Adobe has published a significant update to its creative applications. In doing so, it continues to deliver on the “post-PC” promise behind Apple’s iPad, with powerful new features that demonstrate the tablet’s ability to get real work done.
A piece of computing
In part, Adobe achieves this by continuing to add features from its pro desktop/notebook products to Photoshop for iPad. The latest update adds powerful Healing Brush and Magic Wand tools to the app, both of which enhance the capabilities of some notebooks, let alone tablets. Fresco on iPad is getting a new color-based adjustment layer.
What’s important to consider when thinking about all of these features is how much computing work the iPad does while using the tool. That’s impressive in many ways, not least as a real-world demonstration of the capabilities of this rapidly evolving machine.
It was an evolution not without sweat in Cupertino. Just think of the huge investment made to develop the processor technology that works in conjunction with the operating system to allow the iPad to engage in this tough work. Apple’s resolute determination to create a new category of computing remains unchanged.
Post-PC appointment
The fact that you can run a great creative app like Photoshop or Illustrator on an Apple tablet should be seen as testament to the journey so far. You can use Fresco on iPad to draw full images and the new projection feature to share your canvas on a larger monitor.
The decision to put the same M1 processor inside the iPad Pro and Mac also demonstrates this. After all, the M1 Mac delivers a significant speed boost when running Photoshop, so the iPad M1 should also deliver performance that may feel overwhelming when compared to traditional expectations of what a tablet can achieve.
The new Universal Control feature promised, but missing in beta, will unite iPad and Mac even more tightly for creative users and enterprises once it arrives.
Even though it’s feature compatible, Photoshop on iPad is not feature complete. Adobe also continues to develop new features that exploit the Mac while continuing to expand the feature set available on the iPad.
Recent upgrades give Mac the powerful Sky Replacement tool; a transform warp tool equipped with an independent Bezier handle; and access to better feature tip tutorials and the new Photoshop beta for all Creative Suite users.
It seems like only a matter of time before the iPad also gets such a feature.
Touch the sky
Your business creative team will also be interested in tracking the news emerging from Adobe in the fall. The company has announced plans to hold its annual Adobe Max conference online this October. This free event will offer over 400 sessions and more for creative users and is often used as a forum for news announcements from Adobe.
What’s also interesting about this year’s Adobe Max is the timing: Apple will most likely have introduced a new iPhone at the time of the Adobe event. But it may also have plans for its own fall announcements of new products for creative markets, such as the highly hyped M1X MacBook Pro, potentially with the same mini-LED display found in the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
No doubt Adobe’s creative applications team aspires to be in line with Apple’s hardware product plans. “This is just the beginning, and we look forward to bringing even more performance improvements and Photoshop magic to Apple’s new silicon platform,” said Mark Dahm, principal product manager at Photoshop.
“As Apple’s silicon lineup expands into the future, having Photoshop work natively on the M1 architecture means it can be continuously tuned and optimized to take full advantage of the resource advancements that Apple silicon has to offer.”
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