Adobe declared in 2019 that the company wanted to re-imagine what’s possible with smartphone photography, with its own camera app. Meet Adobe Photoshop Camera with Adobe Sensei inside.

The first AI-camera app from Adobe for iOS and Android is available 2020, as promised, and it is FREE, without any link to Adobe’s subscription plans. With the app Adobe wants to bring Photoshop’s magic to the palm of your hand, through a smartphone camera app that is “built for those who want to stand out on social.”

Adobe said, when the company introduced the app, that with Adobe 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. Leveraging Adobe Sensei intelligence, the app can instantly recognize 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.”

Show off your style

Announcing the app, in 2019, Adobe said this: “Imagine if the magic of Photoshop was inside your camera. With Photoshop Camera, it really is. It’s a new app that understands the best lenses and effects for your photos — before you even take the shot.” Although the app is not yet available on the Google Store – for me -, as I write this note, I am curious to see if it really does what Adobe says or if we’re just faced with another camera app for smartphones. I’ll try to have a review of the app as soon as possible, as I’ve been using my smartphone for location scouting for my photography, and any app that helps me to make better images is welcome.

The most recent information from the company about Adobe Photoshop Camera app notes that “you can show off your style with lots of creative lenses inspired by artists and influencers. It is for anyone and everyone and does not require any Photoshop or design skills” and refers, again, the name of “chart topper Billie Eilish, who’s helped inspire creativity in a new generation of the creative community. In working with Billie, Adobe has created limited-edition lenses for PsC inspired by her songs and music videos.”

Editing filters available

The Adobe Photoshop Camera will allow users to edit photos and apply lenses to any photos on their device, no matter what app you took them with. Some of the editing filters available include:

• FUN WITH FILTERS: Apply Photoshop filters and effects with just one tap. With over 80 custom filters, it’s easy to swap them in and out and save your favorites to use again and again. The filter library includes: Portrait, Studio Light, Bloom, Pop Art, Spectrum, Desync, Food, Scenery, Natural Skies, Analog, Night Shift, Comic Skies, Interstellar, Dreamcatcher, Celestial, Supersize, Double Expo, Prism, Color Echo, Mixed Media, Blue Skies, Artful, and more.
• REAL-TIME PHOTOSHOP EFFECTS: Take a better picture with the magic of Photoshop and AI-powered editing.
• AUTO-TONE: Photoshop Camera gets “real life” right with no more extreme differences between areas of brightness and shadow.
• CONTENT-AWARE RECOMMENDATIONS: Pick your shot and Photoshop Camera does the rest. It knows which effects to apply to get the best result, so there’s no more fuss when it comes to the right lighting and focus.
• PORTRAIT CONTROLS (Bokeh, Face Distance, Face Light, Face Relighting): The Face Light feature in Photoshop Camera optimizes for lighting, eliminating the appearance of any sharp shadows (read: no more under-eye bags). For group selfies, Photoshop Camera recognizes where each subject is positioned so there’s no more distortion. And the Boken feature makes it easy to quickly apply blurring effects.
• INFLUENCER-INSPIRED LENSES: See yourself through the eyes of your favorite creators by using their custom-designed lenses. New lenses and effects are added all the time so there’s always something to discover.
• BUILT FOR SOCIAL: Easily capture and share high-quality photos to your favorite social network. Use #photoshopcamera when you post and we might feature you on our social sites.

The magic behind much of this is Adobe Sensei. In fact, Adobe Photoshop Camera uses Adobe Sensei, Adobe’s own artificial intelligence (AI) platform and framework, so it shares many characteristics with other software from the company. Photoshop Camera was built, as Adobe says, “as a Sensei-first app on our journey to expand our focus to deliver creative tools, including Photoshop, for everyone. With Photoshop Camera and Photoshop Express, we’re increasing your choices for creating with the magic of Photoshop.”