Adobe Announces Free Online Version of Photoshop - Photoshop Express

I don’t think it’s any great exaggeration to say that Adobe Photoshop is one of the most successful software products of all time. In fact, not only has Photoshop been a big seller for Adobe, in its own way it has also changed the way we think about digital images and videos. When we see an expertly re-touched and perfected photo or portrait, most of us immediately think “Photoshop.”


The software has become synonymous with what it does — cleaning up, editing, and perfecting digital images, whether they are intended for print, the Web, or even your home photo album. Photoshop is one of those rare software programs with incredible depth and a logical well-organized layout, both of which contribute to its ease of use. It is without doubt the single most important tool for modern web designers and photo and/or video editors.


Photoshop has spawned many imitators, and there are now even free image editing suites that imitate many of the most useful features from the program, but none of these competitors have ever come close to the breadth of capability and features that Photoshop offers.

It’s a bit surprising then, that Adobe is now preparing to launch a free online version of their flagship software, which will only require a user registration, but no fees whatsoever. The new version, called Photoshop Express, will be available via any Web browser (Mac PC or Linux), and will provide users with a generous 2 GB of free storage for their digital images and related files.

The new Photoshop Express will also have close ties with Facebook and other social networking sites, to enable users to quickly re-touch and edit photos on their profile pages. The free online version of Photoshop utilizes Flash 9 technology, and a simple, uncluttered interface, focusing on the most commonly used image editing tools.

Of course the free version of Photoshop won’t offer the advanced features available in their standalone product, but it does include many handy editing features. One big limitation is that, for the time being, Photoshop Express only works with JPEG’s. Adobe has hinted, however, that more premium features may be available in the online version later on.

The company is suggesting that printing services, greater file storage, support for other image file types, including PNG and GIF, and even audio and video support could be made available for a fee as the online Photoshop comes into its own.

The new Photoshop Express won’t replace your standalone version, but it does offer a lot of functionality available from any Web browser. That means that you can perform basic image editing even when you’re on the road. All you need is a half decent internet connection and any Mac, PC or Linux computer.