Photoshop CC 2017 is officially here, and it rolls out exciting new features for designers and digital photographers. The Photoshop CC 2017 tutorials below, showcase the many improvements and features added to this new release.
Adobe’s new features and enhancements to Photoshop follow two themes. Create a more modern, and more connected Photoshop, lowering the learning barrier for beginners.
Photoshop is now more connected to the Creative Cloud and the other apps in the Adobe ecosystem.
A more modern, more connected Photoshop – connection to CC and other apps in the Adobe ecosystem.
Lowering the learning barrier for beginners – New things to help users get started and achieve success quickly.
Enhancements to recent features – Select and Mask, Face-Aware Liquify and more.
All the new features from the last release, Photoshop CC 2015.5, all get upgrades and feature enhancements. They provide better results and better performance as well as incorporate feature requests for more control and precision.
Major Updates:
Start Workspace
New Document Window
Search
SVG Color Fonts
Improvements to The Properties Panel
Improvements to The Libraries Panel
Updates to To tools released in Photoshop 2015.5
Select and Mask Space
Face-Aware Liquify
Match Font
Start Workspace – CC Files
The Start workspace was introduced in Photoshop CC during the November 2015 update. This screen is displayed when you first launch Photoshop or whenever no documents are open. Photoshop CC 2017 makes a small but significant changes to this Start Workspace.
As with previous versions of the Start workspace, Photoshop CC 2017 gives you quick access to your recent files. But CC 2017 removes two of the main tabs, the Libraries and Presets tabs, and replaces them with the CC Files tab.
Photoshop CC 2017 Start Workspace
Photoshop CC 2015 Start Workspace
This new CC Files tab gives you access to the last 50 PSD files that have been synced to your Creative Cloud account. These files also include PSD assets that you have uploaded from the Creative Cloud Market.
PSD files are currently the only file type supported in the CC Files tab, but additional formats and filtering controls are expected to be released in future versions of Photoshop CC.
Customize The Number of Recent Files
To customize the number of recent files that are displayed in the Recent Files list, go into the Preferences dialog by pressing Ctrl K (Mac: Command K). In the File Handling tab, under Recent File List Contains enter the number of recent files you wish to display (between 0 and 100).
Exit or Disable The Start Workspace
To quickly exit the Start Workspace you can just press the Esc key. To disable the Start Workspace permanently, then go into the Preferences dialog by pressing Ctrl K (Mac: Command K). Under General, uncheck “Show ‘Start’ Workspace When No Documents Are Open.”
Photoshop CC 2017 Tutorial on the Start Workspace:
https://www.youtube.com/
New Document Window
One of the biggest changes in Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 is the completely redesigned New Document dialog box. This redesign still has all the functionality of the legacy dialog box but in a more modern and visual layout. But this update is much more than a cosmetic change. The New Document dialog now comes loaded with free templates from Adobe Stock that allow you to jump start your creative process right away.
You can launch the New Document window by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl N (Mac: Command N), or by going to File > New.
Recent tab | New Document dialog box
This redesign New Document window allows you to:
Create documents using templates from Adobe Stock, Allowing you to quickly jumpstart the creative process.
Save custom presets.
Create documents using Blank Document Presets from multiple categories.
If you’re a person who does not like changes, then you can go back to the old New Document dialog box. Simply go into the Preferences dialog by pressing Ctrl K (Mac: Command K). and under the General tab check the “Use Legacy ‘File New’ Interface” checkbox.
I don’t recommend doing this since this new dialog box contains a lot of useful presents and templates. But this option is available in case you need it.
The New Document dialog contains two kinds of presets that will help you get started with your creative process. Blank Document presets, and Photoshop templates.
Blank Document Presets
Blank document templates are similar to what we had in previous versions of Photoshop. They create a blank document based on a pre-defined document size, resolution and color profile.
In Photoshop CC 2017 these blank document templates work the same, but they are organized in a more modern and visual layout.
Blank document presets for Photo projects.
As with older version of Photoshop CC, you can create your own blank document preset or use one of the many presets found in eight categories:
Photo
Print
Art & Illustration
Web
Mobile
Film & Video
Photoshop Templates
One of the biggest and most notable additions to Photoshop CC 2017 is the starter Photoshop Templates provided within the New Document dialog. These Photoshop Templates are files that you can use to be inspired by or jump-start your creative projects.
The hundreds of free Photoshop Templates are provided by Adobe Stock. They include files that contain brochures, fliers, motion graphics, video overlays and much more.
You can search for a template by selecting a category, Photo, Print, Art & Illustration, Web, Mobile, and Film & Video.
When you choose a category, you can see the list of templates available. Clicking on a template will reveal the template details to the right of the dialog box.
Photoshop Templates for Photo projects.
The first time that you use any of these free templates, you will need to download them and license them from Adobe Stock before you can start.
Libraries Pannel in Photoshop CC 2017
Once you have them inside your Creative Cloud library, your will see a blue circle with a check mark.
Downloaded Templates are added to a Creative Cloud Library called Stock Templates. You can access this library through the Libraries panel from within Photoshop. You can also see your Creative Cloud files through a web browser by going to the assets page of your creative cloud account. https://assets.adobe.com/assets/libraries
By default, the template files use the file extensions .psdt. But they open as a regular .psd file when they are brought into Photoshop. The changes that you make to the .psd while working in Photoshop will not affect the original .psdt template in the Libraries panel.
Watch this Photoshop CC 2017 tutorial to see how these templates work:
https://youtu.be/-U3-y604e4k
Photoshop Search Feature
One of the best and most noteworthy additions to Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 is the powerful multi-scope Search. You can think about it as Google inside of Photoshop. It is a great tool for both beginner and experienced users alike.
You can use the Photoshop Search feature to quickly find tools, menus, tutorials, tips, assets, documents, layers and more; all from a unified dialog box. Search integrates with Adobe Stock to help you find assets and Photoshop Templates. Search also integrates with helpx.adobe.com to retrieve relevant help documentation and instructional material.
To bring up the Photoshop Search box press Ctrl F (Mac: Command F).
Note: In previous versions of Photoshop, Ctrl F (Mac: Command F) was the keyboard shortcut for reapplying the last-used filter. To reapply the last used filter in Photoshop CC 2017 press Ctrl Alt F (Mac: Command Option F).
To start a search simply start typing in the search box. Photoshop will immediately start generating content based on the characters that you enter.
The search query will yield results in three categories: Photoshop, Learn, and Stock. By default, you’ll see results from all the categories, but you can filter by category by clicking on the tab labels below the Search box.
Results under the Photoshop category are items that you could find through the Photoshop interface; such as tools, layers, and panels. Results in the Learn category are documentation or instructional material from helpx.adobe.com. Results in the Stock category are assets from the Adobe Stock library.
This is a detailed list of the type of content that you can expect from each category:
Photoshop
Filters
Layers (Active Document)
Menu Items
New Document Presets
Open Documents
Panels
Recent Files
Smart Objects
Tools
Learn (helpx.adobe.com)
Documentation
Instructional Material
Stock (Adobe Stock)
Photos
Illustrations
Videos
Templates
One of the best things about the Photoshop Search feature is that you can perform tasks and operations associated with the search results simply by clicking on them. This is time-saver and it can also help you discover functionality that you may not have known existed.
Clicking on the following types of search results will perform the operation described:
Layer: Select the layer and makes it visible in the Layers panel.
Tool: Activates the tool and highlights it.
Panel: Makes the panel visible and active.
Filter Applies the filter or opens the dialog for that filter.
Menu Command: Runs the command. (Unless the command is unavailable.)
Recent File: Opens the file.
Open Documents: Activates the document.
Help or Learn Topics: Opens the article in your default browser.
Stock Asset: Downloads the image asset into your active Creative Cloud library, and places a Cloud-Linked asset on the canvas.
The Photoshop Search has an advanced algorithm that allows the use of synonyms. For example, searching for “Retouch” will return search results that are relevant to retouching. This includes tools such as the Clone Stamp Tool, Healing Brush Tool, and Patch Tool.
The Search feature supports all languages that Photoshop CC 2017 supports; though the search results may vary by language, because of the differences in each language.
Some of the items that the Photoshop Search does not include are library elements or individual styles.
Watch Photoshop CC 2017 tutorial to see how the search feature works:
https://youtu.be/Kk5PpGt5MEE
SVG Color Fonts
The biggest enhancement to Type in Photoshop CC 2017 is the addition of SVG Color Fonts to the list of supported font types. SVG fonts support multiple colors and gradients in a single glyph.
Photoshop CC 2017 also ships with the Trajan Color Concept and EmojiOne font. So you can now use Emojis in Photoshop! <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/72x72/1f642.png" alt="