Episode 113
The Adobe CC 2018 Show
November 3, 2017 · Mike Murphy
EP113: THE ADOBE CC 2018 SHOW Today's episode is a rundown of Adobe Creative Cloud 2018 and all of the new updates and applications that will benefit you as a content creator. Episode Summary: What is Adobe CC? What's new in Adobe CC 2018? What new updates am I excited about?
Episode Summary: A rundown of the Adobe Creative Cloud 2018 update — the new apps, the headline feature upgrades across Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere, and why staying current with creative tools matters even if you can’t learn everything at once.
What You’ll Learn
- What Adobe Creative Cloud is and why it’s the creative-industry standard
- The major October 2017 update highlights: Lightroom CC, Photoshop’s Curvature Pen Tool, and more
- 3 new apps graduating out of beta: Adobe XD, Adobe Dimension, and Character Animator
- Why staying current with your creative tools matters more than mastering everything at once
A free 30-day trial of Adobe Creative Cloud is linked in the show notes. From the archives: Episode 38, The Adobe Show, covers the broader case for Adobe CC if you want the fuller introduction.
Adobe Creative Cloud Overview
Adobe CC is Adobe’s subscription bundle of creative software — the industry standard across graphic and web design, video editing, podcasting, print/advertising, and online content creation broadly. Photoshop has always been the flagship name associated with Adobe, but video, audio, and animation are just as central to the suite.
Cost: $50/month for the full Creative Cloud, $20/month for teachers and students, $20/month for a single a la carte app (like Audition alone), or $9.99/month for the Photography bundle (Photoshop, Bridge, and Lightroom).
Why Adobe Matters for Technology Trends
Adobe, Apple, and Amazon dominate because they understand user behavior and actively shape where technology, creativity, and business are heading through the tools they ship. Staying relevant doesn’t require deep technical knowledge of AR, VR, or AI — but if Adobe CC and the newest iPhone are both leaning hard into a technology, it’s worth keeping on the radar. Watching what companies like Adobe prioritize is itself a useful trend signal.
Adobe CC 2018: What’s New
The major update landed in October 2017, installable through the Creative Cloud desktop app.
Tools regularly used day-to-day: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Audition, Premiere Pro, After Effects.
New apps graduating out of beta: Adobe XD, Adobe Dimension, and Adobe Character Animator.
Highlights of the Update
- Lightroom CC — a brand-new, cloud-native version of Lightroom (the older version becomes Lightroom Classic), with 1TB of cloud storage for RAW and JPEG files, editable from anywhere.
- Photoshop — Curvature Pen Tool, an improved Properties panel, smoother brush strokes, better brush organization, Kyle Webster brush packs, and a Quick Share menu.
- Illustrator — a new Properties panel and Puppet Warp.
- InDesign — footnote support.
- Adobe Audition — auto-ducking and faster mixdowns.
- After Effects — virtual reality and 360° camera editing, plus new animation tooling.
- Premiere Pro — improved Essential Graphics, responsive animations, multi-project support.
- Adobe XD — design and prototyping for websites and mobile apps.
- Adobe Dimension — compositing 2D and 3D assets for product shots, scene visualization, and abstract art.
- Adobe Character Animator — out of beta, with new Triggers and Controls panels.
Conclusion
The 2018 update brought genuine game-changers like Lightroom CC alongside broad performance improvements and some fun new tools — but the real takeaway is bigger than any single feature: powerful, cutting-edge tools are available, but only pay off if you actually dig in and keep learning. Trying to absorb everything Adobe ships in real time isn’t realistic, but for anyone making a living in the creative space, staying current isn’t optional — falling behind is a choice, not a surprise. It took a few days just to read through everything in this release, which is exactly why this episode exists: hitting the highlights and staying motivated to keep learning, creating, and moving forward.
Patreon
Supporting the show for $1/month is available at patreon.com/mikemurphy — it also unlocks direct access for gear or tech questions.