Photoshop CC 2015.5 New Features

Jesús RamirezJesús RamirezWhat's New in Photoshop
ByJesús Ramirez

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Your choices stick across every tutorial on this device.

Photoshop CC 2015.5 new features add five major upgrades for photographers and designers, including a face-aware retouching tool and a smarter way to crop and straighten photos.

In this post, I’ll share with you 5 Photoshop CC tutorials that showcase the exciting new features, for designers and digital photographers, in the CC 2015.5 release.

Note: These Photoshop CC 2015.5 new features shipped in version 17.0, released in June 2016. Every one of them still works the same way in the current version of Photoshop.

Key Takeaways

  • Match Font can identify a font from a photo and suggest close matches from fonts already installed and from Adobe Fonts.
  • The Select and Mask workspace replaced the old Refine Edge and Refine Mask dialogs with one dedicated space for cutting out subjects.
  • Face-Aware Liquify finds eyes, noses and mouths on its own, so a portrait retouch no longer needs pins placed by hand.
  • Content-Aware Crop fills in the new corners created when you rotate or expand a canvas, instead of leaving transparent gaps.
  • Photoshop CC 2015.5 also sped up everyday tasks: opening files, Content-Aware Fill and the Font menu all got measurably faster.

Table of contents

What You Will Learn

  • How to use Face-Aware Liquify to retouch or reshape a face automatically.
  • How to straighten and crop a photo with Content-Aware Crop.
  • How to find a font from an image with Match Font.
  • How to apply alternate glyphs to stylized text.
  • How to cut out a subject with the Select and Mask workspace.

Requirements

Before you start

Photoshop CC Tutorials Covering The New Features

I’ll cover some of the significant upgrades, and you can also read below to see a bird’s-eye view of all the changes and for links to resources offering more information.

Face-Aware Liquify

This new feature in the Liquify filter automatically identifies eyes, noses, mouths, and other facial features, making it easy to adjust. Great for retouching portraits or distorting faces.
Watch the video: Face-Aware Liquify in Photoshop CC 2015.5

Content-Aware Crop

This new checkbox in the Crop tool allows Photoshop to use Content-Aware technology to intelligently fill in the gaps. This happens when you rotate an image or expand your canvas beyond the image’s original size.
Watch the video: Content-Aware Crop in Photoshop CC 2015.5

Match Font

Photoshop can now analyze, identify, and match Latin fonts from an image or photo with the Match Font feature. This takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect font for your design.

Photoshop returns two sets of close-matching fonts; the first is a list of fonts installed on your machine, and the second is fonts available for download on Typekit.
Watch the video: Match Font in Photoshop CC 2015.5

Note: Adobe renamed Typekit to Adobe Fonts in 2018. Match Font still works the same way, it just pulls its downloadable matches from Adobe Fonts now.

Alternate Glyphs

This feature allows you to apply alternate glyphs for specific characters directly from an in-context menu when you highlight your text.
Watch the video: Alternate Glyphs in Photoshop CC 2015.5

Select and Mask Space

This new dedicated Select and Mask workspace helps you make precise selections and masks more efficiently than ever.

Use tools like the Refine Edge Brush to cleanly separate foreground and background elements. This new feature replaces the old Refine Edge and Refine Mask dialogs.
Watch the video: Select and Mask in Photoshop CC 2015.5

Note: Photoshop 19.1 (October 2017) added a one-click Select Subject button to the Select and Mask workspace. It can now make most of the initial selection for you, before you refine it with the Refine Edge Brush shown here.

Additional New Features Not Covered In The 5 Photoshop CC Tutorials

Better collaboration with Libraries

Manage distribution of read-only Creative Cloud Libraries so they can be used by team members but not changed or deleted.

Updated Libraries panel

Find the assets you need faster with the new filtered search of Adobe Stock in the Libraries panel, plus icons that make it easy to identify licensed Stock assets.

Everyday tasks, accelerated

Photoshop CC opens documents faster and delivers greater responsiveness. Plus, Content-Aware Fill is up to 3X faster with even better results, and the Font menu shows lists of fonts up to 4X faster.

Improved Artboards

Now, you can duplicate a layer or layer group into other Artboards, quickly change artboard backgrounds, and view artboards with transparent backgrounds.

Export enhancements

A new checkbox makes it simple and easy to embed color profiles in PNG or JPG files.

And so much more
See full release notes 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Face-Aware Liquify in Photoshop?

Face-Aware Liquify is a feature in the Liquify filter that automatically finds eyes, noses, mouths and other facial features. It lets you adjust them without placing pins by hand, which makes it useful for retouching portraits or exaggerating a face for effect.

What does Content-Aware Crop do in Photoshop?

Content-Aware Crop is a checkbox in the Crop tool. When it is on, Photoshop uses Content-Aware technology to fill in the new corners created when you rotate an image or expand the canvas past the photo’s original edges.

How does Match Font work in Photoshop?

Match Font analyzes the letters in a photo or image and compares them against installed fonts and Adobe Fonts. It returns two lists so you can find a close match without guessing the typeface by eye.

What are Alternate Glyphs in Photoshop?

Alternate Glyphs let you swap in a different version of a character, such as a stylized ligature, from an in-context menu. Highlight the text and Photoshop shows every alternate available for that font.

What replaced Refine Edge and Refine Mask in Photoshop?

The Select and Mask workspace replaced both the old Refine Edge and Refine Mask dialogs. It gives selections and masks their own dedicated space, with tools like the Refine Edge Brush to clean up foreground and background edges.

What version of Photoshop is CC 2015.5?

Photoshop CC 2015.5 is version 17.0, released in June 2016. Every feature in this post shipped in that release and still works the same way in the current version of Photoshop.

Is Typekit still part of Photoshop’s Match Font feature?

No. Adobe renamed Typekit to Adobe Fonts in 2018. Match Font still works the same way, it just pulls its downloadable matches from Adobe Fonts now.

Wrapping Up the Photoshop CC 2015.5 New Features

That wraps up the five biggest Photoshop CC 2015.5 new features: Face-Aware Liquify, Content-Aware Crop, Match Font, Alternate Glyphs and the Select and Mask workspace.

None of them require anything exotic. Open the tool, follow the steps in the clip for that feature, and you are using the same workflow professionals still rely on today.

Watch each video above for the full walkthrough, and comment on the video with any question.

Pro Training

Selections and Masking Mastery

Complete course includes 2.5 hours of step-by-step lessons, 6 structured modules, downloadable practice files, and custom Photoshop brushes. Everything you need to master selections and masks in one place.

View the Course

Keep going

Next, see what’s new in the current version of Photoshop.

Previous Photoshop Updates

This post is the CC 2015.5 entry in the series of Photoshop version write-ups.

Jesús Ramirez

About the author

Jesús Ramirez

Jesús Ramirez is a graphic designer and the founder of the Photoshop Training Channel, which he started in 2012 and has grown past two million YouTube subscribers. He has taught at Adobe MAX, Adobe Summit, and Photoshop World, teaches courses for CreativeLive and Pluralsight, and was one of five artists chosen for Adobe Stock's Make a Masterpiece campaign. His Photoshop templates shipped inside Photoshop CC 2018.

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26 Comments

  10. I am also using Photoshop-cc It is really a great image editing software. I am also happy with your tutorial which will help me to do better. Thanks for the awesome video.

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