Photoshop for iPad nearing launch with some key features to be added in later update

Mark Gurman and Nico Grant for Bloomberg:

Adobe has been testing Photoshop for iPad under the codename Rocket with a small group of beta testers since earlier this year. Participants have told Bloomberg News that some beta versions don’t include well-established features they expected to be part of the release. They complained about less advanced or missing features around core functionality like filters, the pen tool and custom paintbrush libraries, vector drawing, color spaces, RAW editing, smart objects, layer styles and certain options for mask creation.

Belsky said that the beta feature set won’t represent the final version for consumers, and the need to collaborate with Apple meant that a lot of features are “coming in hot” ahead of the launch. At launch, he said that Photoshop will still lack some familiar features, but that will only represent version one of the product. “Launching every single feature that was accumulated over 25 years on the iPad on day one would not best serve our customers and the needs they have.” Usage on a desktop and an iPad isn’t “apples to apples,” he said, and Adobe “will definitely expand the capabilities” of Photoshop on iPad over time. The new version of Photoshop will also debut entirely new tools that take advantage of features — such as stylus and touch input — that are native to the iPad, he added.

MacDailyNews Take: Like most any version one release (think: Final Cut Pro X), some features, old and new, will be be added over time in subsequent releases.