Adobe introduces applications for tablet PCs

Recently, Adobe Systems introduced its range of content creation applications for tablet PCs. This includes Adobe Kuler, Proto, Ideas, Debut and Photoshop Touch and Collage. Though at present the six applications are available only on Android platform at an introductory price of $9.99, the company intends to launch their iOS versions (for Apple products) very soon. This is good news for those already familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator, Adobe's well-known software for desktops as well as laptops, as this bouquet of apps is bound to take the experience of content designing to the next level.

We tried the six apps on a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and here is what we feel about them:

1) Photoshop Touch:

This is essentially an Abobe Photoshop app for tablets, which scores over thousands of other image-modification apps for the simple reason that it provides the familiar and convenient desktop experience of using Photoshop on tablets. You can work on layers, add filters, make cut outs and try out various colour effects. Working on the tablet version, unlike the desktop one, is a child's play, even though it may take some time to get the right dimensions of an image without a mouse.

2) Adobe Collage:

Most of us are familiar with Google's Picasa web albums, which is second to none in making collages. Adobe Collage is just the same -- an app that lets you make collages in five-six easy steps. Depending on what you need, all you have to do is drag and drop images or videos and place text on the board in their positions, and scribble text wherever you please. The app comes with preloaded templates for those too lazy to be creative with layouts.

3) Adobe Proto:

It makes building websites easy as pie by inserting interactive components like menus, textboxes and pictures from the menus. The app works on the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) grid systems, which are fairly easy to operate. But it lacks the standard text editing support and working on bigger page layouts can be unnerving at times. It also suffers from limited export options - you can't send the layouts to a pdf file or email them. However, you can upload them on the Creative Cloud (more on it later).

4) Adobe Ideas:

Ideas, aka a digital sketch book, gives you a chance to unleash the artist inside you. Using your fingers as a brush, you can make drawings in a vector-based graphical user interface. This is important, as vector-based GUI allows you to create high resolution images with great detailing. There are two distinct layers - drawing and photo - that give you the option to either insert an existing image into your sketch or draw.

5) Adobe Debut:

This app comes handy for designers who desire for a compact yet efficient way to display their works to a small audience. It supports PDF, PSD, INDD (InDesign), AI (Illustrator) along with the usual JPG, PNG and Gif file formats. The markup pen tool lets you mark any area on a given 'slide', which may be used to highlight it or add feedback.

6) Adobe Kuler:

This is by far the best app in the bouquet. A colour theme is to a design what, say, spices are to a dish. Kuler helps you generate colour themes in more than one ways. You can extract colour themes from an existing image or use the colour wheel to make millions of themes.

But the icing on the cake is Adobe's Creative Cloud, which was launched simultaneously with the six apps. With this, as is evident by the name, Adobe makes a foray into cloud computing. This eliminates the need to store one's work on physical drives and enables users to sync content on computers and tablets, and work on different platforms - anywhere, anytime. Collectively, Adobe's latest products for tablets are a must-have for every graphic designer, artists and creative persons in general.