Adobe Photoshop Reviews (2024): Elements, Creative Cloud, Mac, PC, & More

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artist editing a cartoon in photoshop
How much time is this artist saving using Photoshop vs an alternative? Find out in our review.

Looking to take your photography game up a notch? There are a number of free tools out there to edit pictures, but nothing as robust and reputable as Photoshop.

From basic color tweaks to more advanced features like touching up or manipulating, Photoshop is great if you’re a blogger or photographer who has a business that relies heavily on stunning, original imagery. Learn more about the popular photo software and how it can elevate your photo editing skills.

What Is Photoshop?

Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editor for both Windows and macOS. Designed by Thomas and John Knoll back in 1988 it’s become the industry standard for editing photos and raster graphics (meaning images that are pixelated vs vector).

Adobe, which produces Photoshop, is the creator of the Creative Cloud Suite of online creative tools that help professionals with everything from graphic design to illustration and video editing. The interface is common across each piece of software, so once you master one program, it’s easy to move to the next.

Photoshop Online

Similar to most software, it is now available online to download via the Creative Cloud (a suite of other products offered by Adobe). There is also now a Photoshop app so you can edit images on the go via photoshop iPad app in addition to photoshop on Mac or PC.

What Is The Best Version Of Adobe Photoshop

At time of writing Photoshop 2023 is the latest and greatest available. And because it’s on the cloud (and online) it will prompt existing users to update to the newest version.

See Photoshop On Adobe

Photoshop

7.9
Ease of Use 7.0
Features 10.0
Customer Support 6.5
Pricing 8.0

Pros

  • Mobile and desktop
  • PC and Mac compatible
  • Access to Adobe Stock photos and files via Creative Cloud
  • Great tutorials to help you learn the software
  • Phone and live chat
  • 30 day free trial

Cons

  • Can be costly for the casual user
  • Not intended for bulk editing photos

What Can I Do With Photoshop (Examples)?

What exactly can you do with Photoshop? The options are endless, but for the sake of this review, we’ll use an example of this stock photo of four sheep in a pasture.

4 sheep in a pasture

Let’s say you wanted to give them all hats? Using the clone tool or select & paste you can duplicate the sheep and overlay another image of hats which you can transform and scale to fit each sheep.

Sheep in pasture with hats on editing on Photoshop

Pretty fun right? But what if these sheep get bored of their pasture, say they’re dreaming of visiting outer space? Unfortunately the spaceship can only take one sheep at a time. Use the selection tool to delete the sky, then add a new layer consisting of your new space background. Lastly, adjust the color of one of the sheep and use the brush to draw a light. Well…you get the idea.

Sheep in pasture with hats on in Space editing on Photoshop

As you can see in the screenshots, there are a number of tools above and left of the canvas you can use to smudge, crop, rotate, paint and select different elements of the photo. The layers (on the right) allow you to re-order each of the objects (in this case, the sheep and hats).

While it might seem a bit overwhelming at first, once you get a grasp on the basics you can advance to learning shortcuts which will speed up the editing process.

9 Key Features

  1. Optimize image file sizes for web so they load at a faster speed.
  2. Change the file types to jpg, png, gif, layered Photoshop file and more.
  3. Crop photos to the desired dimensions (including custom presets).
  4. Transform or rotate the aspect ratio to create real-life renderings and perspective mock-ups.
  5. Draw dozens of simple shapes in their library.
  6. Sync’s with Adobe’s fonts for thousands of options for typeface.
  7. Add artistic filters to turn photos into paintings, photo copies, watercolors and more.
  8. Touch up photo blemishes in portraits and old photos.
  9. Publish to the Creative Cloud to access your projects from other devices.

My Personal Experience

I’ve personally used Photoshop for more than 20 years. I first learned how to use Photoshop back in high school in my newspaper and yearbook class, and have used it personally ever since. I’ve been applying it professionally for We Rock Your Web for more than 6 years. While other platforms have entered the scene, nothing is as advanced or superior for photo editing as Photoshop. It really is the industry standard. I don’t use the iPhone app much but it’s good to know it’s there if I need it.

Sadie C., We Rock Your Web Creative

Photoshop Pricing

How much is Photoshop? Photoshop has a subscription based model, like most products in the Adobe family. You can get Photoshop as a stand-alone or bundle and get the entire Creative Cloud.

  • Individuals – $9.99/month
  • Business – $33.99/month
  • Students & Teachers – $19.99/month for all Adobe apps
  • Schools & Universities Check pricing options on website

Note: There is also Photoshop Elements which is a more basic, inexpensive version of Photoshop suited to beginners – Check Amazon for availability

Customer Reviews

Here are a few customer reviews so you can have a better idea of others’ experiences with Photoshop.

Positive Reviews

“Photoshop has powerful easy to use tools that allow you to make corrections to your images. The paint bucket tool allows you to add splashes of color to your grayscale artwork. Effects are easy to apply to layers and allow for advanced photo editing. Beginners and advanced users can create stunning graphics using the power of Photoshop. By far the most versatile of the Creative Suite, Photoshop is a tool that every designer should have in their toolkit.” – Danielle T., 3/31/2020 (g2.com)

“I am surprised to see so many negative reviews, I’ve only got positive things to say about Adobe Customer services from my experience. During this period with Covid-19, a lot of the freelance design industry are struggling with finances and after contacting adobe through their online chat, I got through with in minutes and they were very understanding, polite and offered a few months payment break whilst keeping my subscription. I know a many people who have had this similar positive experience with Adobe it has been a real life saver. Thank you so much.” – Josie F., 4/26/2020 (Trustpilot.com)

Negative Reviews

“I did dislike that you have to have a pretty powerful computer to use Photoshop and any other Adobe products, but it makes sense since it packs a lot of features and is quick! Photoshop can be a bit buggy sometimes, usually, that means that features wouldn’t work or I would have to use some very hard workaround to try and use the feature.” – Jordan, 3/21/2020 (g2.com)

“I tried the week trial, accidentally left it on for an extra day, got charged for the month, and a cancellation fee. Don’t try it.” – Guillermo R., 4/27/2020 (Trustpilot.com)

Learn Photoshop In 5 Minutes (Video)

Here’s an overview video to give you show you the basics of Photoshop and its interface and features in five minutes (including common shortcuts).

Frequently Asked Questions

Here’s some answers to Photoshop questions from our readers. Don’t see yours? Ask us in the comments!

What’s The Difference Between Baseline Standard, Optimized And Progressive?

Baseline Standard

The “Baseline Standard” color mode is the default mode and uses the sRGB color space, which is the most widely used color space for the internet and digital displays.

Optimized

“Optimized” color mode uses the Adobe RGB color space, which has a wider gamut than sRGB, meaning it can display more colors. This mode is often used for printing photographs.

Progressive

“Progressive” is not a color mode, but a type of JPEG file format. Progressive JPEGs are scanned in multiple passes, with each pass increasing in detail. This allows the image to load progressively, starting with a lower-quality version and then becoming clearer as more data is loaded.

Photoshop Alternatives

If you’re looking to see how Photoshop fared vs other photo editors, dive into our comprehensive comparison of photo editing software.

And while Photoshop isn’t really meant for detailed graphic design, Adobe Illustrator is. Check out our graphic design software comparison to compare Illustrator to the competition.

Which version of Photoshop (or competing product) are you leaning towards? Let us know in the comments!

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The information provided through this website should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease; it is not intended to offer any legal opinion or advice or a substitute for professional safety advice or professional care. Please consult your health care provider, attorney, or product manual for professional advice. Products and services reviewed are provided by third parties; we are not responsible in any way for them, nor do we guarantee their functionality, utility, safety, or reliability. Our content is for educational purposes only.

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