I’ve been using the new features of CC 2019 since late last year, when they were released. I’ve tried to not immediately turn off the ones that have been driving me crazy the most, but some of them can’t be turned off.

Photoshop CC 2019

There are several new features that are amazing, but there are a couple that are annoying a LOT of long time Photoshop users like me

Constrain – traditionally, when transforming content, you’ve had to hold down the ‘shift’ key to keep it proportional. In the current version, holding shift does the opposite! If you really can’t adjust to it, there’s a way to turn it off in the General Preferences, but I’d suggest that keeping things proportional should be the default.

Edit > Undo – has always been different than Illustrator and InDesign, so one could easily toggle back and forth between a ‘before and after’ view (eg. undo, then redo an adjustment). Now, the standard cmd/ctrl+Z shortcut performs multiple undos, like the other programs. (this behaviour can also be changed by going to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts, then turning on the ‘Use Legacy Undo Shortcuts’ option)

Edit > Content-Aware Fill – an amazing feature that’s been around since CS5 has had a huge upgrade, giving it a ‘modal interface’ and several tweaks to the workflow. You have much better control over what is being filled and (more importantly) what is being sampled. It takes a good thing and makes it better. I posted a short video about it here.

Illustrator CC 2019

Free Form Gradients – Linear and radial gradients have been part of the program for a long time. Gradient Mesh can make more complex gradients, but can be confusing for users. Freeform gradients make it fast and easy to create complex gradients that are much easier to modify than other kinds of gradients. See it in action in this short video!

Start Global Edit – this amazing new feature that allows you to select, then edit multiple ‘similar’ objects at once. You’ll find it under the Select menu. This concept can be approached in other ways, but this is so fast and easy!

InDesign CC 2019

Content Aware Fit – Object > Fitting has included Fill Content Proportionally and Fit Content Proportionally for as long as InDesign has been around. This new addition uses Adobe Sensei (artificial intelligence) to automatically fit the important content of the image within the frame. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s truly amazing. Check it out!

Import PDF Comments – File > Import PDF Comments makes the process of applying edits from a PDF with comments applied back into your InDesign document a breeze. You can even import comments from multiple reviewers. Have a look at this more detailed post.