What's new in Photoshop

Easily mask images by placing them into frames. Use the Frame Tool (K) to quickly create rectangular or elliptical placeholder frames. You can also convert any shape or text into frames and fill it with images.

To place an image into a frame, simply drag an Adobe Stock asset or a libraries asset from the Libraries panel or from your local disk — the image automatically scales to fit the frame. Content placed in frames is always placed as Smart Objects so that it can be scaled non-destructively.

For detailed information, see Place images into frames.

A new, dedicated Content-Aware Fill workspace provides you an interactive editing experience to achieve seamless fill results. You can now choose which source pixels to use and rotate, scale, and mirror the source pixels thanks to Adobe Sensei technology. You also get a live full-resolution preview of the changes and an option to save the result to a new layer.

To launch the Content-Aware Fill workspace:

1. Open an image in Photoshop. Using any selection tool, create an initial selection of the area you want to fill.
   
2. From the menu bar, choose Edit > Content-Aware Fill.

For detailed information, see Remove objects from your photos with Content-Aware Fill.

You can now use Control + Z (Win) / Command + Z (Mac) to undo multiple steps in your Photoshop document, just like in other Creative Cloud apps. The new multiple undo mode is enabled by default.  

With the new multiple undo mode, the Edit menu displays the following commands:

• Undo: Moves one step back in the undo chain. Use the shortcut keys: Control + Z (Win) / Command + Z (Mac).
  
• Redo: Moves one step forward. Use the shortcut keys: Shift + Control + Z (Win) / Shift + Command + Z (Mac).
  
• Toggle Last State works the same as in the legacy undo mode. Use the shortcut keys: Control + Alt + Z (Win) / Command + Option + Z (Mac).

The commands Step Forward and Step Backward have been removed from the Edit menu. These commands are still available from the fly-out menu  in the History panel. Additionally, the layer visibility changes are now undoable by default. When you click a visibility icon  in the Layers panel, a history state is created. You can control this behavior using the Make Layer Visibility Changes Undoable option from the History Options dialog, accessible from the fly-out menu in the History panel.

For related helpful information, see Undo and History.

While transforming items, you can now easily move items on the canvas. The reference point that appeared while transforming items is now hidden by default. You can select the Toggle Reference Point check box in the Options bar if you want the reference point to appear.

For more information, see Set or move the reference point for a transformation.

You can now double-click a Type layer with the Move tool to quickly begin editing the text in your document. You do not need to switch tools anymore to edit text.  

For related helpful information, see Edit text.

Efficiently crop, transform, and place or enter text with auto-commit. You no longer need to press Enter (Win) / Return (macOS) or click the Commit button in the Options bar to commit your changes.

When applying crop or transforming, perform any of the following actions to auto-commit your changes:

• Select a new tool.
• Click a layer in the Layers panel. (This action auto-commits changes and also selects the layer.)
• Click outside the canvas area in the document window.
• Click outside the bounding box in the canvas area.

When entering text in a Type layer, perform any of the following actions to auto-commit your changes:

• Select a new tool.
• Click a layer in the Layers panel. (This action auto-commits changes and also selects the layer.)

For related helpful information, see the following links:

• Transform objects
• Transform images, shapes, and paths
• Edit text

Photoshop now transforms most layer types (such as pixel layers, type layers, bitmaps, Placed Smart Objects) proportionally by default. Shapes and paths, that is vectors, still transform non-proportionally by default. 

When transforming a layer, you no longer need to hold down the Shift key while dragging a corner handle to resize a selected layer to constrain its proportions. Anytime you drag a corner handle during transform and move it, the layer resizes proportionally. Holding down the Shift key now resizes non-proportionally when you drag a corner handle during transform.

To resize a layer proportionally during transform, do the following:

1. Select the layer(s) you want to resize in the Layers panel.
2. Press Command + T (Mac) / Control + T (Win). Alternatively, choose Edit > Free Transform.
3. Drag a corner handle on the bounding box to resize the layer.
4. Commit the changes.

For related helpful information, see the following links:

• Transform objects
• Free transformations of images, shapes, and paths
  

Use the new Lock Workspace option to prevent accidentally moving workspace panels, particularly when you’re using Photoshop on a tablet/stylus. To access this option, choose Window > Workspace > Lock Workspace.

For more helpful information about the workspace options, see Workspace basics.

You can now scroll over different blend mode options to see how they look on your image. Photoshop displays a live preview of blend modes on the canvas when you scroll over different blend mode options in the Layers panel and the Layer Style dialog.

For related helpful information, see the following links:

• Layer opacity and blending
• Blending modes

Paint your brush strokes in a perfectly symmetrical pattern. While using the Paint Brush, Mixer Brush, Pencil, or Eraser tools, click the butterfly icon () in the Options bar. Choose from the several available types of symmetry - Vertical, Horizontal, Dual Axis, Diagonal, Wavy, Circle, Spiral, Parallel Lines, Radial, Mandala. As you paint, the strokes are reflected live across the line of symmetry, allowing you to easily create intricate symmetrical patterns.

For detailed information, see Paint symmetrical patterns.

Use the Color Wheel to visualize the color spectrum and easily choose colors based on harmonies such as complementary colors and analogous colors. From the Color panel fly-out menu, choose Color Wheel.   

Get started quickly with the Photoshop Home screen. Access it at any time to find out about new features, connect to learning content, and jump right to your open documents. Click the new Home icon  in the Options bar to access the Home screen at any point.

For more information, see Workspace basics.

After completing an in-app tutorial (Learn panel), you can now use your own images to get the looks you want in less time.

Get more control when scaling the Photoshop UI, and adjust it independent of your other apps to get the font size just right. In the Interface preferences (Edit >Preferences > Interface), a new setting Scale UI To Font has been introduced. When you select this new setting, the entire Photoshop UI scales based on the UI Font Size drop-down value you've chosen - Tiny, Small, Medium, or Large.

Photoshop now includes the support for five new South East Asian languages, so your documents can include text in these scripts: Thai, Burmese, Lao, Sinhalese, and Khmer.

To create a document using one of these new languages, do the following:

1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Type.
2.  Select the Middle Eastern and South Asian option.
3. Open a document.
4. Create a Type layer.
5. In the Character panel, set your Language to any of the new languages: Thai, Burmese, Lao, Sinhalese, or Khmer.
6. Based on the language you select, set an appropriate font. For example, if you choose Thai language, set a Thai font such as Adobe Thai or Noto Sans Thai.
7. Copy and paste the text composed in the language that you choose. If you have a language-specific keyboard set up, simply type the text.

For more information, see Composers for Asian scripts.

This release of Photoshop introduces a new compositing engine, which provides a more modern compositing architecture that is easier to optimize on all platforms (macOS, Windows, and iOS/mobile).

For details of new features introduced in Adobe Camera Raw, see What's new in Camera Raw.

• (Photoshop version 20.0, October 2018 release) The CC Files tab provided in the Start workspace of earlier versions is no longer available. You can browse your assets by navigating to the Creative Cloud Files directory on your desktop. To open the Creative Cloud Files directory from the Creative Cloud desktop app, select Assets > Files and click Open Folder. See Browse, sync, and manage assets.
• (Photoshop version 18.1.7, May 2019 release) Removed support for encoding (writing) Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus sound formats.