Photoshop notches up a quarter of a century

23 Mar 2015

"Photoshop is iconic and ubiquitous. Not many product names are adopted as a commonly understood verb. This digital imaging software has catapulted Adobe into new directions and if the last 25 years is anything to go by, we can expect great things from the software giant in the next 25 years," enthused the CEO of Dax Data, Jeremy Matthews.

Photoshop notches up a quarter of a century

Photoshop's success helped Adobe deliver the creative industry's most comprehensive set of tools. No other company serves the creative industry with such a wide range of products and services. In addition to Photoshop, applications like Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Dreamweaver and others have pushed creativity forward - no matter what the media. Today, Adobe Creative Cloud services, such as Behance and Creative Talent Search, are helping a new generation of creatives find a global audience and market for their work.

"For 25 years Photoshop has inspired artists and designers to craft images of stunning beauty and reality-bending creativity," said Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's President and CEO. "From desktop publishing to fashion photography, movie production, website design, mobile app creation and now 3D Printing, Photoshop continues to redefine industries and creative possibilities. And, today, that Photoshop magic is available to millions of new users, thanks to Adobe Creative Cloud."

Pixel imaging program

In 1987, Thomas Knoll developed a pixel imaging program called Display. It was a simple program to showcase grayscale images on a black-and-white monitor. However, after collaborating with his brother, John Knoll, the two began adding features that made it possible to process digital image files. The program eventually caught the attention of industry influencers, and in 1989, Adobe made the decision to license the software, naming it Photoshop and shipping the first version in February 1990.

To celebrate this milestone, Adobe is showcasing 25 of the most creative visual artists under 25 who use Photoshop. To be considered, artists upload their projects to Behance and use the tag 'Ps25Under25'. In the coming months, those selected will take over the Photoshop Instagram handle (@Photoshop) for two weeks and present their work for the world to see.

The company is also launching an advertising campaign, 'Dream On', for The Academy Awards - as a tribute to 25 years of amazing art created in Photoshop. The TV commercial includes incredible work from Photoshop artists and iconic images from major motion pictures that used Photoshop in the making, including Avatar, Gone Girl, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Shrek. The advert can be seen here.