Adobe (www.adobe.com) recently revved its Adobe Creative Cloud offering, offering more than a dozen exclusive new features for Adobe Photoshop. Creative Cloud offers a way of providing tools and services for creative pros globally.

Adobe Creative Cloud is a membership-based service that provides users with unlimited access to download and install all Adobe Creative Suite desktop applications, plus other applications including Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Muse, Adobe Edge Tools & Services; game developer tools and integration with the Adobe Touch Apps. With Creative Cloud membership, users also have access to publishing services to deliver apps and websites, cloud storage and the ability to sync to any device, and new products and exclusive updates as soon as they’re released.

Adobe says Creative Cloud is offered as a membership to provide "maximum flexibility, lower up-front costs, and most important, the ability for Adobe to deliver cutting-edge innovation on an immediate and ongoing basis to keep you ahead of the changing technology and device landscape." It offers ongoing access to the latest versions of all the Creative Cloud components as long as your membership is active.

Because your Creative Suite applications are installed directly on your computer, you don't need an ongoing Internet connection to use them. However, you will need to be online when you install and license your software, and at least once every 30 days thereafter. The software will alert you when you need to connect to the Internet for a license status check.

Also, you don't have to download and install ALL the CS6 applications available in Creative Cloud all at once. You can install each application individually whenever it works best for you. You can mix and match and install whatever you want.

Adobe Creative Cloud now offers support for Retina displays on the MacBook Pro. You can export CSS code for text and objects, and import color swatches to easily design incredible websites. New Photoshop CS6 capabilities available to Creative Cloud members, include: new workflow timesavers including Crop tool refinements; 3D enhancements; and Conditional Actions that automatically select the appropriate Action based on user-defined rules, giving users enhanced image processing speed.

Adobe also now offers Creative Cloud for teams, which is designed to simplify collaborating with others. Other Creative Cloud additions include an update to Adobe Muse, a desktop app that allows designers to create professional, HTML websites without writing code. Adobe Muse now includes the ability to create unique layouts for desktop, iPhone, iPad and other mobile device versions of a website. Designers can now customize each experience whether the site is viewed on a large monitor while sitting at a desk, or viewing on a small screen while on-the-go. 

Also new is Creative Cloud Connection, a desktop sync app, which allows users to automatically sync files to a Creative Cloud account by saving files to the desktop folder, or simply dragging and dropping.

Adobe Creative Cloud membership for individuals is US$49.99 per month based on annual membership; existing customers who own CS3 or later get their first year of Creative Cloud for individuals at the discounted rate of $29.99 per month. Students and teachers can get Creative Cloud for $29.99. Creative Cloud for teams is priced at $69.99 per month per seat with an annual contract required; existing customers who own CS3 or later get their first year of Creative Cloud for teams at the discounted rate of $49.99 per month per seat. Creative Cloud for teams is available for purchase at the Adobe web site (www.adobe.com).