Adobe Adds New Smudge and Sponge Tools to Photoshop for iPad

Adobe today updated its Photoshop for iPad app, introducing two tools that were previously unavailable to bring the iPad version of the app more in line with Photoshop for desktop.

adobe photoshop ipad smudge
With the new Smudge tool, Photoshop for ‌iPad‌ users can blend colors in their images, and with the Sponge tool, different areas of an image can be saturated or desaturated.

According to Adobe, the Smudge tool is able to mimic the effect of a finger running through wet paint, and it can also be used to smudge lines and blend two or more colors together. The Smudge tool can be accessed from the Adjustment tool options.

The Sponge tool can be used to enhance the vibrancy of colors in specific areas of an image, or mute the colors. As with the Smudge tool, the Sponge tool is available by tapping on the Adjustment tools icon.

Today's update also introduces options for adjusting the white balance for Camera Raw images and there are now labels for the tool icons that can be seen when you over over them.

Both tools work well with either a finger or an Apple Pencil, with Adobe recommending an ‌Apple Pencil‌ for the best results.

Photoshop for iPad is available through Adobe's Creative Cloud plans, which are priced starting at $9.99 for the Photography plan. The Photography plan includes Lightroom for desktop and mobile, Lightroom Classic, Photoshop on desktop and ‌iPad‌, and 20GB of cloud storage. A Photoshop-only subscription is also available for $20.99 per month, and that plan includes 100GB storage.

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 10 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...

Top Rated Comments

MadGoat Avatar
46 months ago

I hate Adobe’s subscription plan for Photoshop. Would actually think about buying it if it was a one of lump sum of maybe 30-50 bucks.
Get Affinity Photo. It's almost as full fledged as photoshop and it's a one time payment (Per platform). I bought it during black Friday, and I will be letting my adobe sub expire in Feb when it's up for renewal, because it's that good.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
breather Avatar
46 months ago
I hate Adobe’s subscription plan for Photoshop. Would actually think about buying it if it was a one of lump sum of maybe 30-50 bucks.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
46 months ago
Smudge and sponge tool existed on Photoshop 3.0 in 1994.
A Mac back then was maxed out with a 200 MHz single core cpu and 128 MB of RAM and typically had a 2 GB hard drive.

The iPad is finally now getting a 27 year old editing tool that worked fine on a machine 20X less powerful.
Exciting!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
1284814 Avatar
46 months ago
Afinity photo- for those that hate subscription
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ruka.snow Avatar
46 months ago

I hate Adobe’s subscription plan for Photoshop. Would actually think about buying it if it was a one of lump sum of maybe 30-50 bucks.
How about $899 one of payment then you need to buy version 2023 and 2025 for new features and new camera RAW support?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cupcakes2000 Avatar
46 months ago

I hate Adobe’s subscription plan for Photoshop. Would actually think about buying it if it was a one of lump sum of maybe 30-50 bucks.
Well it was north of 800 before so good luck with that.

On another note I’m starting to like Photoshop on the iPad. It’s becoming a decent tool.

The only issue I have with the whole ecosystem (certainly ipad wise and the new ‘model’) is that you’re forced to use the cloud. I don’t mind the cloud, but ingesting a shoot with 2500 raws is just not feasible at the moment. There should still be lightroom classic type options of working from a drive.

The sub doesn’t bother me. It’s far cheaper (at least a more manageable ongoing expense) than huge thousand quid update every few years.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)