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Mobile photography enriched by Adobe Photoshop
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Smartphones and tablets are everywhere now, visible in the hands of people on the subway, resting on tables in cafés and even used openly in some workplaces. As these devices continue to become more ubiquitous, the new and innovative applications that power them are hot commodities. All manner of industries, from the retail sector to social media giants, such as Facebook and Twitter, are making their brands more viable for these mobile devices, diminishing the need for a full-sized computer a little more with every new installment. According to The Next Web, the design industry is also getting in on the ground floor of this digital phenomenon.
Whether you're using your smartphone to edit photography on the go or are tinkering with simple graphics while you're waiting for the bus, this thriving medium has turned the world of digital art on its head. Now, people who have never used Adobe Photoshop on a computer are teaching themselves how to crop images, clear away red eye and enhance color palettes as if they've used it for years. However, if you're serious about taking the design industry by force, learning how to translate the full program to this smaller scale may help separate you from the amateurs and wannabes.
What can you do with the Photoshop app?
If you're moving from the larger incarnation of the program to a mobile device, it's easier for you to learn what the few limitations of the app are rather than attempting to digest the full scope of its capabilities. First, the pixel quality will be lower by virtue of the smaller screens and graphics quality when you move from a desktop or a laptop computer to a smartphone or a tablet. While the features are largely the same, the images might seem slightly less vibrant. For major projects, the full version is still your best bet in terms of quality and control, but for everything else, Photoshop Express - the most recent version of the program used exclusively for photo editing - works just fine.
The future of mobile photography
Tech Spot reported that quality photography continues to be a trend that is pushing manufacturers to produce better visuals, from better displays overall to low-light photography options. As such, design apps may follow suit, allowing you to have more control over your images while you're away from your computer.
The familiarity of Photoshop Express allows individuals to test the boundaries of their skills. For instance, if you're used to the fast-paced, one-click results of basic editors, such as the iPhone's built-in cropping tool and its red eye elimination wand, this Adobe app provides you with a similar easiness but also includes the basic functions of the full version, such as image sharpening, blurring and shading. You also aren't limited to one screen - if you've begun a project on your phone and would prefer to finish it when you get home, you can transfer the file to your computer and edit it there instead.
Photoshop Express expanding
According to Beta News, this Adobe app is connecting with another mobile family, as Microsoft recently announced that the Windows Phone will be compatible with the latest installment of Photoshop Express, allowing users to deploy the same editing skills across a new mobile smartphone model. As applications such as this one become more popular, it's clear that design elements are no longer reserved for industry professionals. If you're interested in transforming your own photos into works of art, consider taking a few photoshop classes with the American Graphics Institute. There's no time like the present to sharpen your skills.
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 an expert on Photoshop, digital image editing, and photo manipulation. Having written 10 books on Photoshop, and having consulted and provided training to major media companies and businesses around the globe.
Jennifer is 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.