Photoshop for the iPad has been eagerly anticipated for a long time. Especially the ‘desktop-worthy’ version, which Adobe announced a while back. It finally appeared in 2019. Unfortunately, many of the desktop features were missing. That is slowly getting better! Here we explain how clipping objects in Photoshop for iPad works.
Photoshop for the iPad is meant to be one of those flagship apps for the iPad. Immediately after the first release in 2019, there was a feeling of deception among the ‘early adopters’. After all: Adobe had promised a full desktop equivalent. What was eventually delivered was a very nice mobile photo editor. But not one that simply had all the features of the desktop version.
Fortunately, Adobe is continuously tinkering with the iPad version for Photoshop and slowly more and more features from the desktop version are trickling down to the iPad version. This process may only accelerate now that both desktops and iPads use the same ARM-based SoCs. In fact: in the iPad of 2021 you will find exactly the same SoC (the Apple M1) as in, for example, the iMac.
Photoshop without menu bar
What is in any case noticeable after starting Photoshop on the iPad and opening a photo (you can do that in the start screen by clicking the bottom left Import tap or click, and then for photos to choose), is the lack of a menu bar. Especially for the complex and feature-rich Photoshop, this is actually a fairly indispensable tool, especially for beginners.
Now you are immediately thrown into the deep end and you have to understand the meaning of the icons in the various toolbars. It can be done, but it does create an (unnecessarily) steep learning curve. However, Adobe’s philosophy is that their app should function without a menu bar, so we don’t expect that part anymore.
Object selection on iPad
In this article we focus on a recently introduced functionality: the automatic selection of an object. In practice, this often turns out to work surprisingly well and saves a lot of time compared to manually selecting an object from point to point.
To automatically select an object, it is important to first select this mode in the selection tool. To do this, tap the small triangle at the bottom right of the selection button in the vertical button bar on the right. In the menu that opens, click on Object selection.
In the opened photo (you just opened one from your camera roll…?) you then drag a rectangle around the object to be selected. In most cases, the object is now automatically recognized and selected. That actually takes no waiting time!
trim
Carefully check that the object has been selected exactly as desired. In our example this is almost the case. However, it appears that some fine-tuning is necessary for some small parts. For example, two of the ‘leaves’ of our mushroom were not included in the car selection. We’ll solve quickly.
The ‘single’ selection method is activated in the selection tool by default. Click the button below for additive selection. In that mode, drag to select the item to add. Finished. We repeat this for our other ‘leaf’. And a dot on the edge should also be taken into account on closer inspection. All quickly arranged, much faster than manual selection.
Deselect unwanted items
Then there’s another problem with an over-selected part, on the top left of the mushroom’s hat. A small piece of the yellow flower behind it was taken there. Luckily no drama again. In the selection button bar now choose the deselect mode, the third button seen from above. Drag a rectangle over the part to be deselected and this problem is also solved.
Then set the selection mode back to single (top button) in the toolbar to be ready for the next time you use this tool.
Crop object
We now have a perfectly selected mushroom. You can copy it (option can be found after clicking on the … in the right toolbar) and then paste elsewhere. Or you make a clean cut out of it. That’s very easy!
In the floating horizontal button bar at the bottom of the screen, first click on the button Turning back. Then click or tap To clear and only the selection remains, on a transparent background. For a better assessment of the whole, click on the button (again in the floating toolbar) Deselect.
Export as PNG
To save the crop as (for example) transparent PNG, tap or click the export button at the top right of the screen. Then tap Publish and Export. Select as file format PNG (this supports transparency) and if file size for Small. Because PNG is lossless, no detail is lost through compression.
It does take a little longer to save the file, but that’s no problem as far as we’re concerned. click on Export and choose a save location, for example Save image for your camera roll.
Reduce or enlarge
If necessary, you can first reduce the image (and possibly crop it), for example to use as a button on your website or blog. You can reduce the image by tapping the gear button at the top right. Then tap Image size and enter the desired dimensions in the appropriate fields.
Choose as the reduction method under Mode for either Automatically either Preserve details. Experience has shown that the latter option delivers very good results at firmer enlargements of an image. Good to know if you’ve cut a part of a photo, which you later want to print or have printed (pretty sharp).
The degree of success is, of course, linked to some realism. A photo of 320 x 200 pixels will never be razor sharp by blowing it up to 12 megapixel size. But from, for example, 8 megapixels to 10 or 12 often works surprisingly well!
There is a lot you can do with Photoshop on the iPad. What is striking anyway is that it all works very fast, and that on ‘just’ a tablet. Photo editing on the go has never been more accessible than it is now.
Although intended for ‘finger use’, the app actually works just a bit better in combination with a mouse. Or a Pencil for more accurate work and (or) creative drawing. In that respect, the iPad is even preferable to a traditional computer!
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