CEP 5 Super mega guide: Extending Adobe apps with HTML5+Node.js

【日本語版はこちら

It’s not that widely known yet, but ever since the CC 2014 updates in June of this year, eight different Adobe tools now support a common extension framework based purely on web technologies. The framework, called CEP 5, uses panels defined in HTML5 backed up with the wondrous power of Node.js.

In short: anyone who’s comfortable with Javascript can now customize Adobe tools in unbearably awesome ways:

I’ve now built a couple of projects with this, so I thought I’d write up everything you need to get started. (This guide was first published in Japanese - here, if you’re interested.) I call it:

CEP 5 Super Mega Guide Series!

If you’d rather start with the code, here is a sample CEP extension - a self-contained custom extension that implements most of what’s described in this guide. Right now it’s commented in Japanese, but code is code, hey? I’ll put up an English version at some point. To run, just download it and then follow the steps in the “Testing extensions” section of Part 2 of the guide.

First off is Part 1: Technical overview…