Photoshop How To

If you don’t realize that your Adobe Creative Cloud subscription incudes a wealth of helpful free tools, it’s time to wise up and grab what you need. Many of these freebies aren’t readily apparent, and they’re easy to get and put to use.

Image editing impresario Anthony Morganti explains what’s available in barely six minutes. You’ll find a variety of options for creative effects, improving your workflow, finding answers to common problems, and much more.

All you have to do is open the Creative Cloud app and click on the Apps tab (the second tab on the top left of your screen). Once you do that another screen opens up, showing the apps you’ve already installed—from Photoshop, Lightroom, and Creative Raw, to elements like Bridge, InDesign, and whatever else you use.

Now here’s where the fun begins. When you hover over any of the installed apps, one or more icons appear. Using Lightroom Classic as an example, Morganti demonstrates that five icons appear. If you select the first one you’ll be taken to a number of helpful video tutorials on a wide variety of editing topics.

Similarly by clicking on the third button next to Lightroom Classic, you’ll find a selection of powerful plug-ins that are there for the taking. Other buttons have equally valuable (and free) assets for various tasks, like presets for giving images a unique look.

Your other installed applications offer more great stuff, and one of the best ways to start is by hovering over Photoshop in your list where you be amazed by what you find. It’s important to note that some of what’s available isn’t free, so be sure to check that as you proceed. You can also filter offerings by clicking on “top rated.”

Another important button adjacent to any installed app is the second button from the right. This takes you a support community where you can find clear and concise suggestions for solving problems with any Adobe app installed on your system. Morganti says,“This is the first thing you should do” when confronting any difficulty.

Morganti’s instructional YouTube channel contains a wealth of information on processing images, so pay a visit when you have time,

And be sure to check out another tutorial we posted recently, explaining how to create and use simple Photoshop Actions to streamline your workflow.