Background
When the Move tool was introduced back in Photoshop 3.0, it used the now familiar "arrow up and down and arrow left and right" icon in the Toolbar. In the next version, Photoshop 4.0, the Toolbar icon was changed so it became a hybrid of the previous icon and the cursor arrow. This didn't change for many versions of Photoshop until the CC 2015 release, when it reverted back to its original "arrow up and down and arrow left and right" icon in the Toolbar, keeping the hybrid version for the cursor when the Move tool is active.
Currently
The Photoshop on the web (beta) uses the Select icon from Adobe's Spectrum design system for the Move tool:
Issues
- Spectrum has been designed to provide consistency across all platforms. By using the Select icon instead of the Move icon, it introduces inconsistency between the desktop and web versions of Photoshop. Many Photoshop on the web users are going to come from having used the desktop version, and it is highly likely that their first question will be, "Where's the Move tool gone?"
- Furthermore, it introduces inconsistency between Adobe applications. For example, Adobe XD has a Select tool which uses the Select icon and it is also located at the top of the Toolbar, just like Photoshop on the web (beta). It is probable that many team members and stakeholders will use both these applications for reviewing and commenting on design work, and so it is important that the correct icons are used for each tool otherwise "light" users are likely to become confused over what the tools actually do.
Whilst the Move tool in Photoshop often acts in a similar manner to the Select tool in XD, this is only when the Auto-Select option is set to Layer. Generally, they are very different tools, e.g. you cannot click and drag and select multiple items with the Move tool, but this is a very commonly used technique with the Select tool in XD. - Hopefully, Photoshop on the web will gain some vector functionality in the future. If that is the case, which icon will Photoshop on the web use for the Direct Selection tool if the Select icon has already been used for the Move tool?
Suggestion
Change the Move tool icon in the Toolbar to the Move icon for the sake of consistency between Photoshop versions and other Adobe applications, along with some future-proofing:
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