“Photoshop’s new features are in? Who cares,” said no graphic artist or designer ever.
Let’s face it. When you’re in design, nothing can be more interesting than feature updates on the most popular professional imaging application there is today. And because we love designers and art aficionados, we’ve decided to create a roundup of all the badass Photoshop features Adobe launched on their 25th anniversary. Really now, it’s been 25 years?!
Here they are:
Adobe Stock
Who’s tired of having to scour the entire World Wide Web for images, not to mention getting flagged countless number of times for copyright issues? Adobe has wittingly provided a brilliant solution to this simple but potentially bothersome concern. With a stock collection of over 40 million images, you can either buy a photo as needed or sign up for a monthly plan — whichever floats your boat!
Artboards
Illustrator’s favorite may now be enjoyed in Photoshop CC. Artboards may already be grouped together to consolidate similar designs and designate them accordingly for different destinations and devices. By using the move tool, you can even start on new designs based on templates, so you get to save time and energy — leaving more for fresh, spur-of-the-moment concepts. Copying and sharing of content across artboards is also made easier, whether you want to do it one at a time or altogether.
Device Preview
We don’t know about you, but we’ve always itched for a feature that allows us to view our designs real time via iOS devices. And now, it’s finally here! Though supported devices are only limited to iPhone and iPad, it’s pretty cool that you can now have access to a preview of your mobile web designs or mobile app. Just by clicking on Device Preview in Photoshop CC 2015, a search (via USB or WiFi) for compatible devices will initiate, thereby launching the Device Preview app. Any changes you make on the mobile device will be applied on your file thereafter. Seriously, just how handy have things around here become?!
Add Grain to Blur Effects
Because really, fake blurs are tacky. The new Photoshop CC feature allows users to create blurs that are not necessarily au naturel but can be quite close to such. This is achieved by effectively copying the amount of grain from the original, unblurred areas of the image onto the blur, so it looks untouched. Genius? Really, really, spankin’ genius.
Move: Transform on Drop
Photoshop’s new Move tool, called the Transform on Drop, enables the appearance of a Transform handle that’s initiated by the selection and movement of a subject using the Content-Aware Move Tool. When this feature is activated, you can skew, flip, or scale the selection. After this, Photoshop will fill the area with the new object, all the while using its brilliant Content-Aware blending features.
Real-time Healing Brush
Mercury Graphics Engine improvements have now boosted your regular Healing Brush, Spot Healing Brush, and Patch Tools. This means it’s now possible to view Healing Brush results real time, and get 120 times faster results when using the Spot Healing Brush and Patch Tool.
Dehaze
Haze can ruin an otherwise beautiful landscape shot. Good thing the new Photoshop CC now has a haze removal feature that is integrated with Camera Raw. The Dehaze slider is also useful for those who want to add artistic beauty to their image by incorporating some haze effect.
Design Space
With the new Photoshop CC, you can take advantage of a new technology called the Photoshop Design Space. Here, you can enjoy a designated interface that houses new and unique functions, with features that are specially optimized for design-related tasks, reducing the need for moving the mouse, clicking, and lessening clutter while working on mobile apps and websites.
Asset Extraction and Save for Web
The latest Photoshop CC also sports an optimized feature for asset extraction, and a turbo boosted Save for Web export. Moreover, it’s now possible to make image adjustments directly on smart object layers.