Adobe recently began testing a free version of Photoshop on the web in Canada, and is considering opening this service globally as a way to introduce the app a little later down the line. At the moment, Canadian users should be able to access the web app by creating an Adobe account.
It should be made clear that this free version of Photoshop that is being tested in Canada is not the same as the one used elsewhere. By comparison, it has the ability to provide a full Photoshop experience on low-power PCs like Chromebooks and comes with a variety of tools like neural filters, colour transfers, object selection, auto-masking, and the plug-in marketplace.
On a sidenote, Adobe did preview the AI-powered Neural Filter technology, and that’s expected to be available with the full version of Photoshop, let alone the free online version of the app.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B16g-Edkvx0&ab_channel=AdobePhotoshop
As with all free things, though, there is understandably a catch to this free version of Photoshop. Some of the features usually accessible on a paid version of the app are sealed off and are only available to users who decide that they want to pay Adobe’s fee, and gain full access to the app. Besides those features that have been gated off, though, everything else should still be within arm’s length of the user.
At the time of writing, Adobe hasn’t provided a timeline on when it intends on making Photoshop on the web more widely available to the masses, outside of Canada. While we continue waiting, however, it is clear that the company is going to continue improving and adding more tools to the service, including the ability to refine edges, curves, the doge and burn tools. As well as the ability to convert Smart Objects.
On another note, mobile capability for rating and commenting on photographs will also be available to the web version. Meanwhile, users outside of Canada can either stick with the standard Photoshop and Illustrator for the web or try something different.
(Source: The Verge, Digital Trends)
Najlaa Aina contributed to this article.
