Adobe Photoshop adds Live Co-Editing to ramp up collaboration

Adobe understood that collaborative working was one of the waves of the future when it purchased Frame.io, and now its ramping up the collaborative tools in one of its core products, Photoshop.

Currently in beta testing, the new Live Co-Editing tools in Photoshop are available in both the Photoshop desktop (beta) and web apps. 

Essentially they do what you would expect and allow multiple creators to simultaneously access and edit documents from different computers. This sort of initiative is always popular in whatever software it appears as it accelerates content creation, streamlines communication, improves creativity by letting you bounce ides off colleagues, and also eliminates the amount of errors and misunderstandings that can bedevil a project.

In some ways it’s not an entirely new feature. Sharing and collaboration have been a part of Photoshop for a while now, but was limited to one user at a time. Simultaneous working is a whole new ballpark when it comes to collaboration and, according to Adobe, will mean that:

• Multiple designers can simultaneously work on a Photoshop document, splitting tasks to tackle and complete projects more efficiently, together.
• Creative teams at large enterprises can collaborate on highly matrixed projects, solicit stakeholder input and address feedback all in a single file.
• Creators can collect client feedback more intuitively by inviting them to directly collaborate on a file, view edits and make comments.
• Students can follow along live as educators demonstrate workflows and teach techniques in Photoshop. Comments and edits can be made directly in a student’s document by teachers to help enhance learning and contextualize feedback.

Photoshop users can sign up for what has now become a waitlist here, with the initial batch of invites expected to roll out next week. And, as Adobe is quick to point out, it joins a long list of new features that debuted in 2024 from Distraction Removal to an improved font browser and any number of AI tools.

No word yet on when it will appear in the general release, but the speed with which iterations tend to get added to the software line up by the Adobe devs at the moment suggests not long. 

tl;dr

• Adobe is enhancing collaboration in Photoshop with new Live Co-Editing tools, currently in beta testing for both desktop and web apps.
• Multiple creators can now edit documents simultaneously, promoting efficient teamwork, better communication, and reduced errors in projects.
• The feature expands on previous sharing capabilities, allowing large creative teams and clients to collaborate more effectively on feedback and workflows.
• Users can join a waitlist for the initial batch of invites, with further features rolled out in 2024, although a general release date hasn’t been confirmed yet.