Washington Post Photoshop Express Review

I haven't bothered trying Photoshop Express, not only because of the potential rights I'd have to give up, but, owing to being in a rural part of the country, there's no broadband in them thar phone wires - and no cable connection to even miss broadband. And if you're going to edit photos over the Internet, dial-up is the last thing you want to contemplate. However, Washington Post writer Rob Pegorano has a review on the product. From what he says, it seems that while there are some basic abilities, this is not really close to being Photoshop, and is slow, clumsy, and buggy, at least as of early April. If you want real photo editing without spending a lot of money, here are some choices that I've covered.

Adobe Doesn't Want Money for Photoshop Express, Just Your Photos

ArsTechnica reports that Adobe's licensing agreement for using the free online version of Photoshop gives it unlimited rights to make money off photos you upload to the site.

I've seen this sort of problem in the past, and have even reported on it - in Newsweek.com, if I'm remembering correctly (the subject at that time was MSN). The problem is that many companies don't seem to read through their agreements and understand the implications. Some amount of broad wording may be necessary to cover all the things that are effectively done on the web, but, really folks, would a little final read through the copy be that tough?

Supposedly Adobe will modify the agreement, but I'd suggest holding off using Photoshop Express until you see wording you can live with.

Cheap Photo Editing Software for the Mac

I don't use a Mac, so can't offer a first-hand view of this, but Wired has a review of a program called Pixelmator. Simpler than Photoshop, it has the usual tools you might expect at a cost of only $60. (A Mac version of Photoshop Elements - the inexpensive version - won't be out until next year.)

Poor (or Cheap) Person's Image Editing

Photoshop is an amazing tool - and it's also an expensive one. I've often been asked what cheaper alternatives there are. Here are a few you might consider:

• Photoshop Elements This is technically the "lite" version of Photoshop, but don't let that fool you. Most anything you're likely to be doing in regular image editing is possible in Photoshop Elements, and Adobe often puts the newest features into this program before rolling them out in the flagship version. By itself it runs about $100 - not cheap, per se, but a bargain when compared to the multiple times more expensive Photoshop CS3.


• ACDSee ACD Systems (hence the name) has some great photo-related tools. The photo manager, whether regular (about $40) or pro version ($130), has basic editing tools built-in. You won't be able to retouch images the way you could with either of the Photoshop products, but you can crop, change size, adjust lighting levels, remove red eye, and do other tasks that might be all you need. Plus, you get a great image organizer. (Photoshop Elements also has image management, though personally I prefer ACDSee Pro).


• GIMP Feeling really broke? (Or really cheap?) GIMP is an open source application that doesn't cost anything if you download it. You won't get all of Photoshop's features. What you will get is quite a bit, though, and you can't beat the price. If you like a bit of hand holding (its lack being the one downfall of open source), then you should consider a book. GIMP 2 for Photographers includes GIMP 2 on a CD and will walk you through the installation and configuration before showing how to use the software. It's $30 list, but the Amazon link I provided shows it at just under $20.


• GIMPShop A writing colleague pointed this one out - a version of GIMP designed to work like Photoshop.