A new commentary piece argues that AI labs' push to sell AI coding assistants as replacements for human software engineers has backfired by letting ordinary users build cheap alternatives to paid software products. It cites examples such as a hobbyist building a Photoshop-like tool in a weekend and AI tools reverse-engineering established software and releasing clones as open source. The author frames this as AI labs undermining the recurring-revenue business model of the very companies they hoped would become their paying customers.
techbronerd.substack.com
· 2026-10-25
Developer Rafael Rivera found that wallpapers Microsoft emailed to Windows Insiders in mid-October, marking the program's 12th anniversary, carried file metadata showing they were saved using Photoshop on a Mac. Rivera said the ten wallpapers came from Microsoft's in-house design team, and the company has since replaced the files on its design site without comment.
techspot.com
· 2026-10-25
Adobe VP Deepa Subramaniam said the company has rearchitected Photoshop, Premiere and Substance 3D Painter to run on NVIDIA's new RTX Spark system-on-chip, which brings local AI processing to Windows laptops and small desktops aimed at creatives. Subramaniam claims the optimized apps run twice as fast on AI-driven tasks and general editing workflows, with improvements including real-time previews in Photoshop, faster rendering and color-grading in Premiere, and quicker texturing and file handling in Substance 3D Painter.
engadget.com
· 2026-10-15
PhotoCraft is a new open-source image editor built entirely in Rust as a clean-room reimplementation of Adobe Photoshop's core functionality. It supports layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type, vector tools, brushes and native PSD file compatibility, running offline as a native desktop application. The project is part of ArtCraft, a broader suite of creative tools and community for artists.
github.com
· 2026-10-06
A reviewer compared Apple's revamped Clean Up tool and new Extend feature in iOS 27, running on an iPhone 18 Pro Max, against Adobe Photoshop's Firefly-powered Generative Fill and Expand tools. The test used six travel photos shot on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, split evenly between object removal and image extension tasks, with settings kept as consistent as possible across both platforms.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-24
Photon Studio is a newly available desktop image editor that supports layers, masks, adjustment layers, smart objects, and native PSD file compatibility. It performs all processing locally, including AI-driven subject selection and background removal, and is currently free with no paywalled features.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-14
A design professor has compiled a list of the earliest recognizable web design trends from 1993, tracing them back to the pre-boom era of the World Wide Web following Tim Berners-Lee's original 1991 page at CERN. The analysis distinguishes genuine web-native design conventions, born from the technology and culture of the time, from styles simply imported from other media. It highlights how amateur creators in the mid-1990s shaped distinctive visual genres unique to the early web.
contemporary-home-computing.org
· 2026-08-31
Adobe introduced AI Assisted Editor, a new Photoshop interface that lets users edit images through natural language prompts alongside the existing Pro Editor workspace. The company also unveiled a light adjustment layer, Instruct Edit with Masks, and a Markup tool for drawing edit instructions directly on images. These features are currently available in the $23-per-month Photoshop beta.
cnet.com
· 2026-08-27
Adobe has introduced a beta feature called AI Assisted Editor, an optional Photoshop mode that swaps the app's traditional tool-heavy interface for a simplified, natural-language editing experience. The mode bundles Firefly-powered tools like Prompt to Edit, Generative Fill, Generative Expand, Remove Background, and a new AI Markup tool that lets users sketch or click on an image and describe changes in plain text. Users can toggle between this mode and Photoshop's standard Pro Editor at any time.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-08-27
Adobe is rolling out a beta update to Photoshop featuring a new optional 'AI Assisted Editor' view that consolidates its AI tools—prompt-based editing, background removal, and image extension—into one toolbar. The update also introduces a markup tool letting users sketch or highlight areas to guide AI edits instead of typing prompts, plus an upgraded 'Instruct Edit with Masks' feature powered by Firefly Image 5 that understands full image context.
theverge.com
· 2026-08-27
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