San Francisco — Adobe Systems Inc., has beefed up its Creative Cloud initiative by making it more tempting than ever has just announced on Tuesday that it is adding its popular image-editing software Lightroom 4 to its Creative Cloud hub for editing and cataloging photos, so subscribers can now fully access the image workflow application.
Lightroom is portrayed as an essential digital photography workflow solution helping amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase images. Lightroom seems particularly suitable for cloud storage as professional photography is one of the more storage intensive hobbies/professions around.
“The addition of Lightroom to Creative Cloud delivers on our promise to bring the best in Adobe innovation to Creative Cloud members,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president products, Creative Media Solutions, Adobe. “Over the next few months we will continue to add new products and services, keeping Creative Cloud members up to date with the latest advancements in Adobe software and services.”
In addition, the company also noted that this new subscription-based offering is centered around the company’s design, Web, video and digital imaging tools, Adobe Creative Cloud is a hub for making, sharing and delivering creative work.
Adobe launched the Creative Cloud in May, as a $50-per-month subscription that grants access to Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, DreamWeaver, Premiere Pro, and other Creative Suite 6 software along with online services and other perks. Adobe promised to add Lightroom to the mix, and last night it announced its availability.
Apart from numerous features, the company noted, “We will be further releasing even more great stuff to Creative Cloud over time; Lightroom is just the beginning,” Jeffrey Tranberry, chief customer advocate for Adobe’s Digital Imaging group, said in a blog post announcing the move.
In addition to the slew of CS6 programs, Creative Cloud features subscription-only software such as Edge Preview, an HTML 5 animation program and many more… and now, Photoshop Lightroom 4 has been added to the list of available applications.
Moving forward, subscribers will now be able to download and use the app as part of their subscription. With a paid membership, Adobe Creative Cloud can seamlessly empower members with everything they need to create, publish and share their work virtually anywhere with anyone, including:
- Access to download and install any of the new Adobe Creative Suite 6 applications, including Photoshop CS6 Extended and Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, plus a host of additional tools and services, including Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Muse;
- Integration with Adobe Touch Apps, headlined by Photoshop Touch, that allow users to create on a variety of tablets and further refine on the desktop;
- 20GB of space and the ability to store and share content across desktop, mobile devices and the cloud;
- The ability to create stunning Websites without writing code using Adobe Muse software, and the option to host and manage up to five sites using Adobe Business Catalyst;
- The ability to use Digital Publishing Suite, Single Edition (coming soon) to deliver stunning digital publications to the iPad; and
- Access to application upgrades before they are launched as part of a major update, as well as new products and services, as they emerge.
Lightroom competes mainly with Apple’s Aperture, version 3.3 of which was released this month. It brought support for the newest MacBook Pro models with the high-resolution Retina display; Lightroom currently lacks that support. So, if the temptation of Lightroom and promise of more Adobe software has made you itching to get a Creative Cloud subscription, you should be made aware of its limitations.
Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is $49.99 per month to get access to every software application within CS6. A special introductory offer of $29.99 per month for existing customers who own a qualifying version of CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 is also available. Education pricing is also $29.99 per month if you can prove that you are a student or teacher.
On the other hand, if the Creative Cloud just does not boost interest you in the least, you can get Lightroom 4 for $149 or $79 for the upgrade. The software, aimed at amateurs and professionals, lets users quickly import, manage, and enhance images.