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Adobe Puts Free Photoshop Online
Posted by
Zonk
on Thu Mar 27, 2008 05:22 PM
from the actually-not-that-bad dept.
from the actually-not-that-bad dept.
Amit Agarwal writes "Adobe today launched a basic version of Adobe Photoshop available for free online. Photoshop Express will be completely Web-based so consumers can use it with any type of computer, operating system and browser. According to Yahoo! News, Adobe says providing Photoshop Express for free is part marketing and part a strategy to create up-sell opportunities. It hopes some customers will move from it to boxed software like its $99 Photoshop Elements or to a subscription-based version of Express that's in the works."
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Firehose:Adobe Puts Free Photoshop Online by Anonymous Coward
[+]
Your Rights Online: Photoshop Express Terms of Use Cause Stir, Will Be Revised 111 comments
Earlier this week, we discussed Adobe's beta launch of Photoshop Express, a free, online version of the popular image editing software. However, as a number of readers pointed out, the terms of use included language which granted Adobe a wide range of rights to any photos that were made available on the site. Now, after receiving a great deal of feedback from potential users, Adobe has stated their intent to rewrite the terms of use, as Ars Technica reports. David Morgenstern of ZDNet also notes the impending change, and briefly discusses the privacy and ownership concerns involved with content you post online.
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Already Free (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I found this out while my wife was trying to get into digital scrapbooking. They make these images that print to 12x12 sheets of paper, with zillions of layers. Paint.net failed the task miserably, while the Gimp did su
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's cropped up often enough in these type of GIMP vs Photoshop stories.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't know much about the subject, but not being able to work CYMK color channels seems an awfully big impediment to doing work intended for print.
Because working with CMYK converted in real-time to RGB by your monitor is great for matching colors for the printed work?
Forgetting for the moment that more than half of Photoshop functionality doesn't work for CMYK images, since most effects and filters will work only in RGB mode, RGB to CMYK conversion is best done at the print shop, since it's bound to be very device/media-dependent.
And really, do you trust anything other than the proof pages, or better yet, the final product when you really have to ma
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Informative)
What specifically can you do in Photoshop that I can't do in Gimp? Its probably just a matter of what you're used to. I grew up on gimp. If you stuck me in front of a Photoshop rig, there is very little chance that I would be able to do ANYTHING with it.
Parent
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Interesting)
But can someone tell me what exactly is so terrible about the Gimp interface?
This is a genuine question, as I've used both, and don't find either particularly difficult to get my head around. But then, I'm not a power user when it comes to graphics packages. No doubt the differences would be pretty important to someone using either one day in day out.. But I've never seen anybody actually cite examples of the terrible Gimp interface in anything but the vaguest terms as opposed to the silky smooth and obvious ways of doing the same thing with Photoshop.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
FWIW I used to use Photoshop on a daily basis, but now I have simple imaging needs, and Gimp is just fine. Sure, it's a pain to learn a new interface, but eventually I figured it out. A lot of professional digital artists I've worked with,
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
To be fair they finally replaced that interface with a new one that's so much better. I have no idea how they do crop in photoshop though....
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Insightful)
>The two missing features I'll give you.
>Although one is just a licensing issue,
>and the other is only relevant if you are working on images that are intended for print
For photographers and other professionals doing graphics work, CMYK and color accuracy are deal breakers. Excuses don't matter to people who build their careers on a tool, if GIMP doesn't have what they need to do their job, then they won't consider using it.
There's a reason why people pay enormous sums for copies of photoshop even when there's plenty of cheap or free tools that do 60% of what photoshop does, and that's because every pro is going to have at least one feature missing from the 60% product that is a total show stopper for them.
This is a lesson on half assed software, that's good enough for the developer that wrote it, but not good enough for the market. Coding to your personal needs isn't good enough for products that are going to non developers. Linus doesn't say "well, there are some problems with Linux on big IBM mainframes, but I don't personally use a mainframe, so I won't work on that fix." When you are serious about software, you talk to the people that will be *using* your software, and you code to *their* standards in addition to your own.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks. That's pretty much what I thought.. Gimp has such a horrible interface because it isn't a direct clone of Photoshop. So the reverse is also true. Photoshop has such a horrible interface because it isn't Gimp. Apart from the 16 bit colour space, personally they seem pretty similar to me.
Absolutely and unconditionally wrong on all counts.
Why? I freely agreeing up front that Photoshop has some features that Gimp does not. The colour space is a big problem for quality of output, and both Cinepaint and Krita go up to 32 bit colour, so there is no technical limitation to having this feature. I also agree that the other features that are not currently present in Gimp can be show stoppers for the person who needs that particular feature. So no argument there either. There are things that Photoshop does that Gimp can not do at this point in time.
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Insightful)
- 16 bit images. Extremely important for preserving dynamic range in an image when adjusting contrast and colour saturation.
- Adjustment Layers. Very, very useful for non-destructive contrast and colour adjustments.
There are probably more but they are the most outstanding in my mind. In short, GIMP is useful for most web and electronic imagery, but less than adequate for print - especially saleable print. As far as other OSS products are concerned - I think Krita supports 16 bit images but last time I tried it, it was still a little flakey. Cinepaint supports 16 bit images and HDR, but have you ever tried to use it? Paint.net is pretty awesome but a little unstable as well, and though it's free I am not too sure about its code's status. I quite like Inkscape though.Parent
Re:Already Free (Score:4, Informative)
By the way - as a supplement to the comment above, here is a simple example of the difference between 8 bit and 16 bit colour:
Benefits Of Working With 16-Bit Images In Photoshop, Page 2 [photoshopessentials.com]Parent
Re:Already Free (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Already Free (Score:4, Informative)
(Though they are only a convenience, in that you can achieve the same effects with regular filters, just not in a non-destructive way.) Image -> Transform -> Guillotine.
If you want it to create the HTML code for you as well, there are several plugins you can download (eg Py-Slice).
Save as -> GIF, PNG or JPG. Adjustments are in the save dialog.
Toggle the preview checkbox for lossy-compressed formats such as JPG. I'll grant you there's no built-in function for it, but I also can't conceive of a useful reason for doing so.
Converting a single bitmap image into a PDF is a grossly inefficient operation for no benefit.
(Where the file format can sensibly be exported to PDF, most open source software does provide it; eg Inkscape.) Instead of macros, GIMP is fully scriptable. Considerably less convenient, but much more powerful.
(Of course, in an ideal world GIMP would support both.) Uh, View -> Fullscreen? Middle-click drags the canvas. Drag the dialog to a dock window. You get two by default: the main toolbox and Layers/Channels/Paths.
You can have one or many. Predefined sets are available under Dialogs -> Create New Dock Another valid point. Lack of proper color control is a well-known deficiency with GIMP.
(It does now support color profiles, but it's a bit of a hack.)
I wouldn't use it for professional print purposes; but for my personal artwork, yeah, I have sent RGB for print. I've got a local print shop that does a really good job of converting screen-space color. Good enough for my needs, and it's not like my home PC has a color-calibrated monitor anyway.
Lack of CMYK support and 16-bit+ color are real legitimate complaints against GIMP. I'll grant you filter layers too, as they would be handy (and are in development). Most other complaints are just unfamiliarity with the interface.
Here are my three main gripes about Photoshop's interface:- Why is undo (ctrl-Z) single-level by default? If I'm using a tablet, one pen stroke usually ends up as multiple steps. Why do I have to hold down ctrl-ALT-Z?
- Why am I forced to select something before doing most operations? If nothing is selected, surely it's logical I want to do it on the whole image.
- What is Photoshop's equivalent to "Alpha to Selection", which I use all the time? (I'm sure it has one but damned if I can find it)
Want me to go on?Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Really, if this was more than a flame i would love to know. What really can you do in Adobe products that I can't do in OSS ones?
Primarily, I think it's the interface, and for me, it has to do with layers. When a tool is used in photoshop (like drawing a square or adding text), a layer is created that represents that addition. This layer is easy to move. When I create a text layer in the gimp, I have to click within a very small portion of the added text to move the layer. That's merely annoying, but it's just one example of how design is harder to do in the gimp. Another is that layers can't be grouped in order to apply effects to
Re:Already Free (Score:5, Funny)
Shame on you! Shame!
Parent
Re:Already Free (Score:4, Interesting)
Yes. Yes it does.
One image [hylobatidae.org], and another [hylobatidae.org]. One from Photoshop CS3 10.0.1, the other from The GIMP 2.4.4. Same font.
But which? Choose now!
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Already Free (Score:4, Informative)
Nope, that's Photoshop!
The only change I made to the text rendering settings was to disable hinting in The GIMP - which is a single click in the checkbox just beneath the font size, so it's not a remotely hidden option.
Photoshop's got even more rendering options, and its text editor thingy is way more capable, allowing different styles in the same text (kind of like a word processor) - but the idea that The GIMP's actual text rendering is rubbish is just a myth...
Parent
You will lose your copyright on your pictures.. (Score:4, Informative)
Section 8 (a):
Adobe does not claim ownership of Your Content. However, with respect to Your Content that you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Services, you grant Adobe a worldwide, royalty-free, nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such Content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such Content into other Materials or works in any format or medium now known or later developed.
Thanks I will stick with GIMP [gimp.org] instead.
Of course, if you need free stuff, there is always The Pirate Bay.
Re:You will lose your copyright on your pictures.. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MOD PARENT UP (Score:4, Insightful)
Parent
Upsell? I think not! (Score:4, Informative)
I am VERY wary of online computing (Score:4, Interesting)
RS
Re:I am VERY wary of online computing (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Fucking Flash. (Score:5, Insightful)
From TFS:
Except, of course, operating systems or browsers which don't have flash... [photoshop.com]
Can we invent a new term for sites like these? "Web-based" is misleading -- it makes you think of open standards and compatibility. I propose "Flash-based."
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm talking about people using Opera or Konqueror on Linux. The Adobe Flash Player 7 and even 9 Beta works very, very poorly with these browsers, on Linux, and doesn't seem to be improving at all. The only browser being given attention is Firefox.
Guess we Linux users will have to wait for a long time, before we really starting using the internet and get recognised by the world.
Re: (Score:3)
Firefox is a 9.2MB download. I'm sure you can find room for it.
CRAPOLA (Score:5, Insightful)
Too specific. There's all kinds of junk like this, say sites that only work in IE, sites that require Silver-Light, etc. Sites that would be more usable as a desktop app in the firstplace, but sacrifice that for the sake of the 'web' moniker (with no significant additional benefits).
How about 'Compatible Rendering Abandoned Proprietary On-Line Application'?
Parent
Sounds like Picnik (Score:5, Informative)
Terms of Service give Adobe unlimited rights... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Signed up to see what the fuss was about. (Score:5, Informative)
Requires Flash 9. to install.
They have a notice that basically says
Account creation is heavy today it may take 60 minutes to recieve your e-mail.
Mine (done 4 min. ago) took about 1 min.
Super fast uploading! 1 3mb pic took all of 3 seconds to upload!
Very basic editing tools, but has a few cool distortion features. One neat thing to note is links to external sites such as Picassa, Photobucket and Phacebook! (er uh Facebook!)
Gallery and gallery sharing is neat, but slow (probably due to high use right now)
This won't come close to replacing your pirated versions of PS you all have at home. It'll be interesting to see if they add new tools or leave it as is.
Any kind of OS and browser? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Any kind of OS and browser? (Score:5, Funny)
Now I can edit my cache of ascii art!
Parent
Adobe Online Productivity Office (Score:5, Informative)
Photoshop Express (Photo Editor)
https://www.photoshop.com/express [photoshop.com]
Buzzword (Word Processor)
http://www.buzzword.com/ [buzzword.com]
Sliderocket (Presentation Software)
http://www.sliderocket.com/ [sliderocket.com]
Blist (Spreadsheet)
http://www.blist.com/ [blist.com]
***
Did you buy stock? I did a while ago...
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Doesn't work on Flash9-Linux (Score:4, Interesting)
Flash 9.0 r48, Firefox, Ubuntu Gutsy 64bit.
Not sure if it REALLY wants a newer version of Flash or if the 64bit-ness is confusing it.
Parent
Re:Adobe Photoshop Express (Score:5, Informative)
I had a quick go at 'editing' a photo in the test-drive thing, and there didn't seem any way of actually drawing anything. I'd say it's much closer in concept to a drastically simplified Photoshop Lightroom [adobe.com] - it's even got the same colour scheme and vague general layout. Except where Lightroom will manage untold gigabytes of photos on your own computer, doing on-the-fly conversions and adjustments from raw format, Express looks more like an advanced, online photo management system.
It's definitely not Photoshop Photoshop.
Parent
Re:Why not just use The Gimp? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, I know, mod me troll, but this is how about half of the posts on the GIMP related threads read. Most people aren't like that. In fact, I don't know anyone who is. For them and me, the GIMP is great, and free.
Parent
Re:Why not just use The Gimp? (Score:5, Insightful)
Modern Photoshop isn't a picnic either, but I don't spend time actively fighting against the UI to try to get things done like I do with GIMP. I don't care one bit about learning a different workflow, but it shouldn't involve workarounds to the UI itself.
Parent
Re:Why not just use The Gimp? (Score:4, Informative)
I work in a prepress job and I've noticed two things:
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
what does this have to do with not using linux? it was my understanding that one of the major reasons [read excuses] people used for not moving away from windows to linux was that their apps from windows would only work in windows, removing that obstacle for certain adobe software would seem to make it one less reason *not* to use linux [damn double negat