Adobe accepting applications to beta test Photoshop CC on iPad

Adobe on Monday announced it is accepting applications to a beta program for its upcoming Photoshop CC for iPad app, a hotly anticipated version of the company's flagship photographic editing tool expected to debut later this year.

Invitations for access to the evaluation software version are currently being sent out in emails to existing Creative Cloud customers. Recipients are presented a link to a Google Forms page, which asks users for an email address, full name and explanation as to why they are interested in testing Photoshop on iPad.

The beta program was first spotted by 9to5Mac earlier today.

Unveiled at Adobe's MAX 2018 conference in October, Photoshop CC for iPad is touted as a "real" Photoshop experience that goes well beyond previously marketed "light" mobile versions.

For example, Adobe reimagined Photoshop's user interface to take advantage of iPad's form factor, touchscreen and Apple Pencil support. A panel with popular tools including brush, eraser, gradient, marquee, text and crop appear on the left side of the screen, while a minimal layer pane occupies the right. Instead of keyboard-and-mouse controls, a context-aware UI presents relevant options, modifiers and sub-menus specific to each of the app's image editing tools.

Further, because Photoshop CC on iPad is built on the same codebase as Photoshop CC on desktop, the app supports PSD files, layers, advanced compositing, masking and other familiar features. Alongside the ability to "roundtrip" a project from iPad to Mac, or from Mac to iPad, users can choose to automatically sync work progress between tablet and desktop.

Adobe's long-awaited Photoshop solution was later hyped by Apple in an onstage demo during last year's iPad Pro launch.

Photoshop CC on iPad is slated for release later this year.

6 Comments

SoundJudgment 187 comments · 7 Years

About 5 years ago

With Affinity around now... is it too little, too late?

firelock 241 comments · 11 Years

I may sign up for this. I came to realize in the last year that I do the vast majority of my personal-use computing on my iPad Pro. My iMac sits in my office upstairs barely getting used anymore. For me the tipping point was Lightroom CC, which finally brought desktop-class photo editing (light) to my iPad in an easy-to-use package. Once Photoshop for iPad releases I suspect I will have even less reason to use my personal Mac. That said, I use a Mac at work and don’t see that changing at all. But this has very much turned into the truck and car analogy that Jobs made years ago. I use a truck at work (Mac) and a car at home (iPad).

iOS_Guy80 899 comments · 5 Years

SoundJudgment said:

With Affinity around now... is it too little, too late?

Add to your list Procreate, Pixelmator, PixelmatorPhoto and Linea Sketch.

ihatescreennames 1971 comments · 19 Years

firelock said:

I may sign up for this. I came to realize in the last year that I do the vast majority of my personal-use computing on my iPad Pro. My iMac sits in my office upstairs barely getting used anymore. For me the tipping point was Lightroom CC, which finally brought desktop-class photo editing (light) to my iPad in an easy-to-use package. Once Photoshop for iPad releases I suspect I will have even less reason to use my personal Mac. That said, I use a Mac at work and don’t see that changing at all. But this has very much turned into the truck and car analogy that Jobs made years ago. I use a truck at work (Mac) and a car at home (iPad).

Will it require a subscription to Creative Cloud? If so, I will likely not go for it.

Speaking of Lightroom, do you use it on your iPad and Mac or exclusively on iPad? I’m curious if the app is “the same” on both or if there are things that can be done in the Mac version that cannot be done in the iPad version.

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

ihatescreennames said:

firelock said:

I may sign up for this. I came to realize in the last year that I do the vast majority of my personal-use computing on my iPad Pro. My iMac sits in my office upstairs barely getting used anymore. For me the tipping point was Lightroom CC, which finally brought desktop-class photo editing (light) to my iPad in an easy-to-use package. Once Photoshop for iPad releases I suspect I will have even less reason to use my personal Mac. That said, I use a Mac at work and don’t see that changing at all. But this has very much turned into the truck and car analogy that Jobs made years ago. I use a truck at work (Mac) and a car at home (iPad).

Will it require a subscription to Creative Cloud? If so, I will likely not go for it.

Speaking of Lightroom, do you use it on your iPad and Mac or exclusively on iPad? I’m curious if the app is “the same” on both or if there are things that can be done in the Mac version that cannot be done in the iPad version.

I was about to make the same comment. If their Photoshop iOS requires Creative Cloud there’s just no way I can consider using it.