Adobe Photoshop turns 25 today. The iconic image editing program revolutionized everything from image editing, magazine layouts, video and film and remains the leading image editing applications for professionals and novices alike. Hit jump for information on how Photoshop affects the world we live in as well as what's in store to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Photoshop touches virtually all the inspirational imagery that surrounds us every day: the logo on your morning cup of coffee; the perfectly cropped photo in your newspaper; the app you download on your iPhone; the billboard you pass on the way to work; the characters in your favorite digital game; the sleek design of your favorite handheld device; to the pattern on the shirt you’re wearing right now.
“Photoshop is used to deliver images of stunning beauty, reality-bending creativity and controversial fakery,” said Winston Hendrickson, vice president of products, Digital Imaging, Adobe. “The power and proliferation of Photoshop imagery has made it one of the few tech products to make its way into popular vocabulary. Our engineers continue their groundbreaking work, bringing Photoshop magic to millions, through new mobile apps, as well innovative features for our flagship product, Photoshop CC.”
Photoshop is one of the most recognized software brands in the world, with tens of millions of users. As a mainstay in pop culture, Photoshop is regularly referenced as the go-to application for digital image manipulation in TV, movies and print media. And to keep Photoshop on top, engineers are searching for new ways to push image science beyond its current boundaries, with dozens of new features in the works. A sneak at The Adobe MAX Creative Conference, in October 2014, shows some of the exploratory work being done to take fog and haze out of everyday photos. The demo can be seen here. Photoshop is also expanding from its desktop computing roots to deliver amazing features on mobile devices, through products like Adobe Photoshop Mix for iPad and iPhone.
To celebrate this Photoshop milestone, Adobe is showcasing 25 of the most creative visual artists under 25 who use Photoshop. To be considered, artists upload their projects to Behance and use the tag “Ps25Under25.” In the coming months, those selected will take over the Photoshop Instagram handle (@Photoshop) for two weeks and present their work for the world to see. [Name of artist] will be the first to display [his/her] unbelievable collection of [work] beginning today.
How It All Began
In 1987, Thomas Knoll developed a pixel imaging program called Display. It was a simple program to showcase grayscale images on a black-and-white monitor. However, after collaborating with his brother, John Knoll, the two began adding features that made it possible to process digital image files. The program eventually caught the attention of industry influencers, and in 1988, Adobe made the decision to license the software, naming it Photoshop, and shipping the first version in 1990.
“Adobe thought we’d sell about 500 copies of Photoshop a month,” said Thomas Knoll, Adobe Fellow and Photoshop co-creator. “Not in my wildest dreams did we think creatives would embrace the product in the numbers and ways they have. It’s inspiring to see the beautiful images our customers create, the careers Photoshop has launched and the new uses people, all over the world, find for Photoshop every day.”