Adobe Announces Three New Photoshop Apps for iPad

Posted by Carter Dotson on April 13th, 2011

Adobe has announced some new Photoshop apps for the iPad that are designed as tools for Photoshop CS5, to help extend the functionality of the computer program by using your iPad for a variety of different functions.

Adobe Eazel is a painting app, designed to let users paint on the entire iPad screen, using their fingers or a stylus to paint on there. I say the word paint specifically, as it is designed to simulate painting on an actual canvas, as the lines you paint dry on the screen, and you can paint over previous strokes, and watch as the paint bleeds and the colors mix. The app comes with a five finger user interface that is designed to let you access all the app's features without any kind of traditional menu access. As the interface's creator, Dan Marcolina, puts it: "We put the most commonly used tools on your most usable fingers. So you control color with your index finger, brush size with your middle finger, and opacity with your ring finger. You access settings with your pinky finger. Your thumb flicks to undo or redo, and it slides to erase." The app allows you to export your work to Photoshop CS5 directly, or to share your work via email.

Adobe Nav is a tool for Photoshop CS5 that lets you access tools and interact with Photoshop directly from your iPad, wirelessly connected to your computer. You get an editable screen with up to 16 icons, that you can select on the iPad to then use on your computer's version of Photoshop. You can also view and select your open documents from Adobe Nav,

Adobe Color Lava is designed for simulated color paint mixing, allowing you to mix around paint to create interesting colors in a realistic way. You can then get and modify the RGB or HSB values of he color you've created. Featuring wifi connectivity similar to the other 2 apps, you can use the app to change the color in your version of Photoshop CS5. As well, the app works as a dashboard of various colors, that you can use and switch to on demand.

While it's unknown what, if any, relation this has to the app that was shown off recently at Photoshop World, these tools should help make the iPad a better tool for Photoshop users. No release date or price has been announced for the apps, although Adobe has a link to let you be notified when the apps are available from their mobile products page.