For people who’ve grown up around digital cameras and graphics editing software, it may be impossible to understand how hugely innovative Photoshop 1.0 was when it was first released 21 years ago.
BeforetheadventofPhotoshop,photomanipulation was a laborious process, carried out by piecing together different photographs and/or negatives, double-exposing negatives to achieve a particular effect or when all else failed retouching portions of a developed photograph with ink, paints or airbrushes. Photoshop made photo editing as easy as pressing the “Enter” button on your keyboard.
Photoshop Versions and Innovations
• Photoshop 1.0: Photoshop 1.0 was first released by the US computer software company Adobe in 1990. It could only be run on Mac computers. Since Kodak would not releasethefirst digital camera until the following year, Photoshop 1.0 worked with images that had been scanned onto the computers.
• Photoshop 2.0: Photoshop 2.0, first released in 1991, sported an improved and more intuitive graphic user interface, and supported paths. The 2.5 Photoshop upgrade, released in 1992, was the first version of the software to support Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
• Photoshop 3.0: The 1994 incarnation of Photoshop, Photoshop 3.0, introduced Photoshop’s most important and revolutionary feature: layers. Layers are simply images stacked upon one another,butthey allow Photoshop users to work on complex compositions, making minute changes without sacrificing the integrity of the entire image. Photoshop 3.0 was also the first version to introduce tabbed palettes, which allowed the program to be displayed more easily on users’ monitors.• Photoshop CS: In 2003, Adobe published its eighth version of Photoshop. Rather than continuing the numerical naming convention, Adobe decided to partially rebrand the product as Photoshop CS (Creative Suite)Photoshop CS introduced support for raw camera images, histograms that could be updated in real time, and enhanced scripting and color matching capabilities. Additionally, Photoshop CS had improved photo editing functionalities, including a very useful Shadow/Highlight image adjustment capability for overexposed and underexposed digital photographs.
• Photoshop CS2: Photoshop CS2, introduced in 2005, was the ninth incarnation of the popular graphics editing program and included some significant innovations to its layers functionality including a deeper layer nesting structure and the ability to select and work with multiple layers at a time. Among Photoshop CS2’s new features were a red eye tool, the spot healing brush, image warp, smart sharpening and a vanishing point functionality.
• Photoshop CS3: Photoshop CS3 was released in 2007. The tenth iteration of the popular graphics editing program completely updated the user interface – gone forever was the iconic stylized Venus de Milo. Photoshop CS3 allowed you to preview how changes made with the healing and cloning brushes might look. Additionally, you could now customize images especially for mobile web devices.
• Photoshop CS4: Photoshop CS4 included a versatile engine that allows users to convert 2D images to 3D images. Also the Windows version of Photoshop CS4 Extended became the first 64-bit Photoshop software aimed at consumers.
• Photoshop CS5, released in 2010, is version 12 of the imaging program. It implements GPU processor improvements that make it perform more quickly as well as content functionality enhancements such as painting and brush improvement, content aware fill, and the ability to edit high-dynamic-range (HDR) documents.
