Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are finally coming to the web, but it’s not what you think

Today, Adobe announced some pretty significant news – its two most popular editing applications are officially coming to the web! That’s right, Adobe Photoshop for photo editing and Illustrator for vector graphic design will be accessible right through your browser via a simple URL in the near future, as discussed at Adobe Max 2021.

This means that Chromebook owners can finally live out their dreams of using Adobe software on their Google laptops and ditch Microsoft Windows – just kidding, we’re not quite there yet. For now, both applications will only allow viewing, commenting, and some basic editing capabilities when a .PSD or .AI file are launched via Google Chrome or Chromium Edge (Coming soon to Firefox and other browsers). You’ll be able to modify these file types on the web after pulling them from your desktop or iPad version of the apps. Once you’re done, you can sync them back, comments, and all to those locations using Creative Cloud.

You can start sharing Photoshop and Illustrator documents for commenting and feedback via the web by updating to the latest versions of the apps.

Adobe Blog

In addition to this neat update, Creative Cloud Spaces (Think Google Drive for Adobe files and libraries) was announced, alongside Creative Cloud Canvas, a tool that will let you and your team brainstorm together on creative works and review them in real-time. Both of these will also be operable from the browser.

The company’s Creative Cloud efforts have never actually included full-fledged software running in the cloud, as ironic as that sounds. CC was always more aimed at providing means of connecting creative entrepreneurs and their work through the web to others via sharing, storage, and light collaboration. However, it’s clear to me and obvious as well that the trajectory of such a branded initiative would eventually and inevitably move towards web-based software.

At this time, you can try out Photoshop on the web in beta with basic editing capabilities by clicking “Open in Photoshop on the web beta” in the header when viewing a Photoshop file in your browser or by clicking here once signed in to Creative Cloud. It is becoming available during a staged rollout, so you may not have access right away. There’s also a FAQ you can read to gain more context around where the web app is strong or weak and what it can do at this time.

New features and potentially more editing tools will come to Photoshop on the web in time, and to influence what gets released first, you can submit a feature request in the Adobe Photoshop Beta Community by starting a new conversation using the “Idea” option.

For Illustrator, you can only access it via a private beta until further notice. If you’re interested, you can watch the full Adobe Max 2021 Keynote for yourself, as there are more sessions upcoming in addition to the details we’ve shared here today. Let me know in the comments if you’ve moved on to other tools outside of the Adobe ecosystem or if you’re eagerly awaiting a full editing suite through your web browser.