The long-awaited Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPad 2 is now out. Different than Adobe Photoshop Express which has been available for iOS for some time, this new app is more than just a basic image editor and brings many of Photoshop’s advanced functions to iPad 2. The app features popular Photoshop tools redesigned for the tablet such as layers, selection tools, adjustments, and filters. It allows you to easily search the web for images to edit, making it easier to access your photos stored in the cloud.
Unfortunately, Photoshop Touch only supports a maximum image resolution of 1600 x 1600 pixels — that’s only 2.56 megapixels and works out to be about $3.90 per megapixel. Even Adobe Photoshop Express supports at least 8 megapixels.
Despite the toolset and spiffy interface, $10 for a medium resolution app — regardless of the nameplate — is way too expensive and I think Adobe really underestimated the users who would buy an iPad app named “Photoshop.” Established photo apps like Filterstorm and Filterstorm Pro by Tai Shimizu, and PhotoForge2 by GhostBird Software are already available for iPad and all have innovative interfaces and very powerful toolsets also redesigned for tablets.
Adobe is already aware that many photographers are unhappy with the low res. By releasing this long-awaited iOS app without high-resolution support, I think Adobe have really dropped the ball with its release.
Adobe Photoshop Touch is an iPad 2-only app. Requirements: Compatible with iPad 2 Wi-Fi and iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
