Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a professional raster-image editor developed by Adobe. Its workflows cover photo correction, retouching, compositing, illustration, typography, digital painting, and selected video or animation tasks.

Photoshop 1.0 was released by Adobe on February 19, 1990. The product originated from Display, an image-processing program created by Thomas Knoll and later developed with his brother John Knoll.

Current Photoshop plans include desktop, web, and mobile access. The desktop application provides the broadest feature set, while Photoshop on the web offers a streamlined browser workflow with cloud-document support.

Photoshop provides layers, masks, blend modes, adjustment layers, smart objects, selections, paths, filters, color correction, typography, brushes, and non-destructive editing workflows.

Its current AI features include Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Generate Image, Harmonize, Generative Upscale, Remove tools, and reference-image workflows. Availability and usage limits depend on the plan and generative-credit allocation.

The application supports PSD, PSB, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, HEIC, WebP, RAW, and additional image, video, audio, and production formats. The web edition supports a smaller feature set than desktop Photoshop.

Creative Cloud Libraries connects Photoshop with Adobe applications and selected external services. Libraries can store graphics, colors, gradients, brushes, text styles, layer styles, and other design assets.

Adobe sells Photoshop primarily through subscriptions. The individual Photoshop plan is listed at US$22.99 per month on an annual commitment billed monthly, and includes desktop, web, and mobile access, 100GB of cloud storage, and monthly generative credits.

The Photography plan is listed at US$19.99 per month on an annual commitment billed monthly. It includes Photoshop, Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and 1TB of cloud storage.

Creative Cloud Pro is listed at US$69.99 per month at the regular price, with promotional pricing sometimes available for eligible new subscribers. It includes Photoshop and more than 20 other Adobe applications.

Adobe lists a seven-day free trial for the Photoshop plan. Photoshop on the web does not provide a permanently free full version, although some mobile access and limited tools may be available under separate offerings.

Pros:

• Broad professional toolset for detailed image editing and compositing.
• Strong support for layers, masks, smart objects, adjustment workflows, and extensive file formats.
• Desktop, web, and mobile versions support cross-device cloud-document workflows.
• Extensible through UXP plugins, scripts, SDKs, and cloud-based Photoshop APIs.
• Deep integration with Adobe Stock, Creative Cloud Libraries, Lightroom, Illustrator, and other Adobe services.

Cons:

• Requires a recurring subscription rather than a perpetual license.
• Advanced tools and panels create a significant learning curve for new users.
• The web and mobile editions do not match the desktop application’s full feature set.
• Desktop performance depends on compatible hardware, GPU support, storage, and current operating-system versions.
• Generative AI features use plan-specific credits or access limits.

Affinity Photo is a paid image editor that provides raster editing, retouching, compositing, and RAW workflows without Photoshop’s subscription model.

GIMP is a free, open-source image editor with layers, selections, filters, scripting, and plugin support for desktop users.

Photopea is a browser-based editor that supports PSD files and familiar layered image-editing workflows.

Corel PaintShop Pro is a Windows-focused photo-editing application that combines traditional editing, design tools, and AI-assisted features.

Does Photoshop have a free trial?
Adobe lists a seven-day free trial for the standalone Photoshop plan. A full, permanently free desktop version is not offered.

Which platforms support Photoshop?
Photoshop supports Windows and macOS desktop systems, browser-based editing on supported desktop browsers, and mobile applications for iPhone and iPad.

Does Photoshop have an API?
Yes. Adobe provides cloud-based Photoshop APIs for document and layer-level image processing, plus UXP APIs, plugins, scripts, and hybrid plugin options for extending the desktop application.

What software integrates with Photoshop?
Adobe documents integrations with Creative Cloud Libraries, Adobe Stock, Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, Adobe Express, Bridge, Fonts, Behance, and other Creative Cloud services. Libraries can also be accessed through Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Zapier, and Gmail.

Can Photoshop edit PSD files in a browser?
Yes. Photoshop on the web can open and edit PSD and other supported formats, but it does not include every desktop feature.

Is Photoshop suitable for beginners?
It can support beginner workflows, but its extensive professional feature set creates a steeper learning curve than simpler photo-editing tools.