Adobe Photoshop Express Slated For Beta Release By End Of 2007

We brought you word first in early March 2007 of Adobe’s development of a Web-based Photoshop utility. Then in early September, Adobe broke its silence on the subject once more to an audience at Photoshop World. There it whet the palate of the masses with a brief teaser. A month later, at the company’s Max 2007 conference, it all but pulled the curtain off the project entirely, offering a brief demo that the blogosphere grew quite excited over.

Yesterday, Adobe let loose some more valuable information: the company would debut a beta version of the product this year.

That’s right, by the end of 2007, you may (depending on several factors, including whether it’s to be released initially as a private or public beta), have your hands on Photoshop Express, the first version of the industry-leading image editing software to be located not on one’s hard disk, but out in “the cloud.”

According to a report on the announcement by CNET Webware’s Stephen Shankland, an Adobe representative, John Loiacono, claimed that the world would see a beta “by late this year” and that sometime next year the service will be “available to anyone.” Whether that means the debut will be distributed via a closed invite system controlled by Adobe or one controlled by the initial set of users, is hard to determine at present. If I were to venture a guess, I suspect Adobe will place a tight lid on the beta testing process (so as not to disappoint too many people if major hiccups do occur) and will begin to roll out the service to the interested public several weeks or months following the first release.

As for which existing photo hosting services Adobe’s Photoshop Express will connect with, the company has labeled Shutterfly and Photobucket as partners. The company suspiciously left Flickr out of the lineup, due perhaps to the Yahoo! service’s very clear partnership with Picnik, an online photo editor Adobe is bound to compete with.

We look forward to seeing first-hand what Adobe’s got in store. We’re certain you’re just as eager. Recent advancements made in the realm of photo and video editing software on the Internet are proof positive that significant headway has already been made to enable actions normally reserved for local execution for remote interactivity. So, really, we can’t wait for the day we can finally put Adobe’s editor through its paces. Be sure to check back in with us when that time comes!

Excited about Adobe Photoshop Express? Pleased with what Picnik and other services give you? Let us know what's on your mind. Offer your comments below.