What is Adobe?
Adobe is a software company that makes software for designers, publishers, and other creative individuals and organizations. Founded in 1982, Adobe has developed many popular applications that people use for jobs as well as personal projects. These apps can be used for a wide diversity of purposes, including photo editing, video editing, static and motion graphics design, sound mixing, web design, and PDF editing.
The Adobe Creative Cloud is a suite of design apps that is available to creators through a paid monthly subscription. It includes Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Acrobat, and other industry-standard applications. It also comes with fonts, collaboration tools, storage space, and libraries. While applications in the Adobe Creative Cloud are useful on their own, their ability to integrate seamlessly makes the suite even more powerful for users.
Why Learn Adobe?
Developing knowledge of one or more Adobe applications will broaden your professional opportunities, especially if you work in a creative field. Creators in all industries use Adobe software to complete projects for their companies or clients. Learning several Adobe apps can set the stage for a new career path: for instance, mastering Photoshop, After Effects, and Premiere Pro will help you be a well-rounded motion graphics designer. You can also learn Adobe software to be more productive in your current career. Whether you’re a social media manager who learns Photoshop to make graphics for Instagram or a web designer who picks up Adobe Animate to make animations for a website, Adobe software can be the key to developing within your role.
Although Adobe applications may be the choice of many professional creators, it’s also popular with amateurs and hobbyists. There is plenty of value to learning Adobe for purely recreational reasons. You can use Photoshop to touch up pictures before you share them on social media, InDesign to make flyers for an upcoming event, or Premiere Pro to make a wedding video for a family member. Almost anyone can benefit from learning how to use one or more applications in the Adobe Creative Cloud.
What Careers Use Adobe?
If you’re interested in a design career, familiarity with the Adobe suite is essential. Graphic designers use Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to create original graphics and layouts for advertisements, magazines, books and ebooks, logos, and many other types of media. Some designers specialize in digital media. Besides these apps, they may use applications like Adobe XD for web design or After Effects for GIF creation.
Knowing Adobe software is important for video editing careers as well. The industry-standard application for video editing is Premiere Pro, which professionals use to edit video into a cohesive structure, organize footage, and make adjustments to color, speed, and audio. Video editors also use After Effects to add animated title cards or visual effects and Audition for sound mixing.
Being a motion designer or animator also requires skills with After Effects and Premiere Pro. In addition, motion designers tend to have skills in Photoshop and Illustrator, where they’ll edit static designs before bringing them to life with After Effects. Motion artists and animators may also use Adobe Audition to add sound to their projects and Adobe Animate (formerly known as Flash) to work on computer animations.
Web designers use Adobe XD to design web and mobile apps. They sometimes use Photoshop for visual design and Dreamweaver for web development. Adobe XD is also important for professionals specializing in UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design. They use it for wireframing and prototyping digital products.
These are just a few examples of careers that commonly involve regular use of the Adobe Creative Cloud. Outside of design-related careers, you’ll often find Adobe software used for general workplace productivity. For example, anyone working in an office may use Acrobat to create and modify PDFs or InCopy for word processing.
What Adobe Classes Are Available?
Taking an Adobe class is a great way to build beginner-level skills or take your knowledge of an application to the next level. There are courses covering many different Adobe applications at Noble Desktop, our design school. All of the courses mentioned below are geared toward beginners, making them a great choice for current or aspiring designers without prior Adobe experience.
In the Photoshop Bootcamp, you’ll learn how to retouch and sharpen photos, add visual effects to pictures, and make custom graphics for print and web media. To create images that look crisp and neat at any size, you’ll need to move beyond pixel-based software like Photoshop. Taking Noble’s Illustrator Bootcamp will teach you how to use vector graphics to create scalable designs for logos, fashion patterns, packaging, and other purposes. If your primary interest is creating page layouts that combine graphics and text, look into the InDesign Bootcamp.
Those who want to know more about UX design, UI design, or web design can get a firm basis of knowledge in the Adobe XD Bootcamp. If you want to start making high-quality video projects, enrolling in the Premiere Pro Bootcamp will put you on the right track. Noble’s After Effects Bootcamp is suitable for anyone interested in video editing, motion graphics, or animation. Looking to learn a bunch of Adobe applications all at once? You can take the Adobe Creative Cloud Bootcamp. In this bootcamp, you’ll learn basic through advanced skills in Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and Adobe XD.
Certificate Programs for Adobe
For those looking to start a job in a creative field, gaining experience with Adobe apps is a great first step. However, to fully leverage Adobe software in a new career, you’ll need a broader knowledge of design fundamentals and industry practices. You’ll also need a portfolio of work that demonstrates your abilities to employers. One of the most efficient ways to accomplish all of this is to complete a certificate.
Noble Desktop offers a diverse array of certificate programs that provide training in Adobe applications along with more general design training and portfolio development. One of the most popular is the Graphic Design Certificate. This certificate includes classes in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign along with lessons in design theory, composition, color, and typography.
If you’re more interested in working with video or motion graphics, check out the Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate. Students in this program build advanced skills in Premiere Pro and After Effects, along with learning the fundamentals of Adobe Audition. At the end of the class, they create demo reels showcasing both their video and motion graphics projects.
Want to be a well-rounded designer who works with digital media? Consider the Digital Design Certificate, which reviews Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects, and Adobe XD as well as key concepts of graphic, motion, and visual design.
If you’re interested in starting a career in UX or UI design, then the UX & UI Design Certificate is best for you. In this course, you’ll learn how to use Photoshop and Illustrator to design web graphics and Adobe XD for making clickable prototypes.
In addition to project-based coursework and career-oriented training, the Graphic Design Certificate, Video Editing & Motion Graphics Certificate, and Digital Design Certificate all include one-on-one mentoring sessions with a skilled designer. These mentoring sessions allow students to polish their resumes, receive career advice, and learn more about navigating creative industries.