Adobe has updated its offering, and Adobe Express is the new product which replaces Adobe Spark. The information below is still relevant, but some of the processes may have changed, and some buttons will be labelled differently.
We never wanted TrilbyTV to be a platform where our users spent lots of their time creating content. We knew as experienced education trainers that there was a plethora of applications available for creating very polished content. Applications that were often free of charge if you didn’t mind the odd watermark when exporting your finished creations.
Free Applications for Creating Content
For example our friends and TrilbyTV customers at Downing Student Accommodation use Canva to create their content before sharing to various screens in various locations around the UK. Like many applications available it has a free version which has more than enough included for the average user to generate great content. For those who want more advanced features then there’s a paid version.
More Advanced Apps for Creating Content
One of our favourite apps here at TrilbyTV is Adobe Spark, (now called Adobe Express). It’s one of three super easy to use apps for creating polished content. Adobe Express helps you create compelling video stories and beautiful web stories.
If you’ve never heard of Adobe then I’d have to ask ‘where have you been?’ But you can safely say creativity is in their DNA. Their software has pretty much owned the professional design space for the last 30 years with well known software titles such as Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. Adobe Express brings the polished creativity of a Photoshop or Illustrator but without the need to be an experienced graphic designer.
How to Use Adobe Spark
Getting started is easy, simply sign up for a free personal Adobe account. You can also ask if your School or College already has a site wide Adobe licence you can log into.
The easiest way to start creating content with ‘Spark Post’ is by searching the templates with a chosen keyword. TrilbyTV has recently created 8 ‘Keeping Safe at School’ slides which were born from an Adobe Spark Post template. We simply used the keyword ‘Coronavirus’ in our search. The free personal account gives access to some of the templates but not all. Whereas the Adobe paid subscription gives access to all templates. Clicking on each template lets you know whether it’s available for editing or whether you need to upgrade to access it.
Resizing
A very useful feature in Adobe Spark Post is the resizing. Whether you are looking to create a graphic for a Facebook Profile Cover or YouTube Thumbnail, there is an option for pretty much every exporting scenario. Hovering over each option will show you size dimensions and aspect ratios. Most digital signage in the world we live in is widescreen 1920×1080 pixels, 16:9, so simply choose the widescreen option when resizing. 
Resizing can cause template content to move around from its original design, especially if you are looking to turn portrait content into widescreen. But the Adobe Spark interface makes it easy to edit your created content. When editing our ‘Keeping Safe at School’ slides we wanted one focus per slide only. So after changing to widescreen it was easy to delete, move and resize. Also being cloud based, all projects are automatically synced across the web or iOS apps. So content can easily be updated wherever you are and on whatever device you are using.
Exporting finished graphics from Adobe Spark Post
When exporting your finished graphics from Adobe Spark Post simply hit the download button. You can then choose between PNG, JPG or PDF.
The thought of creating content for your digital signage can feel overwhelming but it really shouldn’t. Applications such as Adobes ‘Spark Post’ easily turn users into marketers and designers. So sign up for your free personal Adobe account, create some content and then use the free TrilbyTV trial to showcase up onto your screens.