Adobe finally launches the AI-heavy online version of Photoshop

Photoshop on the web is here. Adobe is a name synonymous with photo editing and professional graphic work. So popular is its flagship product, that the name Photoshop has joined the ranks of Google in becoming a verb in everyday language. Home to ever more advanced editing and creative tools, Photoshop has been lacking in one area -- an online version.

But now this changes. Adobe has, at long last, launched its web-based version of Photoshop. A previous version of Photoshop has been available to testers for a little while, but now Photoshop on the web has been made available to everyone. This means that professional-level image editing is now available in your web browser without the need to download Photoshop.

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A beta testing period of nearly two years has paid off. It would have been easy for Adobe to pass off a half-baked cloud edition of Photoshop, but the company has spent time and effort producing something of the high calibre its fan have become used to.

The online version of Photoshop is not -- you will not be surprised to learn -- an exact replica of the desktop software... but it's pretty close. The interface for Photoshop on the web should be completely familiar, and the vast majority of the tools, control and options have been ported across. Included among the impressive feature set are numerous tools that use Adobe Firefly, the company' generative AI - -so the likes of Generative Expand and Generative Fill are present and correct.

There's no getting away from the fact that Adobe has pulled off something truly impressive here, but there's some bad news. There is no free version of Photoshop on the web.

The online version of Photoshop is only available to paying Creative Cloud subscribers. This is a shame, and it runs counter to Adobe's original plan to offer a freemium model, but it's something that may change further down the line.

The arrival of Photoshop on the web does open up a range of new options, including giving a way to easily run the image editing software on the likes of ChromeOS and Linux distros.

You can access Photoshop on the web here, where it is also possible to sign up for a free trial and experiment with Adobe-produce tutorials.