The new Creative Cloud features which Adobe unveiled at the AdobeMAX 2022 conference are now available in Photoshop, Lightroom, After Effects, Fresco, etc.
Photoshop 24.0 gains precise object selection
The new features available in Photoshop for macOS and Windows let you select detailed objects with ease, thanks to Adobe’s cloud-based AI system dubbed Sensei.
The updated Object Selection feature can more precisely detect even more objects and regions like the sky, buildings, water and plants, as well as different types of flooring and ground including mountains, sidewalks and streets. These one-click selections are very precise and preserve hair details and edges.
Another new tool allows you to remove an object from an image, which combines two existing features—object-selection and content-aware fill—with the fill command. This new feature is dubbed One-Click Delete and Fill. You just click on an image’s object and press Shift + Delete.
The removed area is automatically filled using content-aware fill.
Photoshop for macOS and Windows also includes the ability to delete guides (press the Delete key), plus multi-select to edit and move guides. For better organization, you can now colorize guides and edit other properties.
To access guide options, right-click the mouse to reveal a new menu.
There’s also a new AI-powered filter, dubbed Photo Restoration, which strives to modernize the look of ancient photos. Employing machine learning, it detects and eliminates imperfections in old photographs, like scratches and washed-out colors.
For further information about the changes in Photoshop, read Adobe’s press release.
Photoshop for iPad makes selections easier
Photoshop’s Select Subject tool has been updated to recognize people, animals and more. It now supports fine hair and edge refinements when used on an image with embedded depth information, such as those Portrait Mode photos taken with your iPhone camera. Read: How to use Portrait Mode video on FaceTime
Even better, you can now remove an image’s background in Photoshop for iPad [App Store link] with a single tap. This will isolate the subject from its background and automatically apply a layer mask so you can replace backgrounds with other scenes.
“Using only a single tap, select the most prominent subject in an image—people, animals, vehicles, toys and more—and remove the background,” Adobe notes.
Read more about the changes in Photoshop for iPad on the Adobe blog.
Lightroom now lets you create AI masks
Lightroom 6.0 and Lightroom Classic 12.0 now support AI-powered masking using the Select People, Select Objects and Select Background tools. Select People creates high-quality masks for individuals or groups in any portrait (you can even focus on specific body parts like face skin or eyes).
Select Object does the same for various object types. “Previously you could select the background by inverting a mask of the subject,” Adobe explains. “Now our AI can directly generate a mask for the background with a single click.”
For more information about background removal and other changes in Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, be sure to read Adobe’s blog post.
After Effects 23.0 adds features for motion designers
After Effects includes a new Selectable Track Mattes feature, which makes working with mattes dramatically easier while also keeping compositions smaller by letting you apply one matte to as many layers as you want.
Content creators can now export After Effects projects using native H.264 encoding. There are also over 50 new presets available for faster animation workflows.
For more information, read Adobe’s press release here.
Fresco 4.0 brings Liquify to iPhone
Fresco, Adobe’s free app for focused drawing and painting that originally debuted on the iPad, just turned 3. The latest 4.0 update brings more pencil brushes for sketching and brings the Liquify feature to the iPhone. With Liquify, you can quickly make subtle or dramatic changes to your artwork.
Earlier, Fresco added a motion tool to animate artworks, plus updated multi-color swatches so you can easily paint 3D strokes and lettering. The app borrowed Photoshop features like Free Transform (skew, distort and perspective).
Better Adobe tools for the… metaverse?
Adobe shared insights from its survey showing that more than half of all US-based creators are now monetizing their content and “engaging the metaverse” (I’m sorry to ruin your day by writing that super-annoying word).