How Adobe brings the "real Photoshop" to the iPad

Adobe really wants you to know that the next Photoshop CC for iPad, announced today and intended to be released in 2019, is a "real Photoshop".

The phrase "real Photoshop" was mentioned several times during my week-long preview of the first version of the long-awaited application of the software giant. The underlying code is the same as that of the Photoshop desktop and, although the interface has been redesigned for the iPad, the same basic tools line the edges of the screen.

But the most important change of all is a total overhaul of the classic .psd file for the cloud, which will turn the use of Photoshop into something much more similar to Google Docs. Photoshop for iPad is a big problem, but Cloud PSD is the change that will allow Adobe to create Photoshop anywhere in the world.

Bringing a program like Photoshop on the iPad is a monumental task. The project began 18 months ago when two Adobe engineers asked to take the time to bring the basic code of Photoshop to iPad. "There were a lot of doubts up to what we called the" proof of life "moment," said Scott Belsky, product manager at Adobe. Principal Director Pam Clark agrees, "We fully recognize that we were surprised by the presence of the engineers. It was rather powerful and fluid. "This" proof of life "product prompted the design team to begin focusing on the user experience of the app. new build by focusing on a different Photoshop workflow.

"Photoshop has ceased to be a desktop product and has become a system," says Belsky. Photoshop is an all-in-one platform, an industry standard used by both business and Internet users. And since the passage in 2011 to the Creative Cloud model that included Photoshop in a monthly subscription, it is a program in constant evolution, with new updates. You can use Photoshop for 10 years while learning a faster and easier way to do something.

This is the challenge of bringing a program already difficult to master on the iPad: find an intuitive and easy to translate a powerful photo editing application for a new platform with no mouse or keyboard. "The teams were very motivated at the thought of not having these frictions when you see a new user interface," Belsky said. "The joint discussion was to capitalize on familiarity."

The app will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the Adobe Max conference today, but it will not be available until next year. It will be part of the Creative Cloud subscription. Therefore, if you already pay for Photoshop on the desktop, you will be able to use it on an iPad. Stand-alone pricing is not known and Adobe has not yet decided whether Photoshop for iPad will charge a one-time purchase fee or require any subscription.

Last week, I used Photoshop for iPad, and it looks a lot like Photoshop with some design options optimized for a touch screen. Not all tools are available in Photoshop. in fact, it misses the entire top task bar with the drop-down menu. Instead, you'll find tools such as adjustment layers in the right collapsible toolbar.

"The features we introduce in the first place are focused on workflow composition – importing images, combining and manipulating pixels to merge them," says Jenny Lyell, Product Manager. "The features currently available in the application are layers, transformation, selections, masking, brushing." Video features, such as the Timeline panel, have been left out for the moment. This first version of Photoshop for iPad can not be used. used for animation or fast video editing.

There are no keyboard shortcuts or gesture controls, although Adobe plans to integrate them in the future. But there is a neat interface element called the touch modifier, a context sensitive button that appears in the lower left corner of the screen (depending on the type of tool used). For example, if you use the Brush tool, if you hold down the button instantly, you will move to the eraser and then to the brush when you release it. If you hold down the touch modifier while using the Move tool, the option will automatically switch to allow you to duplicate layers without manually selecting the function. This is a sensible addition that facilitates the learning of the iPad user.

"From my experience using the first version of this new product that we just shared, I do not see why I would go to the office to perform a type of retouch workflow." says Belsky. "It's powerful, it's a little faster, and it's super easy and native with a touch experience as opposed to a slider."

Adobe's new PSD Cloud format is an integral part of Belsky's vision for Photoshop's future, but it was not yet ready for testing. Cloud-based PSDs reside in the cloud and synchronize changes across devices so you can work on the same file on desktops and mobile devices with Photoshop CC. "Cloud PSDs, when we ship Photoshop to iPad, will also run and automatically show on your desktop," says Belsky. "Suddenly, this cloud-based back-and-forth experience looks like Google Docs, where literally the source of truth for your Photoshop creation is in the cloud."

Access to cloud PSDs is also the main benefit of being a subscriber to Creative Cloud. Photoshop CC allows the iPad to import files from iCloud Drive, Google Drive, and Dropbox, but it is likely that these services will only back up traditional PSD files. "The beauty of Creative Cloud and the PSD Cloud, and the innovations that are introduced, allow you to get back to where you left off and be somewhat agnostic," says Belsky. "You can always go back in history. You can share it and let other people go back and cancel what you did. "

Adobe's enthusiasm for cloud-based workflows sparked some skepticism when it split Lightroom into CC and Classic versions in 2017. With Lightroom CC being based on online storage, users needed to become subscribers to Adobe to pay for storage. However, Belsky does not think the Lightroom model applies to Photoshop on iPad. "It's a bit different metaphor. There is always Photoshop on all surfaces and there is one for every Photoshop experience, "he says.

This also raises the question of whether the "real Photoshop" for Android could be a possibility. Will there be a potential launch of Google Play Store? "We already have a number of products on Android, and we hope to bring more," says Belsky.

Because Microsoft Surface devices and other Windows tablets are capable of running full Windows programs, it was not necessary to use separate Photoshop. However, the use of a full program of Photoshop on a touch screen still requires small improvements and optimizations, such as changing the size of the anchors of pen tools and other small streams of production that can be difficult to navigate with a clumsy finger. Will tactile optimizations for the iPad go to Photoshop for Windows? Once again, Belsky does not say. "The short answer is: the team is exploring, of course, and we are still trying to modernize our office experience."

It's been eight years since the iPad came out, but there has never been a full application of Photoshop on the iPad (just light applications like Photoshop Express and Sketch). At that time, the lack of Photoshop on iPad led artists to look for alternatives such as Affinity and Procreate. After seeing what Adobe had planned in the first version of Photoshop CC for iPad, the replacement of the desktop application does not seem complete. Second-screen applications such as Astropad and Duet Display, which allow artists to use desktop Photoshop on their iPad, are not going anywhere anytime soon. But if Adobe manages to create transferable Cloud PSD files to track changes from one device to another, just call it "true Photoshop".

What does it mean for the integration of other Adobe programs on the iPad? Illustrator is on the way? "I certainly want to bring more creative products to the iPad," says Belsky. "Every product must be a multi-surface system."