Meet Project Rigel, Photoshop image editing for mobile devices (pictures)

In October, Adobe will release a new app for editing photos on Apple's iPads and iPhones, with an Android version coming later. Here's a look at the app.

Stephen Shankland

Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.

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Stephen Shankland

Aug. 26, 2015 9:40 a.m. PT

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Adobe's Project Rigel reboots Photoshop for mobile devices

Adobe's Project Rigel, which will arrive in October, offers a new Photoshop alternative for mobile devices. It'll arrive on Apple's iPhone and iPad first, with an Android version to come later. It's geared chiefly at retouching photos -- changing things like brightness and colors while letting people smooth out skin blemishes and widen eyes.

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Adobe's Project Rigel lighting changes

On the left side of the screen, you get options to adjust how retouching tools apply changes. Once you're committed to a change, tapping the check mark in the lower right corner bakes it into the image -- but all changes can be reversed. Changes that are committed in this way become adjustment layers in Photoshop for personal computers.

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Adobe's Project Rigel tone adjustments

Basic tonal changes are made in the "adjust" section of Adobe's Project Rigel.

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Adobe's Project Rigel vignetting tool

A vignetting tool lets you darken the corners of an image. You also can fiddle with the shape and color of the vignetting effect.

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Adobe's Project Rigel healing tools

Project Rigel's healing options include spot healing, which is designed to quickly fix blemishes or clean up backgrounds; clone stamp, which lets you copy one patch of an image to a new area in the image; and correction of red-eye problems caused by camera flashes.