Adobe revolutionizes how the
world engages with ideas and information. For 25 years, the company’s
award-winning software and technologies have redefined business, entertainment,
and personal communications by setting new standards for producing and
delivering content that engages people virtually anywhere at anytime. From rich
images in print, video, and film to dynamic digital content for a variety of
media, the impact of Adobe solutions is evident across industries and felt by
anyone who creates, views, and interacts with information. With a reputation
for excellence and a portfolio of many of the most respected and recognizable
software brands, Adobe is one of the world’s largest and most diversified
software companies.
History of Innovation
Adobe founders Chuck Geschke and
John Warnock shared a vision for publishing and graphic arts that would forever
change how people create and engage with information. The two men met in the
late 1970s while working at the renowned Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
(PARC), where they researched device-independent graphic systems and printing.
Excited by the potential of their work to reshape computing, Geschke and
Warnock eventually realized that the only way to take their ideas from the lab
to the burgeoning technology market would be to create their own company.
In 1982, they founded Adobe
Systems Incorporated on a simple premise: how could text and images on a
computer screen translate beautifully and accurately into print? A year later,
they helped launch the desktop publishing revolution by introducing Adobe®
PostScript® technology, providing a radical new approach to printing text and
images on paper. For the first time, a computer file could be printed exactly
as it appeared on screen, with all formatting, graphics and fonts intact. Adobe
PostScript was licensed to printer manufacturers worldwide and delivered
unprecedented cost savings and productivity enhancements. It continues to be a
core technology on printers today.
Setting Industry Standards
Building on its success with
PostScript technology, Adobe expanded into desktop software applications with
Adobe Illustrator® and Adobe Photoshop® software—and the design industry
was never the same. These groundbreaking applications redefined the quality and
complexity of images that could be created for print, and later extended those
benefits to content created for video, film, web, and alternative computing
devices. Adobe InDesign® software followed, shaking up the page layout market
and enabling household-name magazines, newspapers, and corporate brands to
adopt modern, integrated publishing workflows.
Furthering its vision to
reinvent and improve computing, Adobe released Adobe Acrobat® software and the
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF), combining its expertise in desktop
software with its roots in PostScript printing. Acrobat and PDF revolutionized
collaboration and information sharing by enabling people around the world to
deliver digital documents exactly as intended across computing platforms and
applications—much as PostScript had done on paper. Acrobat achieved quick
success, and today PDF is the de facto standard for governments and businesses
everywhere sharing documents across the web, corporate intranets, and e-mail.
From Desktop to Enterprise Solutions
As
demand for digital content skyrocketed, Adobe solutions provided a catalyst for
moving ideas from concept through creation to delivery across any digital
device. The appointment of Bruce Chizen as Adobe’s Chief Executive Officer in
2000 further strengthened the company’s market leadership, as Adobe delivered
on strategies to move from a desktop software company to a platform provider
for enterprises. With its acquisition of Macromedia, Inc. in
2005—developer of the ubiquitous Flash®technology and a pioneer in
multimedia and web development—Adobe expanded its strong technology
foundation and portfolio of customer solutions.
Enabling
Engaging Experiences
Building on this legacy and
looking to the future, Adobe is committed to revolutionizing how the world
engages with ideas and information. Under the leadership of Shantanu Narayen,
appointed Adobe’s Chief Executive Officer in 2007, Adobe is poised to meet the
growing challenge of enabling customer engagement. As organizations strive to
inspire deeper connections with their own audiences, Adobe will continue to
deliver technologies that help make engagement a reality.
Serving Customers
Worldwide
Adobe solutions are used daily
by many of the world’s leading organizations in a range of industries, such as
publishing, government, financial services, telecommunications, and education.
Customers include Hearst Magazines, the United States Internal Revenue Service,
Deutsche Bank, Nokia, Yahoo! Inc., University of California at Los Angeles
(UCLA), SAP, Wal-Mart, and thousands of other leading organizations worldwide.
Primary customer segments include:
• Knowledge Workers and Enterprises: Businesses and government organizations use Adobe desktop and
server-based solutions to improve productivity, collaboration, and business
processes inside and outside the organization.
• Creatives and Designers:
With Adobe solutions, designers, publishers, photographers, and videographers
are making brands and products stand out in crowded markets by designing
compelling content for delivery in print, online, for video, and on mobile
devices.
• High-end Consumers: A
wide variety of enthusiasts use Adobe’s popular solutions to develop, enhance,
and deliver images and content in print and across a variety of digital
devices.
• Partners
and Developers: Adobe’s
technology platform enables developers, systems integrators, and software
manufacturers to build dynamic applications that address business demand for
improved interaction with information.
Strong Culture and Commitment to Community
Adobe’s long-standing success is
built on its innovative corporate culture and skilled employees working in
countries around the world. The company ranked number 11 on FORTUNE magazine’s 2009 “Best Places to
Work For” list; 24th in “Great Place to Work Germany”; 19th in “Best Places to
Work India”; and named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in 2009.
Recognized as one of the top 50
socially responsible companies in the U.S., Adobe also strengthens the
communities in which its employees live and work by providing cash grants and
in-kind contributions, including donated software, volunteer support, and
software training for nonprofit organizations. In 2006, Adobe launched its
global philanthropy program, Adobe Youth Voices, designed to help young people
engage with their communities by providing access to multimedia tools,
training, and a worldwide network of youth, teachers, and program leaders. The
network currently includes more than 160 sites, grantees, and organizations in
31 countries engaging youth and educators in schools and out-of-school
programs.
Adobe’s commitment to
revolutionizing how people engage with ideas and information is as strong today
as it was in 1982. Most every image seen in magazines, on billboards, and in
advertisements—or experienced in movies and on television screens and
digital devices—has been touched by Adobe software. With its focus on
innovation, Adobe continues to reinvent how the world creates, perceives, and
engages with information.
