Adobe XD to Get Support for Third-Party Plugins, Add-In Integration; First List of Adobe Fund for Design Announced

Adobe on Tuesday announced that its UX design software Adobe XD is opening up its platform to allow users to customise their design tools with the help of third-party, community-created plugins. Using the opened up Adobe XD APIs, developers now have the ability to build new features and capabilities atop Adobe XD. The American software provider also announced that it is integrating Creative Cloud and Adobe XD add-ins to apps like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Jira. Lastly, the first list of recipients of the $10-million (roughly Rs. 7 crores) Adobe Fund for Design has been revealed.

The open platform for Adobe XD will be made available widely starting "later this year". However, Adobe has started working on plugins with developer partners including Microsoft, Trello, UserTesting, Airtable, Dribbble, Silicon Publishing, Slope, inMotionNow, Astute Graphics, Anima, and Google Cloud.

In terms of third-party integrations, Microsoft Teams and Slack now get richer previews of Creative Cloud assets and notifications in the event of comments on Adobe XD prototypes.

Announced first back in May this year, the Adobe Fund for Design has received its first list of recipients. The list includes names like CloudApp, Stark, UI Faces, Yummygum, Odin Chart, and more. The $10 million amount has been distributed in the form of grants and equity investments. In addition to financial support, Adobe provides recipients of the fund's investments with access to industry experts, early access to technology, partnership and go-to-market opportunities, and exposure to Adobe's network of passionate customers.

"We are committed to developing a rich ecosystem around Adobe XD to fit the modern designer's needs," said Scott Belsky, Chief Product Officer and Executive Vice President, Creative Cloud at Adobe. "Delivering seamless, engaging user experiences is imperative for brands, companies and all digital products, and Adobe is focused on serving designers with powerful collaboration capabilities."

Users can avail the starter plan for Adobe XD for free on xd.adobe.com. Those looking to upgrade can avail the $9.99 (approximately Rs. 700) single app plan that allows Creative Cloud users access to unlimited shared prototypes and design specs.