Adobe Photoshop for macOS

Photoshop 27.10 expects macOS 14 and runs natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. If you have an older machine, you will need an earlier version of the app — this build won't launch below Ventura. It ships as a .dmg with an installer that sorts out its own plug‑in folders and Adobe UXP storage paths.

Retouch a portrait

The new Light adjustment layer lets you reshape lighting non‑destructively, so you can push shadows and highlights around without baking anything into the pixels. Layer stacks keep your original image safe underneath while you paint, heal, and clone.

Generate a composite with markup

Markup and Prompt to Edit feed visual annotations and text instructions straight into the AI‑assisted editor. You draw a rough area, add a note, and the engine generates a matching object or background — handy for rapid comps and packaging mock‑ups.

Control what formats save

You can now prune the Save As and Save a Copy dialogs so only the file types you actually use appear. Fewer clicks when you are bouncing between .psd, .tiff, and .png for web banners or print‑ready posters.

How does Photoshop compare with Affinity Photo, Pixelmator Pro, and GIMP?

Affinity Photo 2 and Pixelmator Pro are the two native Mac apps most often mentioned alongside Photoshop 27.10. Affinity Photo shares the layer‑based, non‑destructive philosophy and handles .psd import reasonably well, but it lacks anything like Prompt to Edit or Markup. Its strength is a one‑time purchase model and tight Metal‑based rendering. Pixelmator Pro leans harder into machine learning — Super Resolution and ML Match Colors are genuinely clever — yet its brush engine and type tools are simpler than Photoshop’s. If your work involves preparing files for prepress, co‑editing with studios, or relying on a mature plug‑in ecosystem, neither alternative catches up.

GIMP runs on macOS through XQuartz or a bundled GTK layer. It gives you a deep toolset at zero cost, but 16‑bit per channel support is still partial, and the interface feels disconnected from the rest of macOS. No Apple silicon native build exists from the main project. Photoshop 27.10, for all its complexity, integrates properly with Spaces, handles window restoration after a restart, and respects the system appearance setting.

Overwriting your only original with a destructive save

Destructive edits top the list. A new user opens a JPEG, crops it, hits Save instead of Save a Copy, and overwrites the only original. Always duplicate the Background layer first — Cmd‑J — or save as a .psd before you touch anything.

Another common slip is ignoring the Workspace menu. Photoshop ships with task‑specific layouts — Photography, Painting, Motion — that hide panels you don’t need. Beginners often leave every panel docked and then complain the canvas is too small.

Over‑using the Magic Wand instead of the one‑click Select Subject or Object Selection tools is the third habit worth breaking. The AI‑driven selection in 27.10 is faster and cleaner, especially on busy backgrounds.

Prune the new customizable Save As list to your formats

Set your preferred file formats in the File Handling preferences straight away. The customizable Save As list is new in this release, so prune it to .psd, .tiff, and .png or whatever your pipeline needs. It saves a surprising number of menu trips.

Install the Neural Filters Pack immediately if you extracted it from the .dmg. The filters live inside ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/UXP/plugins. After copying, restart Photoshop and check Filter > Neural Filters to confirm they appear. If the panel shows placeholders, the pack isn’t in the right folder.

Pin the Light adjustment layer to your toolbar. It lives in the Adjustments panel, but dragging its icon to the toolbar turns it into a one‑click action for non‑destructive lighting tweaks.

Bind a shortcut to Prompt to Edit. Out of the box it has no keyboard shortcut; assigning one through Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts makes the feature feel like a natural part of your flow rather than a menu dive.

How does Photoshop fit alongside other Mac apps and system features?

Photoshop 27.10 taps into Finder tags when you use File > Open — tagged assets are browsable without leaving the dialog. Clipboard exchange with Illustrator and InDesign keeps vector paths editable if you paste as a Path rather than pixels. For motion work, holding Shift while dragging a still into After Effects maintains the layer position, useful when you are building a storyboard from a multi‑layer .psd.

macOS Continuity Markup is the stealth helper: right‑click any image in Finder, choose Markup, and you can scribble annotations that Photoshop reads as flattened overlays when you open the file later. It is a fast way to rough out client notes before you even launch the app.

The Share menu routes flattened copies to Mail, Messages, or AirDrop directly; Photoshop respects the system share sheet, so exporting a comp for a quick review takes two clicks. If you use Focus modes, Photoshop’s full‑screen mode pairs well with a custom Focus that silences notifications during retouching sessions.

A packaging designer’s afternoon

A designer opens a dieline from Illustrator as a Smart Object in a 300 dpi canvas. They use the new Markup tool to sketch a rough burst shape behind the product name, then type “retro sunburst rays, screen‑print texture” into Prompt to Edit. The generated layer lands as a separate, masked smart object, so the dieline remains untouched beneath. A Light adjustment layer warms the scene, and the Shadows slider pulls detail back into the folds of the bag mock‑up. Before sending the flat to the printer, they run File > Save a Copy — the custom format list shows only .tiff and .psd, no hunting past JPEG or PNG entries. The client approves, and the layered .psd stays ready for the next SKU variant without rebuilding a single mask.

Adobe ships the 27.11 maintenance update for Photoshop 2026 with the latest internal corrections and modest rendering tweaks.

• macOS 14 or later
• Apple Silicon or Intel 64-bit