Why Does Photoshop Require "Accepting" Transformations? Seeking Understanding + Feature Request

[Juno Sprite 007]

Photoshop Version: 26.7.0 (2025)
Platform: macOS Sequoia 15.5 (24F74) on Apple M1 Max

My Core Question

I've been using Photoshop for over a decade now, and I'm genuinely curious about the fundamental design decision behind transformation workflows. Why does Photoshop require users to "accept" or "commit" transformations instead of applying changes in real-time as you make them?

Currently, transformations require an extra step:

• Clicking the "Done" checkmark in the options bar
• Pressing Enter/Return on the keyboard
• Double-clicking inside the bounding box

 

The UX Question I'm Wrestling With

From a workflow perspective, this extra "commit" step feels redundant to me. When I'm scaling, rotating, or moving an object, I can see the changes happening in real-time. So why the additional confirmation step?

Other design software I've used applies transformations immediately as you manipulate objects. You can always undo if you make a mistake, but there's no modal "transformation state" that requires explicit acceptance. To add to this, the undo steps are different depending on if you're inside this "transformation state" or outside of it. This causes me, personally, to make mistakes when undoing certain changes, leading me to have to manually edit the same part again.

What I'm Curious About

I'd love to understand the reasoning behind this design choice:

• What problem does the commit requirement solve?
• What would break if transformations applied immediately?
• Is this tied to Photoshop's layer system or undo architecture?
• Was this always the design, or did it evolve this way for specific reasons?

My Feature Request

I humbly request a preference setting that would allow users to disable the transformation commit requirement entirely. Transformations would apply immediately as you make them, just like moving objects with the Move tool.

For users who prefer the current modal approach, the setting could remain enabled by default.

To Adobe Team Members

I'm genuinely trying to understand the design philosophy behind it. If there are technical or UX reasons why immediate transforms wouldn't work well, I'd love to learn about them.

Understanding the "why" would help me (and I suspect many other users) work more effectively within the current system, even if the feature request isn't feasible.

To Fellow Users

Does anyone have insights into why this workflow exists? Or have you found ways to make the transformation process feel more fluid?

I'm also curious if other users would find value in an "immediate transforms" option, or if I'm missing something about why the current approach is beneficial.

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TL;DR: Curious about the design reasoning behind requiring users to "accept" transformations with an extra click/keypress. Requesting a preference to make transforms apply immediately, like other design tools.

[melissapiccone]

Transformations in Photoshop are destructive when working with pixels. If you tranform in Illustrator or InDesign, the tranformation is not destructive. I want to make sure that I'm fully comitted to the transformation in PS - I might be making something smaller that is not a smart object and essentially tossing away tons of pixels and information. This can't happen accidentally, which is exaclty what would happen if I didn't have to commit to my choice. It's habbit and super quick to just click return / enter when ready. 

[davescm]

This - 100%.
An argument could be made that it would be unnecessary when transforming a smart object, but then we would end up with two differing methods, one requiring confirmation and one not.
Dave

[Conrad_C]

Which applications are you thinking of where you don’t have to commit the transformation? Are they vector graphics editors or pixel graphics editors?

[Trevor.Dennis]

I hear where you are coming from, as I hate moving the cursor a millimetre more than I absolutely have to.  I never use the Option bar to commit a Transform. I use the CTB when it it is convenient, but I usually move the cursor just far enough to the right for the Rotate cursor to change back to the normal pointer cursor, and click on the UI background.  For some reason, sideways movements seem less of a pain than long vertical movements.

[ExUSA]

Probably performance. When you are doing a transform, Photoshop displays a proxy and then shows the actual transform when you accept it. Considering how often I do transforms and how much adjustment is sometimes needed, I think the current method works just fine. I'm voting no on this request. There are plenty of other things that the developers need to fix first.