Apple

macOS 10.12 Sierra image, courtesy Apple Inc.

macOS 10.12 Sierra: Will Adobe software work?

Now that macOS 10.12 Sierra is available from the Mac App Store, you’re probably wondering whether your Adobe software will work in the new Mac operating system.

With every Mac system upgrade, information about compatibility is often not available on the first day the new system is available, and emerges over time. If you use your Mac to run a business or as a serious hobby, do not upgrade to Sierra until you’re prepared to recover if things don’t work out. (That applies to any operating system upgrade on any device.) Wait until you are confident that all of your software and hardware is compatible, then back up everything, then upgrade. With that in mind, here’s what I know so far about the state of Adobe software in Sierra.

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9.7-inch iPad Pro

iPad Pro 9.7 inch and iOS 9.3: Color management progress

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro and iOS 9.3 demonstrate that Apple is gradually implementing color management in iOS, and has made it available to developers. While the presence of color management isn’t obvious on the surface, Apple has added multiple new features that would typically depend on color management.

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30-bit display color is now supported by OS X and Photoshop

For many years, Photoshop users and other graphics professionals have wanted proper support for 10-bits-per-channel video displays (also known as 30-bit when counting the three RGB channels together) on Macs. This isn’t about the file format, but the data path to the video monitor. The 8 bits per channel displays almost all of us use today may show banding when displaying gradients, especially in grayscale images, shadows, and in colors dominated by a single channel. That banding goes away on 10bpc displays because of the additional display levels available to each channel.

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Curious about Astropad? I reviewed it for CreativePro.com

Walk into a graphic design or photography studio and you’ll probably see a graphics tablet on the desk. With an app called Astropad you can use an iPad or iPhone as a graphics tablet for a Mac, painting and drawing with your finger or stylus. Astropad even supports pressure sensitivity with a compatible stylus or with 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But how close does it get to using a Wacom graphics tablet?

To see what I think, read Review: Astropad, published on CreativePro.com.

Astropad review on CreativePro.com

A look at the P3 color gamut of the iMac display (Retina, Late 2015)

iMac 27
The Late 2015 Retina iMac includes the first wide gamut display that Apple has made for a Mac, able to reproduce colors well outside the sRGB color gamut. I had questions about the P3 color gamut of the new iMac, so I went over to my local Apple Store to check it out.

Up to this point it’s been a conscious choice to buy a wide gamut monitor. I made that choice when I connected a wide gamut NEC PA272w to my Mac Pro. But now the P3 display is built into all of the new 4K and 5K Retina iMacs, so Retina iMac buyers will now be working with a wide gamut display whether they know it or not. While using a wide gamut monitor is generally a good thing, it can involve certain color challenges.

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