Adobe confirms full version of Photoshop is coming to iPad

Adobe has just swung open the doors to its annual Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles, and the event’s most signifiant announcement for photographers is confirmation that Photoshop is finally coming to the iPad.

Rumors that Adobe has been working on a full version of the program for iPad have been circulating for the best part of the year, although the company remained silent. Now, it has confirmed that iPad users will be able to start using the program from next year.

Adobe already provides tablet and mobile users with a number of photo-oriented editing apps, namely Adobe Photoshop Express, Photoshop Lightroom CC and Photoshop Mix. None of these, however, can match the full extent of functionality provided by the desktop-based Photoshop CC, whose arrival to iPad users is credited to the “beefier power of devices”.

Photoshop CC for iPad supports the same PSD files as its desktop companion, together with layers, masks and other editing tools. As we might expect, however, the app has been designed to better support the touch functionality of the iPad's display.

As the new app is part of Creative Cloud, users should be able to continue editing between devices seamlessly. This itself is part of a wider announcement today, namely that PSD files will be supported by a greater range of apps in the CC ecosystem than before.

The company has also confirmed that all current CC apps will be subject to their own updates. These include Lightroom CC, which will now have the option to import images directly form Apple Photos, as well as Adobe Bridge CC, which gets an updated UI among other things. The desktop version of Photoshop CC, meanwhile, now has an expanded Content Aware Fill workspace (below) among other revisions.

Although Photoshop CC is only being made available to iPad users in the short term, Adobe promises that it will come to further platforms and form factors when they are ready; we can’t wait to see how a complete version of Photoshop will look and work on an iPhone. Adobe also hasn't confirmed pricing for the iPad version of the program.

Premiere Rush CC confirmed

Project Rush, which was announced earlier this year, will also see a CC release, under the moniker Premiere Rush CC. Described by Adobe as an all-in-one cross-device video capture, publishing and editing app, it features customisable motion graphics templates and benefits from Adobe Sensei-powered sound and voice normalisation. It’s intelligent enough to automatically lower and raise the volume of music when speech is detected, and fully integrates with Premiere Pro for further editing.

Premiere Rush CC is set to be available in phone, tablet and desktop flavours, with Dropbox integration designed into it and the option to output creations to YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Behance.

Adobe is using this year’s Adobe MAX conference to launch a series of updates that capitalise on a number of themes, such as the greater role of AI, machine learning and voice recognition for creatives, as well as the increasing importance of touch devices in creativity.

Adobe Max is expected to attract 14,000 creators from over 60 countries. Director Ron Howard, photographer Albert Watson and The Roots drummer Questlove are all set to be speaking at the event, which is running until Wednesday.