Adobe Stock can jumpstart your creative process

Put time back on your side:

How Adobe Stock can jumpstart your creative process.

Today’s customers expect personal experiences no matter where they are, on every device. For you, this means creating new content that’s specific to every product, for every customer segment, every screen size, and every step of the customer journey. Demand is at a larger scale than ever before.

That’s the unique challenge facing enterprise-level creative studios. From social content to email campaigns, they must keep pace with ever-growing digital marketing demands — and customer expectations. To stay relevant in your customer’s minds and in the competitive landscape, you need to create more quality content, more quickly.

Frankly, most creative teams just don’t have the time or resources they need to keep up. That’s where stock images and video take a front seat. You always have access to fresh images without spending the time and money needed for new photo shoots.

While using stock images and video will save you time, a conventional stock solution is not enough. You need a solution that has both high-quality images and back-end systems in place to make using those images faster and easier than ever.

It’s time to take a serious look at every step of your creative process. Find out where your holdups are, and where your creatives are wasting time. Because the truth is, the way you create content determines how quickly and how easily you can deliver quality experiences that make an impact on your customers — and your bottom line.


So many images. So much more time.

Whether you realize it or not, your current stock images and video workflow may slow your team down. With many conventional stock solutions, even downloading and licensing a placeholder image can turn a simple task into a major bottleneck.

A few extra minutes editing a photo or video may not seem like a big deal. However, when you multiply that by the amount of assets you create, for every screen size and customer segment, day after day, those minutes quickly add up.

That’s where Adobe Stock can help. Adobe commissioned Pfeiffer Consulting to determine the time saved using Adobe Stock integrated with various Creative Cloud solutions, as opposed to web-based stock libraries. Whether you work in Photoshop, InDesign, or Premiere Pro, Adobe Stock eliminates repetitive busy work to speed the creative process. You’ll deliver the quantity your business needs at the quality your customers expect.

Adobe Stock and Photoshop CC.

Adobe Stock and Photoshop CC.

Working with stock photos can be problematic. After spending time searching for the perfect image, you spend even more time downloading and editing watermarked images, only to manually make the same edits to the licensed photo. That leaves a lot of room for human error, which could slow down your process even more. You’re also constantly switching back and forth between the stock service and your design application. It’s clunky and time-consuming.

When you use Adobe Stock in conjunction with Photoshop, working with stock is actually quite simple. Since comp images are available in Creative Cloud Libraries, you can drop them directly into a document. And you can license the image directly in Photoshop, so you never have to toggle between applications. With just a click, the high-resolution file replaces the watermarked image. And all the non-destructive edits you made to the placement image are automatically transferred to the licensed file. To see just how much time you can save, we compared a few common tasks with more conventional stock solutions.

Workflow Scenario 1

Replace a watermarked image with a licensed one.

Once you’ve got an approved project and need to license every instance of every stock image, Adobe Stock cuts your workflow down to two simple steps.

Adobe Stock + Photoshop

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Right-click image layer

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates across all instances.

No need to leave the application.

Total time: 16 sec. 16 Sec.

Conventional stock solution

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Find original image name

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Go to stock site

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Search

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    License

  5. Step icon

    Step 5

    Download high-res

  6. Step icon

    Step 6

    Open in photoshop

  7. Step icon

    Step 7

    Manually replace low-resolution image

Total time: 2 min. 52 sec. 2 min. 52 sec.

Workflow Scenario 2

Replace a watermarked image with a licensed one, including color adjustments.

Since Adobe Stock is integrated with Photoshop, the instant you license a photo, all your adjustment values are automatically transferred over—so you can work up to ten times faster.

Adobe Stock + Photoshop

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Right-click image layer

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates across all instances.

Non-destructive adjustments remain intact.

No need to leave the application.

Total time: 28 sec. 28 sec.

Conventional stock solution

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Manually document adjustment values

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Find original image name

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Go to stock site

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Search

  5. Step icon

    Step 5

    License

  6. Step icon

    Step 6

    Download high-res

  7. Step icon

    Step 7

    Open in Photoshop

  8. Step icon

    Step 8

    Manually replace low-resolution image

  9. Step icon

    Step 9

    Manually reapply adjustments

Total time: 2 min. 52 sec. 2 min. 52 sec.

Workflow Scenario 3

Replace a Smart Object watermarked image with a licensed one.

Working with Smart Objects already saves you time because your adjustments are automatically re-applied. However, add Adobe Stock to the mix and replacing placement images with a licensed one only takes two steps.

Adobe Stock + Photoshop

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Right-click image layer

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates across all instances.

Smart-object adjustments remain intact.

No need to leave the application.

Total time: 28 sec. 28 sec.

Conventional stock solution

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Find original image name

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Go to stock site

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Search

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    License

  5. Step icon

    Step 5

    Download high-res

  6. Step icon

    Step 6

    Open in Photoshop

  7. Step icon

    Step 7

    Right-click Smart object

  8. Step icon

    Step 8

    Replace contents with high-res image

Total time: 2 min. 31 sec. 2 min. 31 sec.

Adobe Stock and InDesign CC.

Adobe Stock and InDesign CC.

Working with Adobe Stock in InDesign has all the same benefits of working in Photoshop. But InDesign’s integration takes the process even further. While you’re searching for the perfect image, you can send comp photos directly to a selected image container in your document.

It’s quick and easy to see how different images look in your comp without downloading and switching between multiple platforms. See the time you can save with Adobe Stock and InDesign.

Workflow Scenario 1

Download an FPO image, place in layout, license file, and replace.

Your time savings comes in more ways than licensing, but also in the downloading and placing of the FPO images. No matter which phase of the project you’re in, Adobe Stock will speed your workflow.

Adobe Stock + InDesign

Download and place FPO image

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Select InDesign image container

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Find image on Adobe Stock

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Select “Open Preview in InDesign”

Key Benefits:

You automatically return to InDesign.

Preview image is automatically placed inside the selected image container.

Image is automatically added to CC Library.

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 4

    Right-click link name

  2. Step icon

    Step 5

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates to high-quality across all instances.

Non-destructive image adjustments remain intact.

Total time: 23 sec. 23 sec.

Conventional stock solution

Download and place FPO image

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Select image on stock site

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Download watermarked placement image

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Save to project folder

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Open InDesign

  5. Step icon

    Step 5

    Place image into layout

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 6

    Return to stock solution

  2. Step icon

    Step 7

    License

  3. Step icon

    Step 8

    Download high-resolution image

  4. Step icon

    Step 9

    Save to project folder

  5. Step icon

    Step 10

    Return to InDesign

  6. Step icon

    Step 11

    Update image with high-res

Total time: 1 min. 31 sec. 1 min. 31 sec.

Workflow Scenario 2

Create a four-page brochure.

When you add multiple images in the mix, your time saving with Adobe Stock becomes exponential.

Adobe Stock + InDesign

Select and place images

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Select InDesign image container

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Find image on Adobe Stock

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Select “Open Preview in InDesign”

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 4

    Right-click link name

  2. Step icon

    Step 5

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates to high-quality across all instances.

Non-destructive image adjustments remain intact.

Total time: 1 min. 28 sec. 1 min. 28 sec.

Conventional stock solution

Select and place images

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Download watermarked placement images

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Save to project folder

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Open InDesign

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Place image into layout

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 5

    Return to stock solution

  2. Step icon

    Step 6

    License

  3. Step icon

    Step 7

    Download high-resolution image

  4. Step icon

    Step 8

    Save to project folder

  5. Step icon

    Step 9

    Return to InDesign

  6. Step icon

    Step 10

    Update image with high-res

Total time: 5 min. 2 sec. 5 min. 2 sec.

Adobe Stock and Premiere Pro CC.

Adobe Stock and Premiere Pro CC.

Using stock video presents new challenges for creative teams. Most stock sources provide placement footage with resolution of only a few hundred pixels wide. This means you have to scale the footage up before licensing, and then back down again once you have the licensed, full-resolution file.

With Adobe Stock, all your watermarked clips come in resolutions of either 1920 × 1080 or 3840 × 2160. This makes it easier to work with the placement footage and edit it exactly how you want. And when you use Adobe Stock with Premiere Pro, all the edits you make to the watermarked clips—such as pan or zoom—are automatically applied to the full version the instant you license the file.

Workflow Scenario 1

Replace low-resolution, placement footage for a licensed clip.

Since Adobe Stock provides full resolution placement footage, you don’t need to change the scale before and after you license the video.

Adobe Stock + Premiere Pro

Download and place clip

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Select footage on Adobe Stock

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Select “Open preview in Premiere Pro”

Key Benefits:

You automatically return to Premiere Pro.

Preview footage is automatically added to project.

Image is automatically added to CC Library.

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 3

    Right-click footage

  2. Step icon

    Step 4

    License

Key Benefits:

Image auto-updates to high-quality across all instances.

Non-destructive image adjustments remain intact.

Total time: 50 sec. 50 sec.

Conventional stock solution

Download and place clip

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Download watermarked placement images

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Import into Premiere Pro

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Insert into a sequence

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Scale up to target resolution

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 5

    Return to stock solution

  2. Step icon

    Step 6

    Search for clip

  3. Step icon

    Step 7

    License

  4. Step icon

    Step 8

    Download high-res

  5. Step icon

    Step 9

    Relink with high-res footage

  6. Step icon

    Step 10

    Scale down to target resolution

Total time: 3 min. 57 sec. 3 min. 57 sec.

Workflow Scenario 2

Replace low-resolution, placement footage for a 4K clip, including edits.

Just like HD, working with 4K stock video can be difficult because you often manually scale large files before and after licensing. With Adobe Stock, you get full-resolution placement footage. So what you see is what you get.

Adobe Stock + Premiere Pro

Select and place clips

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Select footage on Adobe Stock

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Select “Open preview in Premiere Pro”

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Insert into a sequence

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Add panning and zooming effects

Key Benefits:

You are automatically taken to Premiere Pro.

Preview footage is automatically added to project.

Footage is automatically added to CC Library.

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 5

    Right-click footage

  2. Step icon

    Step 6

    License

Key Benefits:

Footage auto-updates to high-quality across all instances.

Non-destructive image adjustments remain intact.

Non-destructive effects remain intact.

Total time: 1 min. 22 sec. 1 min. 22 sec.

Conventional stock solution

Select and place clips

  1. Step icon

    Step 1

    Download low-res watermarked clip

  2. Step icon

    Step 2

    Import into Premiere Pro

  3. Step icon

    Step 3

    Insert into a sequence

  4. Step icon

    Step 4

    Scale up to target resolution

  5. Step icon

    Step 5

    Add panning and zooming effects

License and replace file

  1. Step icon

    Step 6

    Return to stock solution

  2. Step icon

    Step 7

    Search for clip

  3. Step icon

    Step 8

    License

  4. Step icon

    Step 9

    Download high-res 4K

  5. Step icon

    Step 10

    Relink with 4K footage

  6. Step icon

    Step 11

    Scale down to target resolution

  7. Step icon

    Step 12

    Re-apply panning and zooming effects

Total time: 3 min. 57 sec. 3 min. 57 sec.


Every second counts with Adobe Stock.

No matter which Creative Cloud solutions you use, Adobe Stock speeds your creative process. It cuts down on drawn-out licensing tasks and eliminates the need to reapply edits. And Stock keeps your creative team from toggling between platforms. Whether you’re in Photoshop, InDesign, or Premiere Pro, your team can save minutes per image, and hours per day. In essence, your team will have more time to create and design more assets than ever before—while still maintaining the high-quality expectations of your customers.

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