Yesterday Microsoft unveiled its new laptop-tablet the Surface Pro 3 at an event in New York. You can find all the main details of that here - but what may interest you more is that Adobe used the occasion to show off a new touch- and stylus-optimised version of Photoshop CC.
Photoshop has always worked on touch devices of course, plus there are dedicated apps like Photoshop Touch. But the forthcoming version Photoshop CC that Adobe is working on will bring two big improvements for those wanting to use their fingers or a stylus rather than a mouse.
Firstly, the UI elements and icons are double the size, which will make interaction with the interface much easier via touch, especially using pinch and zoom.
Secondly, the new Photoshop will be ready to support high-density displays such as that of the Surface 3.
Speaking of Photoshop's use on the Surface Pro, Michael Goff, vice president of experience design at Adobe, told the audience: "Our customers said they wanted Photoshop to take better advantage of the screen, the pen and the touch."
In the new version of Photoshop (which will be released "in the not-too distant future"), "the pen input is natural, the performance is great. The first time I got my hands on this I was blown away. If you take the power of Photoshop and you put it on a device like this, it's a creative's dream come true.
"We find that artists like to get in real close and then back out to look at the context," he continued. "So panning is straightforward, it's a lot more natural than using the scrollbars.
"If you hold your fingers down for a second you can pan, tilt, zoom any place you want, get totally lost - it's a lot like working with a piece of paper on a desktop. And if you do get lost, a simple two-finger double-tap takes you right back to where you started."
Goff stressed that the new software was very much a work in progress and that "there's more on the way" by way of announcements. And he made it clear it won't just work with the Surface 3 but with any tablet.
Keep your eye on Creative Bloq and we'll bring you the latest news of this new version of Photoshop as it progresses...
Don't miss Photoshop Live!
If you use Photoshop, you won't want to miss our Photoshop Live event in Brighton on 18-19 July! Friday 18th will be curated by Computer Arts magazine and Creative Bloq for creative professionals, with some of the biggest names in design giving talks. Saturday 19 July will be curated by Practical Photoshop for digital art with photography. You can find more details here.
