3D software review: Photoshop Touch

Rob Redman tests the touchscreen edition of Adobe’s popular image-editing software

PRICE: £6.99 / $9.99 / €7.99
Other editions: Android, £6.99
PLATFORM: iPad
MAIN FEATURES:

• Touch interface
• Full layer support

DEVELOPER: Adobe

Photoshop is an application I’ve been using since version 4, first as a photographer and then as a designer and 3D artist, and these days I use it mostly for post-production work and as a texture creation tool. It’s in this latter role that the Touch version shines.

True, Photoshop Touch has many of the features you’d expect, including layer support (you can even take a photo directly into a layer using your iPad’s camera) and all manner of adjustments, but for the creative on the move there are even more options.

You can, without leaving the application, import an image from Google’s image search, or from your Facebook account. There’s also the Adobe Creative Cloud option.

This makes starting a project really fast and easy: in a few clicks and swipes you can have a base to work on from a multitude of sources.

This brings me to the interface. Adobe could have tried to shoehorn the desktop layout into this version of Photoshop, but it hasn’t.

While familiar tools and icons are there, they’re in intuitive positions and work flawlessly. Tap on an adjustment and a pop‑up opens, where you can swipe a finger to make a change, be it a contrast increase, brush size or softness, or any of the other regular features.

Photo manipulation is a breeze and the limited screen real estate is never a hindrance. The speed of pinching to zoom negates any downtime and the pinching action is intuitive. Plus Adobe has even included training material for newcomers.

VERDICT

Photoshop Touch is an excellent all-round package that makes working on the go a joy. Newcomers may take a short while to get to grips with the tool locations, but it’s an enticing app, especially for the price

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Redman has been in the animation and VFX industry for over a decade, and has worked with clients ranging from pop stars to governments. He is also 3D World’s very own Technical Editor
3dworldmag.com

Posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2012 at 1:39 pm under Applications, Reviews. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.