Adobe has announced significant improvements to its Photoshop and Lightroom applications at its annual design and technology conference, Adobe MAX 2022.
The desktop version of Photoshop receives additional tools for selections, expanding the Object Selection function added in 2020. The updated version refines this tool to improve the accuracy of automatic selections and expand the range of objects that can be recognised automatically to include complex items like water, plants, flooring and components in the landscape like buildings, streets and mountains. The new Select People tool is able to select individuals or groups in portrait shots and also pick out specific body parts like a face, eyes, teeth, lips or hair for selective adjustments. Users can also access a new one-click delete and fill shortcut (Shift + Delete) that combines Object Selection with Content-Aware Fill for removing unwanted elements from images.
A new Neural Filters toll uses AI processing to perform complex editing tasks in a single click. This function includes tools for smoothing skin, changing facial expressions and applying styles from famous works of art to images. A related Photo Restoration Neural Filter uses similar AI-based processing to fix scratches and other minor imperfections to save users time when repairing and restoring aged or damaged photos.
Lightroom for desktop gains full edit functionality while in Compare mode, allowing users to edit their photos side by side. New Adaptive Presets for portraits have been added to Lightroom for desktop, Lightroom Classic, Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom for iOS/iPadOS, while the mobile app gains presets for sky and subject recognition, which were previously only available on the desktop software. Photoshop on iPad, gains one tap Remove Background or Content-Aware Fill tools, based upon subject selection. Adobe has also improved Select Subject for portrait images and added one-tap Auto Tone, Auto Contrast and Auto Colour editing options to the Filters and Adjustments panel.
Adobe Camera Raw gains added HDR support in the4 form of a ‘High Dynamic Range Output’ setting, which significantly expands the dynamic range obtainable from raw files. It also provides the ability to adjust Curves with local selections. The list of supported cameras and lenses has also been brought up-to-date. Released in beta format is a new Share for Review tool that enables users to create a ‘snapshot’ of their work and share it with a colleague for comments. Also in beta format is Content Credentials, which enables users to attach attribution information to images when exporting them from Photoshop.
Adobe is still working to expand the abilities of Photoshop on the web, which was launched last year and is still in limited beta. The company plans to add tools like Object Selection, Remove Background, Adobe Camera Raw edits and Content-Aware Fill to the browser-based app. Creative Cloud subscribers can try it by visiting the All Apps section of Creative Cloud home.
