Adobe Inc. is banking on local Indian language support for its Express platform, a cloud-based mobile and web design tool, hoping that more users will be able to produce creative assets like social media posts, posters, and website banners in native languages, and take advantage of generative AI features for seamless content creation in a diverse country like India. Starting Thursday, the interface for Adobe Express on desktop web and mobile will be available in Hindi, Tamil, and Bengali, and the Translate feature on the desktop web will now support eight Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. “The support for additional languages and the localisation of the user interface in three more languages makes it easier for everyone to access the application without needing to be highly proficient in English,” Govind Balakrishnan, Senior Vice President, Express Product Group & Digital Media Services, Adobe, told indianexpress.com over a call from California. Previously called Spark, Adobe Express received a major revamp in 2021, allowing users to quickly create everything from social media posts to promotional posters and videos. Available for desktop users as well as on mobile for iOS and Android devices, the app comes in both a free version and a paid monthly subscription plan with additional capabilities and a library of more complex templates. A free version of Adobe Express includes some Firefly-powered generative AI features, but these are limited to 25 credits per month. After that, a subscription is required. Access to the application is also included in Adobe’s Creative Cloud All Apps and flagship single-app plans. “It’s a quick and easy app to create anything,” Balakrishnan said, adding that Express has undergone a complete revamp and a rebuild of the product from the ground up. However, since the company added AI-powered features to Adobe Express, its all-in-one design platform, using the company’s Firefly generative AI model, Balakrishnan said the application has become an entry point to content creation without necessarily requiring professional design experience. He described the integration of generative AI tools, along with local Indian language support, into Adobe Express as something that has dramatically reduced the "barrier to entry," opening a new way to use creative tools without needing formal training or experience, and in a language you are familiar with. Balakrishnan said while India may be a major market for creative tools like Adobe Express, the country also plays a significant role in designing specific features and developing generative AI tools. “A large part of the Adobe Express engineering organisation and the Firefly engineering work is actually done in India,” he said. “Some of the innovation you’re seeing for generative AI or Firefly, or even capabilities in a product like Express, is undoubtedly being built out of our India campuses.” India has been one of Adobe’s primary development centres and has the largest employee base outside of the US, with engineering being one of the key centres of excellence. According to Balakrishnan, more than 50 per cent of Adobe’s employees in India are in engineering roles. Balakrishnan said for each of Adobe’s apps, the user base is different, and this is reflected in whether users choose a subscription for individual apps or opt for Creative Cloud, which provides access to Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Acrobat Pro, Adobe Express, and generative AI features in one plan. “It really depends on the user and their intent,” he said. “Many users come in looking for Photoshop, who are creative professionals. But there are also a large number of users who come in with a very clear intent. They are looking to create a poster, a birthday card, a flyer, or a business card. For them, applications like Photoshop or Illustrator may not be the right choice. They want to get started quickly, complete their task as efficiently as possible, and return to their daily lives. For these users, we find that an application like Adobe Express, especially with its ease of use and the integration of generative AI at the right points in the workflow, is more suitable.” Although Adobe Express is designed for a broad range of users, Balakrishnan said the application is particularly popular among students and teachers within educational institutions at scale. He notes that the premium version of Adobe Express is free for schools. Adobe views education as a major target group for its cloud-based design platform, and with the rollout of generative AI features, the company aims to deeply engage with stakeholders, including the Ministry of Education and AICTE. “Education is a significant area of focus for us. We have made some very significant advancements through these partnerships in India,” he said. “We have added Firefly-powered generative AI capabilities that are safe for students to use in their classrooms. This will allow students to use simple text-based prompts to generate images, create text effects, remove objects from images, add objects to images, and also generate templates for posters, flyers, or brochures,” he added.
