‘Our app enables everyone to create… it scales with you’: Adobe Express Head of Product Ian Wang
Adobe announced that Express, its design app, is getting its own share of generative AI tools to make it easier to create flyers, posters, social media posts, and PDFs.
Adobe Express shares similarities with design platforms like Canva and Microsoft Designer (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
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The goal behind Adobe Express is to “enable everyone to create”, says Ian Wang, the head of product for the design application. “What we have done with Express is to make the user interface very easy to use so that anyone, even those without any prior design skills, can pick it up quickly,” Wang said, explaining how Adobe Express is making content creation accessible without the need for professional design experience.
“If you are a creator, you can actually do more with it. However, if you are new to the app, it’s very easy to use. It scales with you,” Wang told indianexpress.com in an interview.
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Ian Wang, Head of Product for Adobe Express (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Adobe Express shares similarities with design platforms like Canva and Microsoft Designer, allowing users to quickly and easily create flyers, posters, social media posts, PDFs, and more. The company launched Express in late 2021 with the promise of delivering the best of Adobe for everyone, as many of its cloud applications’ best features rolled into a single editing experience. The app comes in both a free version and a paid edition with additional capabilities and a library of more complex templates.
Adobe has a suite of apps and services for creative professionals, but Express is different in that it provides non-professionals with editing tools that allow them to bring their vision to life. “Every app has a very different bullseye,” Wang said. “If you use Premiere Pro, you are thinking about colour grading or fine-tuning controls, and that is always going to be the case. So generative AI in that context is different from generative AI in the context of Express.”
Express is getting features such as Generative Fill, which enables users to add, remove, or replace items, people, and other aspects of images using text prompts (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/The Indian Express)
Earlier this year, Adobe made designing and editing content on Express much easier by using generative artificial intelligence, thanks to the integration of the Firefly AI image generator into the app.
At this year’s Adobe MAX conference, Express is getting features such as Generative Fill, which enables users to add, remove, or replace items, people, and other aspects of images using text prompts. It is also getting the Text-to-Template function, which helps users generate editable templates for things like graphics and social media posts based on text descriptions. Express also supports a new Translate tool, which localizes content in 45 languages. There are also new Drawing and Painting capabilities with 50 multicolour paint and decorative brushes intended to mimic charcoal, pencil, and watercolour textures.
When asked whether Generative AI is oversimplifying creativity using prompts, Wang responded, “A creative professional’s job is to do something unique, and if they leverage AI in the same way as the same prompt, everything is going to look the same. We don’t see it replacing career professionals; we really see it as another tool in our arsenal,” he added.
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Adobe Express is available in beta and is free for all users on desktops. The mobile version is coming soon, confirms Wang.
The writer is in Los Angeles on the invite of Adobe.
Anuj Bhatia is a seasoned personal technology writer at indianexpress.com with a career spanning over a decade. Active in the domain since 2011, he has established himself as a distinct voice in tech journalism, specializing in long-form narratives that bridge the gap between complex innovation and consumer lifestyle.
Experience & Career: Anuj has been a key contributor to The Indian Express since late 2016. Prior to his current tenure, he served as a Senior Tech Writer at My Mobile magazine and held a role as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. His professional trajectory reflects a rigorous commitment to technology reporting, backed by a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Anuj’s reporting covers the spectrum of personal technology, characterized by a unique blend of modern analysis and historical context. His key focus areas include:
Core Technology: Comprehensive coverage of smartphones, personal computers, apps, and lifestyle tech.
Deep-Dive Narratives: Specializes in composing longer-form feature articles and explainers that explore the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture.
Global & Local Scope: Reports extensively on major international product launches from industry titans like Apple and Google, while simultaneously covering the ecosystem of indie and home-grown tech startups.
Niche Interests: A dedicated focus on vintage technology and retro gaming, offering readers a nostalgic yet analytical perspective on the evolution of tech.
Authoritativeness & Trust
Anuj is a trusted voice in the industry, recognized for his ability to de-jargonize trending topics and provide context to rapid technological advancements. His authority is reinforced by his on-ground presence at major international tech conferences and his nuanced approach to product reviews. By balancing coverage of the world's most valuable tech brands with emerging startups, he offers a holistic and objective view of the global technology landscape.
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