Adobe Voice lets iPad users quickly create slideshow-based video stories

Adobe has unveiled a new free app for iPad users. Dubbed an app for storytelling, Adobe Voice 1.0 allows users to create animated slideshow-based video stories based on their own narrated scripts.

Each slide -- or "page" -- consists of a recorded sentence or two, a choice of layouts and then a selection of text, icons or photos that are automatically animated and edited together into a single movie that can be played back or shared online.

The app’s main appeal is its simplicity, with an example video and step-by-step tutorial revealing how simple and quick it is to create a complete story using Adobe Voice. Users set up a new story, pick a structure or choose a blank template, then select a theme and background music.

Next, they start building the pages of their story: first, tap and hold to record a short burst of narration, then review and re-record it if necessary. Once done, users can choose from one of five different slide layouts, each one supporting one or two page elements.

Three types of element can be imported into a slide: text, icons (a searchable library of over 25,000 is provided) and photos, either from a web search for freely available images, or by accessing the user’s own photo collection. Photos can be drawn direct from the iPad or imported via supported online services: Adobe Creative Cloud, Facebook and Dropbox, and can be moved or cropped inside the static frame once inserted.

Once complete, move on to the next page. Users can also preview their video and also revisit previous pages to perform further editing. When the video is complete, it can be uploaded to Adobe where it can be shared publicly or kept hidden from other Adobe Voice users, accessible only via a web link, which users can email, Facebook, tweet or share via the web or Messages app.

The whole process is intuitive and simple to follow -- and mercifully quick too. The hardest part of the process is choosing a topic and then working out what to say. The app description mentions the availability of in-app purchases -- at time of writing, none were available, but we suspect additional themes, music and icons may be made available at a later date. So long as the core functionality remains free, however, Adobe Voice is an interesting proposition for someone wishing to create slideshow-based video stories.

Adobe Voice 1.0 is available now free for iPads running iOS 7 or later.