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Adobe Puts Free Photoshop Online

Amit Agarwal writes "Adobe today launched a basic version of Adobe Photoshop available for free online. Photoshop Express will be completely Web-based so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system and browser. According to Yahoo! News, Adobe says providing Photoshop Express for free is part marketing and part a strategy to create up-sell opportunities. It hopes some customers will move from it to boxed software like its $99 Photoshop Elements or to a subscription-based version of Express that's in the works."

11 of 376 comments (clear)

  1. Re:You will lose your copyright on your pictures.. by The+End+Of+Days · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services... Reading comprehension FTW!
  2. Fucking Flash. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From TFS:

    will be completely Web-based so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system and browser.

    Except, of course, operating systems or browsers which don't have flash...

    Can we invent a new term for sites like these? "Web-based" is misleading -- it makes you think of open standards and compatibility. I propose "Flash-based."

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  3. Re:Why not just use The Gimp? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't use GIMP because I NEED CMYK (seriously, how many people on /. need CMYK?) and I'm a professional photo editor (according to GIMP related threads, /. is positively infested with photographic professionals). And because I've spent so long pirating it that I am incapable of learning another UI. Oh, and apparently the name prevents me from using it as well.

    Yeah, I know, mod me troll, but this is how about half of the posts on the GIMP related threads read. Most people aren't like that. In fact, I don't know anyone who is. For them and me, the GIMP is great, and free.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  4. Adobe Online Productivity Office by PortHaven · · Score: 5, Informative

    Adobe's Online Office Productivity Suite:

    Photoshop Express (Photo Editor)
    https://www.photoshop.com/express

    Buzzword (Word Processor)
    http://www.buzzword.com/

    Sliderocket (Presentation Software)
    http://www.sliderocket.com/

    Blist (Spreadsheet)
    http://www.blist.com/

    ***

    Did you buy stock? I did a while ago... :)

  5. Re:Already Free by chexy · · Score: 5, Informative

    If your on a windows system why not use Paint.net http://www.getpaint.net/

  6. Re:I am VERY wary of online computing by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, am grateful that you turned your modem on, connected it to your computer, got over your creepy and offended feelings, then posted (in an uninvolved sort of way) about your habits.

  7. Re:Already Free by i_liek_turtles · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, for photos I use emacs.

  8. Re:Already Free by wellmington · · Score: 5, Informative

    Probably a flame, but I'll bite.
    What specifically can you do in Photoshop that I can't do in Gimp? Its probably just a matter of what you're used to. I grew up on gimp. If you stuck me in front of a Photoshop rig, there is very little chance that I would be able to do ANYTHING with it. CMYK, Pantone in particular but mostly it's down to the horrible interface that GIMP comes with. Gimp is basically a programmers idea of how a creative tool should look.
  9. Re:Already Free by g00nsquad · · Score: 5, Insightful
    This has been repeated ad nauseum, every time a GIMP or Photoshop article has found its way to slashdot.
    • 16 bit images. Extremely important for preserving dynamic range in an image when adjusting contrast and colour saturation.
    • Adjustment Layers. Very, very useful for non-destructive contrast and colour adjustments.
    There are probably more but they are the most outstanding in my mind. In short, GIMP is useful for most web and electronic imagery, but less than adequate for print - especially saleable print. As far as other OSS products are concerned - I think Krita supports 16 bit images but last time I tried it, it was still a little flakey. Cinepaint supports 16 bit images and HDR, but have you ever tried to use it? Paint.net is pretty awesome but a little unstable as well, and though it's free I am not too sure about its code's status. I quite like Inkscape though.
    --
    shaunjohnston.com
  10. CRAPOLA by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Can we invent a new term for sites like these? "Web-based" is misleading -- it makes you think of open standards and compatibility. I propose "Flash-based.

    Too specific. There's all kinds of junk like this, say sites that only work in IE, sites that require Silver-Light, etc. Sites that would be more usable as a desktop app in the firstplace, but sacrifice that for the sake of the 'web' moniker (with no significant additional benefits).

    How about 'Compatible Rendering Abandoned Proprietary On-Line Application'?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  11. Re:Already Free by sentientbrendan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >>CMYK, Pantone in particular but mostly it's down to the horrible interface that GIMP comes with. >>Gimp is basically a programmers idea of how a creative tool should look.

    >The two missing features I'll give you.
    >Although one is just a licensing issue,
    >and the other is only relevant if you are working on images that are intended for print

    For photographers and other professionals doing graphics work, CMYK and color accuracy are deal breakers. Excuses don't matter to people who build their careers on a tool, if GIMP doesn't have what they need to do their job, then they won't consider using it.

    There's a reason why people pay enormous sums for copies of photoshop even when there's plenty of cheap or free tools that do 60% of what photoshop does, and that's because every pro is going to have at least one feature missing from the 60% product that is a total show stopper for them.

    This is a lesson on half assed software, that's good enough for the developer that wrote it, but not good enough for the market. Coding to your personal needs isn't good enough for products that are going to non developers. Linus doesn't say "well, there are some problems with Linux on big IBM mainframes, but I don't personally use a mainframe, so I won't work on that fix." When you are serious about software, you talk to the people that will be *using* your software, and you code to *their* standards in addition to your own.