How to Download the Photoshop Beta and Preview Upcoming Features
Try out upcoming Photoshop features before their official release by downloading the Photoshop beta. This tutorial shows you how.
As a Creative Cloud subscriber, you have access not only to official Photoshop releases but also the beta versions. Downloading the latest Photoshop beta lets you preview upcoming features that Adobe’s Photoshop team is working on. This means you can try out features before they are officially released, and even help improve them by reporting bugs, submitting ideas and joining the Photoshop beta online community.
You’ll need an active Creative Cloud subscription to download the Photoshop beta. Both the official Photoshop release and the beta version can be installed at the same time.
Let's get started!
Step 1. Open the Creative Cloud desktop app
Open the Creative Cloud Desktop app (the same app you used to install the official Photoshop release).
Step 2: Select Beta apps
In the column along the left, click Beta apps.
Step 3: Install the Photoshop beta
Look for the Photoshop (Beta) app and click the Install button. Depending on your Creative Cloud subscription, you may see beta versions of other Adobe apps as well. But we’ll stick with Photoshop.
Step 4: Open the Photoshop beta
Once downloaded and installed, the Photoshop beta will be listed under Installed beta apps. Click the Open button.
Note that you will not find the Photoshop beta listed with your official Photoshop release in the All apps category. Beta versions can only be opened from the Beta apps category.
Step 5: Confirm you are running the Photoshop beta
When the Photoshop beta opens, it looks just like the official Photoshop release.
Here it has opened to the Home Screen.
To confirm that you are running the beta version, on a Windows PC, open the Help menu in the Menu Bar and choose About Photoshop. On a Mac, you'll see Photoshop (Beta) in the Menu Bar (where it normally just says Photoshop). But if you want further confirmation, you can click on it and choose About Photoshop.
The About screen will display Adobe Photoshop (Beta). The version number shown here may be different when you download it. Click anywhere to close the screen.
The Beta Feedback button and dialog box
So now that you’ve installed and opened the Photoshop beta, how do you know which upcoming features are available to try out? And where do you find them? All the information you need is in the Beta Feedback dialog box.
Once you move from the Home Screen to Photoshop’s main interface (by creating a new document or opening an image), you’ll find a Beta Feedback button in the upper right (next to the Share button). The Beta Feedback button is another way to tell that you are running the beta version. Click the button to open the Beta Feedback dialog box.
The Beta overview screen
In the dialog box, the main Beta overview screen tells you how many beta features are currently available for review. At the time I’m writing this, there are two features (a Photo Restoration Neural Filter and Multi-Image Content-Aware Fill). You’ll also find links to report a bug, submit an idea, visit the Photoshop beta community, or get help. Clicking any of these links will open Adobe’s website in your browser.
Learning more about a beta feature
To learn more about a specific beta feature, including where to find it, click on its name under Review features in the column along the left.
Here you'll find details about what the feature does (or at least, what it's supposed to do) and how to use it.
Unfortunately, some of the information is incorrect at the time I'm writing this. For example, it’s telling me that the Photo Restoration Neural Filter is found under the File menu when it’s actually found under the Filter menu (Filter > Neural Filters > Photo Restoration). Hopefully this will be corrected in the near future.
How to provide feedback on a beta feature
Once you’ve tried out a beta feature, be sure to let Adobe know what you think of it so far.
After trying the Photo Restoration Neural Filter (which I will cover in a separate tutorial), I think it’s very impressive but still needs work.
So in the panel along the right, under Are you satisfied with the results?
, I’ll click No.
A dialog box opens where you can provide Adobe with more details. Click the Submit button to send them, or click Skip to cancel.
And there we have it! That’s how to download and install the Photoshop beta release, preview upcoming features, provide feedback, and help shape the future of Photoshop!
Be sure to check out my tutorials on the Photoshop's latest official features, like the improved Object Selection Tool and the more powerful Select Subject command. And don't forget, all of my tutorials are now available to download as PDFs!