Adobe Express, previously known as Adobe Spark, has been available as a cloud-based all-in-one design platform since 2021. Today, Adobe has made the AI-driven features in Express available to the general public after months of beta testing. This addition follows the integration of Firefly, its generative AI engine, launched in March 2023, and fully incorporated into Express in June.
The new AI-powered Express makes it easy to create compelling visual content without design expertise.
The online application caters to desktop web users of varying skill levels, providing a quick, user-friendly, and enjoyable experience for crafting a wide range of content, such as social media posts, videos, images, PDFs, logos, and more. Supporting prompts in over 100 languages, Express empowers users to generate high-quality images and attractive text effects quickly.
Comparable to platforms like Canva (introduced in 2013 – recently unveiled generative-AI capabilities) and Microsoft Designer (launched in April 2023), Adobe Express is free to use and offers a $9.99 premium plan with advanced features. The premium plan is included in most Creative Cloud subscriptions, enabling seamless workflows with Adobe’s Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat. Furthermore, Adobe Express Enterprise targets larger teams, integrating collaborative workflows with Creative Cloud and Adobe Experience Manager,
Yesterday during a briefing, Ian Wang, Head of Product, Adobe Express, showed a brief demo of the AI-powered functions in the new all-in-one Express editor. The user experience seemed user-friendly and easy to learn.
Given my background as a former designer, I asked him if this new tool would remove the need for designers, specifically for small businesses.
“Small businesses typically don’t have the time or capacity to afford designers,” said Ian Wang, “and we’re getting a lot of great feedback from designers directly because it allows them to do more.”
I can vouch for his assessment, as digital tools such as Canva have undoubtedly enhanced my productivity in the creative process. That said, sophisticated creative tools cannot replicate my professional judgment when crafting a logo or a flyer, even when I rely on semi-automated design software.
Furthermore, I concur with Ian Wang’s assertion that designers prefer the creative phase over the production phase required for implementing the brand’s style on all marketing collaterals. Automated software can certainly boost productivity for that task while ensuring brand consistency across multiple documents.
Adobe Express New Features Highlights
The new all-in-one editor empowers users to create impactful designs, videos, images, and PDFs for various social platforms. Thanks to Firefly, Adobe Express enables the generation of custom images and text effects using text prompts in over 100 languages.
Deep workflows with Creative Cloud apps facilitate easy access and editing of creative assets from Photoshop and Illustrator within Express.
The expanded content library now offers nearly 200 million assets, Adobe Stock images, 22k+ fonts, icons, and more, that can be used in the new video editor or the new multiple-page template.
PDF support streamlines document import and enhancement. Enhanced AI capabilities help creators make design decisions and provide personalized template recommendations.
Quick actions simplify tasks like background removal, animation, GIF conversion, and PDF editing.Animate from Audio, allows users to easily animate characters with lips and gestures syncing to recorded dialogue.
