People who don't have access to tools of 'Digital literacy' are at a disadvantage: Adobe CEO

If someone does not have access to “digital literacy” at this age despite the increasing affordability of tools, he/she is at a loss, Shantanu Narayan, President and CEO of Adobe, said at an annual creativity conference here. When asked about the adoption of Adobe’s creative tools updates in India, especially at a time when India is riding on a Digital India wave, Narayan told IANS: “Specifically with respect to India, we had issues like piracy. Now with the affordability of creative loud, the tools are more accessible to customers and I believe those who do not have access to ‘digital literacy’ at this age, they are at a disadvantage for the rest of their lives.” Talking to reporters on the first day of the Adobe Max 2016 creativity conference here, he noted that the company believes everyone has a story and our tools make it easy for them tell a story by making them more accessible. Before buying the tools, one can try them at creative cloud.adobe.com. Adobe on Wednesday showcased its next-generation Creative Cloud innovations, including Adobe Sensei – a new framework and set of intelligent services spanning the entire Adobe Cloud Platform which is aimed at dramatically improving how customers design and deliver digital experiences. The innovations includes a new breed of applications in experience design, photography and 3D compositing. Apart from Sensei, a new Mac release of Adobe Experience Design CC (XD) – the first all-in-one tool for designing, prototyping and sharing user experiences for website and mobile apps - was made available with two highly anticipated features - Layers and Symbols support. The company also launched a special version of XD for Windows keeping in mind the features offered by Microsoft, including stylus and touch. Adobe unveiled Project Felix – an industry-first design tool that enables graphic designers to easily create high-quality, photo-realistic images by combining 2D and 3D assets for projects such as product shot comps, scene visualisation and abstract design. For filmmakers, advancements in virtual reality, character animation and 3D across Adobe’s video tools will set the stage for the future of video. First introduced at “IBC 2016” exhibition at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Centre, the Netherlands, in September, updates to Premiere Pro, After Effects CC and Prelude CC will also include a Beta of Team Projects that allows teams and enterprise customers to co-edit and collaborate on Creative Cloud projects. Adobe also announced the release of a new Cinema 4D renderer in After Effects that will speed up efficiency and quality of 3D content generation. At MAX, Adobe announced a partnership with Thomson Reuters. Available through Adobe Creative Cloud, creatives will be able to access Thomson Reuters editorial content including photos and videos. The expanded Adobe Stock service now offers more than 60 million royalty-free, high-quality photos, videos, illustrations, graphics and 3D models and templates. The company introduced a new way to find, purchase and manage individual fonts from premier foundries including Frere-Jones Type, Type Network/Font Bureau and Émigré with the new Adobe Typekit marketplace. In updates to Creative Cloud, a new interface and fast, flexible coding engine is incorporated in Dreamweaver CC and a Photoshop comes with a universal search bar that allows users to quickly search tools, panels, menus, Adobe Stock assets, help content and tutorials. Reuters