Adobe Fresco becomes free, adds new motion & symmetry tools

Adobe has announced updates to its drawing and painting application Fresco, marking its fifth anniversary by making the app completely free for users.

The updated features in Fresco include Motion Presets such as bob, breathe, and bounce, which allow creators to add lightweight animations to their artwork swiftly. Additionally, the app introduces Reflective and Rotational Symmetry to facilitate the creation of complex compositions more efficiently.

Fresco's integration with ecosystem tools has been strengthened, offering enhanced Apple Pencil Pro capabilities, including shortcuts with squeeze, new haptic feedback for pivotal actions, and a barrel roll feature for more realistic brush strokes with pencil rotation.

Adobe's decision to make Fresco free enables users to access over a thousand pixel brushes along with the option to import custom brushes without any cost. "Whether you're doodling for creative ideation or an animator creating your next character, we're thrilled to celebrate and support creators with the magic of Adobe Fresco," said Adobe.

Fresco aims to empower creators with state-of-the-art tools, combining vector and raster content to reflect traditional drawing techniques digitally. Over the past five years, Fresco has undergone more than 50 updates, introducing features such as live oil and watercolor brushes and advanced vector capabilities.

New updates include haptic feedback, tilt, barrel-roll, and squeeze support for the Apple Pencil, alongside a practicality-oriented Motion tool and a user-friendly symmetry tool that ensures precision. Other tools include a vector trimmer for removing intersecting strokes easily and the paint inside tool, simplifying colouring within enclosed areas.

The app facilitates seamless integration with renowned Adobe programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, allowing creators to continually evolve their projects from draft to completion.

Fresco's popularity with creators stems from its convenience and efficiency. "Creators, designers and illustrators love both the creative capabilities of Fresco and its workflow benefits — the time savings, process efficiencies, and ease of use," Adobe stated.

Matthew and Roxanne Ortiz, an art duo from Hawaii known as Wooden Wave, appreciate Fresco for its vector capabilities. Matthew Ortiz commented, "I'd been drawing digitally on the iPad for a while before, but the ability to use vector was what turned on the lightbulb and solved a lot of problems for me. That's what cinched it for me. The vector trimming tool is chef's kiss."

The Ortizes have utilised Fresco for community projects in Lahaina, Hawaii, following a devastating wildfire. Roxanne Ortiz noted, "That's something we're proud of that we were able to use Fresco for, just to bring some fun and joy and color back to the space."

Gaetan DeSimone, a senior motion designer, cites Fresco's motion tools as a favoured feature, stating, "With Fresco, one of the things I really love about the application is that it has a professional toolset. I feel like the vector brushes are really good and respond naturally — there's not another app out there that has replicated that."

Chris Piascik, a professional illustrator, enjoys Fresco's streamlined process and the ease of incorporating motion into illustrations. "The motion tools are amazing," Piascik said. "The biggest benefit is just the amount of time savings — and that's super important for me as someone who's busy with client work, the YouTube channel, all this other stuff, the fact that I can do it so fast is incredible."

Adobe is enthusiastic about the future of Fresco and its ongoing support for creators. With the release of extensive free brush categories, from dry media to special effects, Adobe continues to bolster the tools available to the creative community.