Recently Adobe introduced Photoshop Express, a free online version of photoshop where anyone can create an account and edit their pictures. You can only edit your own pictures if you create an account, but it is free so why not. If you just want to check it out, there is an option to test drive the feature. But not only can’t you use your own images in test drive, but you can’t save either.

After you choose to take a test drive, click on ‘My Pictures’ to choose a photo to play with. Just double click it and you will be able to edit it. It’s really easy to get started, just click something on the sidebar on your left, play with the options that appear on top of the picture, then click the green check mark to modify your photo. You can also choose the orange undo arrow to undo changes or the red ‘x’ to cancel changes. After taking a quick look you will see that Photoshop Express is no replacement for the full Photoshop version, but it seems like it will be great for non-designers to quickly edit their pictures without any technical training needed. It seems perfect for MySpacers to add artsy effects to their self-portraits and for Moms to do simple photo retouching to family pictures.

But back to the test drive. Here is a runthrough of the features and what you can do with them:

• Basics: Crop & Rotate is self explanatory, though you can also tilt your pictures by sliding the ‘Straighten’ bar. Auto Correct brings up a few color corrected options above your photo for you to choose the one that matches the best. Exposure gives you options to under expose (darken) or over expose (lighten) your photo. Red-eye Removal asks you to click on the eyes in your photo to correct them. Retouch allows you to drag out a circle to retouch your photograph. This is probably my least favorite feature because it feels like there is absolutely no control and you can’t choose a different shape besides a circle. Saturation either desaturates (make greyscale) or saturates (makes colors more vivid).
• Tuning: White Balance gives the option to correct the photo for various forms of lighting including sunlit, cloudy, or flashlit. Highlight and Fill Light both adjust the lighting in different ways. Sharpen makes your photo crisper and Soft Focus makes your photos more dull.
• Effects: Pop Color allows you to choose a color in your image and replace it with another. Hue allows you to change the color of the whole image. Black and White changes your photo to greyscale, but also gives different options for making different parts of your picture different shades of grey. Tint adds a color as an overlay on the image and tints the whole photo that color. Sketch is similar to the filter in the full version of Photoshop and makes your image appear to be hand drawn. Distort is also similar to the filter in the full version of Photoshop and gives you the option to warp your photo in various ways.

Photoshop Express is a fun, quick way to play with your photos, but don’t uninstall your full version of Photoshop. Photoshop Express is no substitute for professional projects.

by Nicole |