By Graham K. Rogers

Although I am not a user of Adobe products on the Mac (updated information -- see below) one of the better apps on the iPad is Photoshop Touch which has just been updated. Adobe reports that the following improvements have been made:

• Resolution increase to 2048 x 2048 with 10 layers (see below);
• Automatic synchronization with Creative Cloud;
• Available in English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian;
• Added export to PSD and PNG via Camera Roll or email;
• Improved rotate and flip image workflow;
• Added ability to transfer image to desktop via iTunes;
• Two new tutorials;
• Four new effects (Watercolour Paint, HDR Look, Soft Light and Soft SKin).

The two bug fixes reported have corrected the support language in iTunes; and Fixed Facebook login issues: it now displays, "Success".

The app was originally released in late February and when I reviewed it then I was not exactly delighted with the 1600 x 1600 image size limit that the app imposed. For an app costing $9.99 this was somewhat limiting, especially for anyone that carried a DSLR camera and wanted to edit on the road. The size has been upped in the latest release of the app, but there is a trade-off. While the 1600 x 1600 size allows a user to create 16 layers, the larger (2048 x 2048) option reduces the number of layers to 10. This option may be selected in Preferences.

With the 2048 size selected, I was soon able to exceed the number of layers. but the ability to "merge down" allowed more image imports to be made. [I was just grabbing images out of the Photo Album with no real thought for design.] I exported a full size (I use the term loosely) image as a JPG to the Camera Roll. It synced with Photo Stream and appeared in Aperture as a JPG (my selection) of 2048 x 2048 (4.2MP) with a file size of 4.48MB.

I also exported the image as in PNG format using iTunes. The file appears in the Apps panel of the iPad in a list of apps that can sync below the installed apps pages. It was shown as a 7MB file (7.3MB in the Finder) again with the 2048 x 2048 size.

When the app was first released, I wrote that I expected Apple was rather pleased with Adobe for their work on this app. I now expect their was a little amusement too, as iPhoto was already waiting in the wings. On its release, a couple of weeks later, some commentators described iPhoto as a PS Touch killer, particularly because of the far higher limit for exporting images (19GB). What iPhoto lacks, however, is a feature that allows the use of layers: essential for some types of work with images.

I did try the new effects and, while they are useful, anything like this that changes the style of the image and the way it looks when exported, is subjective. What I like as an effect, may not suit you.

We have a trade-off for those working on the iPad: iPhoto (which is cheaper at $4.99) allows larger images, while the Adobe product, with all its excellent (if a little idiosyncratic) features and tools, limits the output size, something that Adobe needs to address.

Update on Adobe Comments

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.