Photoshop Workflow Goes Mobile

Apr 13, 2011

by Judith Dinowitz, Master Editor-in-Chief, House of Fusion

April 13, 2011 -- This week, Adobe announced a new Photoshop Touch Software Development Kit (SDK) and a new scripting engine for Photoshop CS5. The SDK, in combination with the scripting engine, will allow developers to create applications that run on their devices (running Android OS, Blackberry OS or iOS) to interact with and drive Photoshop. This extends the reach of Photoshop; it means that the designer won't need to be at a desktop to use one of his main tools. He can use an iPad, Blackberry or Android phone to remotely connect to and interact with Photoshop.

To illustrate what designers can do with the new SDK and scripting engine, Adobe will release three iPad applications in May on iTunes: Adobe Eazel, Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava.

Fusion Authority spoke to Brian O'Neill Hughes, Senior Product Manager, Photoshop, to get a better handle on what this means. Hughes gave me a look at the new applications and a better idea of where Adobe sees Photoshop in the mobile sphere.

The Future: From Tablet to PC, A Truly Mobile Workflow

On a mobile device, a full application would overwhelm both the interface and the processing power of the machine. The applications that Adobe is releasing are like Photoshop widgets. Each one gives the designer control in one small area, letting the tablet interface with Photoshop to upload the results of that task back to the main computer. This creates a more mobile workflow and widens the possibilities for teamwork.

Adobe Eazel

This highly interactive, touch-based application lets you create a lower resolution design on your tablet. Think fingerpainting, experimentation and playing with color. The interface for the application is in the fingertips. Press your fingertips against the tablet and the menu comes up, letting you control such things as color, size and opacity. The menu disappears when you're done and won't stay on screen unless you set it up that way. The illustration can then be uploaded to Photoshop on your computer and fine-tuned there.

Figure 1: Adobe Eazel's finger-based menu interface disappears when you're done.

Adobe Nav

Nav gives you remote access to Photoshop's navigation and controls, interfacing your tablet directly with Photoshop. You can share images with Photoshop from your tablet or look at images on Photoshop, change settings on the menus or rotate the image on the screen. The tablet and the computer are constantly talking to each other.

Adobe Color Lava

With Color Lava, you can mix colors and create new color swatches from scratch or from illustrations in Photoshop. You can then send these swatches back to Photoshop.

Now let's look at how one might use all three of these applications to create a better workflow.

Mobile Devices as Satellites

Here's a possible scenario: Your designer is on the train going to work and thinks of a great new design. He calls up Adobe Eazel and mocks up the initial illustration. When he gets in to work, he sends the image over the company network directly to Photoshop on his computer, makes a high-resolution, more detailed version and emails it to you. Later on, in the conference room, you have a meeting about the new design. While the image is there on the projector screen, another member of the team uses Adobe Nav to control the display and zoom in on some part of the design. He also suggests a slight change in color to that part of the image, using Adobe Color Lava to get the exact color match from a different illustration you have on file and uploading that color swatch to Photoshop.

Applications like this play to the capabilities of a tablet or an iPad — not as a replacement for the personal computer, but as a satellite device. Adobe has obviously given a lot of thought as to where its tools fit when it comes to the mobile sphere, and to what kinds of applications work best on these mobile devices. In his review of these applications, Phil Hornshaw notes:

"That puts the iPad, in Adobe's conception, squarely in a supporting role and not necessarily the starring one that Apple (AAPL) CEO Jobs likes to tout when he's talking to the press. In this case, and many others, the iPad is a great tool for working with other great tools, but it certainly isn't replacing the power and ease of use of a PC — it's just supplying easier ways to do certain things within the same realm."

For Further Information

If you'd like to experiment with mobile interaction with Photoshop, you'll be glad to know that the new SDK is already available for download at http://www.adobe.com/devnet/photoshop.html. The update to Photoshop itself will be released in 30 days, in early May, and will be free for all Photoshop CS5, Photoshop CS5 Essentials and Creative Suite users. The Adobe applications (Adobe Eazel: $4.99, Adobe Color Lava: $2.99, Adobe Nav: $1.99) will be available on iTunes in May.

Judith Dinowitz is the Master Editor-in-Chief of the House of Fusion magazines and journals, where she enjoys serving up ColdFusion and Flex goodness on a weekly and quarterly basis.