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In 2019, the ipad will finally get its hands on the all-conquering image-editing app
Read all about Photoshop’s imminent arrival on ipad, potentially transforming it into a Mac-beater
Soon, we might finally be able to answer the long-standing question as to whether an ipad could ever replace a desktop machine. Professional creatives have always been sceptical, and rightly so. Industry-standard professional software hasn’t ported over to tablet operating systems – until now. At October’s Adobe MAX 2018 – Adobe’s equivalent of Apple’s WWDC – the company behind the Creative Cloud software announced that Photoshop CC was coming to ipad in 2019 with a view to “usher in a new era of multisurface creation while complementing workflows across Adobe’s existing flagship desktop applications.”
The app has been completely redesigned to fit the touchscreen experience you get with ipad and the Apple Pencil, but promises to feature the power and precision creatives are used to on
Mac. You’ll be able to open – and, more importantly – edit PSD files using a decent selection of tools that make up the desktop version of Photoshop CC. Being able to use Photoshop’s famed Layers tool looks like a killer feature that goes to show this new app isn’t some kind of ‘Photoshop Lite’. With Photoshop CC across devices you will be able to start your work on an ipad and seamlessly round all of your edits with Photoshop CC on the desktop via Creative Cloud.
Super-easy retouching
Admittedly, not every feature will be ported over and it seems that Adobe’s software engineering team have focused on retouching. In an interview with The Verge, senior product manager at Adobe Jenny Lyell says: “The features we’re bringing in first really focus on compositing workflows – bringing in images, combining
and manipulating pixels to blend together. The features we have in the app right now are around layers, transforming, selections, masking, brushing.” Also talking to The Verge was Scott Belsky, Adobe’s chief product officer: “From my experience using the early, early version of this new product that we just shared, I don’t see why I would go to the desktop to do a retouching type of workflow,” Belsky says. “It’s powerful, it’s somewhat faster, and it’s super easy and native with a touch experience as opposed to a cursor.”
Photoshop CC for ipad will be part of the Creative Cloud subscription, which means those who subscribe now to the desktop app won’t have to pay anything. Standalone pricing hasn’t been announced (neither is there an exact release date) and it isn’t sure whether Photoshop CC for ipad will be a one-time buy or need a subscription.
“It’s powerful, somewhat faster, and it’s super easy and native with a touch experience as opposed to a cursor”
In a bumper announcement, Adobe also unveiled Project Gemini, a brand-new app designed to speed up drawing and painting workflows across multiple devices. Gemini will combine raster, vector and dynamic brushes into a workflow built specifically for drawing. Users will be able to sync their favourite Photoshop brushes, and even files, seamlessly with Photoshop CC.
Rush-ing in
It wasn’t just the ipad that had big announcements either. Adobe have taken note of the rise of video on social media by adding Premiere Rush CC to its enviable Creative Cloud line-up. Rush is engineered so that social media managers don’t have to be video, colour or audio experts to publish high-quality video. Harnessing the power of Premiere Pro CC and After Effects CC, Premiere Rush offers built-in access to professionally designed Motion Graphics templates in Adobe Stock and features an auto-duck tool to adjust music and level sounds with a single click. Publishing to Youtube and Instagram will be seamless.
Adobe continue to dip their toes into Augmented Reality, too. We caught a first glimpse of Project Aero on stage at WWDC in June this year, and Adobe continued to show it off at MAX. Project Aero is a cross-device AR authoring tool that lets creators design their own AR experiences, empowering them to place digital content in the real world. As an example, Adobe showcased an Ar-powered retail store of the future, revealing exciting possibilities that AR has the potential to supercharge.
But it’s still Photoshop coming to the ipad that is the big news. Love it or hate it, Photoshop coming to IOS is a huge boon for both Apple and its tablet. In particular ipad Pro, which now becomes a serious option in the long-standing tablet versus desktop battle. What’s next? Maybe we’ll be designing this very magazine with Indesign on ipad and an Apple Pencil.