In this book, you will learn how to create stunning social media graphics, thumb-stopping animations, beautiful landing pages, and captivating videos. Additionally, you will be introduced to the power of Quick Actions in Express, which will enable you to swiftly edit videos and effortlessly create PDFs. You will discover ways to integrate your brand with Express and leverage the social media content scheduler. These are just some of the many techniques that you will master in this book. Enjoy the flexibility of creating beautiful content either in the browser or on your mobile device using the Adobe Express apps.

Regardless of your professional background, whether you’re a marketer, a content creator, an educator, a budding designer, or an entrepreneur, it is crucial to consistently generate content. Express is an entry-level tool that revolutionizes the design landscape, ensuring accessibility to everyone. By democratizing design, Adobe Express empowers individuals with any design expertise to effortlessly create visually beautiful content.

Learning and putting what you’ve learned into practice has never been easier, and you can accomplish something no matter which chapter you read.

Whether you want to start from scratch or select from a curated selection of templates, you can create beautiful content within minutes. You can create social media graphics, social media posts, Instagram stories, YouTube thumbnails, event posters, business cards, flyers, logos, and much more with Adobe Express.

With Adobe Express, you can create web pages without any coding skills. Web pages can be created within minutes, and they are hosted on Adobe. You can add hyperlinks, images, and videos to these web pages. Expand your creative output for your brand by creating web pages for your product or business; create a marketing splash page to advertise an upcoming event; or launch an announcement with a call to action with an Adobe Express web page.

Go a step further and create videos and animations with Adobe Express. Editing a video using Express doesn’t come with a steep learning curve. You can effortlessly incorporate images and videos, and utilize the app to trim, crop, and resize your videos. Enhance the impact of your videos by incorporating a soundtrack from the extensive library of free music available in Express. Additionally, recording voiceovers in Express is a simple and straightforward process.

We’ll cover the following topics in this chapter:

• What is Adobe Express?
• How can I access Adobe Express?
• Creating an account on Adobe Express
• Adobe Express Premium versus free versions

By the end of the chapter, you will be able to create an account in Adobe Express, and you will know the difference between the free and Premium versions. You can decide to pay for the premium version at any point.

You will need a modern browser, such as Google Chrome. Additionally, you can download the Express app, which is slightly functionally different from the browser version.

Adobe Express is a web and mobile app that allows you to easily create stunning graphics and content without having any graphic design skills. You can choose from thousands of templates and personalize and remix the content to create your own eye-catching content.

Examples of the type of content you can create

Here are some examples of content that you can create in Adobe Express:

• Social media content

You can create social media content quickly and easily by using one of the hundreds of templates provided by Adobe Express.

Figure 1.1 – Example of a social media post

• A logo

With Adobe Express, you can create logos by using the logo builder. Adobe Express makes it easy for you to create a customized logo from scratch with their easy step-by-step guide.

Figure 1.2 – An example of a logo

• Graphics for Instagram/Facebook stories and covers for reels and TikTok

Create captivating, thumb-stopping content for your Instagram and Facebook stories, and covers for Instagram/Facebook Reels and TikTok. Choose from one of the hundreds of modern templates available in Adobe Express.

Figure 1.3 – An example of an event graphic created from a template, which can be animated and used for your Instagram stories

• Create a business card

With Adobe Express, you can create a professional business card for your business.

Figure 1.4 – An example of a business card

• Presentation graphics

Forget boring PowerPoint presentations! With Adobe Express, you can easily create professional presentation graphics by choosing from hundreds of templates.

Figure 1.5 – An example of a business presentation slide

• A menu

You can create unique and modern menus quickly and easily using a template with Adobe Express.

Figure 1.6 – An example of a menu

• An invitation

You can create birthday invitations, wedding invitations, baby shower invitations, and much more. With Adobe Express, choose from hundreds of stunning templates for your next party invitation.

Figure 1.7 – An example of a wedding invitation

• A web page

Need a website or marketing splash page for your business but don’t know how to code? Look no further! With Adobe Express, you can quickly and easily create professional web pages.

Figure 1.8 – An example of a web page created in Adobe Express

These are just a handful of examples of the type of content you can create in minutes with Adobe Express. There is no limit to what you can create with Adobe Express.

Adobe Express can be accessed on the browser at the following link:

https://express.adobe.com/

There is no need to download any software. Adobe Express can be accessed through a browser, so no matter where you are, you can simply navigate to the URL and start creating.

Adobe Express is also available as an app on iOS and Android. You can start creating on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

Adobe Express for iOS

To start Adobe Express on iOS, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Apple App Store and download the Adobe Express app.
2. On your iPad or iPhone, tap on the Adobe Express app.
3. Sign in with your Adobe ID, Apple ID, Facebook account, or Google account (refer to the Creating an account in Adobe Express section to learn more).
4. Once you have signed in, you can start creating!

Figure 1.9 – Adobe Express app home page

Adobe Express for Android

To start Adobe Express on Android, follow these steps:

1. Visit the Google Play store and download the Adobe Express app.
2. On your Android device, tap the Adobe Express app.
3. Sign in with your Adobe ID, Facebook account, or Google account (refer to the next section to learn more).
4. Once you have signed in, you can start creating!

Now that we have learned how to access Adobe Express on the browser and through the mobile apps, in the next section, we will learn how to create an account.

Whether you are using the free or Premium version of Adobe Express, you can create an Adobe ID.

If you are using the free version of Adobe Express, you do not need to create an Adobe ID. You can sign up to use Adobe Express with your Facebook account, Google account, or Apple ID.

To create an account in Adobe Express, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to https://express.adobe.com/.
2. Click on Sign Up:

Figure 1.10 – Sign Up button

3. Next, select Log in with Adobe ID:

Figure 1.11 – Login page for Adobe Express on the web

4. Next, on the Sign in page, click on Create an account:

Figure 1.12 – Sign-in page for Adobe Express on the web

5. Fill out your details and select Create Account:

Figure 1.13 – Create an account page for Adobe Express on the web

Now that you have created an account, you can use your Adobe ID to log in to Adobe Express. In the next section, you will learn the difference between the free and paid versions of Adobe Express.

You can choose to use the free plan or pay for an Adobe Express membership. With the free plan, you can access limited content and features within the Adobe Express app. However, with the Premium version, you can access thousands of premium templates and assets.

Let’s look at each of the versions in detail.

Free plan

The free plan includes all the core features and has some limitations:

• 2 GB cloud storage.
• Access thousands of templates, Adobe Fonts, and design assets. A limited collection of royalty-free Adobe Stock free collection photos.
• Basic editing and photo effects including remove background and animate.
• Create on both web and mobile.

Premium plan

You can pay for a subscription to unlock the premium features of Adobe Express.

Features include the following:

• 100 GB of cloud storage
• Access to all the premium templates, design assets, and more than 160 million roaylty-free Adobe Stock collection photos.
• Collaborate on and share projects with your team
• Manage templates and assets with Creative Cloud Libraries
• Access to all the premium editing features, including resizing images and refining cutouts
• Access to more than 20,000 Adobe Fonts and character types (curved type, font pairs, and grids)
• Create your own brand (branding, logo, colors, and fonts)
• Create PDFs and export them other file types
• Create on web and mobile

You will also get access to the following apps when you subscribe to an Adobe Express membership:

• The Adobe Express app (web and mobile)
• Adobe Spark Page (mobile)
• Adobe Spark Video (mobile)
• Adobe Photoshop Express (mobile)
• Adobe Premiere Rush (desktop and mobile)

Figure 1.14 – A premium subscription includes all these additional Adobe apps

Throughout this chapter, you gained insights into the wide array of content you can design with Adobe Express. You were introduced to different ways of accessing Express: via the browser or the mobile apps. As part of this process, you have created an Adobe ID, which will serve as your login credentials. As explained in this chapter, you have the option to upgrade from the free version to the Premium version at any time.

In the upcoming chapter, you will delve into the creation and integration of your brand within Adobe Express. You will learn how to create a style guide in Adobe Express, encompassing elements such as your logo, font selection, and color scheme. These elements will ensure you have a consistent and cohesive visual identity across all the content you create using Express.