Adobe rings in the changes for Photoshop 2021
Adobe's annual MAX 2020 conference is underway, which, for the first time, is virtual (and free to attend) this year.
Adobe usually hangs out for the event to announce major changes to the company's suite of products, and this year its no different - with the latest updates to the Adobe Photoshop family bringing greater Artificial intelligence through Adobe's Sensei AI technology.
Adobe is calling version 22.0 of PS, the 'world's most advanced AI application for creatives,' and there is probably some truth to that, with almost all the new features taking advantage of AI in one form or another. The headline new features include Neural Filters, Sky Replacement, improved Refine Edge Selections and the all-new Discover panel.
You can also read about the new updates to Adobe Lightroom in their dedicated post here.
Neural filters
Neural Filters are a 'complete reimagination of filters and image manipulation inside Photoshop'. You can think of these as AI-enhanced features for making adjustments to things like skin and lighting, as well as repairing and colourisong images, and the entire feature gains its own dedicated workspace.
Released today, the first version includes a large set of filters, all of which are non-destructive, and some of which are still in beta form. The first of these, Smart Portrait, allows you to transform a portrait subject along a number of parameters including age, expression, pose and more.
The filter uses AI to analyse the portrait and allow you to change aspects of your subject's features, such as changing the direction of the subject's head, gaze and the intensity of their smile. There's also the ability to adjust the direction of light in an image.
There are also a number of features that help repair damaged images, including Photo Restoration, Dust and Scratches, Noise Reduction, Face Cleanup, Black and White Colour and JPEG Artifacts Restoration.
Adobe has also set up a dedicated webpage where you can find out more about the technology behind the filters.
Sky replacement
As we first mentioned a couple of weeks back, Adobe's Sky Replacement tool is now available. With this, Photoshop will analyse your image to detect what areas are foreground and what are sky, and then perform masking and blending in order to realistically change the sky in your image.
There's a database of sky options, or you can also add your own. At launch, the release includes around 25 sky presets.
Improved refine edge selections
According to Adobe, great gains have been made in recent years with selection and masking, with powerful new features available in version 22.0.
The newest updates to selecting and masking are Refine Hair and Object Aware Refine Mode.
In essence, Refine Hair uses Sensei to improve the success rate of hair masking, and similarly, Object Aware Refine Mode uses AI to make even more precise, informed selections of portions of your image.
Discover Panel
Photoshop's new Discover panel gathers up the library of educational content, including new step-by-step tutorials and improved search functionality. Interestingly, AI also makes context-aware recommendations based on your work, including tips and tutorials.
There are also a new one-click Quick Actions that allow you to instantly perform certain tasks, or you can also take advantage of the educational resources and do the task for yourself step by step.
Versions
Adobe has brought in Versions to PS, although it's currently only tied to projects in Creative Cloud. Versions are now automatically created, allowing you to look back or revert to prior states, and It's also possible to view, revert, open, save as and rename within the version history. Cloud documents are also now available offline.
If you want to find out more about the inclusions in Version 22.0 of Photoshop on desktop, check out the dedicated website here, or check out this TL;DR version with the great Unmesh Dinda below.