Nathan Carr
Adobe Fellow
San Jose, CA
Dr. Nathan Carr is a research scientist and Fellow that leads a large organization inside of Adobe Research focused on inventing the next generation experiences for creative designers. These deep innovations have transformed Adobe’s leading creative suite of products which include Photoshop, Illustrator, Substance Stager, AfterEffects, Fresco, Aero, among many others.
His organization focuses on breakthrough science in generative imaging technology, forward and inverse 2D and 3D rendering, which includes the capture and understanding of shape, material, lighting, and animation. These technologies are unlocking the next generation of photographic editing workflows and expanding the palette of tools for creative designers. By combining forward and inverse techniques, new intelligent assistive systems can increase the velocity of the design process when working vectors, images, 3D, and video. These technologies are also paving the way for entirely new mediums of expression that include augmented and virtual reality.
Nathan’s personal research interests include forward and inverse geometric modeling and rendering. A driving goal behind this work is to uncover simpler representations that can accelerate and democratize working and designing in 3D. His work in 3D shape reconstruction has not only considered geometric form, but also the topology of spaces. He co-invented kCurves, the basis for a new Curvature Tool shipping in Illustrator and Photoshop. This a technology was also presented at SIGGRAPH 2017. Nathan also is passionate about photorealistic 3D rendering and helped develop the renderer inside of Substance Stager and Illustrator. He joined Adobe after completing his PhD. from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under the guidance of John C. Hart.
Publications
Normal-guided Garment UV Prediction for Human Re-texturing
Highlight (10% of accepted papers, 2.5% of submissions)
News
Turntable and Project Turn Style: A fresh spin on your original art
Rotating a screen with Turntable (Zhiqin Chen, Adobe Stock image) Audiences got their first sneak peek of Adobe Research’s Project Turntable on the Adobe MAX stage. The new tool allows artists to spin their own 2D vector art to different angles, much like artists can
January 29, 2026Photoshop turns 35: How Adobe Research helps keep creatives on the cutting edge
35 years of Photoshop! From early masking tools to today’s generative AI, Adobe Research has fueled breakthroughs that push the boundaries of creativity—turning bold ideas into everyday magic for creators worldwide.
September 15, 2025AI-powered Mockup feature lets designers visualize logos and decals in the 3D world
Adobe Illustrator's new AI-driven Mockup feature, unveiled at Adobe MAX 2022 as Project Vector Edge, is now in beta. Dive into the behind-the-scenes story of how Adobe Research scientists partnered with the product team to bring this tool to life for Adobe users!
December 19, 2023Research trends: The future of computer graphics—and the tools we’ll use to create them
Nathan Carr, an Adobe Research Senior Principal Scientist with a focus on computer graphics, gave us a peek into the future of 2D and 3D imaging. He also shared his vision for how we’ll interact with creative tools in the future.
March 28, 2022Fresco: The Future of Painting, Born of a Union of Art and Science
A partnership of scientists and artists at Adobe Research set out to revolutionize the digital painting medium. Together, they created Fresco, Adobe's mobile painting app.
March 27, 2020