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One of the most widely used software packages for graphics and image manipulation, Adobe Photoshop is undoubtedly the pioneer producer of image-editing software. With amazing capabilities, yet extremely user-friendly, Adobe Photoshop is widely sought after by amateurs as well as professionals. Adobe Photoshop is also largely responsible for the digital photography revolution. A lot more people are entering the world of graphics largely due to the user-friendly aspect of Photoshop, and also due to the fact that it is very simple to learn, with the concise navigation guidelines provided in the Help section of Photoshop.

Photoshop’s origin can be dated back to 1987 when brothers John and Thomas Knoll developed an image-editing program which they called ImagePro. Before this, Thomas was working on a program that would help display grey-scale images on a monochrome display. That’s when John came up with the suggestion of developing the program into a fully-fledged image-editing program. For six months, Thomas worked with his brother and, finally, ImagePro was created. They later renamed it Photoshop and, after a demonstration by John, Adobe purchased the licence to distribute Photoshop in 1988. Both the brothers worked on the program and the first version of Photoshop, Photoshop 1.0, was released in 1990. However, this was exclusively for Macintosh.

Adobe Photoshop 2.0 was released in 1992 and was compatible with Microsoft Windows. Photoshop has had a number of versions since and each version has bettered its predecessor with a multitude of new features. Since the licence for distributing Photoshop lies with Adobe, it includes functional adaptability to other Adobe software such as Adobe Premiere, After Effects and ImageReady. Since 2003, Photoshop also includes the camera raw plug-in which enables you to import raw images from digital cameras. Due to its compatibility with other Adobe software, the quality of images, video and animation is very high. Adobe Photoshop is also widely used for websites, as it allows you create the best quality images in the smallest of file sizes.

The latest version of Adobe Photoshop, the Adobe Photoshop CS3, has rejuvenated all its previous features, providing greater control. Compositing is also made simpler with the Adobe Photoshop CS3’s improved image stitching. You can also import 3D graphics and work on 3D modelling with the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

Ever since its inception, Photoshop has not only been a leader in image-editing, but has also started a revolution in digital imaging. There are Photoshop contests played online, which enable Photoshop users all over the world to pit their skill against other image editors. The concept of photography, animation and 3D modelling has been redefined by Photoshop.