Adobe shows full-featured Photoshop CC for Touch Devices

Published on June 2, 2014

In the past, Adobe has created watered-down versions of Photoshop for use on tablets and smart phones, but there has not been a full-featured version of Photoshop that was fully optimized for touch devices. At the recent launch event for Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 3, Adobe’s VP of Experience Design, Michael Gough, showed a touch-optimized version of the full version of Photoshop, and hinted that touch optimized versions of the other Creative Cloud apps are also forthcoming.

Demonstrating Photoshop on a the Surface Pro 3 shows the difference of this touch computer compared to other tablets such as the iPad, as the Surface Pro is a full-featured computer running the complete Windows 8.1 operating system. The touch-optimized version of the Photoshop application includes support for high-density displays, tools that are enlarged on touch devices – making them easier to select, support for touch gestures such as pinch to zoom, and it is optimized for the use of a stylus as well

At some point in the not too distant future we expect our Photoshop training courses will incorporate touch devices, as Microsoft is pushing to make touch-devices more widespread. With the addition of Photoshop as a touch-optimized application running on Windows, Microsoft is developing a more robust library of applications which may help increase adoption of these devices.

About the author

Jennifer Smith is a user experience designer, educator and author based in Boston. She has worked in the field of user experience design for more than 15 years.She has designed websites, ecommerce sites, apps, and embedded systems. Jennifer designs solutions for mobile, desktop, and iOT devices.

Jennifer delivers UX training and UX consulting for large Fortune 100 companies, small start-ups, and independent software vendors.She has served as a Designer in Residence at Microsoft, assisting third-party app developers to improve their design solutions and create successful user experiences. She has been hired by Adobe and Microsoft to deliver training workshops to their staff, and has traveled to Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and across the U.S. to deliver courses and assist on UX design projects. She has extensive knowledge of modern UX Design, and worked closely with major tech companies to create educational material and deliver UX workshops to key partners globally. Jennifer works with a wide range of prototyping tools including XD, Sketch, Balsamiq, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Blend for Visual Studio. She also works extensively in the fields of presentation design and visual design.

Jennifer is also the author of more than 20 books on design tools and processes, including Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies, Adobe Creative Cloud Digital Classroom, and Photoshop Digital Classroom. She has been awarded a Microsoft MVP three times for her work with user experience design in creating apps for touch, desktop, and mobile devices. Jennifer holds the CPUX-F certification from the User Experience Qualification Board and assists others in attaining this designation in leading a UX certification course at American Graphics Institute. She is a candidate for a Master’s degree in Human Factors in Information Design.