Adobe apps turn Android into artist's canvas

Adobe is a name associated with design tools, and it has long been associated with desktop software that can be used to create everything from websites and product designs to page layouts and perfect photos. But in recent years there has been a huge interest in mobile devices, and while handheld devices are a little limited when it comes to being used as design tools, the same cannot be said of tablets. The larger screens found on tablets have been put to great use in Adobe’s latest Android apps -- Adobe Photoshop Touch, Adobe Proto and Adobe Debut.

Adobe Photoshop Touch is, perhaps unsurprisingly, a touchscreen compatible version of the company’s flagship image editing tool. The selection tool has been redesigned to make it easier to control with just a fingertip, and the usual raft of filters and effects can be found here to help enhance images on the move. For most people, this app will be the one that appeals most from Adobe’s new range of Touch Apps.

For designers, Adobe Debut can be used to present ideas to clients, while Adobe Proto can be used to draw up design prototypes -- the naming convention could not be accused of being illogical. Each has the feel of being a tool designed specifically with touchscreen mobile devices in mind, rather than just being a knocked together ports of existing software. Debut can be viewed as a presentation tool that can be used to show off designs that have been created on your Mac or PC, while Proto can be used to create wireframe mockups of apps, pages and web sites – these can be interactive so you can get an idea of how things will work as well as how they will look.

Each of the tools can be used in conjunction with Adobe Creative Cloud, which makes it possible to upload files from your desktop to an online storage location and then access them on your tablet -- but this is obviously dependent on being able to pick up an Internet connection on your Android.

Weighing in at $9.99, these are not cheap apps, but they have heritage. Adobe is one of the few companies that can justify charging such an amount for a mobile app, but the software still needs to live up to the price tag. With its foray into the iOS market, Adobe had a chance to test the waters with its mobile apps. The tools that are now available for Android are well evolved apps that are surprisingly developed considering the 1.0 version numbers.

You can find out more about these apps by paying a visit to the review pages -- Adobe Photoshop Touch, Adobe Debut and Adobe Proto.