Adobe is launching Photoshop Camera today, a new app that’s filled with a range of very elaborate filters. It can modify your face and the world around you, as some of the filters are really impressive.
Several of the filters identify the sky behind you and replace it with perfect clouds or a magical moon. Another puts you inside a Black Mirror-Esque glitchy world, while another makes you look like you’re in a comic book.
The app is free and works on both iOS and Android. However, only recent Pixel, Galaxy, and OnePlus models are officially supported for Android phones. The company launched a preview of the app in November, announcing a free AI-powered photoshop camera app.
Photoshop Camera and Photoshop have little to do with each other. Although they do both have to do with photos and both of them are apps. You can do some basic photo editing here such as adjusting contrast, exposure, saturation, and so on. But mostly you’re meant to snap a picture, filter it, and leave it.
If you want to make adjustments, there’s a magic wand button that automatically dials in changes for the user. So, there’s no need to worry about the actual settings. The app can’t record video, though, as seeing these effects in a video format would be pretty fun.
Adobe CTO Abhay Parasnis said that their goal was to bring the magic of Photoshop directly to people’s cameras’ viewfinder.
The tricky thing is that Adobe wants people to use its own app. That would be in place of the numerous filters available inside the social apps people are already opening every day.
Adobe to Work on Partnerships
Photoshop Camera has some cool filters, but Adobe has to compete with basically every social media app under the sun. There are many great filters inside Instagram and Snapchat.
Parasnis said their team doesn’t see itself in competition with social apps or OS camera apps. He hinted that, in the future, it will be working on partnerships to get its filters inside of other apps.
It may even build them into some phones’ native cameras. Adobe’s magic can light up in those environments as well.
It really is a fun app, as when one opens it, they’ll find a half dozen or so filter options. Most of them have a bunch of variations you can swipe between.
The Spectrum filter, for example, has different versions that can split your image across multiple color spectrums. It can drop you into some geometric void or cover you with glitched-out stripes.
Some of its filters don’t have anything special going on, though. For example, its food filter seems to just be bland color filters. But its face filters tend to get pretty elaborate.
The Company’s Goal
Adobe intends to add more filters over time. Some will come in partnership with specific artists and creators.
At launch, there were a handful of collaborations. There was one with Billie Eilish, which made skies look eerie and rained her Blohsh logo down on the image.
Parasnis said they can imagine a world where there will be special purposed lenses directly monetized around events or venues. However, creators can’t sell them yet.
Adobe’s goal is also to introduce people to its ecosystem through smaller, less intimidating apps. This is in the hopes of eventually converting some of them to its paid professional tools.
Parasnis said that the strategy is working well, and Photoshop Camera is the next one in that journey for them.
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