The 2015 release of Photoshop CC rolls out exciting new features for designers and digital photographers. Read on for a quick introduction to these features and links to resources offering more information.
Note: For answers to common questions asked about the 2015 release of Photoshop CC, see the FAQ.
For a summary of features introduced in earlier releases of Photoshop CC, see:
If you are a web or UX designer, you increasingly find yourself designing websites or apps for multiple devices. Artboards, new in the 2015 release of Photoshop CC, help streamline your design process by giving you an infinite canvas on which you can lay out designs for different devices and screens. While creating artboards, you can choose from a wide variety of preset sizes or define your own custom artboard size.
Artboards are useful even if you normally design for just one screen size. For example, while designing a website, you can use artboards to view designs for different pages side-by-side and in context.
For more information, see Artboards.
Library-linked assets
When you use a graphic from the Libraries panel, a library-linked asset is created. This asset behaves in much the same way as a locally-linked smart object, but with the benefit of the asset being in the cloud. Also, when you create a new library graphic from a smart object, the corresponding layer is converted to a library-linked asset.
Adobe Stock integration with Libraries
You can now add a watermarked stock image to any of your libraries directly using the Adobe Stock website. You can then use the watermarked image in your Photoshop documents as a library-linked asset. When you choose to license the image—which you can do directly from within the Libraries panel—all instances of the watermarked asset in your open documents are updated to the high-resolution licensed image.
Performance improvements
Libraries integration with Photoshop now offers reduced disk usage, more efficient bandwidth utilization, and faster propagation of library changes between Creative Cloud applications.
Adobe Stock is a new service that provides designers and businesses with access to 40 million high-quality, curated, royalty-free images, illustrations, and vector graphics for all their creative projects. You can search for Adobe Stock content directly from within Photoshop. Select File > Search Adobe Stock.
Adobe Stock is also deeply integrated with Creative Cloud Libraries. You can now add a watermarked stock image to any of your libraries directly using the Adobe Stock website. You can then use the watermarked image in your Photoshop documents as a library-linked asset. When you choose to license the image—which you can do directly from within the Libraries panel—all instances of the watermarked asset in your open documents are updated to the high-resolution licensed image.
For more information, see:
Important:Â Design Space (Preview) requires Mac OS X 10.10 or Windows 8.1 64-bit OS or higher and is currently displayed only in English.
Design Space (Preview) is aimed at becoming a modern design experience inside Photoshop streamlined for the requirements of web, UX and mobile app designers. It’s an HMTL5/CSS/JS layer built on top of Photoshop. We’ve separated out standard Photoshop from the interface so that we can use this layer to create new UI, smarter interactions, and top-requested features. This release is a Technology Preview, which means it’s an early look at this new direction. It’s rough and there is a limited feature set but we want to get this out early so that we can start hearing from you.
To enable Design Space (Preview), select Preferences > Technology Previews and then chooseEnable Design Space (Preview). Help us shape Design Space (Preview) into the experience you want; give us feedback @psdesign.
For more information and a list of known issues in this release, see Design Space (Preview)Â .
A. Tools B. Distribute and Align C. Transform D. Style E. LayersÂ
You can now export artboards, layers, layer groups, or Photoshop documents as JPEG, GIF, PNG, PNG-8, or SVG image assets.
Select the artboards, layers, and layer groups in the Layers panel; right-click the selection, and then select one of the following from the context menu:
To export the current Photoshop document or all artboards in it, select File > Export As[image_format] or File > Export > Export As…
For more information, see Export artboards, layers, and more.
The Layer Style dialog now lets you apply multiple effects—strokes, inner shadows, color overlays, gradient overlays, drop shadows, etc—to a single layer style. Also, more than one instance of some effects can now be applied to a layer style.
icon, indicating that they can be applied more than once in the layer style.The left pane of the Layer Style dialog now lets you perform the following operations:
 icon:
Get real-time previews of your Photoshop designs on multiple iOS devices with the new Device Preview feature in Photoshop and the Adobe Preview CC mobile app. Changes you make in Photoshop CC are displayed in Preview CC in real time. You can reliably connect multiple iOS devices to Photoshop using USB or over Wi-Fi.
If you have a document with artboards, Device Preview attempts to show you the correct artboard by matching the size and position of the artboard with the size of the connected device. You can also use the navigation bar to preview a specific artboard on the device or swipe through artboards that have matching widths.
Preview CC supports iOS devices running iOS 8 or above.
Sometimes, after applying a Blur Gallery effect, the blurred area of the image looks synthetic or unnatural. You can now restore noise/grain to such a blurred image area to give it a more realistic appearance.
Set the options on the Noise tab in the blur Effects panel.
For more information, see Restore noise in blurred areas.
Photoshop now has a new panel that lets you work more efficiently with glyphs.
Do one of the following to access the Glyphs panel:
For more information, see Glyphs panel.
For a summary of the latest features in Camera Raw, see Adobe Camera Raw | New features summary.
Export as PDF or SVX files
You can now export 3D models as PDF or SVX files.
While specifying the 3D Print Settings, select Print To: Local. Now, select PDF File or SVX File as thePrinter.
For more information about 3D printing, see Print 3D objects.
Control bump map depth
Updated PLA profile for Makerbot
The Makerbot PLA profile has been updated for more reliable print outs.
Simplify meshes
The 3D menu now has a new command (3D > Simplify Meshes) that lets you reduce the number of triangles in a mesh to a more manageable number. The command algorithmically reduces the number of triangles to the number you specify while attempting to maintain the fidelity of the model. This enhancement is useful for reducing the complexity of a file in preparation for 3D printing.
You can view a live preview of mesh simplification changes before they’re implemented.
Improved export UI
The UI for exporting 3D layers as Collada DAE, Flash 3D, Google Earth KMZ, 3D PDF, STL, U3D, VRML, and OBJ formats is now improved.
Select 3D > Export 3D Layer.
Export a single mesh
A 3D scene typically comprises many elements or meshes. You can now right-click a mesh in the overall scene and export it individually.
Right-click the mesh in the 3D Panel and then choose Export Mesh from the context menu. This functionality currently exports meshes only in Collada or KMZ formats.
Generate better bump maps and normal maps
Photoshop now lets you tweak your bump or normal maps using tools like Blur, Detail Scale, and High/Medium/Low Frequency.
Select Filter > 3D > Generate Bump Map or Filter > 3D > Generate Normal Map.
Create bump maps or normal maps from diffuse textures
You can now create bump maps or normal maps from diffuse textures. The texture attached to the diffuse texture is automatically loaded as filters for the purpose of creating bump maps or normal maps. Once you’re satisfied with the way your map is looking, Photoshop applies the generated bump map or normal map to those textures.
Follow these broad steps:
Convert a vertex color to a texture color
3D-scanned PLY files typically have vertex colors and no textures. You can convert a vertex color to a texture color. Do the following:
The UI toolkit for building Photoshop plug-ins and scripts has been enhanced to support HiDPI/Retina displays. Also, plug-ins built using the toolkit now look more consistent with the overall Photoshop UI.
For more information, see Photoshop UI toolkit for plug-ins and scripts.
In earlier releases of Photoshop, while painting with the Healing Brush, you’d see a semi-transparent gray area and a progress bar before the healed content became visible. In the 2015 release of Photoshop CC, Healing Brush changes render in real time as you paint.The Content-Aware Move tool now has aTransform On Drop option. When this option is enabled, you can scale the part of the image that you’ve just moved to its new location.Preference panels have been reworked for better organization.Reduced energy usage by up to 80% while idlingReduced loading time for the Welcome screen
New command to release all RAM and scratch disk use; hold down the Option/Alt key and selectAbout Photoshop. Alternatively, select Edit > Purge > All.The Photomerge dialog now has a Content Aware Fill Transparent Areas option. Use this option to give your panoramas that picture-perfect finish.Most adjustments (Image > Adjustments) can now be applied as smart filters. Convert the layer to a smart object and then apply an adjustment to it.Improved syncing performance for Creative Cloud LibrariesMoving a layer to a group now moves it to the top of the Z-order instead of the bottom.Step backward/forward operations no longer change the layer selection.New preference to revert Esc behavior while entering text
The 2015 release of Adobe® Flash Professional® CC reintroduces the IK bone tool that enables you to create bone armatures using symbols or shapes that can be easily turned into life-like animation. The release also comes with H.264 video import, universal document type converter, integration with the latest Flash Player and AIR SDK, and many more enhancements. Continue reading for a quick introduction to new features available with the latest update to Flash Professional CC, and links to other resources that provide more information.
Adobe Flash Professional CC 2015Â release provides you capabilities to create great cartoon characters with life-like movements using the new bone tool, convert your projects to any document type using the universal document type converter, import H.264 videos, work with the latest Flash Player and AIR SDK, and many more cool capabilities that help you to take your graphics and animation projects to the next level.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
The Flash Professional CC 2015 Release offers you the capability to lend life-like movements to your animation characters using the all-new bone tool.
The bone tool gives you inverse kinematics (IK) capabilities within Flash. IK is a way of animating objects using bones chained into linear or branched armatures in parent-child relationships. When one bone moves, connected bones move in relation to it. Inverse kinematics lets you easily create natural motion. To animate using inverse kinematics, specify the start and end positions of bones on the Timeline. Flash automatically interpolates the positions of the bones in the armature between the starting and ending frames.
You can use IK in the following ways:
Bone tool comes with on-stage controls to ensure greater precision in movements. The onstage controls allows you to switch between Locked, Open, and Constrained states for Rotation and Translation properties of individual bones in the IK armature. You can now directly adjust these constraints on stage with accuracy using clear visual feedback.
For more information on using the bone tool, see Bone Tool Animation
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
In addition to FLV videos, this release also introduces an option to embed H.264 videos in the timeline. When an H.264 video is embedded, the frames of the video are rendered on the stage when you scrub the timeline. This feature enables you to use videos as a guide to synchronize your animation on stage. Since the Flash Player and other run-times do not support rendering embedded H.264 videos, they are not published. Importing H.264 videos is a design-time-only feature.
Audio playback is enabled for H.264 videos. You can now select the ‘Include audio’ option while importing H.264 videos. Once imported to the stage (with ‘place instance on stage’ option selected), scrubbing the timeline must play the audio for the relevant frames. Playing the timeline (Enter) must play back the animation at the fps of the imported video so that the audio is in sync with the video frames on stage.
To learn more about importing H.264 videos, see Add videos to Flash.
To import video:
Click File > Import > Import Video and select the Embed H.264 video in the timeline  (design time only – the video cannot be exported) option as shown in the following image:
For more information about using audio, see Using sounds in Flash.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
Export sprite sheet as bitmap allows you to pack all the bitmaps in canvas document in to a sprite sheet. A new Export the Bitmap as Sprite Sheet check box has been added and enabled by default. You can specify the maximum size of the sprite sheet by giving the height and width values in the publish settings. This enhancement reduces the number of server requests, which in turn results in improved performance.
For more information about this feature, see Creating and publishing HTML5 Canvas documents.
With this release, Flash Professional scales the brush size proportionately to the changing zoom level of the stage. Proportionate zooming allows you to draw seamlessly adjusting to any zoom level and preview your work as you draw. If you want to revert to the earlier default behavior of brushes maintaining a constant pixel size even when you change the zoom level of the stage, you must disable the ‘Stage zoom level’ checkbox in the brush Property Inspector.
A. Increase/decrease brush size B. Brush size preview C. Option to scale brush size according to the zoom level of the stageÂ
For more information about this feature, see Custom brushes.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
The universal document type converter enables conversion of your existing FLA projects (of any type) to any other document type such as HTML5 Canvas or WebGL.
To use this feature, click Commands > Convert to Other Document Formats and then select the target document type and specify the path of the converted file.
To learn more about universal document type converter, see Convert to other document types.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
Enhanced import workflow
In earlier versions of Flash Pro, you had to import the audio file in to the library and then add it to a layer on the timeline. In this release, you can directly import audio in to your stage/timeline by dragging and dropping the file to a layer or by using the File > Import > Import to Stage option.
Split Audio option in context menu
The stream audio embedded on the timeline can be split at ease using the Split Audio context menu. Split Audio enables you to pause the audio when it is necessary and then resume the audio playback from the point it was stopped at a later frame on the timeline.
Remember audio sync options in PI
Flash Pro now remembers the sync options in property inspector. If a sound is selected from the “Sound†section of the Property Inspector, then on trying to set another sound on a new keyframe from the Property Inspector, Flash remembers the sync options “Stream†or “Event†of the previous sound.
To learn more about audio in Flash, see Using sounds in Flash.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
The Paste functionality has been enhanced as follows:
To learn more about Motion Editor, see Editing Motion Tweens using Motion Editor.
A new option, Lock/Unlock, has been added to the fly-out menu of the panels to lock the dock. Once a dock is locked, all the panels in the dock can be resized, but cannot be moved. This feature helps you prevent accidental drag and resize of panels.
From this release, code snippets are available for some commonly used actions in the WebGL document type.
Note: This enhancement is available only in the English language version.
This release includes the following enhancements to Custom Platform Support SDK and the sample plug-in:
To learn about Custom Platform Support APIs, see Custom Platform Support API reference.
This release of Flash Professional comes with the latest CreateJS libraries integrated.
Since the latest libraries are not yet hosted via CDN, clear the Hosted LIbraries checkbox under the Advanced section of the Publish Settings dialog box (Edit > Publish Settings > Advanced) to see the output.
This release comes with the following Save optimizations:
The following auto-recovery enhancements are part of this release:
The following auto-recovery changes help you avoid continuous loop of auto-recovery for short auto-recovery duration:
To learn more about auto-recovery options in Flash, see Set preferences in Flash.
This enhancement allows you to import Animated GIF files in a more organized way so that you can keep your library in proper order. In previous releases, the imported GIF assets were placed in the library root folder without proper naming. In this release, a folder with the GIF filename is created and all the associated bitmaps are organized under it. As shown in the following image, the bitmaps are now named appropriately based on their sequence.
To learn more about organizing your library, see Working with the library.
In this release, the library search panel has been enhanced to include searching for symbols by ActionScript linkage names in addition to searching by symbol names.
To learn more about searching your library, see Working with the library.
This new option in the Edit menu and the Stage context menu inverts the selection of currently selected objects or shapes on the stage.
New in Flash Professional CC 2015
The new ‘Paste and Overwrite Frames’ timeline context menu option enables you to paste the copied frames by replacing the exact number of frames without pushing the frames forward. This replaces the existing way of selecting the exact number of frames which you want to replace with the same number of copied frames. For example, if you want to copy ten frames from a timeline and replace the exact number of frames in another timeline, copy the ten frames and use the Paste and Overwrite Frames frames to paste it at the starting frame-the next ten frames are overwritten with the copied frames.
To learn more about the Paste options, see Classic Tween animation.
I’ve just become aware of a plugin for 3D Studio Max called 3DCutout which you use in conjunction with Photoshop (or any other drawing program I would think) which essentially lets you animate Flash or Harmony type cut out animation using a custom interface in 3D Studio Max. You can rig characters, create and library assets and of course use the 3d camera. It looks REALLY cool! Check out the clip above!
What is your name and your current occupation?
Nico Colaleo – animatic editor at Titmouse LA. Currently on the team for a new animated/action show for Disney Channel coming in 2012.
How did you become interested in animation?
Pretty much by growing up with the classics. Looney Tunes, Popeye, Tom & Jerry, Disney stuff. I’ve watched cartoons ever since I was a Continue reading
MARY
Mary Blair is hired to work in Walt Disney’s gigantic and rigorously maintained garden. As he welcomes her and invites her to get to work, she starts producing plants magically. Although he is amazed, Walt cannot refrain from correcting and toning down Mary’s work behind her back…
Contact production :
GOBELINS, l’école de l’image,
Moïra Marguin : mmarguin@gobelins.fr
 New in this release of Photoshop CC
 Enhanced in this release of Photoshop CC