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20 Years of Photoshop

benwiggy writes "Photoshop turned 20 on 10th February 2010. Here's an excellent history, including how the Knoll family created one of the biggest apps of all time. The article also has screenshots of the workspace through the versions."

37 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. So good it's a verb by pwnies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kudos photoshop. You know that you've done well with a piece of software when it turns into a verb.
    That said, spread some lovin' over to the linux side of things. Right now that's the only thing that's keeping me from using linux as my main OS (using win7 right now).

    1. Re:So good it's a verb by lambent · · Score: 2, Insightful

      it's unlikely to ever happen, as that would require a complete rewrite of the entire codebase. there's so much cruft in photoshop, i don't know anyone who would even be willing to say it's even possible.

      that being said, i think it probably needs a good overhaul (organic growth over 20 years can't be pretty to maintain), and i'd pay a lot for a solid *NIX port.

    2. Re:So good it's a verb by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is why I've held on to my copy of PS6. Works great on lower end systems, and still has all of the useful tools.

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    3. Re:So good it's a verb by Bobfrankly1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is why I've held on to my copy of PS6. Works great on lower end systems, and still has all of the useful tools.

      It's surprising how subjective that statement is. I couldn't even imagine trying to use the brush engine from photoshop 6. I actually tried on a friend's old computer and gave up ten minutes later. PS7 has full vector fonts, which allow lossless resize and transform effects. There's more to be sure, but this is just off the top of my head.

      A more accurate statement is that it still has all the tools that *you* find useful.

  2. Photoshop anniversary contest suggestion by Chris+Burke · · Score: 4, Funny

    Photoshopping photos over 20 years old to show people using Photoshop. Then claim they are legit. "Photoshop is over 20 years old, you can clearly see here they were using it during the Civil War!"

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    The enemies of Democracy are
  3. Nostalgia by toastar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sometimes I really miss photoshop 5.5.

    7.0 was also pretty good. Things started to go down hill when they switched to the cs moniker

    1. Re:Nostalgia by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unfortunately, Adobe has some smart people in Marketing. I'm sure they have a pile of new features hidden in a source code repository that lies underneath an unassuming bungalow in a suburb near Burbank. Every 18 months, senior marketing staff, cleverly disguised as Roto-Rooter workers, go to this stash and pull a few likely features.

      These get grafted on to Photoshop with the idea that they are just flashy and / or important enough to get people to upgrade. Thus, Photoshop CS(x) + 1 is born.

      Then, the evil bit folks trot out the latest activation code tweaks to the dismay of right thinking folk everywhere.

      And somewhere in a damp basement cell, the Bridge team codes on, hoping that if they ever get it right, they might be let out into the sunshine some day.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  4. This must be fake. by Cowclops · · Score: 4, Funny

    This article looks totally photoshopped, its probably fake.

  5. Re:Gimp? by maxume · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There is an article about the GIMP every time it farts.

    --
    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  6. 4chan by cosm · · Score: 4, Funny

    pics or it didnt happen

    --
    'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
  7. But how many bought a copy? by Colin+Smith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Thought not.

    Apart from MS Office, it has to be the most pirated bit of software in the world.
     

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    Deleted
  8. May be a good time to discuss alternatives by rduke15 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not being a graphics designer, I never liked Photoshop which was too slow, bloated and complicated (and expensive) for my simple uses. In my Windows days, I first found Paint Shop Pro (of which I still have some prehistoric version somewhere), and finally ended up mostly using IrfanView and XnView, + occasionally PhotoFiltre.

    While I'm sure Photoshop is a fantastic program for professionals, let's try a list of things normal users (like myself) mainly need in a graphics program:

    - Rotate (losslessly for Jpeg)
    - Resize
    - Crop
    - Print
    - Convert to another format (Save as)
    - Adjust brightness, contrast, white balance

    Then maybe
    - Edit metadata (Jpeg comments, Exif description, maybe IPTC tags)
    - rarely convert a color scan to black and white.
    - and maybe once or twice a year add something on a picture like text or a circle etc.

    Obviously, Photoshop is really too much for this.

    For Windows users, I know what to recommend (usually XnView; + PhotoFiltre if needed)

    But I still don't know what to use on my Ubuntu desktop which has been my main machine for over 6 months. The Gimp feels just like Photoshop: too heavy and complicated (though the price is fine), and all the others I tried too limited (gThumb and the like). Is there a gem I missed somewhere?

    1. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by icebrain · · Score: 2, Informative

      I just want to see an updated run of Jasc Paintshop 6. Basic photoediting capabilities without getting rid of the "traditional" paint functions. Gimp and Photoshop are too complicated.

      --
      The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
    2. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by Dumnezeu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      For this, I use Paint.NET on Windows.

      --
      Yes, it's sarcasm. Deal with it!
    3. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by maxume · · Score: 2, Informative

      XnView is being ported. Beta versions:

      http://www.xnview.com/en/downloadunix.html

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    4. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

      I've had a lot of luck with Krita.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    5. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by reub2000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      In my experience, Krita has never been responsive enough. Supposedly the KOffice team is working on speeding up the application.

    6. Re:May be a good time to discuss alternatives by vurian · · Score: 5, Informative

      Yes, we are: interim results at http://wiki.koffice.org/index.php?title=Krita/Benchmarking and weekly updates at http://www.krita.org/ Boudewijn Rempt -- Krita Maintainer.

  9. Obligatory XKCD Refence by Temujin_12 · · Score: 4, Funny
    --
    Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
    1. Re:Obligatory XKCD Refence by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm starting to think Slashdot is just an index for xkcd.

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      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  10. Re:Sigh by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 2, Funny

    You're just saying that to obscure your interest in counterfeiting.

  11. Knoll family not just programming geniuses by cronb · · Score: 5, Interesting

    While the sons may be known as the creators of photoshop their father is a giant in the field of nuclear engineering. His book "Raditation Detection and Measurement" is considered the bible on the topic for all nuclear engineers.

  12. Sort of a weird feeling about it by TheModelEskimo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Photoshop instructor here. It's a great app, but really is overkill for most needs. I actually used GIMP to design my Photoshop class websites, since I like some of the GTK conveniences better than Photoshop's relatively primitive widget set (can't hover over a spinner and use the scroll wheel alone to change the value, being one example).

    Of course, I don't really advertise GIMP in my classes, but I do give extra credit to students who are willing to give it a try and write a review (they can also choose to try other software, like Aviary).

    Anyway, it's nice of Adobe to keep improving Photoshop, but it's amazing how many millions of dollars have gone into this software, and it is still getting a bad rep for tons of crashes, expensive third-party plugins, weird bugs, etc.

    1. Re:Sort of a weird feeling about it by TheModelEskimo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Many Photoshop users feel this way; I don't think you're alone in that. There are many features that Photoshop has that are very powerful, like its Type tool, which bears a sharp contrast to GIMP's rudimentary text tool. Even if you compare Photoshop of, say, four versions ago, to GIMP of today, you come away with many features where GIMP falls short.

      This shows why feature set alone isn't the main motivator for GIMP users. Some of them are just cheap; some of them want a portable graphics package; some are sick of dealing with licensing and activation pains; some have had bad experiences with Adobe customer support.

      On the other end of the spectrum, I think, are full-out artistic types who view the issue of freedom as a vast battlefield upon which commercial interests can become the worst kind of double agents, often actively working to subvert the interests of the wider community in favor of extra profits.

      I tend to lean this way myself, having worked on many marketing teams and now owning my own business. I'm more interested in my own mental and spiritual development and its application in the digital domain (tough as the going may be), and less interested in putting Deanna from Marketing in a new Lexus.

      That can sound pretty fundamentalist, but many artistic-types really do need the extra room to breathe.

    2. Re:Sort of a weird feeling about it by nine-times · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Anyway, it's nice of Adobe to keep improving Photoshop, but it's amazing how many millions of dollars have gone into this software, and it is still getting a bad rep for tons of crashes, expensive third-party plugins, weird bugs, etc.

      It's also surprising how little the UI has changed over 20 years. If you look at the screenshots going all the way back, you don't see a whole lot of change. I guess you could argue either way: either the UI is stagnant, or it was so well designed in the first place that it didn't need to change.

      As far as "tons of crashes", I'm not with you on that one. I haven't really upgraded to CS4 and I don't use any 3rd party plugins, but Photoshop is pretty solid to me. I don't see lots of weird bugs either. Expensive third-party plugins? I don't see how that's really Adobe's fault unless they're somehow setting the price through deals that I'm not aware of.

      What I find a little more annoying is the feeling of being on the upgrade treadmill. Here's my petty little rant (don't read it if you don't want to read a petty little rant): I had a copy of CS2 for OSX, but felt a little railroaded into CS3 because I had to upgrade to get Intel support. Meh, that's understandable, but kind of annoying. Now Snow Leopard comes out, and they say they won't really support CS3 on Snow Leopard. Ok, that's annoying, but not a big deal-- CS3 still works. But I go to reinstall CS3 recently, and it's kind of annoying-- they dropped CS3 trialware completely off their website. You can upgrade directly from the trial to the full version using a credit card, I hadn't kept an electronic copy around. I finally get it installed, and Adobe's Updater won't work. The Updater needs to be updated first, and it won't work well enough to update itself. You can download the Updater from their website, but they try to push you to use the CS4 Updater. The CS4 Updater won't update CS3 software. So it basically takes me a day and a half of hunting around online before I find an update to the old CS3 Updater online. I install it, and it updates Adobe Acrobat from 8.1 and stops. I run the Updater again, and it upgrades to Acrobat 8.1.2 and stops. Run it again, 8.1.3. Then 8.1.4. It keeps going like this until I hit... I don't know... 8.2.1 or whatever the most recent version is. I'm sitting there thinking, "I paid something like $1,500 for this, and they can't make this all easier?" Then I realize, "No, they don't want to make it easier. They want me to get frustrated and just buy the upgrade to CS4."

  13. Stupid editor mistakes by Dun+Malg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In February of 1990, Adobe 1.0 was released.

    You'd think that in an article on Photoshop, they wouldn't make the irritating novice mistake of conflating "Adobe" (the company) with "Photoshop" (the product). I expect this from the idiots where I work, where complaints of "my Adobe isn't working!" are common, but from them?

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  14. Or should we say... by zoom-ping · · Score: 4, Funny

    Twenty years of lens flare.

  15. Re:Gimp? by selven · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Gimp is not nearly as important in the world of free software as Photoshop is in the proprietary one. 25 years of vi, that's a milestone.

  16. What version started requiring a mortgage? by syousef · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A full version of Photoshop CS4 costs more than a cheap second hand car. Elements is cheaper but crippled in ways that make it much less useful even for a casual amateur. You use to be able to get around those restrictions up to Elements 2.0. Now Elements is a very different piece of software (ironically with some unique features of its own). Photoshop is wonderful, but it's a pity it's either inaccessible or pirated for a great many people. It's probably more pirated than Windows.

    --
    These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  17. Re:developers, developers by mhajicek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, I'm in CADCAM. That means Windows.

  18. On Fireworks by LibertineR · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I generally agree that Fireworks is superior for web mockups. However, I hope they get around to fixing text handling, which is still awful after all these years, which forces me back to Photoshop or Illustrator just to add text parts. In other respects, Fireworks CS4 is pretty amazing; able to spit CSS layouts from slices and all that.

  19. Keyboard shortcuts are better than scroll wheels by Piata · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Out of curiosity, why would you use the scroll wheel to change a value? Most values like transparency or opacity can be quickly changed by hitting numbers on the keyboard. I'd much rather hit 5 to set the opacity of my brush to 50% rather than scroll half way through the spinner. To each their own but if you're using Photoshop all day, using a scroll wheel to change values seems terribly inefficient.

  20. Re:But the File Format Sucks. :) by I(rispee_I(reme · · Score: 2, Informative

    Please do not suggest Gimp or PSP.

    Perhaps inkscape is the GPL'd vector image editor you seek.

    On topic: Everyone, please cease mentioning that Photoshop went to pot with the CS namechange, lest Adobe pulls a Comcast-esque rebranding.

  21. Photoshop is amazing by lakeland · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I had similar views to yours. Then I happened to get a summer job working for a desktop publisher and so had to use photoshop. I won't claim to be an expert - and I'm awfully rusty now - but you can do very awesome things in Photoshop extremely easily if you happen to have spent a large number of hours learning how. Yes, Photoshop is hard to _learn_ but it is very easy to use.

    You say that ordinary users just need to , adjust brightness etc.but I don't think this is true. Ordinary users want to tune up their photos - e.g. sharpen, remove the shadow from someone's face, take the reflection off someone's glasses, remove a lamp-post or cyclist that unfortunately interfere with the shot, replace the blinking eyes from one photo with the open eyes from the next (especially group photos where someone is invariably looking away), etc, slightly fancier resize (e.g. fix camera not quite straight).

    Also, my bet is that my list of basic features and the guy next to me's list will not be identical - if you want to make all basic users happy then I suspect you'll be in for a big list of features. For instance a grandmother with a thousand old photos in a shoe box will have a very different basic list to the one I gave above involving scratch removal and the like.

    Now, I've completely avoided answering your question. Instead I've told you to invest the time in learning gimp, it will pay off over the years. In terms of actually answering your question I haven't found a good answer - Apple's Aperture is an attempt, and Adobe makes Photoshop Elements but they all suck

  22. Every Web Designer? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Photoshop has been a part of every web designer's life since they picked up their first mouse.

    Say what? Why does a web designer even need a high-end graphics editor? Unless, of course, he's running an art web site. Or he's one of those really inept designers who doesn't understand the difference between print design and web design.

  23. Re:Gimp vs. PS by Bobfrankly1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    What PS has what GIMP does not have?

    A grammar check?

  24. ignores prior work by pydev · · Score: 3, Informative

    The article leaves out quite a bit of the history of digital paint programs. This article contains a good summary (although it also leaves out yet other work).