Major Adobe Updates Announced

We’ve received three emails from Adobe the last couple of days covering major updates and enhancements. They are reprinted here in their entirety.

---

Adobe Supercharges Photoshop and Lightroom with Multi-Surface Updates

• Major editing and performance enhancements in Photoshop on the Web unveiled
• New video editing capabilities, AI-powered Adaptive Presets and Auto Red Eye Removal released in Lightroom
• New AI Photo Restoration Neural Filter in Photoshop previewed

PARIS, France, — June 14, 2022 —Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today unveiled major updates to Creative Cloud applications Photoshop, Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, delivering significant new features, benefits and value to customers. Today’s updates deliver new editing and usability enhancements to Photoshop on the Web (beta), leverage Adobe Sensei AI and machine learning to help simplify complex workflows for creatives and streamline cross-device (desktop, web and mobile) collaboration workflows for Photoshop and Lightroom users.

“These innovative, AI-driven features for desktop, web and mobile make it fast and easy to create great images anywhere with Photoshop and Lightroom,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud. “We’re continuing to add new capabilities to Photoshop on the Web, making it not only a great way to collaborate on projects but also to facilitate key edits in your browser.” Belsky unveiled these updates from a customer event in Paris. They include:

AI-Powered Innovations and Expanded Workflows in Photoshop

Neural Filters in Photoshop put the power of cutting-edge AI and machine learning into the hands of creatives. Built to help lower barriers to creativity, Neural Filters have emerged as one of Photoshop’s most popular AI-powered tools. They dramatically reduce complex workflows into easy-to-use, transformative solutions for photo editing and manipulation. Over 300 million Neural Filters have been applied to creative work by more than four million creatives to date.

Adobe today previewed a powerful new Photo Restoration Neural Filter designed to help users bring old or damaged photos back to life by detecting and eliminating scratches and other minor imperfections in seconds.

Adobe also announced updates to Photoshop on the web (beta) including:

• New, easy-to-use editing features like Curves, Refine Edge, Dodge and Burn, and Smart Objects conversion;
• Mobile browser access for fast and easy reviewing and commenting;
• Onboarding and learning content for new creatives and citizen creators who were previously unfamiliar with Photoshop; as well as
• Performance and UX enhancements

Powerful New Features Across Lightroom Ecosystem

Today’s updates to Lightroom and Lightroom Classic deliver powerful new editing capabilities and time-saving workflows for photographers. Notable additions include:

• The ability for photographers to quickly trim and apply edits to video clips in Lightroom using the same editing sliders and presets used on photos (desktop and mobile);
• AI-powered Adaptive Presets for applying different effects to distinct parts of a photo (Lightroom desktop, Lightroom Classic, Adobe Camera Raw);
• Key workflow enhancements for adjusting intensity of presets (Lightroom desktop, mobile, web, Lightroom Classic) and comparing photos side-by-side (Lightroom desktop);
• AI-powered Auto Red Eye Removal (Lightroom desktop and Adobe Camera Raw);
• New Premium Presets (Lightroom desktop, mobile, web, Lightroom Classic and Adobe Camera Raw); and
• Expansion of Remix capabilities to Lightroom mobile and web. 

For complete details on the Lightroom Ecosystem release, visit the Adobe blog.

Pricing and Availability

The Photo Restoration Neural Filter is coming soon to Photoshop on the desktop, and Photoshop on the web is available at https://creativecloud.adobe.com/cc/photoshop to anyone with a Photoshop subscription.

The latest releases of Lightroom and Lightroom Classic are now available and can be downloaded via the Creative Cloud Desktop app. Updates to Lightroom mobile are rolling out globally starting today and can be downloaded in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Adobe Advances Metaverse With Powerful New 3D and Immersive Experiences

• Substance 3D applications surpass 100% YoY growth, demonstrating strong demand
• New Substance 3D releases include native Apple M-series chips support for Painter, Designer, Sampler
• Hugo Boss, Salomon, and other leading brands use Substance 3D to deliver immersive experiences
• Adobe expands access to Substance 3D to students and teachers worldwide free of charge

PARIS, France — June 14, 2022 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced major updates to Adobe Substance 3D – a suite of tools and services that support 3D content creation from the beginning to the end of your project – expanding on the tools’ extensibility and performance. Updates include a 3D Materials SDK for developers, powerful new plugins, and native Apple M-series chips support for Painter, Designer, and Sampler. The company also previewed innovations from Adobe Research focused on new ways to design, create, and deliver engaging and realistic immersive experiences, and showcased how leading brands are using Substance 3D tools to build unique customer experiences. Additionally, Adobe announced that Substance 3D applications will be free to teachers and students worldwide.

“Smart brands are getting “metaverse-ready” by growing their 3D and immersive content creation capabilities. That means that creative artists with expertise in 3D have a wealth of opportunities,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president of Adobe Creative Cloud speaking at a customer event in Paris. “These innovations provide new superpowers to the rapidly growing number of creative people using Substance 3D.”

Substance 3D Collection for Powering 3D and Immersive Experiences

The growing importance of 3D and immersive content has contributed to strong demand for Substance 3D tools across gaming, entertainment, and e-commerce industries. 3D content creation also continues to grow into a core skill for creative professionals as more brands prepare for the metaverse and other immersive experiences. Substance tools have seen a strong 100 percent year-over-year growth, with now hundreds of thousands of monthly active users.

Adobe announced multiple updates across the Substance 3D Collection, including:

• Native Apple M-series chips support for Substance Painter, Designer and Sampler, enabling 3D content creators to work faster than ever before. All three tools are part of the Substance 3D Collection, the only end-to-end solution for 3D visuals and experiences.
• To make the power of Substance materials as accessible as possible, a new Substance 3D Materials SDK allows developers to write their own plugins and use the Substance 3D Material and Model engines inside other applications. A new Substance 3D Automation Toolkit provides features for automating Substance files-based tasks.
• A Substance Materials Plugin in Photoshop joins an existing plugin for Illustrator – which is already used by hundreds of thousands of Illustrator users – and helps save users time and eliminates numerous steps needed to create texture and design variations and 3D effects. The latest update to the Substance 3D Plugin for Unity enables artists to load, apply and modify Substance parametric materials directly inside the Unity engine, a development platform for creating 2D and 3D multiplatform games and interactive experiences.
• Expanding capabilities into 3D sculpting workflows, Adobe will also release Substance 3D Modeler to customers later this year. Modeler introduces an intuitive approach to 3D modeling that frees users from previously complex and technical constraints. The desktop and VR tool enable a vast range of creative possibilities, including the creation of concept art, sketching and prototyping, the crafting of detailed characters or props, or even sculpting an entire scene.

“Incorporating Adobe Substance 3D into our product design and development processes has unlocked a new level of creative freedom for the HUGO BOSS team,” said Sebastian Berg, Head of Digital Excellence at HUGO BOSS AG. “The emergence of the Metaverse presents exciting opportunities for the fashion world, and Adobe Substance 3D tools are an integral part of our approach, as we execute on our plan to develop 80% of our collections on a digital basis by the end of this year.”

“Visualization is one of the keys to success in accelerating decision making, strengthening the link with creative direction and reducing our time-to-market by validating the product in the marketing touchpoints,” said Guillaume Meyzenq, SVP Consumer Category Running, Outdoor & Sportstyle, Salomon. “The Adobe Substance tools allow us to reinforce the user experience, offer us a lot of flexibility and a reduced adoption time for the designers by importing digital assets from other tools.”

“The mix of simplicity and raw power of what I can do in Adobe Substance 3D Modeler is staggering. It’s the gold standard for two handed sculpting,” said Bay Raitt, a 3D graphic novelist and principal UX designer at Unity. “With a set of perfectly chosen controls, Modeler is deceptively simple to use, but as your skills improve it is worthy of deep mastery for even the most dedicated sculpting and world building tasks.”

New Adobe Research Innovations for Future Metaverse Experiences

Adobe Research, a world-class organization with research scientists, engineers, artists, and designers who shape experimental ideas into innovative technologies, today previewed research projects designed to power future Metaverse experiences:

• New AR and 3D shopping tools from Adobe Research and Adobe Commerce bring rich online information to the in-store shopping experience. Customers can scan products on their mobile devices to access personalized shopping insights, product price comparisons, reviews, and product details. This helps customers make better in-store purchasing decisions and gives retailers the tools to adapt to customers’ needs in real-time. B2B companies can also use this technology to optimize warehouses.
• Adobe today previewed a new intelligent method for optimizing load time while maintaining visual fidelity for optimal AR customer experiences. The new AI-powered approach allows brands to deliver a high-quality AR experience in a fraction of the time it would normally require by prioritizing AR content that is most likely to be relevant to the viewer first based on their movements within the physical space. This will help brands alleviate the common challenges stemming from slow load times on large AR scenes. This technology will be integrated into Adobe Aero later this year.

Pricing and Availability

Native Apple M-series chips support for Substance Painter, Designer and Sampler and the Substance Materials Plugin for Photoshop are available today. The Substance 3D Plugin for Unity will be available later this month, and Substance 3D Modeler, currently in beta, will be available later this year.

Starting this summer, Adobe will expand free access to Substance 3D applications to teachers and students worldwide. Universities subscribing to the Creative Cloud All Apps plan already have free access to Adobe Substance 3D applications.

Additionally, Adobe is partnering with schools on 3D and immersive curricula including RUBIKA DESIGN Valenciennes Design School in France and the ArtCenter in Pasadena, California.

Next-Generation Adobe Analytics Delivers Customer Insights From Streaming Media and the Metaverse

• New data sources make Adobe Analytics industry’s first true omnichannel analytics product
• New Adobe Analytics service makes the transition from other analytics solutions seamless
• Brands of all sizes including Albertsons Companies, Amazon Web Services, General Motors, Marriott Hotels, PGA TOUR, Sephora, and The Home Depot rely on Adobe Analytics to deliver great customer experiences

SAN JOSE, Calif. — June 14, 2022 — Adobe (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced new services in Adobe Analytics, delivering a single workspace for brands to unify data and insights across all media types, now including the metaverse and streaming media. With global brands adopting Adobe Analytics, Adobe also introduced a new service to seamlessly transition data from other analytics products while preserving historical compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

“Delivering personalized customer experiences is a top priority for every business in every industry, and the key to making it happen is connecting real-time insights across all aspects of the customer journey,” said Amit Ahuja, senior vice president, Adobe Experience Cloud platform and products at Adobe. “With support for Metaverse and Streaming Media channels, Adobe Analytics continues to lead the industry as the only true omnichannel analytics solution for customer engagement.”

Adobe Analytics is the solution of choice across industries, providing insights for brands to understand the effectiveness of cross-channel experiences and marketing campaigns. In the retail sector, 9 of the top 10 U.S. brands rely on Adobe Analytics to understand shopper journeys that move from online to in-store. In travel, 8 of the top 10 hotel chains and 7 of the top 10 U.S. airlines lean on Adobe to enhance digital services as demand picks back up. Adobe Analytics is also leveraged by 8 of the top 10 financial services institutions, 9 of the top 10 media companies and 8 of the top 10 healthcare companies. It is widely used across the public sector and educational institutions as well.

A Single Workspace for Omnichannel Data

As consumer habits change and more daily life moves online, brands have had to connect more data sources in areas such as e-commerce, social media and support centers, to form a clear picture of customer engagement. At the same time, a growing audience around streaming media and immersive experiences has created new opportunities for forward-looking teams. Adobe is introducing new innovations to help brands capitalize on these trends: 

• The Metaverse: Adobe Analytics is at the forefront of supporting data from emerging channels, including voice assistants and the connected car. Today, Adobe is previewing support for Metaverse analytics, as more brands begin to embrace immersive and 3D experiences. With a rearchitected platform, Adobe can now seamlessly extend the reach of Adobe Analytics to new and emerging channels. In the Metaverse, brands will be able to measure and analyze specific events, such as the volume of engagement with 3D objects and immersive experiences, as well as collecting interactions across multiple metaverses. This data can then be combined with insights across other channels like the website or mobile app, to understand changing consumer preferences. With Adobe Creative Cloud and immersive design tools like Adobe Substance 3D, Adobe is uniquely positioned to help brands design, deliver, measure, and monetize experiences in the Metaverse. (LINK)
• Streaming media: While streaming is a key investment for the entertainment industry, other sectors such as retail and banking continue to prioritize video and audio content. Adobe is introducing new capabilities today for brands to understand how streaming fits into the overall customer journey. Through Customer Journey Analytics (CJA), teams can tie digital media consumption to engagement on other channels like social media, websites and offline channels. A retailer, for instance, can see the types of content that drive social engagement and/or in-store activity, to deliver personalization and drive retention efforts.
• Partner ecosystem: Adobe now has hundreds of third-party integrations with top technology solutions including AppsFlyer, Branch.io, Brightedge, Genesys, Hootsuite, Invoca and Medallia. Each is accessible in the Adobe Exchange marketplace, and Adobe now has a community of over 4,300 active partners across technology providers, system integrators, agencies, and developers. This enables Brands to combine data sources from chat bots to call centers to advertising campaigns with Adobe Analytics behavioral data to understand customer experiences holistically.

Seamless Adoption of Adobe Analytics

Adobe introduced a new service today that makes it easy for businesses across industries to switch to Adobe Analytics:

• Seamlessly bring data together: Brands are sitting on mountains of data, as the digital economy continues to expand. With the bulk data insertion API now available, teams can move or activate any volume of historical data into Adobe Analytics. It covers any online or offline channel, allowing brands to transition data sources from point-of-sale devices, CRM systems and mobile applications.
• Intelligent Data Mapping: Data preparation is a major hurdle for brands during the migration process, as teams often have to reformat their data to fit a new analytics platform. Adobe Analytics is providing flexibility for brands to bypass the preparation work, while also avoiding data destruction. As data comes through, Adobe Analytics preserves the underlying structure, while also suggesting new ways to measure the customer journey. Brands can also retroactively apply dimensions to historical data, such as new attribution models.