Adobe has offered a brief glimpse at an all-new camera app for Android and iOS smartphones that leverages the power of its immensely-successful Photoshop editing suite to boost your photos – without having to upgrade your handset.
Dubbed Photoshop Camera, Adobe says its new software solution instantly recognises what’s visible through the viewfinder and applies “unique features” as soon as you hit the shutter button to try to boost the quality of the image. These aren’t just randomly slapped onto your image, either. Adobe is intelligently analysing the scene to understand the dynamic range, scene-type, face regions and more, to try to produce the sort of shot you’d usually have to spend time tinkering in Photoshop as soon as you hit the shutter button in the app.
Adobe says the app will apply “complex adjustments” to the photo, from applying fake bokeh-style blur behind the subject of your photo for a Portrait Mode-like shot, as well as replacing dull grey skies with the perfect sunset, or create cartoony colourful group shots that look like something from Andy Warhol’s studio.
As well as all the edits from Adobe itself, smartphone owners will be able to choose from an array of pre-set “lenses” designed by “well-known artists and influencers” including Bad Guy singer Billie Eilish. Like Apple’s default camera app, these will appear in a carousel at the bottom of the display. Tapping on the icons will load a live preview of the look in the viewfinder.
It’s undoubtedly an ambitious camera app, but one that sounds hugely exciting.
Adobe says it will always preserve the original image, so if you’re not happy with the tweaks made by the AI-powered software then you’ll always be able to retrieve an effect-less version to post on social media, or send over to friends.
“With Photoshop Camera you can capture, edit, and share stunning photos and moments – both natural and creative – using real-time Photoshop-grade magic right from the viewfinder, leaving you free to focus on storytelling with powerful tools and effects,” says Abhay Parasnis, Adobe Chief Technology Officer.
“Leveraging Adobe Sensei intelligence, the app can instantly recognise the subject in your photo and provide recommendations, and automatically apply sophisticated, unique features at the moment of capture (i.e. portraits, landscapes, selfies, food shots), while always preserving an original shot. It also understands the technical content (i.e. dynamic range, tonality, scene-type, face regions) of the photo and automatically applies complex adjustments.”
Adobe Photoshop Camera is due to release in full in 2020, but you can sign-up for a preview right now.