In an era in which we are living surrounded by digital
cameras and every one of us can be a photo enthusiast having a free photo
editing application available online is seems like a dream come true. Photoshop
Express, the latest initiative from Adobe, could just be what we all were looking
for: an easy, simple and intuitive way to edit and organize photo collections.
As you might know already in order to access the application,
all you have to do is open your browser, create an account at Photshop.com/express
and start uploading your pictures. You can select to upload simultaneously as
many pictures as you want (I’ve tried with 30 pictures), but of course the
duration of the transfer depends on the size of the pictures and the speed of
your Internet connection. Similar to many other photo-sharing sites, you can
organize them in a library that may include as many albums as you wish. Once
the pictures are uploaded, you can transfer them very easily by dragging & dropping
between albums. In order to select multiple pictures, you should hold the CTRL
key pressed and click on the desired photos.
The name of the album can easily be modified with just a
click. But the real “power” and value of Adobe’s new service resides in its
capabilities to edit and modify the pictures.
To access the Edit area, you should do a “mouse over” on a
picture and a menu “Photo options” will pop-up. From there you should select
the “Edit Photo” option and in a matter of seconds, a new work area will appear
in your browser. A quick double-click on a certain photo from Album will land
you in the same area.
If you just want to rotate the picture, you do not have to
open the “Edit Photo” menu, as the Photo Options menu already included “Rotate
Left” or “Rotate Right”. Also in the same menu, you have access to widely-used
operations such as “Email”, Embed”, “Link” or “Download”.
The “Edit” section is organized in three main areas,
displayed in a column on the left of the screen. A zoom tool is available in
the lower right corner, right near the left column.
Under “Basic” section you will find tools for common
operations such as “Crop&Rotate”, “AutoCorrect”, “Exposure”, “Red Eye
Removal” or “Saturation”. Every time you will access some of these tools, a
menu with additional options or preview versions will pop-up in the upper part
of the screen. Once you are ready to apply the desired modifications you will
have to click the green “Check” button on the right corner of the screen. There
are also options like “Undo” or “Cancel”
The only issue that bothered me is that I did not found how
to save a modified photo with a different name. Of course, I discovered the
“Revert” option, but it would be nice to be able to save a modified picture as
different file.
Besides “Basic” section, Photoshop Express offers a “Tuning”
section with options like White Balance, Fill Light Sharpen or Focus.
Of course, for those who like to play with effects,
Photoshop Express has some basic tools, grouped under “Effects” name, like
“Distort”, “Pop Color” or “Black and White”.
In case you did multiple edits, and you want to revert to a
certain one, a History section is available right near the Zoom tool. Here you
can browse through all recent modifications.
Overall, working with Photoshop Express was simple and fun
and it reminded me of the first versions of Adobe Photoshop, back in the days
when Windows 95 ruled the world.
It’s the perfect application for some basic photo editing and
in case you need a quick fix of your photos before sharing them online with
your friends. It includes enough options to be something more than similar
suites that are available online, but it is very easy to use and understand.
