Evolution and Background of Adobe Photoshop

In the heart of the 1980s, two brothers, John Knoll and Thomas Knoll, embarked on a journey that would revolutionise digital art and graphic design. John, a visual effects expert, and Thomas, a PhD student with a knack for user interface design, joined forces to create a groundbreaking image editing software that would become known as Photoshop.

John's inspiration came from his work at Lucasfilm's computer graphics department, where he developed a program to display grayscale images on a monochrome monitor. Recognising the potential of this program, Thomas, with his academic and UI skills, transformed it into a full-fledged image editing software[1].

The brothers released the first version of Photoshop in 1987 independently. After the release of the third version, Adobe, impressed by the software's capabilities, decided to purchase it, and Adobe Photoshop was born[2]. This acquisition marked the beginning of the software's rapid evolution into the industry standard for photo editing and digital art[2][3].

Key milestones in Photoshop's development include:

The program's initial focus on grayscale image manipulation, later expanded to handle colour images.
The addition of the Pen tool, Duotones, import and rasterisation of Illustrator files, and support for CMYK color in Version 2.0[2].
The introduction of layers in Photoshop 3.0, a feature that attracted many artists to the program[3].
The creation of an innovative method for selecting and affecting specific parts of the image, as well as a set of image-processing routines that would later become plug-ins by Thomas Knoll[3].
The addition of the Liquify filter in Photoshop 6.0 (2000) and more recently, generative AI tools in recent updates[3].

Photoshop's open architecture allowed outside developers to create plug-ins, further enhancing its capabilities and contributing to its dominance[3]. Today, Photoshop is part of a family of applications that includes tools for asset management, image organisation, and mobile drawing, painting, and retouching.

The Knoll brothers' interest in technology and art was sparked by their father's photography darkroom and early home computers. John went on to work at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he led VFX teams on films in the Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. Thomas continued working as a software engineer for Adobe, pioneering new functionality for Photoshop[1].

In the early days, Barneyscan, a scanner manufacturer, bundled Photoshop with its scanners under the name Barneyscan XP[1]. Steven Guttman, who started giving code names to beta versions of Photoshop, a practice that survives to this day, was also instrumental in the software's development[1].

Photoshop 1.0 was shipped on February 19, 1990, making professional-level image processing accessible to the public for the first time. The software's success attracted Adobe, which popularised it globally[2]. In recognition of their work, the Knoll brothers received a Scientific and Engineering Award for their work on Photoshop at the 2019 Oscars[2].

Today, Adobe Photoshop remains one of the best software packages for digital artists, a testament to the vision and collaboration of the Knoll brothers and the teams that have continued to innovate and improve the software over the years.

[1] - The Verge [2] - Adobe Blog [3] - Smashing Magazine

The Knoll brothers, with their shared interest in technology and art, were inspired by their father's photography darkroom and early home computers.
The brothers adapted John's program for grayscale image display into a full-fledged image editing software.
Photoshop, initially focusing on grayscale image manipulation, expanded its capabilities to handle color images over time.
Thomas Knoll introduced an innovative method for selecting and affecting specific parts of the image in Photoshop, which later became plug-ins.
The addition of layers in Photoshop 3.0 attracted many artists to the program.
Adobe's acquisition of Photoshop marked its rapid evolution into the industry standard for photo editing and digital art.
The open architecture of Photoshop allows outside developers to create plug-ins, further enhancing its capabilities.
John Knoll, a visual effects expert, led VFX teams on films in the Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises.
Digital artists continue to find Photoshop one of the best software packages for their work, a testament to the Knoll brothers' vision and the innovations made over the years.
In the realm of 3D digital art, artists can use tools like Adobe Photoshop in conjunction with other software for a creative layout, incorporating digital drawing, painting, and photography.