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So you don’t have any video creation experience, but you want to learn how to make simple (but still totally awesome) videos for your social media, your business or your website? Adobe Spark could be your answer.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make a simple, slideshow-style video, without even having to learn expensive and time-consuming editing software!

 

No time to read? Watch the YouTube video instead!

 

You’ve probably heard the phrase ’the year of video’ repeated every year for the last few years now. Well, this year is no exception. Video content is being consumed at record levels, on both YouTube and Facebook, so in order to make sure you get noticed online, creating videos is super important.

 

So is video really that big a deal?

Here are some fast facts:

– 45% of people watch an hour of YouTube or Facebook videos per week

– More than 500 million hours are watched on YouTube every single day

– More than half a billion people are watching videos on Facebook every single day

 

Then if you take into account both Instagram Stories and Snapchat, you can see just how vital video content is for every single business out there – no matter what their niche is.

You only have to look as far as popular entrepreneurs like Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo to see that creating video content on the regular is how the best of the best get themselves in front of millions of people on the regular.

 

So what is Adobe Spark?

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of the Adobe Suite of products, and have spent hours and hours using both Photoshop and Lightroom… So naturally, I wanted to check out and showcase one of their newer programs, Adobe Spark.

Now full disclosure, it’s totally not the same as Adobe Premier Pro – which is full-blown video editing software. Adobe Spark, on the other hand, is more of a video-slideshow creator than anything else.

While I use Final Cut Pro to create YouTube tutorials like the video above… Spark is a lightweight, easy to use video creation (and graphic creation) tool. Some people would even compare it to using Canva, but it really is quite a different design tool altogether. It may not have the features to create videos which require a bit more technical application, but the finished product is still clean and looks great online.

So while there are definite limitations to what you can achieve with Adobe Spark, it is still handy for those who don’t want to take their time to use a more hardcore video creation software.

 

What is Adobe Spark good for?

As I mentioned above, Adobe Spark creates videos that are quite similar to slideshow presentations. In that sense, it is like using Microsoft PowerPoint to create a presentation with a little more of a cinematic feel to it. For a good example of this, skip to 10:50 in the tutorial video above to see what an Adobe Spark video looks like.

Due to its simple nature, this can make it a powerful tool for creating Facebook Ads or even short promotional product videos. It could even be used for displaying a visual school project in a unique way. In addition, Adobe Spark has functionality for making some pretty sweet look web pages too.

 

Is it worth paying for premium Adobe Spark access?

At $9.99 USD per month (at the time of writing), Adobe Spark is a little on the pricey side for its functionality. That’s generally the same price as a Spotify or Netflix subscription!

However, due to Adobe’s other awesome products, you can get access to Spark, Lightroom AND Photoshop for the exact same price through Adobe’s Photography Plan. As someone who has got a lot of value from both Photoshop and Lightroom over the years, this is a definite no-brainer for me.

As a freelancer, I’ve found that Adobe Spark is a great tool for my clients who are not very tech savvy but want to have a go at creating their own videos. And especially the ones who already have a Creative Cloud (Adobe) membership and therefore have full access to the program anyway.

If you do want to stick with the free version, you’ll just have to cope with an Adobe Spark watermark in the bottom right-hand corner of each of your videos, as well as a final, fullscreen slide saying: ‘Made with Adobe Spark’.

To check out Adobe Spark’s Premium features for free  – get your free trial here. If you’d also like to learn how to use Adobe Spark to create animated social media graphics, check out the video below: