Photoshop, now in a browser
Adobe’s domination over computer graphics just went online. Adobe Photoshop Express (https://www.photoshop.com/express/) is a free online image editing service that allows you to use some of Photoshop’s noteworthy features. Not only that, you can also get 2 GB of free online space and an easy to remember http://<your-choice>.photoshop.com domain to go with it!
Uploading And Importing Photos
Being an online service, all the photos that you want to edit need to be uploaded to the service. Photoshop Express has a nice way of doing this. Click on the Upload Photos link, and then browse to the folder where you have stored the photos. Hold down [Ctrl] and select the multiple images that you want to upload, then click Open. In the new window, choose whether you want to upload the photos into a new album or an existing one. If it’s an existing one, use the dropdown menu and select it. Click Upload. The uploading process will take place, and a status display will be shown as well.
Photos can also be imported from other photo hosting sites such as Photobucket, Picasa and the popular social networking site—Facebook. Click on Login for the corresponding external service and login to your account. To see all the photos, click on Library > All Photos link.
Clicking on an album starts a slideshow of that album
Browsing Galleries
The other notable feature of Photoshop Express is its community. All albums that are shared can be viewed by other users of Photoshop Express. Slideshows are a small part of the features offered by Adobe. Click on Browse to browse through the list of users and galleries. Click on the smaller thumbnails under each user to visit that particular gallery. To set the duration for each slide in the gallery, use the bar on the right top. Enabling captions can be done by clicking the checkbox. If you click the Settings button on the right bottom of the screen, you can set the type of transition effect for the slideshow. Galleries can be linked as well and set as favourite using the links below each album.
Creating Albums
Albums are an easy way to categorise images as well as share them with other users. Creating albums can be done by clicking on the icon next to Albums under My Photos and enter a name for the album. To delete an album at anytime, click on Albums. Then, click on the album and press the Del key or click on Remove Album.
Adding Ratings And Captions
Photos in your albums can be rated, and you can give them captions too. The captions are also displayed when other users browse through your albums. Click on My Photos to access your photos. Click on the image you want to rate and add captions to. Enter a caption in the text field under each image. Click on the dulled out stars to set a rating for that photo.
Users can rate their photographs and set captions for them
Full Screen
Photoshop Express runs in a browser, and so one of the most obvious drawbacks is the workspace wasted by the browser’s menus and toolbars. Fortunately, Photoshop Express can run in a full screen mode without any obstructions. The small icon on the right top of the screen can be clicked to go into full screen mode. Press that icon again to return to window mode.
The Tools And Effects Of Photoshop Express
Photoshop Express’s features don’t come close to matching the number of features on the desktop version, but there are still some impressive ones. Double-click on any of your photos to go into the editing mode. All the tools are visible on the left side of the photo. Presets for each of the features are available on the top pane.
Photoshop Express stores an interactive history of steps
The up arrow icon at the bottom of the screen shows a preview of all the changes made from the original photo. One of the interesting features of Photoshop Express is Pop Color. This tool can replace a particular colour with another. In photos where most of the area is of a particular colour, it works very effectively.
Exporting Photos
When all the editing and colour corrections to the photos are done, you might want to get the images back on your local machine. Click on My Photos to access all your photos. Move the mouse pointer to the bottom of the photo and click on the dropdown for Photo Options and click Download. Select a resolution and click Download. Select a location, enter a name for the file and click Save.
You can use the free Photoshop Express space to host images as well. Click on the same dropdown and click on Link. The link can be used on your personal blog, forums or even Web sites!