When it comes to creating content there are numerous apps, web software and computer programmes that can all help you, but there’s always that questions of which is best. Well in this post I’m in particular going to talk about Adobe creative suite Vs Canva.

Adobe creative suite

I’m an Adobe chick through and through. I’ve used it for years in my job and in my businesses, to edit video, create social media graphics, workbooks, even mock up websites. And I never thought I could be tempted away… In fact when it comes to new tech, I’m a bit of an old dog, new tricks kinda person.

Now Adobe if flexible in its packages depending on what you want to use… Go for the full suite and it has you literally covered for everything. There is no stone left unturned. In fact it’s deemed the industry standard for most graphic designers, photographers and agencies.

First up Lightroom has you covered for standard photo editing. So if you shoot in RAW and want to be able to control the full image profile, you’re covered. If you simply want to add filters, again covered.

Photoshop is great for real photo manipulation, as well as creating infographics, social media templates etc. Then there’s InDesign, which was the first Adobe app I learned to use (so I hold it dearly in my heart). Essentially this is for magazine layouts, but this also means it is great for social media templates and infographics.

Moving onto video, you have Premiere Pro and After Effects… You honestly won’t need any other video editing software, I can guarantee you that. Premiere Pro is your standard editor, while After Effects is more for special effects and animated text.

An Adobe subscription can be quite expensive compared to other options out there, but you really won’t be caught short trying to hack some kind of workaround because it doesn’t do something. One thing I would say is that there’s quite a steep learning curve with it and when it comes to the average business owner creating content, opting for Adobe as a beginner is like hammering a nail with a car.

Canva

I’m relatively new to Canva and I wouldn’t have ever used it if it weren’t for making Canva template versions for my shop (also available as InDesign files). But my breath was pretty quickly taken away.

I was actually amazed at how easy it was to put something together and dare I say it actually took way less time to create something in Canva than it did in Adobe InDesign or Photoshop.

Sure, it has it’s draw backs and niggles (like most things in life) but on the whole, for a free piece of software, wow! There’s the Pro version for a small subscription monthly fee, which unlocks more templates, fonts and allows you to create a brand kit, which again is a huge time saver.

You can edit your images you drop in, not to the same degree as say Adobe Lightroom… But the basic editing of brightness, contrast etc and they do have some cool filters and effect when you get to the Pro level.

There’s no comparative video editor, however you can make basic animations (for say Instagram Stories) at a few clicks of the button and you can use videos in your creations.

Ok, so you’re not going to get everything that you get with Adobe, but you need to ask yourself… Do you need to be able to do EVERYTHING, or will Canva do the job, PLUS they have a 30 day trial of the Pro version here.

Like most things, I would always recommend starting with the free, low price tools and only moving to the more expensive tools when you feel like they aren’t working for you anymore.

Want to learn how to create and manage your content better, then enroll in The Content Academy and save yourself hours on creation time by learning all the tricks of the trade.