Adobe launches Photoshop for the web with its popular desktop AI tools

After almost two years in beta, Adobe’s Photoshop on the web service — a simplified online version of the company’s desktop photo editing app — is now generally available starting Wednesday, September 27th. According to information Adobe shared with The Verge, Photoshop on the web is launching with the popular Generative Fill and Generative Expand tools that were recently released for the desktop version of Photoshop. 

Photoshop on the web also provides many of its desktop equivalent’s most commonly used tools but with a redesigned layout that provides new Photoshop users with a more “streamlined” user experience. This includes the Contextual Task Bar feature — which suggests the most relevant steps to take in your workflow — that was added to the desktop Photoshop app earlier this year.

Tools that share similar workflows — like those used to select objects and retouch images — are named and grouped together on the toolbar to make the software easier to navigate. This view can be disabled for experienced creatives who prefer the look of the desktop version of Photoshop’s user interface. Adobe says that desktop features like the patch tool, pen tool, smart object support, polygonal lasso, and more will be added “soon.”

Photoshop on the web also enables users to invite others to collaborate on projects and allows those without an active Photoshop description to view and comment on files.

The web-based Photoshop service is included as part of all Photoshop paid plans (which start at $9.99 per month) and will not be available as a free-to-use experience at launch. Adobe started testing a “freemium” version of its Photoshop for the web experience in June last year after the initial beta release of Photoshop for the web in 2021.

The company previously said that it hoped to offer a free version of the service that provided most of Photoshop’s core desktop functions. But Ashley Still, Adobe’s senior vice president of digital media, has now told The Verge that the creative software giant “does not have immediate plans for a freemium offering” and that new users can instead check out Photoshop on the web through “free interactive demos and in-app tutorials” on Adobe’s website before committing to a subscription.