Photo manipulation software Photoshop has, over the years, become synonymous with image editing to the extent people use the name of the program as a verb, just like Google, Xerox or Kleenex. One does not so much edit an image anymore, as they ‘Photoshop’ it. Just like ‘Googling’ something is what you do on the net rather than performing an internet search. Or you ‘Xerox’ a document rather than photocopying it. While Adobe, the owners of the Photoshop brand, owes much of its commercial success to the world’s most famous image manipulation software, most of its revenues over the years have come from sales of the desktop versions (Windows and OSX) of the program, which have traditionally been priced at astronomically high levels, leading to severe piracy issues for products like Photoshop and Creative Suit.
To combat some of those issues and to be more accessible to regular users, Adobe has already been offering a Photoshop and Lightroom bundle for as low as $9.99 per month on the desktop (Windows and OSX). As for mobile, the company has now come out with a completely free app called the Photoshop Fix. While the brand new app does not include anywhere near the full functionality of Photoshop that one knows and loves on desktops, the app does come with a lot of the basic features that would be used by amateur photo editors. However, Photoshop being what it is, even the basic app apparently includes a lot of handy features such as the ability to eliminate unwanted objects from the frame, or remove blemishes from a person’s face etc.
Photoshop Fix also includes a brand new feature which is as yet unavailable even on its full-fledged desktop avatar. The feature was originally demonstrated by Adobe at the launch of the iPad Pro last month, and comes with the ability to alter facial features with just a few taps and swipes on the screen. While that sounds like standard fare for Photoshop users, this particular feature will make it a whole lot easier for even non-professionals to get in on the act, if the demo last month was anything to go by. While the app has initially been launched on iOS only, the company has made it a point to mention that the Android version will be “coming soon”. Adobe has also let it be known that it is updating its Premiere Pro for the desktop. The company is also looking to streamline its product portfolio for mobile by launching an Android app called Capture CC that combines four smaller apps already available for download, including Brush, Color, Hue, and Shape.