can edit photos while on the move or away from your desktop.
Third-party Adobe Software
There is one oddity that many Adobe users won’t know about. There is another version of Photoshop and indeed Illustrator and they are named Portable. These apps can be carried on a USB flash drive and run from there meaning you can run Photoshop on any laptop or desktop no matter where you are without installing them. However, there is a big problem with them. They aren’t made by Adobe, these programs are third-party unlicensed software meaning they are illegal and have no support from Adobe.
Apps for businesses
Of course, Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on millions of devices and computers and is used every day to handle PDF documents but Adobe has created other business apps too.
Users often think of Adobe and its connection to creativity but perhaps less so to the more boring side of the business but they have a range of apps and programs for this too.
There was one app oddity in Adobe Mate that was only available in Australia and New Zealand and helped businesses to communicate with each other and help drive sales. Adobe Technical Communication Suite allows users to create documents that contain technical content.
Best and most popular apps for mobile
There are far too many apps to explain here but here is a list of some of the most used apps today specifically available on mobile devices.
- Adobe Lightroom Mobile
- Adobe Photoshop Fix
- Adobe Spark Post
- Adobe Photoshop Mix
- Adobe Spark Page
- Adobe Spark Video
- Adobe Premiere Clip
- Adobe Portfolio
Between this group of apps, you could edit photographs, fix any errors and adjust color balances. You can also get videos, posts, and photos ready for social media and even create a website simply and quickly.
Adobe Portfolio
Adobe Portfolio allows you to make a simple website and is aimed at photographers who want to create albums and portfolios of their work online. There is no need to understand any form of coding and you can use your own domain name to set the site up.
Adobe Premiere Clip
This app lets you create and edit videos right there on your smartphone or another mobile device. Features include being able to fade music tracks during any speech or dialogue and it works in conjunction with Lightroom Mobile.
Adobe Spark Products
Together these apps allow you to create posts for social media. There are templates available to layout photos and text, graphics can be added and videos edited quickly for posting online.
Adobe Photoshop Products
Along with Lightroom Mobile, you can use these apps to edit photos. Lightroom also has 40 presets that can be used to alter photographs quickly and easily to black and white or other styles.
Summary
There are a plethora of Adobe products and it can be confusing to understand one Photoshop app from another but they all work in different ways and are aimed at different levels and types of users. For anyone wanting to edit photos and wanting to either utilize social media or create an online portfolio then the list of mobile apps above could be all you need and they are certainly hot right now.
