BEHIND THE SCENES

How Photoshop Came to the iPad

Adobe reimagined its flagship app. The challenge was real.

Adobe Photoshop

Photo Editor & Graphic Design

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In the fall of 2015, after watching the unveiling of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, members of Adobe’s Photoshop team were all struck by the same thought: It’s time.

“As soon as those two came together, we could see how a creative person could use an iPad as a true computing device,” says Pam Clark, Photoshop product management lead. “And we started getting overwhelmed with questions from our community: ‘When is Photoshop coming to the iPad Pro?’”

Which led to the next question: Could it come to the iPad Pro?

Today the answer is officially yes: Photoshop on iPad has arrived, powered by the same code base that drives the iconic desktop version but with a UI reimagined for touch and Apple Pencil. It’s been a long time coming—and the story behind it has plenty of layers of its own.

At long last: Here’s a look at Photoshop on iPad.

History in the making

It may be hard to remember a time before Photoshop. The software was famously rejected by more than 30 companies before being released as part of a bundle called—no, really—Barneyscan XP. (Save that for your next trivia night.) But once Photoshop 1.0 hit stores in February 1990—clocking in at 745 KB to fit on floppy disk—it quickly caught on with visual artists, businesses, and school newspapers alike.

Photoshop has come a long way since version 1.0. (We’ll pause for this moment of warm nostalgia.)

With each evolution over the past three decades, Photoshop ushered in features that fundamentally altered the digital-editing landscape. Layers was introduced with version 3.0 in September 1994. Version 5.0, in 1998, unveiled History and multiple undos, giving users the freedom to experiment without the fear of losing earlier work. And 2013’s Adobe Photoshop CC was the first to sync files across your home and office Macs with Adobe Creative Cloud. Photoshop on the iPad was simply the next step. 

All Adobe had to do was figure out how to retain the software’s core functionality while making it feel familiar on a completely different platform. So, you know, no big deal.

“With most iPad apps—like a word processor or a calendar—the number of bytes you’re writing to the SSD [hard drive] is small,” says Russell Williams, principal scientist on the app’s engineering team. “Photoshop is fundamentally different: Swiping a finger can require writing 50 MB of data. And our users expect that to happen seamlessly in the exact same manner they’re used to with the desktop version.”

Photoshop arrives to iPad with blurs, brushes, and a rich array of colors.

Off to the races

Adobe engineers accepted the challenge—while cautioning all involved to keep things quiet, just in case the experiment didn’t work out. Months of research, coding, and energy drinks later, they emerged. 

“That’s when we saw what we call proof of life,” says Clark. “Photoshop code base on an iPad.” 

The flashpoint came when they opened a PSD for the first time. Not just some lightweight sample file, but a beast of a PSD with blend modes, masks, and 53 layers. It was 721 MB on disk, devouring 2.1 GB of RAM when loaded. Yet it worked flawlessly, even when you zoomed way in on the finest details.

When you have software that’s been rocking and rolling for 28 years, where do you start?

Matthew Richmond, director of experience design

From then on, the team set out to reimagine Photoshop for touch and Apple Pencil—all while respecting the app’s rich history.

“When you have software that’s been rocking and rolling for 28 years, where do you start?” says Matthew Richmond, director of experience design. “There was a lot of weight when we sat down to figure out what Photoshop is for this generation.”

This first version has plenty of novel tricks, but if you’re familiar with Photoshop, it’ll feel instantly comfortable. 

“It’s simple: a stack of tools and a stack of layers,” says Richmond.

Just like the desktop version, Photoshop on iPad lets you manipulate type as well as art.

Inside Adobe

At Photoshop offices on Adobe’s campus in downtown San Jose, signs of the brand are ubiquitous: Glass walls are adorned by the software’s checkered transparent-background pattern. Screens cycle through Photoshop-made art. 

The work here is only beginning. After Photoshop on iPad launches, the team will update it regularly. “Our customers create incredible things in ways we could never imagine,” says Clark. “We build the features, and they twist them to produce phenomenally creative output that’s nothing like we ever intended. That’s the real beauty of it.”

Williams agrees. “Image editing is still this huge, open, unexplored territory.”