With over 22 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 2021 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, and Adobe XD from the ground up?

So here it is: the very helpful “Adobe 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 apps present a vast array of options 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.

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Time-lapse photography videos never go out of style…  Here is one of our all-time favorites from Norwegian landscape photographer Terje Sorgjerd – incredibly beautiful and perfect for the clear, dark nights of the season (watch full-screen):

Prior to the extensive video editing tools first introduced in CS6, Photoshop wasn’t normally known for its video capabilities – but in fact it’s always been possible to take a series of still photo­graphs (manipulated as desired) and then quickly create your own timelapse video using Photoshop Extended…

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Several years ago, Adobe added a brand new product to the Lightroom ecosystem, surprisingly called “Lightroom.” This cloud-based photo service was different from the longstanding version of Lightroom that we know and love, the desktop-focused application which was simultaneously renamed to be “Lightroom Classic.”

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Here’s a very handy resource from Jamie Spencer – the complete set of essential keyboard shortcut cheat sheets for every major Adobe CC application… These comprehensive sheets can save you loads of time every day by speeding up your work and allowing you to bypass the need for mouse clicks and movements, getting you to the function you need in the fastest possible way. They are extremely helpful assets to have in your arsenal – and can easily be consulted anytime as an instant reference, or printed out in high resolution and posted, or even used as desktop wall­paper. They are completely free and available for download here:

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Well, MAX just wrapped up its first-ever all-virtual conference and Adobe broke all records with over half a million attendees tuning in from all over the world for three full days! But the best part is the majority of the sessions were captured on video and are being offered online – for free! In other words, pick your favorite Adobe tools and you can learn the latest tips, tricks, and techniques from the top instructors in the field from the comfort of your laptop, tablet, or phone.

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We’ve got another great resource for you – a freely-available collection of custom Photoshop textures to help set your work apart… This exclusive set of 29 different handcrafted textures has been released by War Unicorn Media at no cost and is 100% royalty-free. This collection comes complete with an 18-page guide (available online or as a download­able PDF), filled with tips and tricks on how to best use textures in your Photoshop workflow, as well as how to create your own!

Textures are super-easy to apply and use in Photoshop. Just load the texture into a new layer above your composition, and then set its Blending Mode and Opacity for how you want it to impact the photograph or image underneath. More details and ideas are given in the short tutorial video included below.

Here is James Rodel’s introduction from the accompanying guide, which is packed with examples and entitled, “Textures, the Universe, and You“:

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Next to Photoshop, Acrobat Pro & Standard is Adobe’s top-selling product line of all time. Acrobat DC is offered via standalone subscription (“Single-App“), as well as included in the Creative Cloud (“All Apps”) – so there are many millions of customers using it worldwide, with a broad audience for training materials on how to get going with this essential software.

Fortunately, there are some great tutorials out there. Below, you will find a free two-hour instructional video series that will help you learn how to use Acrobat DC better and more effectively. This training session covers all the basics, and demonstrates how you can achieve immediate and powerful results with the tools. Read more…

Next to Photoshop, Acrobat Pro & Standard is Adobe’s top-selling product line of all time: it’s offered standalone plus included in “All Apps” subscriptions of the Creative Cloud – so there are a lot of people using it worldwide. The three free books below will help you learn how to use it better and more effectively…

The first book is all about the most recent Acrobat DC release, which debuted in 2015. The second ebook covers the previous Acrobat XI release from 2012, and the third one is for the older Acrobat X. All together, these guides encompass 206 pages and contain dozens of helpful tutorials that will help you discover the advantages of using Acrobat and how to get the most out of it… Following the easy walkthroughs will quickly introduce you to new ways to save time and simplify complex projects.

Each chapter includes step-by-step instructions for performing common tasks efficiently. Keep a copy access­ible as an easy–to–use resource for learning new techniques.

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Over the years, we’ve put together a large collection of free Adobe books that we share with our readers here… This extensive set of helpful, no-cost books has now grown to over 30 different titles that you can legally download and use royalty-free, forever.

These digital books cover Creative Cloud, Creative Suite, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Animate, XD, Light­room and more – but until now, we haven’t had a solid recent offering for Adobe After Effects.

Fortunately, this has now changed with the publication of the new “Motion Graphics in After Effects that Speaks to Your Brain” guidebook, which comes from Adobe Community Profes­sional and renowned AE guru, Dr. Mathias Möhl.

Dr. Möhl started writing this book before the coronavirus existed, and then generously decided to provide it 100% free for everyone for an unlimited time with no strings attached, as his contribution to supporting you in the midst of the crisis. His advice is to use your time wisely and learn new skills now, as they’ll help you to run a successful business once the pandemic no longer dominates our lives. You can download the book for free here.

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Over the years, we’ve put together a large collection of free Adobe books that we share with our readers here… This extensive set of helpful, no-cost books has now grown to over 30 different titles that you can legally download and use royalty-free, forever.

Read more…