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This article is from December 18, 2015, and is no longer current.

Take Your Design Workflow Mobile with Adobe Capture CC

Earlier this year Adobe revamped its lineup of mobile tools for creative professionals. While most of the fanfare went to apps like Adobe Photoshop Fix and Mix, one of the most impressive apps, to me at least, is Adobe Capture CC.

adobe capture cc mobile app

Capture CC combines four of Adobe’s previous mobile applications: Color, Shapes, Brush, and Hue, into one single, easy-to-use application that I thoroughly enjoy using. In this article I’ll give you a brief rundown of how I’m using Capture in my current workflow, and I’ll also show you some tips and tricks to get the most out of app itself.

Colors

Oftentimes when I’m researching a project, I’ll go out into the city or even my back yard and simply look for scenes and colors that inspire me. As I’m walking, I’ll snap a few photos of whatever I find to document the feeling that I had when I saw it. Afterwards I use Adobe Capture to turn those photos into usable color themes for the project I’m working on.

Example:

When you first launch Capture CC and choose the Color section, you’ll be taken to this screen which will activate your camera.

adobe capture cc

Whatever you’re looking at will then start to be converted into a color theme. While this is a great feature, I usually don’t have time to sit in a busy street and create a theme, so I rely on my camera roll to do the heavy lifting for me.

adobe capture cc

Once you’ve chosen a photo from your camera roll, the real fun begins! All of the circles that Adobe Capture displays onto your images are able to be moved and focused on whatever you want them to be.

adobe capture cc

Try dragging the circles around to display new colors from the scene you captured. If you want to focus on a single color, tap and hold that circle to activate the loop. This will allow you to select a color area with pinpoint accuracy.

adobe capture cc

After you’ve positioned your color markers, tap the capture button at the bottom of the screen. This will then convert your theme into an Adobe Color Theme, which can then be saved, synced, and used in any Adobe CC desktop or mobile app that supports CC libraries.

adobe capture cc

Here’s a screenshot from Adobe Illustrator CC 2015, showing off my newly created theme, NYC Day.

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Shapes

If you work with clients, you’ve undoubtedly encountered the dreaded scenario wherein your client gives you a low-resolution copy of a logo that they expect you to use in an actual print-ready project. Before Adobe Shape CC came along, this meant we had to scan the logo in, clean up the scan in Photoshop, and then begin the painstaking task of either using the Image Trace panel in Illustrator, or redrawing the entire logo using the Pen tool. Well, thanks to Adobe Capture CC, that workflow just got a whole lot better and faster!

Example:

Let’s take a look at how Shape does its vector magic. First we’ll start by creating a new project in Adobe Capture.

adobe capture cc

Once we create our project, Capture will again default to using the camera to generate your new shape. This isn’t ideal for our project, so we’ll need to go into our camera roll to find the client’s logo.

adobe capture cc adobe capture cc

Once you locate the image you want, just tap on it, and Capture will automatically begin the shape building process.

adobe capture cc

If you want to include more detail from the image, drag the fidelity slider at the bottom of the screen to the right. This will increase the amount of pixel information that Adobe Capture picks up to include in the vector file it creates. When you’re happy with the result, tap the capture button at the bottom.

adobe capture cc

Now you’re in refinement mode, which allows you to add or subtract little pieces of noise from your file to get exactly the amount of detail you want. Tap “Keep in Shape” or “Remove from Shape” to add or subtract pieces from your file. You can also use a two-finger pinch to zoom in on small details here, which is a good idea for complex artwork.

adobe capture cc

When you’re happy with the result, tap on Next at the top right of the screen.

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From there Capture will build a vector file for you. This part is really fun to watch, so make sure you keep your eyes on the screen to see how Capture quickly converts those pixels to nice, smooth paths.

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Tapping Next again will take you to the screen where you’ll save your new vector shape just like you did your Color Theme from before. That’s one of my favorite parts of Capture. The user interface is remarkably simple and consistent throughout each facet of the application.

Once you’ve saved your file, jump over into Illustrator and check out the result. Your new file should show up as part of your CC Library, and you can drag-and-drop it into your document to see it in all of its vector glory. I should tell you that this is probably not the end of your raster-to-vector conversion. In fact, it’s probably just the tip of the iceberg. Many times I’ll still need to go in and tweak the final result using the Pen Tool or Direct Selection Tool. Even so, Adobe Capture CC does a marvelous job of doing quite a bit of the heavy lifting for me.

adobe illustrator artwork from adobe capture cc

Workflow Tips

Here are a few final tips for getting the most out of Capture CC in your design workflow:

  • Try to use high-resolution photos when possible. Especially for vector shapes.
  • Capture multiple photos of the object you want to use. This will give you options and help avoid issues like camera shake and photo bombers.
  • Make sure you’re signed in to the app using the same Adobe ID that you use on your desktop. This ensures that your files will sync properly.
  • Name your libraries according to the project you’re working on. This makes finding and organizing your files much easier.
  • Use Adobe Capture CC on an iPad for better control and screen real estate. You can easily sync photos captured with your phone using services like Dropbox, Creative Cloud Storage, or even iCloud Photo Library.

Final Thoughts

The world of mobile apps is constantly evolving, and Adobe is continuing to refine these applications at a breakneck pace these days. While you may not be able to fit these apps into your workflow all the time, I think it’s important to at least give them a try. As they become more powerful, and our need to be mobile continues to increase, knowing how to use apps like this in your design workflow will give you an advantage over your competition. You’ll be able to turn inspiration into usable assets faster and easier than ever before.

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