From photography, drawing, and video editing to animation and design, Adobe Creative Cloud has an application for almost any creative activity. There are more than 20 different programs available.
These are available by subscription, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, InDesign, XD, and Animate. These are some of the classic applications for creatives around the world.
Adobe Systems Incorporated was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke, the developers of the PostScript printer language. In its early days, Adobe focused on graphic design software and publishing software with Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign, then moved into video production with Premiere Pro and After Effects, and web design with Dreamweaver and Flash. Adobe Acrobat creates and reads Portable Document Formats (PDF) and Captivate is an e-learning course development tool. The company is now known as Adobe Inc.
The products in Adobe Creative Cloud are web-based, meaning you don't have to download anything. The products are available by subscription. Individual applications cost between $9.99 and $22.99 a month each, and the full collection costs $59.99 for an annual subscription billed monthly. Subscriptions also include 100GB of cloud storage for projects.
What Can You Do with Adobe Training?
An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription has something for amateurs and professionals alike. Photoshop and Lightroom let you edit and organize your photographs, while you can use Illustrator, XD, and InDesign to turn your images into invitations, website pages, and memory books.
Many of the Adobe applications are industry-standard software and are used by many different professionals. Photographers use Photoshop to fine-tune their work and add effects. Graphic Designers also use Photoshop plus Illustrator to create digital and print designs for logos, letterhead, business cards, advertisements, and flyers. Video Editors and Animators use Adobe Premiere Pro to cut together video footage and add a soundtrack and animation with After Effects. Digital Marketers and Social Media Managers use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro to create digital advertisements and social media posts. UX/UI Designers use XD to create user-friendly websites and mobile applications.
What Will I Learn in an Adobe Class?
What you will learn in an Adobe class depends on which classes you choose. You can take an introductory overview class that explains what each of the applications does, or you can sign up for a class on a specific product. Bootcamp classes will give you an in-depth education on Photoshop or Premiere Pro, what it does, and how to use it. A certification course will often cover several Adobe products at once and prepare you for a certification exam like one of the Adobe Certified Professional tests.
Photoshop
An Adobe Photoshop class will teach you how to edit and manipulate digital images to improve or repair photos or create new images. You will learn how to use the many photo editing and drawing tools, plus how to work with composition, color, and typography. You will also learn how to work with layers, masks, and channels, and how to upload or print images. Photoshop offers many different applications for photographers. Bridge integrates with other Adobe software for organizing images. Photoshop Elements is a lighter version for amateur and novice photographers including only the key features. Photoshop Lightroom lets you work with RAW footage with a non-destructive editor. Photoshop Express is a version for mobile phones.
Illustrator
Illustrator is Adobe's vector graphics drawing and editing program. You will learn to use the many different tools, including the pen tool, to draw many different shapes and use them to create scalable graphics. The pen tool allows you to trace the outlines in a photograph and turn it into a line drawing. An Illustrator class will also cover working with layers, adding color, organizing your work, and exporting images. Because vector graphics are based on mathematical formulas instead of pixels, you can make designs bigger or smaller or display them on different devices without sacrificing image quality.
InDesign
When you take an InDesign class, you will learn how to import images from Photoshop and Illustrator and use them to create page layouts for print and digital publications. One of the advantages of Adobe Creative Cloud is that all of the applications have specific functions and work together seamlessly for multiple creative uses. This is especially true of InDesign, which is a layout application that can turn photos, drawings, graphics, and text into pages for magazines, newspapers, or websites.
Premiere Pro
Premiere is Adobe's video editing software. It comes in several different versions: Pro, Elements, and Rush. A class may provide an overview of the three versions or go into depth on Premiere Pro, the professional level of the application. You will learn to sync footage from different cameras, set up your workspace, and use keyboard shortcuts to make clips, move them around, snap them together, correct color, add sound, and prepare the final video for uploading on a website or social media platform.
After Effects
A class in Adobe After Effects will teach you how to do post-production editing. While videos can be created in After Effects, it is commonly used to create motion graphics, titles, and animation. Some of the most useful functions in After Effects include rotoscoping, a technique for tracing a film to create life-like animation; motion tracking, which means following moving objects in a video clip; and compositing, which allows you to combine elements from different frames to create a new clip. One of the most common functions of After Effects is replacing screens in videos or films. Anytime a phone, laptop, or computer appears in a video, the screen needs to be replaced because the camera and monitor are not synced and the screen will flicker.
How Hard is It to Learn Adobe?
Adobe Creative Cloud is a powerful collection of products with professional-level functions, and this can make learning the Adobe applications somewhat challenging. There are more than twenty different products in Adobe Creative Cloud, each with its own purpose, so figuring out which ones you will need to learn is the first challenge. Before you choose an Adobe class, think about what you want to accomplish in the end. If you are building a career as a professional Photographer, you would want to start with Photoshop, and then learn Lightroom and Illustrator. If you are planning a career in video production, you may still want to start with Photoshop because Video Editors often import still images from Photoshop into Premiere Pro. If you want to work as a Graphic Designer, the progression will be Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.
Another consideration is the amount of time it can take to learn Adobe applications. You will learn the products more thoroughly if you can spend time focusing on what you are learning in class. For example, you are more likely to retain what you have learned in class if you take a multi-session course rather than scheduling classes one at a time, spread out over several months. Course assignments are designed to help you practice the techniques you are learning in class, which will help you retain the information. Taking the time to do the homework will help you cement the concepts before moving on to a more advanced class or another Adobe application.
What Are the Most Challenging Parts of Learning Adobe?
The most challenging aspect of learning Adobe applications is a steep learning curve. One of the biggest obstacles can be learning to use layers. Adobe products allow you to make changes in a layer that doesn't affect the rest of the file, which is described as ""non-destructive editing"" because you can easily delete changes if you don't like them without making permanent changes to the original file. It can take some time and effort to train yourself to envision these layers and make adjustments, but an advantage is that once you master the concept in one application, you will be able to use it in the others because most Adobe products use similar interfaces, and once you know one, the others will feel familiar.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Adobe?
Because Adobe applications have a steep learning curve and require a generous time commitment to learn, it can take several months to achieve proficiency in a particular product, but that will depend on your prior experience, how long it usually takes you to learn new technology tools, and why you are learning the software. On average, most people can learn to use an application like Photoshop or Illustrator in about three months. Premiere Pro and After Effects often take longer. As with any tech tool, you can learn to use it in a few months, but mastering all of the nuances of the applications can take years.
Should I Learn Adobe in Person or Online?
When you decide to take an Adobe class, you will need to choose between in-person and online classes. Which learning environment you should choose depends on where you feel most comfortable. Most people are more familiar with in-person instruction. This model has an instructor in a classroom or lab setting with students at desks around the room. In an in-person class, you can ask the instructor questions, get help when you need it, and talk to other students. In-person classes are held according to a set schedule and you have to commute to the class location. While this type of class can often be found in large cities, it can be difficult to attend if you live in the suburbs.
The other option is to sign up for an online class. These come in two types: live online or on-demand, also known as synchronous and asynchronous. Live online classes run at the same time as an in-person class. There is a live remote instructor in a classroom with some students, while others attend over a video conferencing platform like Zoom. You can interact with the instructor and other students to ask questions, get help, or network together. You can attend class from anywhere with a stable internet connection, like your home, office, or favorite quiet cafe.
Asynchronous or on-demand classes are recorded sessions that you can watch on your own at your convenience. They are usually accessed through a subscription platform that sometimes offers a free trial. An advantage to on-demand classes is that you can go back and rewatch the videos as often as you like, but there is no live instructor to talk to and recorded classes can become out of date quickly.
Can I Learn Adobe Free Online?
While it is possible to learn Adobe online for free, the steep learning curve of some of the applications can make this challenging. Adobe offers many free tutorials for the different applications on their website and you can find many others on YouTube. Noble Desktop has a free seminar called Intro to Adobe Creative Cloud as well as many sessions on individual applications, like Intro to Adobe Photoshop and Intro to Adobe Illustrator. Keep in mind that most people find it much easier and more efficient to take a class to learn new tech skills rather than trying to figure out the best way to do things on their own.
Another free resource for learning Adobe Creative Cloud is the Adobe community. With over 30 million members, the community is available to anyone who has a question about any of Adobe Creative Cloud applications. To connect with the community, go to the Adobe website and click on one of the categories like Photoshop, After Effects, or Lightroom. The community page is also where you can find tutorials, get help with troubleshooting, or find out what new developments are in the works. You can also take a look at the work of others or share your own on Behance, Lightroom Discover, or Adobe Live.
What Should I Learn Alongside Adobe?
Mastering Adobe skills can open many career doors. Once you have a good understanding of Photoshop, you could go in a couple of different directions. If your interest is in graphic design, you might also want to learn Illustrator and InDesign and study design principles in a course like Noble Desktop's Graphic Design Certificate. If you are more interested in photography, add Lightroom, and you might continue on with Premiere Pro and After Effects to learn more about video editing and animation. If you are more interested in web design, start with XD and Dreamweaver, and then learn HTML and CSS in a course like Noble's Web Design Certificate. What you learn alongside Adobe will depend on why you want to learn Adobe applications and what you want to do with them.
Industries That Use Adobe
Any industry that uses graphic design, layout, or photography can use people with Adobe skills. This is especially true in the creative or art department of companies that create digital or print advertisements, product packaging, or branded items. Some of the common industries that rely on Adobe products like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro include marketing and advertising, art and design, publishing, web design, and video production.
Marketing and Advertising
Whether it is a stand-alone agency or a department within a company, the marketing and advertising industry uses many Adobe products to promote products and services. While some art departments create print brochures, flyers, and advertisements, they also use Adobe applications for infographics, social media posts, and videos. More and more marketing and advertising is done on the internet using Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Premiere Pro. Some of the top advertising agencies hiring in Philadelphia include Moburst, Neff, SmartSites, Jives Media, and Starfish.
Art and Design
Companies in the art and design industry fall into several categories, including photography, fashion, illustration, theater, and art. Creatives in these industries use Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate, and XD. Graphic Designers use Adobe products to create business cards, invitations, banners, and logos for clients. Fashion Designers use Illustrator to create design sketches and then turn the drawings into Technical Flats, instructions to the factory that will construct the garments. Creative Artists use many different Creative Cloud applications to translate the images and objects in their imagination into new and unique works of art. This includes 2D and 3D pieces as well as videos. Some top design agencies in Philadelphia include intent, ArtVersion, Contrast &, Delve, Think Company, Create Ape, Together, and Xhilarate.
Publishing
The publishing industry includes many businesses from newspapers to magazines to book publishers. Workers in this industry use Photoshop and Illustrator to edit and create images and InDesign to layout pages. Digital publishers use video editing and motion graphics software like Premiere Pro and After Effects. Some newspapers in Philadelphia include The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Tribune, South Philly Review, and Metro Philadelphia. Some publishing companies with offices in Philadelphia include Elsevier, Pearson, Taylor & Francis Group, Conde Nast, HMP Global, and Cengage Group.
Web Design
Web design and development companies create digital products for websites and mobile devices. Some companies hire agencies to do the work, others have in-house design departments, and others hire freelance designers. Adobe XD lets designers create prototypes and share them with other team members. Some web design firms in Philadelphia include Moburst, Creative Brand Design, Perpetual, The 215 Guys, Think It First, Durkan Group, and Chicklet Marketing.
Video Production
Many people use Premiere Pro to create films and videos, including informational, training, and personal projects to studio films. After Effects lets Animators and Special Effects Artists add motion graphics, create 2D and 3D animated effects, and alter color and sound tracks. Some Video Editors and Animators work for production companies, but many are freelancers and work on contract for a particular project. Some Philadelphia video production companies include Malix Media, 7 Wonders Cinema, MultiVision Digital Productions, Storyfarm, and Anomaly Films.
Adobe Job Titles and Salaries
Adobe Creative Cloud includes more than twenty applications with a multitude of uses, and that means that there are many jobs that could use Adobe products. Adobe job titles range from Photographer, Graphic Designer, and Artist to Video Editor, Digital Marketer, and Web Designer.
Photographer
Professional Photographers use Photoshop and Lightroom for editing and organizing their work. Photoshop can remove unwanted elements from photos, change color and saturation, and add effects to create new images. Lightroom performs non-destructive edits to RAW photos and organizes photo files. Photographers do not need a college degree, although some choose to attend art school. Many work as freelancers, while some are hired by agencies, publications, and media organizations, and jobs in the field are expected to show a 4% growth rate. Photographers in the U.S. make around $40,000 per year and salaries are about the same in Philadelphia.
Graphic Designer
Graphic Designers use software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to create logos and branded items for companies or products, like business cards, invitations, or publications for clients. Jobs in the field are projected to grow at the national average of about 5% a year for the next ten years. The median annual salary for Graphic Designers is around $58,000 per year in the U.S. and $61,000 in Philadelphia.
Artist
Craft and Fine Artists also use applications from Adobe Creative Cloud. Photoshop, Illustrator, and Animate are all used to create unique works of art from original digital images, collages, and comics. Most Artists are self-employed and earnings vary widely, but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a national median yearly salary around $52,000 and about the same in Philadelphia.
Video Editor
Film and Video Editors use products like Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects to cut together clips of raw footage into a film, add a soundtrack, and correct the color to produce films and videos. Motion Graphics Artists and Special Effects Artists use After Effects to create unique title and end credits and special effects. Film Editors earn about $65,000 a year in the U.S. and Philadelphia. The number of jobs looks to be growing by 7% by 2035. Special Effects Artists make around $100,000 a year across the U.S. and somewhat less in Philadelphia at around $80,000 annually.
Digital Marketer
Digital Marketers use many Adobe applications to create ads, social media posts, and videos to promote products online. Some Digital Marketers are hired by companies and marketing agencies, while others work as freelancers. This field is growing faster than the national average, and Digital Marketers in the U.S. earn about $60,000 annually and somewhat higher in Philadelphia at $80,000.
Web Designer
Web Designers and UX/UI Designers use applications like Photoshop, Illustrator, and XD to create easy-to-use webpages and mobile applications. They create high-quality prototypes to test how users interact with designs. Some Web Designers work as freelancers and others are employed as part of a design team with a company. Web design jobs are on track to grow much faster than average at 16% over the next decade. In the U.S., Web Designers make around $92,000 a year and $70,000 in Philadelphia.
Adobe Classes Near Me
Noble Desktop's Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp covers the skills you need to know if you want to get the most out of digital photography. Learn to retouch, repair, and restore photos by adjusting color, brightness, and contrast. Work with layers to choose a specific section of an image, remove backgrounds and unwanted elements, and sharpen photos. Use filters to create visual effects, add shadows, blend selections together, and add graphics. Finally, learn to choose the correct format for uploading or printing photos. This is a live online class.
If you want to learn professional page layout skills, Adobe InDesign Bootcamp from Noble Desktop is the place to go. In this course, you will learn design principles to guide your layouts and help you work with text, color, and graphics. You will learn to import files, apply color, edit text, work with anchored objects, use find/change, and control the layout of multipage documents with Master Pages. Class assignments will cover creating short and long documents like brochures, magazines, advertisements, and books, and then preparing files to upload in. PDF format or print.
Learn to draw and edit vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator Bootcamp from Noble Desktop. Unlike raster graphics, which are made up of pixels, mathematical vector graphics can be scaled up or down without losing clarity. This course will teach you how to make logos, patterns, and icons and add text graphics and images. Topics include using the pen, shapes, brush, and paint tools, plus learning to create color gradients and blends.
The Adobe Premiere Pro Bootcamp from Noble Desktop will teach you how to create professionally edited videos. Begin with raw video footage or photo images and organize them along a timeline, correct the color and audio, add some titles, and render the final project. The course will cover choosing clips, adding transitions, editing from multiple cameras, adjusting the timing of footage, resizing video for different formats, and export files to After Effects to add titles and graphics.
After Effects is a motion graphics and animation program used to create compelling videos and feature-length films. Noble Desktop's Adobe After Effects Bootcamp teaches you to create animations using still photos, graphics, and text. You will learn how to input video footage from Premiere Pro, create transitions, and add audio tracks. The course will also cover greenscreen removal, motion tracking, creating composites, and rotoscoping techniques used to create interesting and dynamic animated videos, plus how to render the final project to deliver to a client or upload on social media.
Certstaffix Training offers Adobe Creative Cloud classes in Philadelphia with a live remote instructor or through self-paced e-learning sessions. Adobe Photoshop CC (2020) teaches students to erase, replace, and repair sections of photos, blend images, and add text and graphics. The course will also cover workflow best practices, editing across devices, and exporting files.
Adobe InDesign CC (2020) from Certstaffix Training covers creating page layouts. Topics include typography and color techniques, using layers and special effects, and importing files from Photoshop and Illustrator, and then exporting the finished design for uploading or printing.
Certstaffix Training also offers Adobe Illustrator CC (2020) to teach students how to create and edit vector graphics. The course starts with navigating the Illustrator workspace, panels, and tools, and moves on to creating logos, graphics, and illustrations using shapes, lines, and paths. Students will also learn to use colors, layers, and special effects.
Students can learn the basics of video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2020) from Certstaffix Training. The course covers importing video files, editing essentials, working with clips and markers, adding transitions, creating a timeline, editing and mixing audio, adding visual effects, correcting color, adding elements to create a composite image, creating graphics, and rendering and exporting files.
Adobe After Effects CC (2020) from Certstaffix Training covers creating motion graphics and animation for videos and films. Students learn to animate images, text, and 3D objects, correct color, and master more advanced techniques, like greenscreen removal, rotoscoping, and compositing, and designing 3D graphics.
Certstaffix Training gets students started creating e-learning courses with Adobe Captivate: Essentials. The course covers recording and producing training and demonstration videos, including recording, importing, and editing audio, adding captions, and integrating clickable boxes, buttons, and quizzes. Adobe Captivate: Advanced builds on the Essentials class to fine-tune production skills. Students will learn to create a style and apply it globally, bunch projects to make them smaller, and create branching scenarios. The course also covers accessibility compliance and reporting features.
Adobe Acrobat DC from Certstaffix Training walks students through creating, editing, and signing PDF forms and documents in this step-by-step course. Students will also learn how to create interactive forms and use Acrobat to track responses.
Adobe Animate is the current iteration of Flash and students can learn to create scalable vector graphics for comics, cartoons, books, banners, games, and other interactive content. Certstaffix Training's Adobe Animate (2024) course gives students the skills to create interactive animation and graphics.
ONLC Training Centers also offers Adobe courses in Philadelphia. Adobe Illustrator Core Skills: Level 1 covers the Illustrator interface, tools, and panels and how to customize a workspace. Students learn to use the many selection and drawing tools to create simple or complex designs. Students also learn how to use layers, organize design elements, and upload or print the final project. Adobe Illustrator Core Skills: Level 2 builds on Level 1 to teach students how to organize and streamline their workflow to complete projects more quickly and efficiently. Adobe CC Graphic Design Bootcamp covers Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign for students who want to change to a new career as a Graphic Designer. No prerequisites are required and beginning students are encouraged to sign up.
You can also take several Adobe classes together as a certification course. Noble Desktop's Graphic Design Certificate includes the InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator bootcamps, plus a Graphic Design Portfolio Bootcamp that will broaden your understanding of design theory and concepts to enhance your design skills. The course will also help you develop and showcase your digital portfolio.
Noble's Video Editing Certificate course will prepare you to switch to a career in video editing with bootcamp classes in Premiere Pro, Premiere Pro Advanced, After Effects, Adobe Audition, and Motion Graphics and Video Editing Portfolio Development class. Beginners are welcome to sign up to learn video editing principles, concepts, workflows, and best practices using Adobe software. The course also includes instruction in animating titles and graphics, and working with audio with Adobe Audition. At the end of the course, you will have a professional-quality demo reel to share with colleagues and prospective employers.
If a career in animation and special effects is your goal, Noble's Motion Graphics Certificate is the course for you. The curriculum includes the Premiere Pro and After Effects bootcamps, plus After Effects Advanced, Cinema 4D in After Effects Bootcamp, and Motion Graphics and Video Editing Portfolio Development. This certification course starts with video editing and then focuses on motion graphics and animation skills. The Cinema 4D course covers the principles of 3D modeling and animation, creating 3D models and integrating them into After Effects, using textures, lighting, and shadows, and using the Cineware plugin in After Effects. You will also learn how to prepare your video for uploading in different formats and create a demo reel to share with other artists and editors or future clients.
If exposure to Adobe XD piqued your interest in changing to a career in web design, Noble Desktop's Web Design Certificate will build on those skills. The certification course includes Figma Bootcamp, UI Design Bootcamp, Web Development with HTML & CSS, Flexbox, Grid, & Bootstrap, JavaScript for Front-end, Front-end Tools & Portfolio, HTML Email Bootcamp. And WordPress Bootcamp. You will learn to design websites for desktop and mobile devices, beginning with design and continuing through coding.
If you are interested specifically in photography, Noble's Photo Retouching Certificate includes instruction in both Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. You will learn to retouch photos, adjust color and contrast, combine photos to create collages and composites, retouch skin, and use the pen tool for vector masks and clipping paths. The Lightroom class will teach you how to organize, edit, and share photos, how to backup files and secure your photo library, and how to prepare files for printing, adding to a slideshow, or uploading to webpages.
Adobe Corporate Training
If you are a business owner looking to retrain or upskill your employees in Adobe applications, Noble Desktop can meet your corporate training needs. You can schedule classes at your offices in a conference room with a live or remote instructor for the classes of your choice. Noble's catalog includes introductory and bootcamp courses in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Animate. Employees can also enroll in a more in-depth certificate course in graphic design, video editing, or motion graphics. Noble can also design courses to meet your company's specific needs.
Noble offers group class vouchers at a bulk discount. Employees can schedule individual classes according to their own schedules. Instructors are experienced industry professionals and attendees receive handouts, exam guides, and access to training videos to help them reinforce new skills. Find out how you can help your staff build their skills at corporate@nobledesktop.com.