MAX 2023 Recap: Everything You Need to Know About Adobe Express Add-Ons

We demonstrated how add-ons extend the functionality of our all-in-one creativity app and engaged with users and developers alike.

“The Express ecosystem is growing really fast, helping you work seamlessly across the many tools and clouds that you use every day.” — Scott Belsky, Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Design & Emerging Products at Adobe

This year’s Adobe MAX was all about ushering in a new era of creativity for all.

From the latest AI innovations to unlocking even more creative and innovative workflows for users, the event was filled with amazing announcements.

The Creative Cloud Developer Platform team was right in the middle of it all to share the latest news about Adobe Express add-ons and engage with our vibrant community face-to-face.

The ability to build add-ons is now available for all developers. We showcased our growing marketplace that already features 40 add-ons, including add-ons that can import audio files, and experimental authoring APIs that enable more control over edits.

We also met with many developers and creatives during community events and roundtable discussions at MAX, hosted a Developer + Community reception, spoke at two sessions, and got hands-on at the Adobe Express booth.

Let’s take a look at a few of the highlights.

Watch the Adobe Express Add-On session

We had the incredible honor of sparking user creativity with a hands-on demonstration of how to use add-ons in creative workflows.

In the first session, which you can watch back on demand, we showed how users can incorporate add-ons into their workflow to increase productivity.

We also shared practical demos of several add-ons, including Google Drive, Attention Insight, WellSaid Labs, and several content add-ons such as 500 Free Stickers, Auto Icon, and Wannathis.

In the second half of that session, a panel of add-on developers then joined us to talk about why they built for Adobe Express. Huge shout-outs go to Alexa Anthony from WellSaid Labs, Joe Hyrkin from Issuu, and Ryan James from Brandy for sharing their experiences with us and inspiring other developers to build their own add-ons to create a custom workflow.

In the second session, we then demoed even more add-ons, including Brandy, Issuu, Line Art, and many more.

Most attendees were users of Adobe Express looking for new tools and content that they could leverage in their work, but we were also able to chat with several developers who were thinking about building an add-on for Adobe Express.

Sessions like these are incredibly great opportunities to connect with users and developers alike, and we can’t wait to see what new workflows and add-ons will come out of the ideas that they triggered.

Building the add-ons of the future: the most popular use cases

At the heart of Adobe MAX is the main exhibition hall known as the Creative Park.

We were fortunate to participate inside the Adobe Experience area to share Adobe Express add-ons with developers and creatives, and both listen and learn.

How can we make add-ons better? What kind of add-ons might someone be interested in building?

Here are our key takeaways:

• Brand management: Many of the Adobe Express users we talked to were thrilled to find out that there are already cloud storage integrations in the add-on marketplace that enable them to import content from Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and AEM Assets to enhance their design process. More add-ons that facilitate digital asset management and cloud storage will follow soon.
• Video: Not surprisingly, this was one of the most popular topics at the Adobe Express booth and the community round tables. Users were excited to see the timeline, layer timing capabilities, and basic transitions in Adobe Express. We shared WellSaid Lab for AI-generated voice-overs and Pic2Movie for images converted to fun videos. In the future, users would also like to see add-ons that enhance video workflows with more AI-generated voice-overs or virtual presenters, closed captioning and more advanced animations.
• Generative AI: Understanding the new generative AI features, powered by Adobe Firefly, was another recurring theme. The best way to explain the capabilities was to show users hands-on: We made a flyer for a Halloween party with Text-to-Template (beta), created a background image with Text-to-Image, added characters with Generative Fill, and used Text Effects to make the main text look like pumpkins. We also shared the Attention Insight add-on, which uses AI to instantly predict where users will look when engaging with a design.
• Social media: The native social media publishing tools in Adobe Express were a big hit with users at the booth. Add-ons that automate tasks and save time when creating social media posts are incredibly popular, and users are looking for tools that help them optimize their workflow, so they can create and publish just the right content across a variety of channels. Attendees loved seeing the Social Previewer and Mockuuups Studio add-ons which help users preview and mockup their designs before publishing them.

On the whole, the users and developers we engaged with at MAX were very impressed with the direction of Adobe Express and its ecosystem.

It’s clear that content authoring APIs will open the door to much more sophisticated add-ons, and add-ons have also led to increased interest in the Embed SDK, for those interested in bringing Adobe Express content creation into their own platforms. More integrations will follow that will also enhance workflows across other Creative Cloud apps.

What’s next for Adobe Express add-ons

We’re excited about the general availability and future of the Adobe Express add-on developer platform, and we’re continuing to work on expanding its capabilities.

We’ve released some experimental APIs that provide add-ons with the ability to understand the structure of a document and make some basic changes to shapes and text. In the future, we’ll be adding even more capabilities, including the ability to manipulate text styling, more complex shapes, and much, much more.

If you’re interested, we’d love to hear your feedback when using these experimental APIs. Keep in mind that they aren’t yet stable, and so they may change. Once we’re confident with their stability, you’ll be able to use these new APIs in add-ons you share with the world.

To learn more and get started building, visit our developer site and access documentation and more resources. If you want to find out more about add-ons that are currently available, check out our Behance add-on showcase. We can’t wait to see what you’ll build next!