Photoshop Mix is part of the Adobe CC mobile apps collection and allows you to make edits away from the desk. in this post I’ll be using Mix to replace a sky in an image;

Opening an Image

Because Photoshop Mix is part of the Creative Cloud I can access images from a variety of places. Tapping the + on the left opens up the image open choices;

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I’ve already Synchronised some collections from Lightroom, so I’ll head off and get an image from there by tapping on the Lightroom icon;

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There’s a collection called Demo Files, I’ll navigate through to access the image of the Hollywood Sign;

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Adding The Sky

I’ll need a sky image so I’ll tap the + on the right of the image to add a new layer;

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Once again i get the choice of where to load an image from, this time I’ll head over to Adobe Stock;

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Following the onscreen prompts I can easily navigate to a file that matches what I’m after;

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You can see here that in my CC Libraries I already have a Library called ‘Sky’. From the Photoshop Mix app I can add this image to that Library for future use.

Once the file has been downloaded its added to the document in Mix.

Rearrange Layers

Ideally I’d like the Sky layer beneath the Hollywood layer. By tapping and holding on a layer I can move it within the Stack;

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Using Cut Out

To ‘isolate’ the Hollywood sign and the ground I’ll tap the Cut Out icon;

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Much like the Quick Selection Tool in Photoshop, as I drag my finger over the image Photoshop Mix will look for any edges to ‘spring’ to;

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If Photoshop Mix selects as area that it shouldn’t tap the Add / Subtract button and subtract from the selection;

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Photoshop Mix is great at doing bulky work like this, but don’t expect it to be perfect every time. In my case there’s a piece in the O that its missed plus theres some bushes at the top of the hill that Mix has struggled to find.

This is Ok.

I’ll be able to refine the selection later using all the features I know and love in Photoshop CC.

When i have a reasonable selection I’ll tap the checkmark.

Position the Sky

With the Sky layer selected I can use one and two finger gestures to reposition and rotate the sky to get it where i’d like it;

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I even get a little Head Up Display on how I’m moving and rotating the layer in the top left corner of the image.

Sending The Image to Photoshop for Refining

Once I’m happy with the composite I can send the image to Photoshop CC for refinement. I could have added more layers of course, but for this example I’ll stick to just the sky.

In the top right corner tap the square with an arrow;

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There’s a few options here, the one I’m after for this example is ‘Send to Photoshop’. I’ll tap it.

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A couple of things happen here. Firstly I get a notification that Photoshop Mix is rendering the image as a PSD, a Photoshop document. Then that it is stored in the Creative Cloud.

Seamlessly this Mix document can now reopened in Photoshop as a layered, and just as importantly, a masked image. In fact, because I’m on the same network as the iPad Photoshop CC opens and the Mix document is opened in Photoshop for me!

The Photoshop Document

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  1. The document in Photoshop is given the name of the date it was created
  2. All the layers I created in Photoshop Mix are created in the Photoshop CC document
  3. The area Cut Out in Photoshop Mix appears as a Mask and can be refined and adjusted like any other.

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