Table of contents:
Photoshop is the quintessential program for photo editing today. It was launched on the market 30 years ago and it has not ceased to be the benchmark for all those who want to do photo retouching. That's why today we are going to review its history, its beginnings and how it has evolved.
Photoshop differs a lot from its beginnings, not in vain the program is now available by subscription and even is more diversified with desktop programs (Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, Express, Fix, etc) and mobile apps.
Various factors have brought Photoshop to where it is today. The first and most obvious thing is that Photoshop completely changed the concept of photographic retouching, the second is that it was acquired by a company that further enhanced the capacity of the program and, finally, a community of users who have shown their support for the product. year after year.
Year 0 of Photoshop
Thomas Knoll, a student at the University of Michigan, began writing in 1987 a program called Display that claimed to display images in scale on monochrome monitors.
His brother John, a worker at Industrial Light & Magic, saw this show and urged Thomas to make it more than just a simple photo viewer
Both brothers got down to work to develop this program as soon as possible (Thomas even dropped out of school) which first called Display, as we have said, then ImagePro, shortly after being called Photoshop, the name by which we all identify it today.
They sold the first version of Photoshop, 0.87, to scanner manufacturer Barneyscan, which began distributing it, but changing its name to Barneyscan XP.
Then it was time to introduce Photoshop to the world of Silicon Valley John Knoll showed the program to several Apple engineers and Russell Brown, a senior manager at Adobe, the company that would purchase the Photoshop license a few months later.
All of this had the consequence that in February 1990 Photoshop 1.0 was released as exclusive to the Macintosh platform. I didn't get to Windows until version 2.5 released in 1992.
The union between Adobe and Photoshop continues today since that first agreement in April 1989.
Thomas and John Knoll
The paths of the two founders of Photoshop have developed in different fields. Both brothers were the sole developers of versions 1.0 and 2.0, but from then on their destinies parted ways.
Thomas Knoll has been the main developer of the program up to version CS4 2008 before going on to manage the department that develops the processing of RAW images.
For his part, John Knoll, after developing the first two versions of Photoshop, returned to his original work on Light & Magic, to supervise in later years, the visual effects of films such as Star Trek: Generations or First Contact, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Rogue One, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol or Avatar.
he also created Knoll Light Factory, a lens flare generation software used in the film industry
Photoshop Evolution
Since version 1.0 it is evident that Photoshop has evolved a lot, all of them with more or less success, but taking into account that we are talking about one of the best-selling programs in history with millions of copies distributed in all the world.
- Photoshop 1.0 (1990)
This first version, exclusively for Macintosh, was really simple, although it already revealed the typical sidebar and menu, which they have maintained in all their versions.
- Photoshop 2.0 (1991)
The most important innovations are the support for CMYK color and the integration of Paths, so that you can work with vector paths.
In addition, starting with version 2.5, it is also released for Windows.
- Photoshop 3.0 (1994)
This is the first version to establish the concept of layers, so common today in Photoshop. In addition, the interface is much more careful and the tabbed palettes also appear.
- Photoshop 4.0 (1996)
Layers are becoming more evolved as adjustable layers are created.
It is the first Photoshop that lets you change the type and size of the letter before writing.
- Photoshop 5.0 (1998)
In this version, concepts deeply rooted in the program today make their debut.
For the first time designers can do and undo anything in their creations. The "magnetic loop" so typical in the program is created, in addition to improving the export of images.
- Photoshop 6.0 (2000)
In this version, the layers and filters receive new updates, in addition to incorporating the repair brush for the first time.
- Photoshop 7.0 (2002)
More brushes and the possibility of putting vector text have been added, as well as developing a new file browser.
- Photoshop CS (2003)
From this year 2003 the name of the program changes due to the introduction of the Creative Suite brand.
This version, apart from a significant change in the interface, brought many new features such as layer groups, commands for shadows and highlights, histograms in real time, adding JavaScript codes and the possibility of matching colors.
- Photoshop CS2 (2005)
In Photoshop CS2 the solution for the red-eye effect and the “Smart Object” option are released, which allows us to scale a layer.
- Photoshop CS3 (2007)
In this version you can now optimize images for mobile devices, in addition to the incorporation of the "Quick Selection" tool so widely used today in Photoshop.
- Photoshop CS4 (2008)
In Photoshop CS4 the interface is greatly simplified. In addition, you can zoom in on an area, a mask panel is incorporated, and the canvas can be rotated at any time you want.
- Photoshop CS5 (2010)
In this version Photoshop added the fill and selection tools, so characteristic today, in addition to changing the interface quite slightly.
- Photoshop CS6 (2012)
The interface was redesigned in greater depth than the previous version and automatic saving of information was incorporated.
But not only the general interface changed, also the one that deals with 3D, was completely renewed to make it easier to handle.
- Photoshop CC (2013)
This is the first version as part of the Creative Cloud subscription, hence its name change.
The main improvement is the addition of new functions for image editing.
- Photoshop CC 2014
Teamwork was greatly improved thanks to better library management, since libraries could be shared from one user to another or among several users at the same time.
- Photoshop CC 2015
The most important new feature in this version was font management, that is, the program was already capable of identifying a type of font in an image.
In version CC 2015.5, which was released in 2016, several filters were improved to improve both their handling and their integration into layouts.
- Photoshop CC 2017
Improved filters, especially the liquify option, as well as face detection.
- Photoshop CC 2018
In this version, the macro tool has been improved with new features, multi-undo mode has been added, and double-clicking for text editing has been added.
- Photoshop CC 2019
Photoshop CC 2019 introduced the “marquee” tool, to create position frames on an image. In addition, blend mode previews have been added and the document view flipping system has been improved.
- Photoshop 2020
Apart from removing “CC” from the name, we have several improvements in this latest version of Photoshop such as improvements in object selection, new properties panel and keyboard shortcuts, option to delete images from background, Document tab and improved lens blur.
This is the first version to also be released for iPad.
Photoshop did not invent photo retouching, since it already existed, but it was the first program capable of include professional functions within the reach of inexperienced users, giving them the chance to feel like true experts in photo manipulation.
In these 30 years that Photoshop has been in operation, the number of tutorials, courses and YouTube videos has been enormous so that everyone can can learn, at least the basics, from this excellent program.
And that allows us to mark the success that Photoshop has had in all the years that it has been on the market, allowing it to position itself as number one worldwide photographic treatment.
In a time as globalized as ours, it is difficult to see software that lasts so many years and with such success year after year, achieving in each new edition continue to have great relevance, within a sector in which it is extremely difficult to compete.
