Adobe is making its drawing and painting app, Fresco, completely free to everyone in an effort to attract more artists to its creative software platform. Fresco competes with popular tools like Procreate and Clip Studio Paint, which offer extensive digital art capabilities and simulate real-world drawing tools such as pencils, pastels, and watercolors.
Fresco is designed for touchscreen and stylus-enabled devices, supporting iPads, iPhones, and Windows PCs. Initially launched in 2019, the app struggled to gain traction compared to Photoshop and Illustrator, which offer more advanced design tools for professionals. However, Fresco includes unique features like reflectional and rotational symmetry and motion presets such as “bounce” and “breathe,” which allow users to create quick animations.
Fresco’s Freemium Model vs. Competitors
Although Fresco was previously free to use, a $9.99 annual subscription was required to unlock premium features such as the full Adobe Fonts library, advanced tools, and custom brush import. While affordable compared to other Adobe subscriptions, this pricing couldn’t compete with Procreate’s $12.99 lifetime license. Now, all of Fresco’s premium features are free to access.
Other apps like Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, and Krita remain favorites among digital artists for their affordability, ease of use, and compatibility with iPads. This makes them attractive alternatives to Adobe’s apps, especially since iPads are more accessible than professional drawing tablets or PCs.
A Strategic Move Amid Industry Shifts
Many hobbyists, webcomic creators, and independent designers rely on affordable apps like Procreate and Clip Studio Paint for their work. NIX Solutions notes Procreate’s refusal to integrate generative AI tools has garnered it a loyal user base, especially among illustrators wary of automated technologies.
While Fresco also avoids generative AI tools, it offers a desktop version and cloud storage support, giving it an edge over Procreate, which only stores files locally. Whether Adobe’s shift to a complete freemium model will succeed in attracting more users to its platform remains to be seen. We’ll keep you updated as the impact of this decision unfolds.