Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 15, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Adobe Systems today announced an update to the beta version of Adobe Photoshop Express. The update includes Flickr integration and a “Save As” function—both features requested by many users. In addition, a new embedded player lets users publish slideshows created with Photoshop Express on Facebook, MySpace, or blogs. Photoshop Express, a free rich internet application (RIA) for anyone who wants to add appealing effects to digital images, save, organize, and share them, was released as a public beta in March 2008. The newest member of the Photoshop family is based on Adobe’s image-editing technology and makes it easily accessible to a new online audience. Within the first week of the public beta, hundreds of thousands registered for access; within the first month, more than 60,000 public web albums were created.
“We have been pleasantly surprised by the positive response to the beta version of Photoshop Express and by the large number of people already actively editing and presenting images with it,” said Doug Mack, Vice President of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. “Based on user feedback, we will continue developing Photoshop Express into a fully hosted solution. It is intended to give customers the right mix of power, ease of use, and the ‘wow’ factor that helps their images stand out. By drawing on innovative technologies such as Flex and Adobe Flash Player, we can ensure a compelling and dynamic overall experience.”
Enhancements expand the community and offer more creativity
Photoshop Express lets users access images published on social-networking sites such as Facebook, Photobucket, Picasa, and now Flickr directly from within the application. For users with existing Flickr albums, Photoshop Express provides an additional way to upload images or download them from the service. Images can also be enhanced with effects and sent back to Flickr for sharing with the community. Everything works seamlessly, so users do not need to leave their community environment.$$$$
The new “Save As” function lets users save multiple versions of an image in addition to the original. Another addition is the embedded player, which lets users publish slideshows on Facebook, MySpace, and other sites to show their images to friends and family.
A convenient service for saving, editing, and presenting digital images
Photoshop Express gives users 2 GB of storage, allowing them to upload images from anywhere at any time, edit them non-destructively while always retaining the original, and present them creatively online.
With just a few clicks, Photoshop Express enables standard edits such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping, resizing, and more. It includes creative effects such as Pop Color, which highlights one colour in an image; a distortion tool for bending facial features or objects; and a Sketch effect that makes images resemble illustrations. Even users with limited knowledge of image editing can select the desired effect from a palette of previews showing the different possibilities. Photoshop Express offers a wide range of presentation options, including “My Gallery” for highlighting selected image collections. Slideshows can use interactive animations that make photos float and fly across the screen, opening up engaging presentation possibilities.
Free and available immediately
The public beta of Adobe Photoshop Express is available free of charge at http://www.photoshop.com/express and can be accessed through web browsers including Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari. Photoshop Express is based on Flex, Adobe’s free open-source technology for creating RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich, cross-platform experience in all popular browsers. To use Photoshop Express, users only need an internet connection and the current Flash Player 9. At this early stage, Photoshop Express is initially aimed only at customers in the United States and is available only in English. Users outside the United States accessing the service will likely experience reduced speeds. Availability in other languages and countries is planned for the future.
Further links:
- Adobe Photoshop Express
