After nearly two years in beta, Adobe’s Photoshop web service, a streamlined online version of the company’s desktop photo editing app, is now generally available starting Wednesday, September 27. According to information Adobe shared with The edgePhotoshop on the web launches with the popular Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools that were recently released for the desktop version of Photoshop.
Photoshop on the web also provides many of the most used tools of its desktop equivalent, but with a redesigned layout that gives new Photoshop users a more “streamlined” user experience. This includes the Contextual taskbar feature, which suggests the most relevant steps to follow in your workflow, which was added to the desktop Photoshop app earlier this year.
Tools that share similar workflows, such as those used to select objects and retouch images, are named and grouped in the toolbar to make the software easier to navigate. This view can be disabled for experienced creatives who prefer the look of the desktop version of Photoshop’s user interface. Adobe says desktop features like the patch tool, pen tool, smart object support, polygonal lasso, and more will be added “soon.”
Photoshop on the web also allows users to invite others to collaborate on projects and allows those without an active Photoshop description to view and comment on files.
The web-based Photoshop service is included as part of all paid Photoshop plans (starting at $9.99 per month) and will not be available as a free-to-use experience at launch. Adobe began testing a “freemium” version of its Photoshop for the web experience in June last year after the initial beta release of Photoshop for the web in 2021.
The company previously said it hoped to offer a free version of the service that would provide most of Photoshop’s core desktop features. But Ashley Still, senior vice president of digital media at Adobe, has now said The edge that the creative software giant has “no immediate plans for a freemium offering” and that new users can try Photoshop on the web through “free interactive demos and in-app tutorials” on Adobe’s website before committing to a subscription.
