Adobe Express Adds AI As Part Of Massive Update

AI tools and video editing are being added to Adobe Express

Adobe is bringing its AI tools to Adobe Express as part of a huge upgrade to the content creation service.

Adobe Express can be used to create anything from social media posts to printed posters to promotional flyers. An update being announced today will add even more feathers to its bow, including the ability to create video content and edit PDFs.

However, perhaps the most eyecatching new addition is the Adobe Firefly AI tools that the company has been beta testing for the past couple of months.

Two AI tools will be added to Adobe Express: the ability to generate images from text prompts and text effects, where lettering can filled with textures. For example, you might apply a pink balloon text effect to the word ‘party’.

"We have a tonne of AI power that is now available right through the product, which makes it easy for you to not have to start with a blank screen," said Govind Balakrishnan, senior vice president of Creative Cloud products and services at Adobe.

"Not only do we have templates, but we also have template recommendations. We have the ability to apply effects to text, not just through the Firefly capabilities, but even to the layout of text, based on the understanding that the text engine has of the content, and the context of the content, and where the text is within the content."

Video editing is part of Adobe Express for the first time

Aside from the AI tools, the company is also bringing video editing to Adobe Express for the first time, in a bid to create an "all-in-one editor".

"You can bring in video clips and you can edit them," said Balakrishnan. "You can trim them, you can concatenate multiple video clips together to create a fully-fledged video. You can start with video templates that are optimized for TikTok and Instagram."

Adobe will provide users with access to a large library of stock video and music to use in the background. Users will also be able to record their own voice to narrate videos.

The update will also give Adobe Express the ability to edit PDFs for the first time. Balakrishnan said the new capabilities will make it "possible for you to create visually stunning PDFs. A PDF is no longer just a standard text-based document. You can add images, you can add animations, you can really bring it to life in ways that were almost unimaginable previously."

Multiple users can edit projects simultaneously

In a sign that Adobe sees Express as much more than a product for casual users, the service is also getting the ability to collaborate on projects for the first time. Two or more users will be able to edit the same project simultaneously.

What's more, Adobe Express users will now be able to import assets from other Adobe products, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. "We have the ability to establish a link with the original document, such that if you were to go back to Photoshop or go back to Illustrator and make edits to that original document, those edits flow through to Adobe Express and appear as a notification in Express for you to accept the change or reject the change," said Balakrishnan.

The new features will appear immediately in the desktop browser-based version of Adobe Express, before being rolled out to the mobile apps in the coming months.