New app lets you create Illustrator vectors from smartphone photos

As part of 20 big updates to Creative Cloud being unveiled today at its Max 2014 event, Adobe has launched Shape CC, which enables you to take photos of high contrast objects, and convert them into smoothed vectors.

Set to become an instant hit with illustrators and designers, this is an ideal tool for creating quick comps and mood boards, based on real-world inspiration.

"As a designer, I've long been inspired by forms and shape in the real world," says Geoff Dowd, principal designer at Adobe.

"And as a graphic designer, I've always wanted to capture those shapes, and then use them as a vector across the work I'm producing on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

"And so I'm really excited to announce that we've now made that a reality, with Adobe Shape."

Convert shapes to vectors

Adobe Shape CC is a live vector capture app for the iPhone. It can basically take real shapes from your environment, and then convert them into vectors.

You can grab a piece of typography, for example, using the camera app on your phone, and then Adobe Shape CC provides a preview of what you're going to get.

You can then clean up areas that you don't want to include, using a selection of adjustment sliders, and finally convert it (the converted file being output as a vector, with soothed edges).

Synced to the Cloud

Your vector shape is then synced to your Creative Cloud profile, and placed in your Design Library, where you can then add it to future projects, such as client comps.

Adobe Shape CC is expected to be available to Creative Cloud members by the end of the day.