Soon, gone will be the days when 2 little taps on your phone or tablet screen turns your photo into a vignetted, faux Ilford Delta-clad masterpiece. Thanks to Adobe, it will now take many more taps. Something tells me, though, the people who purchase Photoshop Touch on their phone or tablet won't mind. After all, more taps = more control = Photoshop...right?
"Scribble Select" makes it debut in Photoshop Touch
What do you get if you fork over $4.99 ($9.99 for tablets) to Adobe? Well, you get all of the staple Photoshop features that make it so powerful, such as layers, adjustments, a plethora of selection tools -- and yes, filters. Surprise. You'd better have an iPhone 4+ or an Android device running at least 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), otherwise you'll be locked out of the party. So let's take a quick rundown of what exactly makes Photoshop Touch "desirable", since only you can ultimately decide that.
- Scribble Select: Since you'll be lacking the precision of a mouse, this mode lets you roughly select an area and, through Adobe Alchemy (not an official name), it selects exactly what you want. Unless you have a stylus and tablet, this mode may be a lifesaver.
- 12-megapixel photo support (up to 3 layers); more usable layers if image is smaller.
- Adjustment layers for finer control
- Photo filters that can be dropped and dragged for placement, bleed, opacity, etc.
- Export to Facebook, Twitter, etc as well as the Creative Cloud
It's plausible that I might find myself in a scenario when I need to edit photos immediately, but I'm still on the fence regarding Adobe's latest venture. It's all about doing things quickly and on-the-go, and while software like Adobe's own Lightroom have completely sped up my workflow, I think editing photos on such a device this way makes it all too easy to miss important details. Will I be old fashioned in two years for wanting the screen space of my iMac and the comfort of my desk at home so I can edit photos in my own time? Probably not. I suppose I'll need to have a look on a tablet (preferably) before making my final judgment call - after all, it's a very powerful editing app for not much money. Let's see what the future brings first.