25 Years of Electronic Image Editing with Photoshop

On 19 February 1990, the first version of the image editing software Photoshop by Adobe was released, which has since had a major influence on the creativity and workflow of graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, retouchers and layout artists. This development coincided with further revolutionary changes in the printing and graphics industry, moving from analogue processes with repro film to digital Desktop Publishing.

The parallel introduction of illustration and layout programmes such as Freehand,
QuarkXPress or InDesign, the PostScript page description language and the Portable Document Format (PDF), also by Adobe, initiated the digital transformation. The simultaneous emergence of Apple Macintosh computers also played a significant role; in conjunction with the powerful and dynamically evolving software, they quickly became established in the graphics industry and initiated the shift from electronic image processing on expensive scan workstations to more affordable desktop computers. It’s also interesting in this context that Photoshop’s predecessor, “Display”, achieved its initial successful distribution precisely by being bundled with scanner hardware. The seamless interaction of the different programmes in the workflow also contributed to the later dominant position of Adobe products.

As one of the last cohorts, I completed my apprenticeship as a repro retoucher or lithographer (traditionally ‘gautschen’ed!) entirely “analogue” in 1990; subsequent cohorts were already predominantly trained digitally. Photoshop has many reminiscences of this analogue era: masks, for example, are in the same red colour as the Ulano masking films used for exposing repro films. Of course, the acquired knowledge of gradation curves and colour channels (including CMYK) has not been lost. Anyone who remembers the elaborate work involved in isolating elements, such as hair, will appreciate the advantages of the software. Or using the stamp tool instead of editing halftone dots in four-colour separations with a scalpel. While retouching primarily focused on the optimal media-appropriate reproduction of the original, photos were always altered, montaged together or graphics newly created as required.

Especially for photographers, Photoshop has been an excellent tool since the age of analogue photography, even if only a limited range of functions was used. However, there have always been competitive products; currently, for digital post-processing with RAW formats, DxoOptics Pro or CaptureOne are particularly noteworthy alongside Lightroom. Regarding Adobe’s licensing policy or the pros and cons of individual products, I would like to refer to the numerous forums and blogs on the internet.