Adobe launches free Web-version of Photoshop

Access the free Web-based Photoshop Express at www.photoshop.com\express.
Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif., launched Adobe Photoshop Express public beta, a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort, and edit digital photos. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time.

As the newest addition to the Photoshop line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe's best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2GB of images online free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook.

"Photoshop is trusted technology that has changed the visual landscape of our world. Now, Photoshop Express allows anyone who snaps a digital photo to easily achieve the high-impact results for which Adobe is known," said Doug Mack, vice president of Consumer and Hosted Solutions at Adobe. "Photoshop Express is a convenient, single destination where you can store, edit, and share photos whether you're at home, school, or on the road."

Users can upload and sort digital photos anytime, edit them non-destructively to always preserve the original image, and share from anywhere on any Web browser. In a few clicks, users can make standard edits, such as removing blemishes and red-eye, converting to black and white, cropping and resizing, and more. Users can also off photos and slide shows in their own online "Gallery" hosted by Adobe.

Photoshop Express was created with Flex, Adobe's free, open source framework for building RIAs. Flex applications provide a consistent, rich user experience across operating systems and all major browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and others. An Internet connection and an up-to-date Flash Player 9 are all that are required to experience Adobe Photoshop Express.

In its early phases, Photoshop Express is available to U.S. residents only in English. Users may experience slow performance if accessed outside of the United States. Future plans include availability in other languages and countries.