Adobe integrates stock image purchases into Creative Cloud as it updates its 15 CC apps

Alongside the updates to its mobile apps yesterday, Adobe has also updated its entire suite of Creative Cloud desktop apps and launched a new Adobe Stock images service integrated within those apps – something the company says “radically simplifies” the process of buying and using stock images.

“Adobe Stock extends Creative Cloud’s value as a vibrant global marketplace,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Digital Media, Adobe. “Eighty-five percent of customers who purchase stock images use Adobe creative tools. The deep integration with our latest Creative Cloud desktop apps, including Photoshop and InDesign, makes buying and using stock photos incredibly easy. At the same time, our customers – the best photographers and designers on the planet – will have the opportunity to contribute millions of new photos and images to Adobe Stock. This is really going to raise the bar in the world of stock content.”

Single images cost $9.99 for existing Creative Cloud subscribers, but Adobe offers two volume subscriptions offering significantly better deals … 

$29.99/month gets you 10 images a month, with unused credits rolling over for up to a year, while high-volume users of stock imagery can pay $199.99/month for 750 images. Non-subscribers pay higher rates.

The headline new feature for Photoshop CC is Artboards, which Adobe describes as “the best way to design cross-device user experiences in a single Photoshop document and quickly preview them on a device,” and a new work environment geared to mobile app and web design.

New features for other Adobe CC apps include:

• Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC both gain the new Dehaze feature, which appeared first as a MAX sneak in October 2014. Dehaze, eliminates fog and haze from photos, including underwater shots, for startlingly clear images. Haze can
  also be added to a photo for artistic effect.
• Premiere Pro CC furthers its lead in the market with the addition of the Lumetri Color panel for powerful color corrections using intuitive sliders and other simple controls; and Morph Cut, which makes it easier to deliver polished interview content by smoothing out jump cuts in talking-head shots to create a cohesive, polished sequence.
• After Effects CC now has Uninterrupted Preview to allow artists to adjust a composition’s properties and even resize panels without impacting playback. Also, the groundbreaking Adobe Character Animator brings 2D figures to life using a webcam to track facial movements, record dialog and apply movements in real time onto a pre-configured character.
• Illustrator CC is now 10 times faster and 10 times more precise than CS6. Powered by dramatic boosts to its Mercury Performance Engine, users can now pan and zoom smoothly without delays. With the new Chart tool (preview)
  designers can also create beautiful custom charts and share them with others via CC Libraries.
• InDesign CC gets its own Mercury performance surge with zooming, scrolling, and paging through complex documents now twice as fast. InDesign now also allows users to publish and distribute documents with a single click.
• Dreamweaver CC has new responsive web design capabilities that let designers quickly lay out and build production-ready sites that adapt to any screen size.
• Adobe Muse now includes instant access to premium fonts from Typekit.

As with all Creative Cloud updates, all existing subscribers get access to the updates as part of their existing annual subscription.

Adobe last updated Lightroom back in April, hoping Aperture users would follow Apple’s advice to switch to its photography-oriented app.