Support Communities: If you have a specific challenge or question you can get help from the Support community. Go to this site to post questions, or search other users’ questions. This is a dynamic resource for those questions you just can’t find answers to easily.
Your Work
The second menu item at the top is Your Work. Your Work essentially shows you what you have saved on the Adobe Cloud. Cloud storage is included with your subscription — in fact, 100 GB at the time of writing. On your desktop computer, Creative Cloud Files is a folder where you can store files that synchronize to Creative Cloud online storage. On your mobile device, the Creative Cloud app and many Adobe mobile apps also connect to that storage. You can also use a web browser to see, preview, and download those files. You can also access your files using the Creative Cloud app, as you are doing right now.
If you click on the Your Work header, three icons appear on the left, as shown in Figure 3-3: Show Libraries, Show Cloud, and Your Work links. It is possible that you have not yet stored any files to the cloud at this time, but you will have an opportunity to do that later in this chapter.
If you are collaborating with a team you can see files that are shared and followed in the Your Work section. In Figure 3-4, Libraries was selected from Your Work. You can see saved libraries, any libraries shared with you, and any libraries that you are following. When you follow a library, you are notified of any updates.
Libraries
As you start to work on projects, you may want to store or share items that you use on a regular basis. This is where the Libraries feature comes in handy. By using the Creative Cloud Libraries feature, you can save and share colors, character styles, imagery, and more. You can share them with just yourself, as you move from one computer to another, between applications, or with others on your team. Look for Libraries and the Libraries panels in your Creative Cloud applications, typically in the Window menu. You can add assets in this panel that you can then open in other applications.
If you select Your Work, you may not see any content at this time, but as you create libraries over time, you will see them here. Read on to see how you can create your own library. If you want to follow along, launch Photoshop by going to the Apps section of the Creative Cloud desktop app and selecting the Open button to the right of the Adobe Photoshop app.
FIGURE 3-3: Click on Your Work to access files that are saved in the Adobe Cloud.
FIGURE 3-4: Your Work links contain your libraries and cloud documents. These are files that you have stored or are shared with you in the Creative Cloud.
Creating your own library
Creating a library can be completed directly in an application using the Libraries panel. Figure 3-5 shows the Libraries panel in Adobe Photoshop, which is like the Libraries panel in other Creative Cloud apps. Some applications access the library differently; those details are discussed in the relevant minibooks. Follow these steps to create your own library. As previously mentioned, this example uses Adobe Photoshop, but these steps can also be used to create libraries in many of the other apps in the Creative Cloud.
1 In Photoshop, choose Libraries from the Window menu.The Libraries panel appears.
2 Click the Create New Library button, add a name for the library, and press Create. The Libraries panel updates to offer the opportunity to add elements, such as colors, images, styles and more to the library, as shown in Figure 3-6.
3 Add items to the library by doing one of following:Drag and drop items to the Libraries panelSelect an element and use the Add Elements button at the bottom of the Libraries panel.Add colors by selecting an object that has a fill or stroke color applied that you want to save and then click the Add Elements button at the bottom of the Libraries panel and select Fill Color, Stroke Color.Add a type style by selecting text in your document that uses the type properties you wish to save and then clicking the Add Elements button at the bottom of the Libraries panel and selecting Character Style (for selected characters) or Paragraph Style (for entire paragraphs).After you have added elements to your library, you can access them easily from other applications by displaying the Libraries panel and then selecting your saved library from the list of libraries.FIGURE 3-5: The Libraries panel is accessible from the Window menu in most Adobe Cloud apps.FIGURE 3-6: After your library is created, you can add elements such as images, fonts, colors, styles and more.You can also share your library with others by clicking on the Share Library icon in the upper right of the Libraries panel. This take you to the Creative Cloud desktop app, where you can enter the email addresses of people with whom you would like to share this library.
Using the Libraries panel to add elements to your open documents
Access the elements that have been saved in libraries by simply opening the Libraries panel, Window⇒ Libraries. In this example, we used the Photoshop app.
If you have not created a library, go back to the previous section and create a small library to use for this exercise. Then, follow these steps:
1 Open an Adobe app. In this example, open Photoshop.
2 Select Window ⇒ Libraries to open the Libraries panel.
3 Click on View by Type to see categories of elements saved in your library, as shown in Figure 3-7.Note: You can organize your library elements by using groups. Simply click the Create New Group folder icon at the bottom of the Libraries panel and then name your group. Drag and drop elements into this group to help you find items in your library:To use an image: Click the image and drag it out to your page, and then click once on your page to release the image and place it. After it is placed, note that the image displays a little cloud icon in the upper-left corner, indicating that it is from the cloud.To use a color: Keep in mind that you need to have saved a color to the library to apply it. Select an object to which you want to apply a saved library color, then open a saved library and choose a color.To apply a text style: Select the text in your document to which you wish to apply a saved library style. Find your library in the Libraries panel and click on the saved library style.
FIGURE 3-7: Organize library elements by type to find colors, images, styles, and other library elements more quickly.
Show Cloud Documents
When you select Show Cloud Documents, you see three options: Cloud Documents, Shared with You, and Deleted. Click on Cloud Documents to see the contents of the Creative Cloud files folder that exists on your computer. (See Figure 3-8.) The items in the Creative Cloud files folder on your computer are