Photoshop has been a paid app for years. It is a tremendously useful resource for designers and gets more and more useful every year since Creative Cloud was introduced. But also, you’re able to only really use it if you have it downloaded. The prospect of a web version of Photoshopwhen it was first announcedwas exciting for some people, and now it’s coming out of preview with some differences compared to when it was previously announced.
Photoshop on the web is now available for general use. The web version of Photoshop is similar in features to the desktop version, except that it has a notably different layout, perhaps in order to make it more streamlined and easy-to-use for users, especially newcomers. Also, most of the advancements that the desktop version has are also on the web version, even including the new AI features that Adobe has rolled out. Both Generative Expand and Generative Fill are available on the web version, based on Adobe’s Firefly AI tech, letting you fill and expand images to your heart’s liking and using prompts. Also, other features, like the new floating Contextual Task Bar, are also available.
There is one catch compared to how Photoshop on the web was initially conceived. While previouslythere was talkof making Photoshop a “freemium” experience with the web version becoming free-to-use, Adobe has now backtracked on this, saying that the company doesn’t have immediate plans for a freemium version. Photoshop on the web is available as part of Photoshop paid plans (starting at $9.99 per month), which means that all users who have access to the desktop version also have access to the web version. This arguably makes the web version less enticing for some, as it means that you might as well just use the better experience (the desktop version) on your computer unless you’re using a platform that doesn’t support Photoshop, like ChromeOS. A bummer, indeed.
