Download Free New Book, ‘Adobe CC Design Basics’ (243 Pages)
February 19th, 2019 16 comments
With over 15 million paid members for Creative Cloud and growing, we often get this question from readers: “What’s a good book to get started with the most popular Adobe tools?” While there are a lot of great CC books for sale on Amazon, why not begin with an excellent title that’s available to everyone for free, and that you can download instantly?
Over the years, we’ve compiled a collection of over 30 free books that you can download and use for learning all of Adobe’s different creative tools… But there’s one volume that always stands out as a favorite – and even better, it has just been republished in a brand new expanded edition for the CC 2019 tools.
So if you’re just getting going with (or would like a solid primer covering) the core Creative Cloud design tools, then what better than a step-by-step guide that will teach you the essentials of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe XD, and Muse from the ground up?
So here it is: the very helpful “Adobe CC Design Basics” that will give you all of this for free, courtesy of author Professor Thomas Payne… The book works by introducing and explaining the tools in a logical way that builds upon what is previously learned. These applications present a vast array of buttons and gadgets that can be overwhelming to the new user. This book makes sense of it all, not showing how everything works, but instead giving a foundation and a path to learn about all those controls and what they can do for you.
How to Save 70% with the New Adobe CC Student/Teacher Editions
February 14th, 2019 138 comments
Let’s face it, Adobe’s traditional product prices seemed expensive over the years, especially if you’re on a student’s budget. The last perpetual version available, Creative Suite 6 from 2012, historically had full prices ranging from $399 for Dreamweaver through $999 for Photoshop Extended and on up to $2,599 upfront for the Master Collection suite, which contained all CS6 applications. As cool and powerful as this software was, it’s hard to afford when you’re in school – even after the student/teacher discount.
Adobe eventually stopped selling CS6, as the version reached EOL and end of support – but fortunately the company still offers deep discounts for education customers on the latest CC release. A few years ago, in fact, they increased the discount on Creative Cloud to up to 70% off the regular prices. And while there are a lot of misconceptions about CC, the main products like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, etc., still download and run on your desktop as normal.
What’s the Difference Between Acrobat DC 2019 vs. 2017 vs. XI?
February 6th, 2019 8 comments
Adobe Acrobat has undergone a tremendous evolution in recent years. When the new Acrobat “DC” generation first arrived in 2015, people weren’t quite sure what to make of it. But now, almost four years later with several major releases plus fully-integrated mobile apps for PDF management, document scanning, and electronic signatures, the Document Cloud has arrived and most of us wonder how we ever got along without the workflow productivity it brings.
5 Fantastic Free Books to Boost Creativity & Inspire Your Best Work
January 31st, 2019 24 comments
Longtime readers know that we offer a series of free books for Adobe software with over 30 different titles that anyone can download on how to best use the different major products… These books have been extremely popular and well-received.
But since Adobe software is all about creating, for a long time there was a missing part: a collection of free books simply about building your creativity – something that everyone in the world can use and benefit from… So here is that set! You can legally download and use the five PDF e-books below to inspire your own creative process and help improve your work, no matter what you do in life. They are (in our view) all easy, enjoyable, and enriching reads.
Book #1: The Creative Aid Handbook (142 Pages)
Co-creators Richard Tapp and Nicole Smith of Kooroo Kooroo rightly describe The Creative Aid Handbook as a outside-of-the-box resource to get your creative juices flowing: “We wrote, designed, and illustrated a book featuring unusual tips to nurture your creative well-being, boost your creative intellect and foster internal inspiration. Meant to serve as a mini-resource for your creative projects and food for your creative thoughts. Read more…
What’s the Difference Between Adobe CC for Teams vs. Individuals?
January 29th, 2019 71 comments
What are the differences between the types of Creative Cloud membership? This is a question we get a lot, so here’s a handy comparison guide on the major differences between Creative Cloud for Teams vs. CC for Individuals. In another article, we already covered the all the differences between Creative Cloud Student & Teacher vs. regular editions.
Creative Cloud for Teams is Adobe’s volume licensing solution for businesses, studios, design shops, agencies, companies, offices, schools, and other organizations. It includes everything that CC for Individuals does, but gives you substantially more features and capabilities for managing and working with different users. It’s meant for groups (such as small to midsize businesses and departments) with multiple seats using the products at the same time. For large businesses, Adobe recommends Creative Cloud for Enterprise.
The Complete Guide to What’s New in Photoshop, from CS to CC
January 23rd, 2019 10 comments
Here’s the brand new edition of a very handy resource from James Wamser – a complete reference to all versions and features of Adobe Photoshop from CS1 to CC 2019… Similar to his InDesign and Illustrator handbooks, it’s called the Adobe Photoshop New Features Guide: From CS to CC – and this 97-page ebook is available for free download now:
Free Guide! Download Your Creative Career Start-Up Manual Now
January 8th, 2019 4 comments
Six years ago, Adobe acquired Behance – the leading online community and social media platform for creative professionals, which is often referred to as “The LinkedIn for Creatives.” Back then, Behance had about 1 million members. Since that time, with Behance’s inclusion into Creative Cloud (even with the free level), growth and participation have exploded – and the Behance community now boasts over 14 million members receiving 70 million project views per month.
With Behance, you can easily upload your photographs, projects, or portfolios and gain a fantastic way to showcase, share, and get exposure for your work as well as receive feedback from your creative peers, and get inspired for future work. You can publish many types of media such as images, text, illustrations, video and audio, and follow statistics on how many views your projects are getting, and potentially make money. There’s even a helpful job list for creatives and freelancers, with hundreds of employment opportunities.
The Greatest Hits: Our Most Popular Adobe Posts & Tips of All Time
January 2nd, 2019 233 comments
With one year wrapped up and a new one just beginning, it seemed a perfect time to put together a review of the best and most-shared posts published here since our site launched in 2009 (almost 10 years ago!), including some very popular free books.
These are the top posts that consistently have the highest readership on our site, month after month, covering all major Adobe software products… They’re broken out by topic below in case you’ve missed any, or are new here – so bookmark, share, and enjoy!
Free Adobe Books
- Download Adobe CC Design Basics, Free! New 228-Page Book
- Two Free Books! Get the Lightroom Quick Start Guides (108 Pgs)
- Learn Animate Free – Download 59-Page Guidebook + Assets
- Download Now: The InDesign New Features Guidebook
- Learn Adobe Dreamweaver CC + CS6 – Download New Book
- Free! Download 30 Adobe Books at No Cost, Learn All Products
How to Exchange, Return, or Refund Adobe Software Products
December 28th, 2018 7 comments
‘Tis the season for holiday deals, but it can also be the season for order changes or returns… Although naturally, this can happen at any time of year.
Sometimes even despite using Adobe’s free trial downloads to try out the software before buying, customers may want to exchange something and get a different Adobe product instead – say swapping Lightroom 6 for the CC Photography bundle, or returning an individual CC tool and getting the full CC 2019 suite instead (which includes 21 applications instead of one).
So did you know that Adobe offers a full money-back guarantee on almost all current products? This includes Creative Cloud (CC), Acrobat, Lightroom, Captivate, Photoshop Elements, and so on. This offer applies even after you’ve already downloaded and installed the product on your computer(s) – however, only software purchased directly from Adobe.com worldwide can take advantage of this refund policy (not resellers, retailers, or auction sites).
Yes, it’s true – you can simply contact Adobe within 14 days of your order for subscription products, or 30 days of your order for non-subscription products – via live online chat is usually fast and convenient. Then, provided you follow the correct procedure, they will take it back (after being uninstalled and deactivated from your computers, if applicable) and issue you a complete refund.
The 10 Most Common Myths About Adobe’s Creative Cloud (CC)
December 17th, 2018 364 comments
With over 15 million customers having already signed up in the six years since it launched, Adobe’s Creative Cloud (CC) product line has been a success exceeding even the company’s own expectations. Still, there are a lot of misconceptions out there that we see from time to time, or that some folks seem to believe… (do you?) Here below we dispel and debunk the top 10 most common myths we’ve heard – and hopefully even if you already know the scoop or use Creative Cloud you’ll pick something up… read on!
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