Photoshop: Adobe released version 1 35 years ago

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Photoshop from Adobe has been on the market for 35 years. The image editing program was released in 1990, first for the Mac and two years later also for Windows. The developer at the time was Thomas Knoll, who developed it together with his brother John. His program, originally known as "Image Pro", eventually became Photoshop, which still dominates the image editing market today.

Adobe was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. We reported on the milestones of the program on its 30th anniversary.

Application

Photographers usually use Photoshop to optimize and retouch photos. For example, they adjust colors, create image stacks for deeper sharpness zones or a more beautiful night sky. Montages are also possible and popular.

Photoshop also plays a role in digital art and illustration. Artists use the various brush and painting tools to create digital paintings and illustrations. In the advertising industry, the software is used to create advertisements and parts of brand campaigns.

There are also many other areas of application for the program, such as architectural visualization. Architects and civil engineers improve 3D renderings and sketches of buildings in Photoshop before presenting them.

Expansion and further development

In 2003, Adobe combined its programs, including Photoshop, to form the Creative Suite. This also includes the raw development and library tool for photos Lightroom, as well as Illustrator and InDesign for graphic designers and the video editor Premiere. In 2011, the company introduced the Creative Cloud and established a subscription model that was controversial among many users, but has since been adopted by other manufacturers.

AI tools find their way in

AI is now becoming increasingly important in image editing. In recent years, Photoshop has also integrated more and more functions and filters that automatically create masks and intelligently optimize photos. In 2024, Adobe Firefly also made it possible to generate image content directly in the program. Images can thus be partially supplemented, changed or enhanced.

Given the current pace at which particularly intelligent tools are developing, it will be interesting to see what other functions the software will offer in the coming years.

(cbr)