Adobe Photoshop is a
raster graphics editor
A raster graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to create and edit images interactively on the computer screen and save them in one of many raster graphics file formats (also known as bitmap images) such as JPEG, PNG, and GI ...
developed and published by
Adobe Inc.
Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...
for
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
. It was originally created in 1988 by
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
and
John Knoll
John Knoll (born October 6, 1962) is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer (CCO) at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop (along with his brother, Thomas Knoll), he has also ...
. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in
raster graphics
upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...
editing, but in
digital art
Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media.
Since the 1960s, various names ...
as a whole. The software's name is often colloquially used as a verb (e.g. "to photoshop an image", "
photoshopping
Photograph manipulation involves the transformation or alteration of a photograph using various methods and techniques to achieve desired results. Some photograph manipulations are considered to be skillful artwork, while others are consider ...
", and "
photoshop contest
A Photoshop contest, or sometimes Photoshop battle (often abbreviated to PS Battle), is an online game, in which a website or user of an Internet forum will post a starting image — usually a photograph — and ask others to manipulate the image ...
") although Adobe discourages such use.
Photoshop can edit and compose raster images in multiple layers and supports
masks
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...
,
alpha compositing
In computer graphics, alpha compositing or alpha blending is the process of combining one image with a background to create the appearance of partial or full transparency. It is often useful to render picture elements (pixels) in separate pas ...
and several
color model
A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components. When this model is associated with a precise description of how the compon ...
s including
RGB
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additiv ...
,
CMYK
The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...
,
CIELAB
The CIELAB color space, also referred to as ''L*a*b*'' , is a color space defined by the International Commission on Illumination (abbreviated CIE) in 1976. (Referring to CIELAB as "Lab" without asterisks should be avoided to prevent confusion ...
,
spot color
In offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a ''single run'', whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors.
The widespread offset ...
, and
duotone
Duotone (sometimes also known as ''Duplex'') is a halftone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting color halftone over another color halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an ...
. Photoshop uses its own PSD and PSB file formats to support these features. In addition to raster graphics, Photoshop has limited abilities to edit or render text and
vector graphics
Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display a ...
(especially through
clipping path
A clipping path (or "deep etch") is a closed vector path, or shape, used to cut out a 2D image in image editing software. Anything inside the path will be included after the clipping path is applied; anything outside the path will be omitted fro ...
for the latter), as well as
3D graphics
3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for the ...
and
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
. Its feature set can be expanded by
plug-ins; programs developed and distributed independently of Photoshop that run inside it and offer new or enhanced features.
Photoshop's naming scheme was initially based on
version number
Software versioning is the process of assigning either unique ''version names'' or unique ''version numbers'' to unique states of computer software. Within a given version number category (e.g., major or minor), these numbers are generally assig ...
s. However, in October 2002 (following the introduction of
Creative Suite
Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development application software, applications developed by Adobe Systems.
The last of the Creative Suite versions, Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6) ...
branding), each new version of Photoshop was designated with "CS" plus a number; e.g., the eighth major version of Photoshop was Photoshop CS and the ninth was Photoshop CS2. Photoshop CS3 through CS6 were also distributed in two different editions: Standard and Extended. With the introduction of the
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
branding in June 2013 (and in turn, the change of the "CS" suffix to "CC"), Photoshop's licensing scheme was changed to that of
software as a service
Software as a service (SaaS ) is a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. SaaS is also known as "on-demand software" and Web-based/Web-hosted software.
SaaS is con ...
subscription model. Historically, Photoshop was bundled with additional software such as
Adobe ImageReady,
Adobe Fireworks
Adobe Fireworks (formerly Macromedia Fireworks) was a bitmap and vector graphics editor, which Adobe acquired in 2005. Fireworks was made for web designers for rapidly creating website prototypes and application interfaces. Its features included ...
,
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Bridge is a free digital asset management app made by Adobe Inc. and first released with Adobe Creative Suite 2. It is a mandatory component of Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe eLearning Suite, Adobe Technical Communication Suite and Adobe Ph ...
,
Adobe Device Central
Adobe Device Central is a software program created and released by Adobe Systems as a part of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) in March 2007. Its primary purpose is to integrate parts of the Creative Suite together to offer both professional and i ...
and Adobe Camera RAW.
Alongside Photoshop, Adobe also develops and publishes Photoshop Elements,
Photoshop Lightroom, Photoshop Express, Photoshop Fix,
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc. Originally designed for the Apple Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began in 1985. Along with Creative Cloud (Adobe's shift to month ...
, and Photoshop Mix. As of November 2019, Adobe has also released a full version of Photoshop for the
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
, and while initially limited, Adobe plans to bring more features to Photoshop for iPad.
Collectively, they are branded as "The Adobe Photoshop Family".
Early history
Photoshop was developed in 1987 by two brothers
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
and
John Knoll
John Knoll (born October 6, 1962) is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer (CCO) at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop (along with his brother, Thomas Knoll), he has also ...
, who sold the distribution license to Adobe Systems Incorporated in 1988. Thomas Knoll, a Ph.D. student at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, began writing a program on his
Macintosh Plus
The Macintosh Plus computer is the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2,599. As an evolutiona ...
to display
grayscale
In digital photography, computer-generated imagery, and colorimetry, a grayscale image is one in which the value of each pixel is a single sample representing only an ''amount'' of light; that is, it carries only intensity information. Graysca ...
images on a monochrome display. This program (at that time called Display) caught the attention of his brother John, an
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
employee, who recommended that Thomas turn it into a full-fledged image editing program. Thomas took a six-month break from his studies in 1988 to collaborate with his brother on the program. Thomas renamed the program ImagePro, but the name was already taken.
Later that year, Thomas renamed his program Photoshop and worked out a short-term deal with scanner manufacturer Barneyscan to distribute copies of the program with a
slide scanner; a "total of about 200 copies of Photoshop were shipped" this way.
During this time, John traveled to
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
and gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
and Russell Brown, art director at
Adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
. Both showings were successful, and Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute in September 1988.
While John worked on
plug-ins in California, Thomas remained in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...
writing code. ''Photoshop'' 1.0 was released on February 19, 1990, for
Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
exclusively.
The Barneyscan version included advanced color editing features that were stripped from the first Adobe shipped version. The handling of color slowly improved with each release from Adobe and Photoshop quickly became the industry standard in digital color editing. At the time Photoshop 1.0 was released, digital retouching on dedicated high-end systems (such as the
Scitex
Suny Cellular Communication was known as Scitex Corporation Ltd. until December 2005 and Scailex Corporation Ltd. () until November 2016.
History
Scitex was an Israel-based multi-national company, founded by Efraim (Efi) Arazi in 1968, and w ...
) cost around $300 an hour for basic photo retouching. The list price of Photoshop 1.0 for Macintosh in 1990 was $895.
Photoshop was initially only available on Macintosh. In 1993, Adobe chief architect Seetharaman Narayanan
ported
In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...
Photoshop to
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
. The Windows port led to Photoshop reaching a wider
mass market
The term "mass market" refers to a market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end consumers. The mass market differs from the niche market in that the former focuses on consumers with a wide variety of backgrounds with ...
audience as
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's global reach expanded within the next few years. On March 31, 1995, Adobe purchased the rights for Photoshop from Thomas and John Knoll for $34.5 million so Adobe would no longer need to pay a royalty for each copy sold.
File format
Photoshop files have default file extension as .PSD, which stands for "Photoshop Document". A PSD file stores an image with support for all features of Photoshop; these include layers with
masks
A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practi ...
,
transparency, text,
alpha channels and
spot color
In offset printing, a spot color or solid color is any color generated by an ink (pure or mixed) that is printed using a ''single run'', whereas a process color is produced by printing a series of dots of different colors.
The widespread offset ...
s,
clipping path
A clipping path (or "deep etch") is a closed vector path, or shape, used to cut out a 2D image in image editing software. Anything inside the path will be included after the clipping path is applied; anything outside the path will be omitted fro ...
s, and
duotone
Duotone (sometimes also known as ''Duplex'') is a halftone reproduction of an image using the superimposition of one contrasting color halftone over another color halftone. This is most often used to bring out middle tones and highlights of an ...
settings. This is in contrast to many other file formats (e.g., .JPG or .GIF) that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality. A PSD file has a maximum height and width of 30,000 pixels, and a length limit of two gigabytes.
From the beginning, Photoshop could save files in other formats, including TIF, JPEG, and GIF. These files are smaller than PSD files because they lack the editable features of a PSD file. These formats are required to use the file in publications or on the web. Adobe's discontinued program
PageMaker
Adobe PageMaker (formerly Aldus) is a discontinued desktop publishing computer program introduced in 1985 by the Aldus Corporation on the Apple Macintosh. The combination of the Macintosh's graphical user interface, PageMaker publishing software, ...
required TIF format.
Photoshop can also create and use files with the extension .PSB, which stands for "Photoshop Big" (also known as "large document format"). A PSB file extends the PSD file format, increasing the maximum height and width to 300,000 pixels and the length limit to around 4
Exabyte
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...
s. The dimension limit was apparently chosen arbitrarily by Adobe, not based on computer arithmetic constraints (it is not close to a power of two, as is 30,000) but for ease of
software testing
Software testing is the act of examining the artifacts and the behavior of the software under test by validation and verification. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to apprecia ...
. PSD and PSB formats are documented.
Because of Photoshop's popularity, PSD files are widely used and supported to some extent by most competing software, including
GIMP
GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...
and
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is a raster graphics editor developed by Serif Ltd. for iOS, macOS, and Windows, alongside Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher. Development of Affinity Photo started in 2009 as a raster graphics editor for macOS. Its first ver ...
. The .PSD file format can be exported to and from Adobe's other apps, such as
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc. Originally designed for the Apple Macintosh, development of Adobe Illustrator began in 1985. Along with Creative Cloud (Adobe's shift to month ...
,
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is a timeline-based and non-linear video editing software application (NLE) developed by Adobe Inc. and published as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud licensing program. First launched in 2003, Adobe Premiere Pro is a succes ...
, and
After Effects
Adobe After Effects is a digital visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing application developed by Adobe Inc., and used in the post-production process of film making, video games and television production. Among other things, After Eff ...
.
Plugins
Photoshop functionality can be extended by add-on programs called
Photoshop plugin
Photoshop plugins (or plug-ins) are add-on programs aimed at providing additional image effects or performing tasks that are impossible or hard to fulfill using Adobe Photoshop alone. Plugins can be opened from within Photoshop and several other im ...
s (or plug-ins). Adobe creates some, such as Adobe Camera Raw, but most are developed by third-parties. Some are free and some are commercial software.
Most plugins work with only Photoshop or Photoshop-compatible hosts, but a few can also be run as standalone applications.
There are various types of plugins, such as filter, export, import, selection, color correction, and automation. The most popular plugins are the filter plugins (also known as a
8bf
Photoshop plugins (or plug-ins) are add-on programs aimed at providing additional image effects or performing tasks that are impossible or hard to fulfill using Adobe Photoshop alone. Plugins can be opened from within Photoshop and several other im ...
plugins), available under the Filter menu in Photoshop.
Filter plugins can either modify the current image or create content. Below are some popular types of plugins, and some well-known companies associated with them:
* Color correction plugins (Alien Skin Software, Nik Software, OnOne Software, Topaz Labs Software, The Plugin Site, etc.)
* Special effects plugins (Alien Skin Software, Auto FX Software, AV Bros., Flaming Pear Software, etc.)
* 3D effects plugins (Andromeda Software, Strata, etc.)
Adobe Camera Raw (also known as ACR and Camera Raw) is a special plugin, supplied free by Adobe, used primarily to read and process
raw image files so that the resulting images can be processed by Photoshop. It can also be used from within
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Bridge is a free digital asset management app made by Adobe Inc. and first released with Adobe Creative Suite 2. It is a mandatory component of Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe eLearning Suite, Adobe Technical Communication Suite and Adobe Ph ...
.
Cultural impact
''Photoshop'' and derivatives such as ''Photoshopped'' (or just ''Shopped'') have become verbs that are sometimes used to refer to images edited by Photoshop, or any image manipulation program. The same happens not only in English but as the
Portuguese Wikipedia entry for image manipulation attests, even in that language, with the trademark being followed by the Portuguese verb termination ''-ar,'' yielding the word "photoshopar" (to photoshop). Such derivatives are discouraged by Adobe
because, in order to maintain validity and protect the trademark from becoming
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
, trademarks must be used as
proper noun
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', ''Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
s.
Version history
Older versions
Photoshop's naming scheme was initially based on version numbers, from version 0.07 (codename "Bond"; double-oh-seven), through version 0.87 (codename "Seurat" which was the first commercial version, sold as "Barneyscan XP"), version 1.0 (February 1990) all the way to version 7.0.1. Adobe published 7 major and many minor versions before the October 2003 introduction of version 8.0 which brought with it the
Creative Suite
Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development application software, applications developed by Adobe Systems.
The last of the Creative Suite versions, Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6) ...
branding.
Notable milestone features would be: Filters, Colour Separation, Virtual Memory (1.0), Paths, CMYK color (2.0), 16-bits-per-channel support, availability on Microsoft Windows (2.5), Layers, tabbed Palettes (3.0), Adjustments, Actions, Freeform Transform, PNG support (4.0), Editable Type, Magnetic Lasso and Pen, Freeform Pen, Multiple Undo, Layer Effects (5.0), Save For Web (5.5), Vector Shapes, revised User Interface (6.0), Vector Text, Healing Brush, Spell Check (7.0), Camera RAW (7.0.1).
In February 2013 Adobe donated the
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
of the 1990 1.0.1 version of Photoshop to the
Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a museum of computer history, located in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the information age, and explores the computing revolution and its impact on ...
.
CS (version 8)
The first Photoshop CS was commercially released in October 2003 as the eighth major version of Photoshop. Photoshop CS increased user control with a reworked file browser augmenting search versatility, sorting and sharing capabilities and the Histogram Palette which monitors changes in the image as they are made to the document. Match Color was also introduced in CS, which reads color data to achieve a uniform expression throughout a series of pictures.
CS2 (version 9)
Photoshop CS2, released in May 2005, expanded on its predecessor with a new set of tools and features. It included an upgraded Spot Healing Brush, which is mainly used for handling common photographic problems such as blemishes, red-eye, noise, blurring and lens distortion. One of the most significant inclusions in CS2 was the implementation of Smart Objects, which allows users to scale and transform images and vector illustrations without losing image quality, as well as create linked duplicates of embedded graphics so that a single edit updates across multiple iterations.
Adobe responded to feedback from the professional media industry by implementing non-destructive editing as well as the producing and modifying of 32-Bit High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, which are optimal for
3D rendering
3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of converting 3D modeling, 3D models into 2D computer graphics, 2D images on a computer. 3D renders may include photorealistic rendering, photorealistic effects or non-photorealistic rendering, no ...
and advanced compositing. FireWire Previews could also be viewed on a monitor via a direct export feature.
Photoshop CS2 brought the Vanishing Point and Image Warping tools.
Vanishing Point makes tedious graphic and photo retouching endeavors much simpler by letting users clone, paint and transform image objects while maintaining visual perspective. Image Warping makes it easy to digitally distort an image into a shape by choosing on-demand presets or by dragging control points.
The File Browser was upgraded to Adobe Bridge, which functioned as a hub for productivity, imagery and creativity, providing multi-view file browsing and smooth cross-product integration across Adobe Creative Suite 2 software.
Adobe Bridge also provided access to
Adobe Stock Photos
Adobe Creative Suite (CS) is a discontinued software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development application software, applications developed by Adobe Systems.
The last of the Creative Suite versions, Adobe Creative Suite 6 (CS6) ...
, a new stock photography service that offered users one-stop shopping across five elite stock image providers to deliver high-quality, royalty-free images for layout and design.
Camera Raw version 3.0 was a new addition in CS2, and it allowed settings for multiple raw files to be modified simultaneously. In addition, processing multiple raw files to other formats including JPEG, TIFF, DNG or PSD, could be done in the background without executing Photoshop itself.
Photoshop CS2 brought a streamlined interface, making it easier to access features for specific instances. In CS2 users were also given the ability to create their own custom presets, which was meant to save time and increase productivity.
CS2 activation servers' shutdown: In January 2013, Adobe Photoshop CS2 (9.0), with some other CS2 products, was released with an official serial number, due to the technical glitch in Adobe's CS2 activation servers (
see Creative Suite 1 and 2).
CS3 (version 10)
![Adobe Photoshop CS3 icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Adobe_Photoshop_CS3_icon.png)
CS3 improves on features from previous versions of Photoshop and introduces new tools. One of the most significant is the streamlined interface which allows increased performance, speed, and efficiency. There is also improved support for
Camera RAW
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
files which allow users to process images with higher speed and conversion quality. CS3 supports over 150 RAW formats as well as
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
,
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...
and
PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
.
Enhancements were made to the Black and White Conversion, Brightness and Contrast Adjustment and Vanishing Point Module tools. The Black and White adjustment option improves control over manual grayscale conversions with a dialog box similar to that of Channel Mixer. There is more control over print options and better management with
Adobe Bridge
Adobe Bridge is a free digital asset management app made by Adobe Inc. and first released with Adobe Creative Suite 2. It is a mandatory component of Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe eLearning Suite, Adobe Technical Communication Suite and Adobe Ph ...
. The Clone Source palette is introduced, adding more options to the clone stamp tool. Other features include the nondestructive Smart Filters, optimizing graphics for mobile devices,
Fill Light and Dust Busting tools.
Compositing is assisted with Photoshop's new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools and improved
image stitching
Image stitching or photo stitching is the process of combining multiple photographic images with overlapping fields of view to produce a segmented panorama or high-resolution image. Commonly performed through the use of computer software, most app ...
technology.
CS3 Extended includes everything in CS3 and additional features. There are tools for 3D graphic file formats, video enhancement and animation, and comprehensive image measurement and analysis tools with
DICOM
Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the standard for the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. DICOM is most commonly used for storing and transmitting medical images enabling the integ ...
file support. The 3D graphic formats allow 3D content to be incorporated into 2D compositions. As for video editing, CS3 supports layers and video formatting so users can edit video files per frame.
CS3 and CS3 Extended were released in April 2007 to the United States and Canada. They were also made available through Adobe's online store and Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS3 and CS3 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Macs and
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
s, supporting
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
and
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
.
CS3 is the first release of Photoshop that will run natively on Macs with Intel processors: previous versions can only run through the translation layer
Rosetta
Rosetta or Rashid (; ar, رشيد ' ; french: Rosette ; cop, ϯⲣⲁϣⲓⲧ ''ti-Rashit'', Ancient Greek: Βολβιτίνη ''Bolbitinē'') is a port city of the Nile Delta, east of Alexandria, in Egypt's Beheira governorate. The Ro ...
, and will not run at all on Macs running
Mac OS X 10.7
OS X Lion, also known as Mac OS X Lion, (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers.
A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Speci ...
or later.
CS4 (version 11)
![Adobe Photoshop CS4 icon (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Adobe_Photoshop_CS4_icon_%282%29.png)
CS4 features smoother panning and zooming, allowing faster image editing at a high magnification. The interface is more simplified with its tab-based interface
making it cleaner to work with. Photoshop CS4 features a new 3D engine allowing the conversion of gradient maps to 3D objects, adding depth to layers and text, and getting print-quality output with the new ray-tracing rendering engine. It supports common 3D formats; the new Adjustment and Mask panels; content-aware scaling (
seam carving
Seam carving (or liquid rescaling) is an algorithm for content-aware image resizing, developed by Shai Avidan, of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL), and Ariel Shamir, of the Interdisciplinary Center and MERL. It functions by es ...
); fluid canvas rotation and File display options. The content-aware scaling allows users to intelligently size and scale images, and the canvas rotation tool makes it easier to rotate and edit images from any angle.
Adobe released Photoshop CS4 Extended, which has the features of Adobe Photoshop CS4, plus capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D, motion graphics, accurate image analysis and high-end film and video users. The faster 3D engine allows users to paint directly on 3D models, wrap 2D images around 3D shapes and animate 3D objects.
As the successor to Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS4 is the first
x64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first released in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mo ...
edition of Photoshop on consumer computers for Windows. The color correction tool has also been improved significantly.
CS4 and CS4 Extended were released on October 15, 2008. They were also made available through Adobe's online store and Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS4 and CS4 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS X and
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
s, supporting
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
and
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
.
CS5 (version 12)
![Adobe Photoshop CS5 icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Adobe_Photoshop_CS5_icon.svg)
Photoshop CS5 was launched on April 12, 2010. In a video posted on its official
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
page, the development team revealed the new technologies under development, including three-dimensional brushes and warping tools.
In May 2011, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) was released, with new versions of some of the applications. Its version of Photoshop, 12.1, is identical to the concurrently released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for support for the new subscription pricing that was introduced with CS5.5.
CS5 introduces new tools such as the Content-Aware Fill, Refine Edge, Mixer Brush, Bristle Tips and Puppet Warp. The community also had a hand in the additions made to CS5 as 30 new features and improvements were included by request. These include automatic image straightening, the Rule-of-Thirds cropping tool, color pickup, and saving a 16-bit image as a
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
. Another feature includes the Adobe Mini Bridge, which allows for efficient file browsing and management.
CS5 Extended includes everything in CS5 plus features in 3D and video editing. A new materials library was added, providing more options such as Chrome, Glass, and Cork. The new Shadow Catcher tool can be used to further enhance 3D objects. For motion graphics, the tools can be applied to over more than one frame in a video sequence.
CS5 and CS5 Extended were made available through Adobe's online store, Adobe Authorized Resellers and Adobe direct sales. Both CS5 and CS5 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or a feature of Adobe Creative Suite 5. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS X and
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
,
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
, and
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
.
CS6 (version 13)
![Adobe Photoshop CS6 icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Adobe_Photoshop_CS6_icon.png)
Photoshop CS6, released in May 2012, added new creative design tools and provided a redesigned interface
with a focus on enhanced performance. New features have been added to the Content-Aware tool such as the Content-Aware Patch and Content-Aware Move.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 brought a suite of tools for video editing. Color and exposure adjustments, as well as layers, are among a few things that are featured in this new editor. Upon completion of editing, the user is presented with a handful of options of exporting into a few popular formats.
CS6 brings the "straighten" tool to Photoshop, where a user simply draws a line anywhere on an image, and the canvas will reorient itself so that the line drawn becomes horizontal, and adjusts the media accordingly. This was created with the intention that users will draw a line parallel to a plane in the image, and reorient the image to that plane to more easily achieve certain perspectives.
CS6 allows background saving, which means that while another document is compiling and archiving itself, it is possible to simultaneously edit an image. CS6 also features a customizable auto-save feature, preventing any work from being lost.
With version 13.1.3, Adobe dropped support for
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
(including
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, released on April 25, 2005, is an edition of Windows XP for x86-64 personal computers. It is designed to use the expanded 64-bit memory address space provided by the x86-64 architecture.
The prima ...
); thus, the last version that works on Windows XP is 13.0.1. Adobe also announced that CS6 will be the last suite sold with perpetual licenses in favor of the new Creative Cloud subscriptions, though they will continue to provide
OS compatibility support as well as bug fixes and security updates as necessary.
Starting January 9, 2017, CS6 is no longer available for purchase, making a Creative Cloud license the only purchase option going forward. No more updates will be available for all CS6 software either.
CC (version 14)
Photoshop CC (14.0) was launched on June 18, 2013. As the next major version after CS6, it is only available as part of a
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
subscription. Major features in this version include new Smart Sharpen, Intelligent Upsampling, and Camera Shake Reduction for reducing blur caused by camera shake. Editable Rounded Rectangles and an update to Adobe Camera Raw (8.0) were also included.
Since the initial launch, Adobe has released two additional feature-bearing updates. The first, version 14.1, was launched on September 9, 2013. The major features in this version were Adobe Generator, a Node.js-based platform for creating plug-ins for Photoshop. Photoshop 14.1 shipped with two plug-ins, one to automatically generate image assets based on an extension in the layer name, and another to automatically generate assets for Adobe Edge Reflow.
Version 14.2 was released on January 15, 2014. Major features include Perspective Warp, Linked Smart Objects, and 3D Printing support.
CC 2014 (version 15)
Photoshop CC 2014 (15.0) was released on June 18, 2014. CC 2014 features improvements to content-aware tools, two new blur tools (spin blur and path blur) and a new focus mask feature that enables the user to select parts of an image based on whether they are in focus or not. Other minor improvements have been made, including speed increases for certain tasks.
CC 2015 (version 16 and version 17)
![Photoshop CC icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Photoshop_CC_icon.png)
Photoshop CC 2015 was released on June 15, 2015. Adobe added various creative features including Adobe Stock, which is a library of custom stock images. It also includes and have the ability to have more than one layer style. For example, in the older versions of Photoshop, only one shadow could be used for a layer but in CC 2015, up to ten are available. Other minor features like Export As, which is a form of the Save For Web in CC 2014 were also added. The updated UI as of November 30, 2015, delivers a cleaner and more consistent look throughout Photoshop, and the user can quickly perform common tasks using a new set of gestures on touch-enabled devices like Microsoft Surface Pro. CC 2015 also marks the 25th anniversary of Photoshop.
CC 2017 (version 18)
Photoshop CC 2017 was released on November 2, 2016. It introduced a new template selector when creating new documents, the ability to search for tools, panels and help articles for Photoshop, support for SVG OpenType fonts and other small improvements. In December 2016, a minor update was released to include support for the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.
CC 2018 (version 19)
Photoshop CC 2018 (version 19) was released on October 18, 2017. It featured an overhaul to the brush organization system, allowing for more properties (such as color and opacity) to be saved per-brush and for brushes to be categorized in folders and sub-folders. It also added brush stroke smoothing, and over 1000 brushes created by
Kyle T. Webster
Kyle T. Webster is an American illustrator, designer, author and educator.
His illustration work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, and other publications.
He is the founder of the KyleBrush brand of Adobe Photoshop brush ...
(following Adobe's acquisition of his website, KyleBrush.com). A Curvature Pen tool, similar to the one in
Illustrator
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
, was added, allowing for faster creation of
Bézier paths. Other additions were Lightroom Photo access, Variable font support, select subject, copy-paste layers, enhanced tooltips, 360 panorama and
HEIF
High Efficiency Image File Format (HEIF) is a container format for storing individual digital images and image sequences. The standard covers multimedia files that can also include other media streams, such as timed text, audio and video.
HEI ...
support, PNG compression, increased maximum zoom level, symmetry mode, algorithm improvements to Face-aware and selection tools, color and luminance range masking, improved image resizing, and performance improvements to file opening, filters, and brush strokes.
CC 2019 (version 20)
Photoshop CC 2019 was released on October 15, 2018. Beginning with Photoshop CC 2019 (version 20.0), the 32-bit version of Windows is no longer supported. This version Introduced a new tool called Frame Tool to create placeholder frames for images. It also added multiple undo mode, auto-commitment, and prevented accidental panel moves with lock work-space. Live blend mode previews are added, allowing for faster scrolling over different blend mode options in the layers panel. Other additions were Color Wheel, Transform proportionally without Shift key, Distribute spacing like in Illustrator, ability to see longer layer names, match font with Japanese fonts, flip document view, scale UI to font, reference point hidden by default, new compositing engine, which provides a more modern compositing architecture is added which is easier to optimize on all platforms.
2020 (version 21)
![Adobe Photoshop CC icon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Adobe_Photoshop_CC_icon.svg)
Photoshop 2020 was released on November 4, 2019. Version 21 has many new and enhanced features like the new object selection tool for better automate complex selections, new properties panel, enhanced transform warp, new keyboard shortcuts for paint & brush and background image removal option. It added several improvements to the new content-aware fill and to the new document tab. Also added were animated
GIF
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF; or , see pronunciation) is a bitmap image format that was developed by a team at the online services provider CompuServe led by American computer scientist Steve Wilhite and released on 15 June 1987. ...
support, improved lens blur performance and one-click zoom to a layer's contents. It introduced new swatches, gradients, patterns, shapes and stylistic sets for
OpenType
OpenType is a format for scalable computer fonts. It was built on its predecessor TrueType, retaining TrueType's basic structure and adding many intricate data structures for prescribing typographic behavior. OpenType is a registered trademark o ...
fonts. With this version users now can easily convert smart objects to layers and also can adjust 32-bit layers for brightness/contrast and curves. Presets are now more intuitive to use and easier to organize.
With the February 2020 update (version 21.1) Photoshop now can iteratively fill multiple areas of an image without having to leave content-aware fill workspace. This version improved GPU based lens blur quality and provided performance improvements, such as accelerating workflows with smoother panning, zooming and navigation of documents.
Version 21 was the first version where the
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
version was released. With Photoshop on the iPad, combined with the new Cloud PSD file format, a user can save cloud documents and work across Windows, Mac and iPad.
Photoshop on the iPad does not have all the features of the desktop Photoshop.
Adobe promises to update Photoshop on the iPad at "a much more aggressive pace than it has with its current Creative Cloud apps for the desktop".
Adobe has provided a timeline for enhancing Photoshop on the iPad to have more of the features of desktop Photoshop.
Version 21.2 of the desktop version was released in June 2020. It introduced faster portrait selection, Adobe Camera Raw improvements, auto-activated Adobe Fonts, rotatable patterns, and improved Match Font.
2021 (version 22)
Version 22.0.0 was released in October 2020.
Version 22.0.1 was released in November 2020.
Version 22.1.0 was released in December 2020.
Version 22.1.1 was released in January 2021.
Version 22.2 was released in February 2021.
Version 22.3 was released in March 2021. This is the first
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
release to run natively on
Apple silicon
Apple silicon is a series of system on a chip (SoC) and system in a package (SiP) processors designed by Apple Inc., mainly using the ARM architecture. It is the basis of most new Mac computers as well as iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Apple TV, a ...
.
Version 22.3.1 was released in April 2021.
Version 22.4 was released in May 2021.
Version 22.4.1 was released in May 2021.
Version 22.4.2 was released in June 2021.
Version 22.4.3 was released in July 2021.
Version 22.5 was released in August 2021.
Version 22.5.1 was released in September 2021.
2022 (version 23)
Version 23.0 was released in October 2021.
Content Credentials (Beta) was introduced. When enabled, the editing information is captured in a tamper-evident form and resides with the file through successive copy generations. It aligns with the C2PA standard on digital provenance across the internet.
Version 23.0.1 was released in November 2021.
Version 23.0.2 was released in November 2021.
Version 23.1 was released in December 2021.
Version 23.1.1 was released in January 2022.
Version 23.2 was released in February 2022.
Version 23.3 was released in April 2022.
Version 23.4 was released in June 2022.
Version 23.5 was released in August 2022.
2022 (version 24)
Version 24.0 was released in October 2022.
Adobe Photoshop family
The Adobe Photoshop family is a group of applications and services made by
Adobe Inc.
Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...
for the use of professional
image editing
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such a ...
. Several features of the Adobe Photoshop family are pixel manipulating, image organizing, photo retouching, and more.
Current applications
*
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
is an image organizer and
digital asset management
Digital asset management (DAM) and the implementation of its use as a computer application is required in the collection of digital assets to ensure that the owner, and possibly their delegates, can perform operations on the data files.
Termin ...
app. It features limited integration with other Adobe apps but has no editing capabilities of its own.
*
DNG Converter is a tool used to convert DNG files into other file formats.
*Elements Organizer is the
digital asset management
Digital asset management (DAM) and the implementation of its use as a computer application is required in the collection of digital assets to ensure that the owner, and possibly their delegates, can perform operations on the data files.
Termin ...
app for
Photoshop Elements
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
and
Premiere Elements. It is able to organize all your photos and video projects all in one place.
*Fresco is a mobile
drawing and painting app for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
, developed and marketed by
Adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
through
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
. It presently requires an
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
tablet with
Apple Pencil
Apple Pencil is a line of wireless stylus pen accessories designed and developed by Apple Inc. for use with supported iPad tablets.
The first-generation Apple Pencil was announced alongside the first iPad Pro on September 9, 2015. It communic ...
support.
*
Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom (officially Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) is a piece of image organization and image manipulation software developed by Adobe Inc. as part of the Creative Cloud subscription family. It is supported on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ...
is a creative
image organization and
image manipulation
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such as a ...
software developed by
Adobe Inc.
Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...
as part of the
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
subscription family.
*
Lightroom Classic is the offline desktop version of the
Photoshop Lightroom photo editing and viewing applications offered by subscription through
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
.
*Photoshop Camera is an image tool that easily captures and shares photos with your camera.
*
Photoshop Elements
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
is a
graphics editor
In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a computer program, program or collection of programs that enable a person to image manipulation, manipulate images or models visually on a computer.
Computer graphics can be classified into two d ...
for photographers, image editors and hobbyists. It contains most of the features of the professional version but with fewer and simpler options. The program allows users to create, edit, organize and share images. Originally introduced alongside Adobe Photoshop version 6, Photoshop Elements targets photography enthusiasts and thus lacks many features that make it useful in a proper print production environment.
*
Photoshop Express
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
is an
image editing
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such a ...
and collage making
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
lication from
Adobe Inc.
Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...
The app is available on
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
,
Android and
Windows phones
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design lan ...
and tablets. It can also be installed on
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
desktop via the
Microsoft Store
Microsoft Store (formerly known as Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It started as an app store for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps ...
. Photoshop Express Editor has various features which can be used to enhance photos. In November 2016 Collage creation was introduced to Adobe Photoshop Express on iOS. They allow editing pictures in the
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
or
tablet
Tablet may refer to:
Medicine
* Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill"
Computing
* Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
rather than online. It can be used to showcase your latest art, ideas, or products. In the early days of the beta test, the product's
terms of use raised controversy, in that it claimed to retain an irrevocable license to use certain works submitted by end users in perpetuity. At that time, Adobe held users of Photoshop Express to Adobe.com's general Terms of Use, which had not been drafted in contemplation of the sort of user-created content utilized in Photoshop Express. Following user concerns and negative press, Adobe issued new, more specialized Terms of Use for the Photoshop Express product that superseded sections of the General Terms, and clarified many of these issues. Changes included making the license expressly revocable and indicating that Adobe's rights to use the content are solely for the operation of Photoshop Express itself.
* Photoshop Fix is a photo retouching app for mobile devices marketed through
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
. The retouched images can be exported to the desktop version of Photoshop for further work.
* Photoshop Mix is a mobile application designed as a replacement for Photoshop Touch specifically for tablets and touchscreen devices.
It includes many of the features of the personal computer version, including layers, selection tools, adjustments, and filters. Edited files could be synced with
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
.
* Photoshop Sketch is a drawing and painting app for mobile devices marketed through
Creative Cloud
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications ...
. Sketches made can be exported to Photoshop. They can also be uploaded directly to the
Bēhance social media platform.
Discontinued applications
* ActiveShare is a discontinued photo-sharing platform distributed by
Adobe Systems
Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware
and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...
. The
Photoshop Album application replaced ActiveShare in 2003.
*
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...
is a discontinued
raster graphics editor
A raster graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to create and edit images interactively on the computer screen and save them in one of many raster graphics file formats (also known as bitmap images) such as JPEG, PNG, and GI ...
for web designers. It could create interactive contents (e.g. buttons that change shape when the mouse cursor is hovered on) and animations.
*
ImageReady is a discontinued raster graphics editor for web designers. It was discontinued on
CS2 in favor of Fireworks.
*
Photoshop Album is a piece of
application software
Application may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks
** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...
designed to import, organize and edit digital photos, and allows quick and easy searching and sharing of entire photo collections. It was initially released on February 18, 2003. The last version was Photoshop Album 3.2.0. It was discontinued in favor of Photoshop Elements. It has been compared to
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
's
iPhoto
iPhoto is a discontinued digital photograph manipulation software application developed by Apple Inc. It was included with every Macintosh personal computer from 2002 to 2015, when it was replaced with Apple's Photos application. Originally so ...
and
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
's
Picasa
Picasa was a cross-platform image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, integrated with a now defunct photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time was incubated by Ide ...
.
* Photoshop Limited Edition (LE) was a
graphics editor
In computer graphics, graphics software refers to a computer program, program or collection of programs that enable a person to image manipulation, manipulate images or models visually on a computer.
Computer graphics can be classified into two d ...
for novice photographers and hobbyists. It contains most of the features of the professional version but with fewer and simpler options. It was instead replaced by
Photoshop Elements
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
in September 2000.
* Preview CC is an app for previewing mobile designs.
See also
*
Creative Cloud controversy
Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of applications and services from Adobe Inc. that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, along with a set of mobile applications an ...
*
Comparison of raster graphics editors
Raster graphics editors can be compared by many variables, including availability.
List
General information
Basic general information about the editors: creator, company, license, etc.
Operating system support
The operating systems ...
*
Image editing
Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are digital photographs, traditional photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known as photo retouching, using tools such a ...
References
Further reading
* (asks: "How does media authoring software shape the media being created, making some design choices seem natural and easy to execute, while hiding other design possibilities?")
External links
*
*
{{Navboxes, list=
{{Raster graphics editors
{{AdobeCS
{{Adobe eLearning Suite
{{Adobe Technical Communication Suite
Photo software
Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
1988 software
Computer-related introductions in 1988
C++ software
Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
MacOS graphics software
Proprietary cross-platform software
Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the industry standard not only in raster ...
Windows graphics-related software