History of Adobe Photoshop in Timeline
Adobe Photoshop, developed by Thomas and John Knoll in 1987, is a raster graphics editor for Windows and macOS. It is a leading professional tool for digital art and raster graphics editing. Its widespread use has led to its name becoming a generic verb, a practice Adobe discourages. The software is published and maintained by Adobe.
1987: Photoshop Creation
In 1987, Adobe Photoshop was created by Thomas and John Knoll for Windows and macOS.
1987: Photoshop Development Begins
In 1987, Thomas and John Knoll began developing Photoshop.
September 1988: Adobe Purchases Photoshop License
In September 1988, Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute Photoshop after John Knoll demonstrated the program to engineers at Apple Computer and Russell Brown at Adobe.
October 1988: First Known Copy of Photoshop
In October 1988, Version 0.63 of Photoshop was created, though it was never publicly released.
1988: Collaboration and Renaming
In 1988, Thomas Knoll took a break from his studies to collaborate with his brother John on the program, renaming it ImagePro and later Photoshop. He also worked out a deal with Barneyscan to distribute copies with a slide scanner.
March 1989: First Publicly Available Version
In March 1989, Version 0.87 was the first publicly available version of Photoshop, distributed as "Barneyscan XP".
February 1990: Photoshop 1.0 Release
In February 1990, Photoshop 1.0 was released.
February 19, 1990: Photoshop 1.0 Release
On February 19, 1990, Photoshop 1.0 was released exclusively for Macintosh.
1990: Photoshop 1.0.1 Source Code Donation
In February 2013 Adobe donated the source code of the 1990 1.0.1 version of Photoshop to the Computer History Museum.
June 1991: Photoshop 2.0 Release
In June 1991, Photoshop 2.0 was released, adding support for paths and the CMYK color model.
November 1992: Photoshop 2.5 Release for Windows
In November 1992, Photoshop 2.5 was released, marking the first version available for Windows.
1993: Photoshop Ported to Windows
In 1993, Adobe chief architect Seetharaman Narayanan ported Photoshop to Microsoft Windows, expanding its reach.
September 1994: Photoshop 3.0 Release
In September 1994, Photoshop 3.0 was released for Mac OS 7, with the Windows version following later in November. This version notably introduced Layers.
March 31, 1995: Adobe Purchases Photoshop Rights
On March 31, 1995, Adobe purchased the rights for Photoshop from Thomas and John Knoll for $34.5 million.
November 1996: Photoshop 4.0 Release
In November 1996, Photoshop 4.0 was released.
September 2000: Photoshop 6.0 Release
In September 2000, Photoshop 6.0 was released.
March 2002: Photoshop 7.0 Release
In March 2002, Photoshop 7.0 was released.
October 2002: Creative Suite Branding Introduction
In October 2002, Adobe introduced Creative Suite branding, designating each new version of Photoshop with "CS" plus a number.
October 2003: Creative Suite Branding Introduction
In October 2003, Adobe introduced version 8.0 of Photoshop, incorporating the Creative Suite branding.
October 2003: Photoshop CS Release
In October 2003, the first Photoshop CS was released as the eighth major version, introducing features like a reworked file browser and Match Color.
May 2005: Photoshop CS2 Release
In May 2005, Photoshop CS2 was released, featuring an upgraded Spot Healing Brush and Smart Objects.
October 15, 2008: Photoshop CS4 Release
On October 15, 2008, CS4 and CS4 Extended were released and were also made available through Adobe's online store and Adobe Authorized Resellers. Both CS4 and CS4 Extended are offered as either a stand-alone application or feature of Adobe Creative Suite. Both products are compatible with Intel-based Mac OS X and PowerPCs, supporting Windows XP and Windows Vista.
April 12, 2010: Photoshop CS5 Launch
On April 12, 2010, Photoshop CS5 was launched, revealing new technologies under development such as three-dimensional brushes and warping tools.
May 2011: Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Release
In May 2011, Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 (CS5.5) was released, featuring new versions of some applications, including Photoshop version 12.1 which was identical to the concurrently released update for Photoshop CS5, version 12.0.4, except for support for the new subscription pricing.
May 2012: Photoshop CS6 Release
In May 2012, Photoshop CS6 was released, adding new creative design tools and a redesigned interface with enhanced performance. New features were added to the Content-Aware tool.
January 2013: Photoshop CS2 Serial Number Release
In January 2013, Photoshop CS2 was released with a published serial number due to a technical glitch in Adobe's CS2 activation servers.
February 2013: Photoshop 1.0.1 Source Code Donation
In February 2013, Adobe donated the source code of the 1990 1.0.1 version of Photoshop to the Computer History Museum.
June 2013: Creative Cloud Branding and Subscription Model
In June 2013, Adobe introduced Creative Cloud branding, changing the "CS" suffix to "CC" and transitioning Photoshop's licensing to a software-as-a-service subscription model.
June 18, 2013: Photoshop CC Launch
On June 18, 2013, Photoshop CC (14.0) was launched, available only as part of a Creative Cloud subscription. It included features like new Smart Sharpen, Intelligent Upsampling, and Camera Shake Reduction.
September 9, 2013: Photoshop CC Update (14.1)
On September 9, 2013, Photoshop version 14.1 was launched, featuring Adobe Generator, a Node.js-based platform for creating plug-ins for Photoshop, and plug-ins for generating image assets based on layer names and Adobe Edge Reflow.
January 15, 2014: Photoshop CC Update (14.2)
On January 15, 2014, Version 14.2 was released. Major features included Perspective Warp, Linked Smart Objects, and 3D Printing support.
June 18, 2014: Photoshop CC 2014 Release
On June 18, 2014, Photoshop CC 2014 (15.0) was released. CC 2014 featured improvements to content-aware tools, two new blur tools (spin blur and path blur) and a new focus mask feature.
2014: Minor improvements in Photoshop CC 2015
In 2014, Adobe added Export As and other minor features to Photoshop CC 2015.
June 15, 2015: Photoshop CC 2015 Release
On June 15, 2015, Photoshop CC 2015 was released, adding features like Adobe Stock and the ability to have multiple layer styles.
November 30, 2015: Photoshop CC 2015 Updated UI
As of November 30, 2015, Photoshop CC 2015 delivered a cleaner and more consistent look and enabled common tasks via gestures on touch-enabled devices.
November 2, 2016: Photoshop CC 2017 Release
On November 2, 2016, Photoshop CC 2017 was released. It introduced a new template selector, tool search, support for SVG OpenType fonts, and other improvements.
December 2016: MacBook Pro Touch Bar Support
In December 2016, a minor update was released to include support for the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.
January 9, 2017: End of CS6 Availability
Starting January 9, 2017, CS6 was no longer available for purchase, with a Creative Cloud license becoming the only option. No more updates are available for CS6 software.
October 18, 2017: Photoshop CC 2018 Release
On October 18, 2017, Photoshop CC 2018 (version 19) was released. It featured an overhaul to the brush organization system, brush stroke smoothing, and the addition of a Curvature Pen tool.
2017: Photoshop CC 2017
In 2017, Photoshop CC 2017 introduced new templates and a new search functionality for tools.
October 15, 2018: Photoshop CC 2019 Release
On October 15, 2018, Photoshop CC 2019 was released with the new Frame Tool, multiple undo mode, auto-commitment, prevention of accidental panel moves, live blend mode previews, Color Wheel, and other improvements.
2018: Photoshop CC 2018
In 2018, Photoshop CC 2018 featured improvements to file opening, filters, and brush strokes.
November 4, 2019: Photoshop 2020 Release
On November 4, 2019, Photoshop 2020 was released with features like the new object selection tool, enhanced transform warp, new keyboard shortcuts, background image removal, content-aware fill improvements, animated GIF support, improved lens blur performance, and new presets.
November 2019: Photoshop for iPad Release
In November 2019, Adobe released a full version of Photoshop for the iPad, with plans to expand its features.
February 2020: February 2020 Update
In February 2020, Photoshop received an update (version 21.1) that introduced iterative filling of multiple areas in content-aware fill workspace, improved GPU-based lens blur quality, and performance enhancements for panning, zooming, and navigation.
June 2020: Version 21.2 Release
In June 2020, version 21.2 of Photoshop was released, introducing features such as faster portrait selection, Adobe Camera Raw improvements, auto-activated Adobe Fonts, rotatable patterns, and improved Match Font.
October 2020: Version 22.0.0 Release
In October 2020, Version 22.0.0 of Photoshop was released.
November 2020: Version 22.0.1 Release
In November 2020, Version 22.0.1 of Photoshop was released.
December 2020: Version 22.1.0 Release
In December 2020, Version 22.1.0 of Photoshop was released.
January 2021: Version 22.1.1 Release
In January 2021, Version 22.1.1 of Photoshop was released.
February 2021: Version 22.2 Release
In February 2021, Version 22.2 of Photoshop was released.
March 2021: Version 22.3 Release
In March 2021, Version 22.3 of Photoshop was released. This version marked the first macOS release to run natively on Apple silicon.
April 2021: Version 22.3.1 Release
In April 2021, Version 22.3.1 of Photoshop was released.
May 2021: Version 22.4 Release
In May 2021, Version 22.4 of Photoshop was released.
June 2021: Version 22.4.2 Release
In June 2021, Version 22.4.2 of Photoshop was released.
July 2021: Version 22.4.3 Release
In July 2021, Version 22.4.3 of Photoshop was released.
August 2021: Version 22.5 Release
In August 2021, Version 22.5 of Photoshop was released.
September 2021: Version 22.5.1 Release
In September 2021, Version 22.5.1 of Photoshop was released. This was the final version to include a large set of Pantone color books as Legacy Swatches.
October 2021: Version 23.0 Release
In October 2021, Version 23.0 of Photoshop was released. This was the first version to include a reduced set of Pantone color books as Legacy Swatches.
November 2021: Version 23.0.1 Release
In November 2021, Version 23.0.1 of Photoshop was released.
December 2021: Version 23.1 Release
In December 2021, Version 23.1 of Photoshop was released.
January 2022: Version 23.1.1 Release
In January 2022, Version 23.1.1 of Photoshop was released.
February 2022: Version 23.2 Release
In February 2022, Version 23.2 of Photoshop was released.
April 2022: Version 23.3 Release
In April 2022, Version 23.3 of Photoshop was released.
June 2022: Version 23.4 Release
In June 2022, Version 23.4 of Photoshop was released.
August 2022: Version 23.5 Release
In August 2022, Version 23.5 of Photoshop was released. This was the final version with built-in support for basic Pantone colors as Legacy Swatches.
August 16, 2022: Pantone Colors Removal
As of August 16, 2022, all Pantone colors were removed from Photoshop. A separate paid subscription is now required to access the Pantone Connect extension and download color "fandecks".
October 2022: Version 24.0 Release
In October 2022, Version 24.0 of Photoshop was released. This was the first version without built-in support for Pantone colors.
December 2022: Version 24.1 Release
In December 2022, Version 24.1 of Photoshop was released.
April 20, 2023: Version 24.4.1 Release
On April 20, 2023, Version 24.4.1 of Photoshop was released.
July 27, 2023: Version 24.7 Release
On July 27, 2023, Version 24.7 of Photoshop was released.
September 2023: Version 25.0 Release
In September 2023, Version 25.0 of Photoshop was released, adding Generative Fill and Generative Expand for commercial use.
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