Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did Adobe Photoshop change the editing and manipulation of photographs?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Diagram showing the negative-positive photographic process: a scene is captured on film in a camera, developed into a negative, projected onto paper with an enlarger, and developed again to produce a positive print. — technology of photography Figure 1: Sequence of negative–positive process, from the photographing of the original scene to enlarged print (see text).

Adobe Photoshop fundamentally transformed photography by transitioning the medium from a traditional, chemistry-based darkroom process to a digital workflow. By providing tools to adjust and manipulate digital image files, it allowed photographers to alter the structure and content of images with unprecedented ease.1

Key impacts of Photoshop on photography include:

Expanded Creative Control: The software adopted traditional darkroom techniques while enabling advanced capabilities, such as nondestructive editing, which allows users to test modifications without altering the original file.21
Advanced Compositing: Features like advanced compositing enable the alignment of multiple images to create a single, seamless representation.2
Questioning Veracity: Because Photoshop made it simple to change image contents, it challenged long-held assumptions regarding photographic "truth" and documentary reliability. This led to the establishment of journalistic codes of ethics to regulate digital alteration in news media.1
Industry Integration: Photoshop became an essential tool across diverse fields, including advertising, fashion, and publishing, where it is used for tasks such as retouching models and enhancing visual impact.21

Ultimately, Photoshop’s "open architecture," which allowed for third-party plug-ins, helped cement its dominance as the standard for digital image manipulation.3