Adobe Photoshop
The original image editing standard - still the best at what it does.
What it is
Photoshop is Adobe's raster image editor - the tool for working with photographs, composited artwork, and pixel-based images. It's been the industry standard since 1990. When people talk about "photoshopping" an image, they're describing what this software does: retouching, compositing, colour grading, masking, and detailed pixel-level editing.
Raster graphics are made of pixels, which means they're resolution-dependent. Photoshop is the right tool when you're working with photographs, product images, textured backgrounds, or any artwork that needs pixel-level precision. For logos and icons that need to scale to any size, that's Illustrator's job.
How I use it
Photoshop is used for any project involving photography or image composition. Retouching product photos before they go on a website, creating hero image backgrounds with combined photographs and graphic elements, preparing texture layers, or any work that requires non-destructive editing with layers, masks, and adjustment layers.
For web output, Photoshop exports optimised images in the right format and size. Smart Objects allow embedded files to be updated non-destructively, and the export pipeline handles generating multiple sizes for responsive image sets.
Why this over the alternatives
Photoshop remains the best tool for complex image editing because its non-destructive workflow (smart objects, adjustment layers, layer masks) handles multi-layer compositions without destroying original image data. Affinity Photo is a capable alternative at lower cost, and Lightroom handles batch photo processing better. But for detailed, layered image work, Photoshop is still the reference standard.
What it means for your site
- Non-destructive editing preserves originals and allows unlimited revisions
- Layer-based compositing for complex image combinations
- Precise masking and selection tools for detailed cutouts and compositions
- Optimised web export with control over compression, format, and dimensions
Want this on your project?
Get in touch and we can talk through what stack makes sense for what you are building.
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