Adobe Photoshop is the photo editing tool par excellence. Yes, there are great alternative editing tools both on the web and in apps, but most users stick with Adobe’s classic.
However, one of the great limitations of Photoshop is its price , since it requires a subscription to one of the Adobe Creative Cloud plans to be able to use it.
That, or directly buy a license for this app, which in no case is cheap. Its developers want to change this in some way, even partially. Your solution? Launch a free and official web version of Photoshop with several of the tools included in the paid app.
Thanks to a publication in The Verge we know that Adobe is testing a new web version of Photoshop for its users in Canada. The objective behind this measure is to lower the barrier to entry to this editing tool, allowing users to access certain features without paying .
Access to the platform is free and only requires that you have an Adobe Creative Cloud account to use it. However, it really is a freemium Web App, since some basic features are free, while others that are a bit more complete will be paid. As you can imagine, this web version works directly in the cloud, so you won’t have to download or install anything.
Be careful, under no circumstances does Photoshop Web intend to replace the standard application for computers and mobile phones. On the contrary, it will only be an easily accessible add-on for users, as well as an alternative to compete against other rival platforms that are already in the cloud.
Being available only in a trial phase for a few users, we still don’t know what functions this Web App will include, but we do know one thing: forget about finding the most complete editing options, although Adobe will have to include enough features to be able to be competitive.
Adobe Photoshop already had a first web version, but it was a different approach
Now, if you have a good memory, you probably remember that Photoshop already had a web version in the past. It was in 2021, with the launch of Adobe MAX , an initiative whose purpose was to make it easy for users to share their work. Adobe MAX included web versions of Photoshop and Illustrator that allowed for very basic editing, but it wasn’t free.
Access to these web platforms required an active Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so checkout was required. This new Photoshop Web doesn’t require any payment, so it’s a major step forward.
As an additional, we can mention that this strategy of Adobe Photoshop does not take us totally by surprise . The company already has a mobile app that allows you to edit photos without paying: Adobe Lightroom, which is available on Android and iOS. And yes, it is also a freemium app with extra features that are unlocked upon payment. So, the launch of Photoshop Web is just a decision that follows the same path that Adobe has already been following for some years.
Finally, when will Photoshop Web reach all users? We don’t know, because the trial is currently limited to Canada. However, being a platform in the cloud, if the test is successful, it will surely expand to other markets in a very short time .
