Adobe has begun testing a web-based version of Photoshop that is free to use, intending to make the service available to everyone to introduce more people to the tool. Users can access Photoshop from a web address as long as they are logged into a free Adobe account, which is presently being tested in Canada.
Adobe describes the service as “freemium,” intending to eventually lock down some services that will only be available to paying users. Enough tools will be freely available to execute the functions that Adobe deems to be the main functionality of Photoshop.
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“We want to make [Photoshop] more accessible so that more people can try it out and experience it,” Maria Yap, Adobe’s VP of digital imaging, explains.
In October, Adobe launched its web version of Photoshop, a simplified version of the tool that could be used to make simple modifications. Layers and key editing tools were included, but the service didn’t even cover the app’s entire variety of features. Instead, Adobe pitched it as a collaboration tool: a method for one artist to share an image with others, have them jump in, give some remarks, and make a few minor changes before returning it.
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Adobe has made a few updates to the service since then and has begun to expand it outside collaboration use cases. Previously, someone had to send a document from their computer to the internet via the desktop app. Still, any Photoshop subscriber can log in and start a new document directly from the web.
Adobe’s goal is to leverage the web version of Photoshop to make the app more accessible and possibly entice users to upgrade to the full version later. Many of the company’s mobile apps, including Fresco and Express, have taken a similar approach. The web version of Photoshop is especially significant since it brings one of Adobe’s most sophisticated tools to Chromebooks, which are frequently used in classrooms.
Yap says, “I want to see Photoshop meet users where they are right now.” “To enter Photoshop, you don’t need a high-end machine.”