Adobe After Effect.

Adobe After Effects is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. Its main purpose is for film and video post-production.
Description:-
Adobe After Effects is primarily used for creating motion graphics and visual effects. After Effects allows users to animate, alter, and composite media in 2D and 3D space with various built-in tools and third party plug-ins, as well as individual attention to variables like parallax and user-adjustable angle of observation.
Both After Effects and some non-linear editing systems (NLEs) are layer-oriented, meaning that each individual media object (video clip, audio clip, still image, etc.) occupies its own track. In contrast, other NLEs use a system where individual media objects can occupy the same track as long as they do not overlap in time. This track-oriented system is more suited for editing and can keep project files much more concise. The layer-oriented system that After Effects adopts is suited for extensive effects work and keyframing. Although other compositing packages—especially ones that employ tree or node workflows, such as Apple Shake—are better suited to manage large volumes of objects within a composite, After Effects is able to somewhat counter the clutter by selectively hiding layers (using the Shy switch) or by grouping them into pre-compositions.
The main interface consists of several panels (windows in versions prior to After Effects 7.0). Three of the most commonly used panels are the Project panel, the Composition panel, and the Timeline panel. The Project panel acts as a bin to import stills, video, and audio footage items. Footage items in the Project panel are used in the Timeline panel, where layer order and timing can be adjusted. The items visible at the current time marker are displayed in the Composition panel.
After Effects integrates with other Adobe software titles such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Encore, and Flash.
History:-
After Effects was originally created by the Company of Science and Art in Providence, RI, USA. Version 1.0 was released in January 1993. Version 2.1 introduced PowerPC acceleration in 1994. CoSA along with After Effects was then acquired by Aldus corporation in July 1993; this company was then acquired by Adobe in 1994, and with it PageMaker and After Effects. Adobe's first new release of After Effects was version 3.0.
Provider
Date
Version
Codename
Major features added
CoSA
January 1993
1.0
Egg
layered compositing with mask, effect, transforms, keyframes; Mac only
May 1993
1.1
more effects
Aldus
January 1994
2.0
Teriyaki
Time Layout window, multi-machine rendering, frame blending
Adobe
October 1995
3.0
Nimchow
render queue, time remapping, multiple effects per layer, motion tracker, motion math, Illustrator import, Photoshop as comp import, first Japanese version
April 1996
3.1
file formats, multiprocessing, advanced keying for the "Professional Bundle"
May 1997
3.1 (Windows)
Dancing Monkey
first Windows version, context menus, first French & German versions
January 1999
4.0
ebeer
tabbed windows, multiple masks per layer, adjustment layers, RAM preview, Premiere import; first simultaneous Mac & Windows release
September 1999
4.1
Batnip
flowchart view, watch folder, 3D channel effects
April 2001
5.0
Melmet
3D, expressions, 16 bits per channel color
January 7, 2002
5.5
Fauxfu
advanced 3D renderer, multiple 3D views, first OS X version
August 2003
6.0
Foodfite
paint, scripting, text layers, OpenGL support
May 2004
6.5
Chambant
cloning, animation presets, grain management
January 2006
7.0
Clamchop
new docking panels UI, 32 bits per channel color (floating point), display color management, dynamic link with Premiere Pro, first Spanish & Italian versions
July 2, 2007
CS3 (8.0)
Metaloaf
shape layers, puppet tool, brainstorm, clip notes, full color management; first Intel Mac version
January 22, 2008
CS3 (8.0.2)
Metaloaf
Panasonic P2 support; last Mac PowerPC version
September 23, 2008
CS4 (9.0)
Chinchillada
QuickSearch in the project & timeline, Mini-Flowchart, live PS 3D layer import, separate XYZ, Mocha
January 5, 2009
CS4 (9.0.1)
Chinchidotta
RED R3D file support (via REDCODE v1.3 plugin)
May 29, 2009
CS4 (9.0.2)
Lottadotta
fixes several types of crashes, clip-level RED R3D support (via REDCODE v1.7 plugin), XDCAM HD (Avid-style MXF) support
Plug-ins:-
After Effects has extensive plug-in support; and a broad range of third party plug-ins are available. A variety of plug-in styles exist, such as particle systems for realistic effects for rain, snow, fire, etc.
With or without third-party plug-ins, After Effects can render 3D effects. Some of these 3D plug-ins use basic 2D layers from After Effects. Illustrator graphics can also be loaded and rendered in 3D using plug-ins such as Zaxwerks 3D Invigorator Pro. Some well-known plug-in vendors are Automatic Duck, BorisFX, Conoa, Cycore Effects, DigiEffects, Digital Anarchy, Digital Film Tools, The Foundry, FXhome, GenArts, GridIron Software, Noise Industries, RE:Vision Effects, Red Giant Software, Synthetic Aperture, Trapcode, Video CoPilot, and Zaxwerks.
In addition to 3D effects, there are plug-ins for making video look like film or cartoons; simulating fire, smoke, or water; particle systems; slow motion; creating animated charts, graphs, and other data visualization; calculating the 3D movement of a camera in a 2D video shot; eliminating flicker, noise, or rigging lines; translating timelines from FCP or Avid; adding high-end color correction; and other workflow improvements and visual effects.
Templates and Presets:-
The largest single producer of After Effects templates, projects and presets is LME Collections As of November 22 they had 22 collections (220 templates, presets and projects) which they create and sell. A new collection is developed about every 8-12 weeks. Their Facebook group AFTER EFFECTS PROJECTS/COMPS/TEMPLATES & PRESETS posts links to free templates every 1-2 weeks.
Comparable products:-
Competitors to After Effects include The Foundry's Nuke; Autodesk's Combustion, Flame and Inferno; Apple's Shake and Motion; eyeon Fusion; Boris RED; Pinnacle Commotion; and the entry-level FXHome. As far as open-source alternatives go, only Jahshaka exists as a dedicated package but its feature set suffers in comparison with that of After Effects.[citation needed]

Adobe Premiere.

Adobe Premiere Pro is a real-time, timeline based video editing software application. It is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, a suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications made by Adobe Systems, though it can also be purchased separately. Even when purchased separately, it comes bundled with Adobe Encore and Adobe OnLocation. Premiere Pro supports many video editing cards and plug-ins for accelerated processing, additional file format support, and video/audio effects. Premiere Pro CS4 is the first version to be optimized for 64-bit operating systems, although it is not natively 64-bit.[1]
Premiere Pro is the redesigned successor to Adobe Premiere, and was launched in 2003. Premiere Pro refers to versions released in 2003 and later, whereas Premiere refers to the earlier releases. Although the first two versions of Premiere Pro only supported Windows, Premiere Pro CS3 is available for both Windows and Mac OS (only Intel-based Macs are supported), making it one of the few cross-platform NLEs available.
Premiere Pro is being used by broadcasters such as the BBC[2] and The Tonight Show[3]. It has been used in feature films, such as Dust to Glory, Captain Abu Raed[4], and Superman Returns[5] (for the video capture process), and other venues such as Madonna's Confessions Tour[6].
Features:-
Premiere Pro supports high quality video editing at up to 4K x 4K resolution, at up to 32-bits per channel color, in both RGB and YUV. Audio sample-level editing, VST audio plug-in support, and 5.1 surround sound mixing are available for high audio fidelity. Premiere Pro's plug-in architecture enables it to import and export formats beyond the constraints of QuickTime or DirectShow, supporting a wide variety of video and audio file formats and codecs on both MacOS and Windows.
Version 1.5 improved support for high-definition video content, and added new project management tools and new filters. It also included support for 24p footage. Version 1.5.1 added support for HDV. Version 2.0 further refines 24p and HDV editing, and it is the first major NLE to natively support the Canon 24F[7] format on cameras such as the Canon XL H1, with an additional update.[8][9] Since version 2.0, Premiere Pro has required a processor that supports SSE2, which is unavailable in some older processors.[10]
Premiere Pro CS3 added support for output to Blu-ray Disc, MPEG-4/H.264 and Flash-based web sites, as well as Time Remapping, an easy-to-use variable frame rate implementation. Starting in Premiere Pro CS3, Adobe Encore is included for authoring menus and interactivity for DVDs, Blu-ray discs, and Flash projects for the web. Adobe OnLocation (now cross-platform as of CS4) is also included for direct-to-disc recording and monitoring. Updates to Premiere Pro CS3 have added native support for new camera file formats. 3.1 added native Panasonic P2 MXF import, editing, and export of DVCPRO, DVCPRO50 and DVCPRO HD material. 3.2 added native XDCAM HD and EX import and editing.
Integration
Premiere Pro is integrated heavily with Adobe After Effects, an industry-standard for motion graphics and compositing. Compositions from After Effects can be imported into Premiere Pro and played back directly on the timeline. The After Effects composition can be modified, and after switching back to Premiere Pro, the clip will immediately update with the changes. Likewise, Premiere Pro projects can be imported into After Effects. Clips can be copied between the two applications while preserving clip attributes. Premiere Pro also supports many After Effects plug-ins.
Premiere Pro also integrates well with Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop files can be opened directly from Premiere Pro to be edited in Photoshop. Any changes will immediately be updated when the Photoshop file is saved and focus returns to Premiere Pro.
There are other integration functions, such as Edit in Adobe Soundbooth, Export to Encore, and Reveal in Bridge.
Additional to the effects and transitions included with Premiere Pro, a number of both commercial and free third party plug-ins are available to enhance the software's capability.
Advantages over Premiere Elements
An entry-level version, Adobe Premiere Elements, is available for the consumer market on Windows. Some of the notable advantages of Premiere Pro over Premiere Elements are multiple sequence support, high bit-depth rendering, multicamera editing, time remapping, scopes, color correction tools, advanced audio mixer interface, and bezier keyframing. Premiere Pro also includes Encore for more elaborate DVD menu authoring and Blu-ray Disc authoring, and OnLocation for direct-to-disk recording.
Release history:-
Adobe Premiere 1.0Mac
December 1991[11]
First release of Premiere
QuickTime multimedia and VideoSpigot format support
PICT image support
Supported up to 160 x 120 pixels movie creation
Supported 8-bit audio
Supported output to video tape[11][12]
Adobe Premiere 2.0
Mac
September 1992[13]
QuickTime video and audio capture support
Title creation
Title, Sequence, and Construction windows
Slow/fast motion support
5 audio and 41 movie/still-image filters
49 special effects
16-bit, 44 kHz audio support
Filmstrip file format introduced
Numbered PICT sequence support
EDL support
Illustrator text import
SMTPE timecode support[13][14]
Adobe Premiere 3.0
Mac
August 1993[15]
99 stereo audio tracks
97 video tracks
Video waveform monitor
Sub-pixel motion and field rendering
Batch digitizing
Full framerate preview from disk
Enhanced title window[15]
Adobe Premiere 1.0
Windows
September 1993[16]
First release of Premiere application for Windows platform
24-bit AVI and QuickTime video format support
Autodesk Animator file support
AVI, AIFF, and WAV audio format support
Still image support (Photoshop, BMP, DIB, PCX, PICT, PCX, and TIFF formats)
Two video tracks, three audio tracks, and one transition and superimpose track
No EDL, titling, and motion and device control available in then current Mac (v3.0) release[17][18][19]
Adobe Premiere 1.1
Windows
February 1994[20]
AdobeCap video capture module
Expanded graphics and audio file support
TARGA and ADPCM file support
Image sequence import support[20][21]
Adobe Premiere 4.0
Mac
July 1994[22]
Support for 97 superimposition tracks plus two A/B tracks
Trim window
Dynamic previewing
Custom filter and transition creation
Time variable filters
Batch capture
Time-lapse capture
NTSC 29.97 frame rate support[22][23][24]
Adobe Premiere 4.0
Windows
December 1994[25]
Adobe moves Windows platform release of Premiere directly from v1.1 to v4.0
Premiere 4.0 for Windows matches capabilities of Premiere 4.0 for Macintosh[26]
Adobe Premiere 4.2
Mac
October 1995[27]
CD-ROM Movie Maker Plug-in
Data rate analysis tool
Power Macintosh-native Sound Manager 3.1[27]
Adobe Premiere 4.2
Windows
April 1996[28]
32-bit architecture
Long File Names support
Background compiling
Batch movie maker
4K output support
Right-mouse button support
Uninstaller utility[29]
Adobe Premiere 4.2 for Silicon Graphics
UNIX/SGI
July 1997[30]
SGI O2 platform exclusive release
IRIX 6.3 integration
OpenGL accelerated versions of transition and special effects plug-ins
Platform-specific plug-ins by Silicon Graphics for combining 3D and video content[31]
Adobe Premiere 5.0
Windows and Mac
May 1998[32]
Source/Program editing
Title window editor
Keyframeable audio and video filters
Collapsible tracks
Up to three hour project length support[32][33]
Adobe Premiere 5.1
Windows and Mac
October 1998[34]
QuickTime 3.0 support
DPS Perception support
Preview to RAM
"Smart" Preview file Timeline export
Multi-threaded, dual processor support[34]
Adobe Premiere 6.0
Windows and Mac
January 2001[35]
Support for web video and DV formats
OHCI support
Title editor
Storyboard
Audio mixer
Timeline video track keyframes
Adobe Premiere 6.5
Windows and Mac
August 2002
Real-time preview
Adobe Title Designer
Exporting to DVD as MPEG-2
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.0(Adobe Premiere 7.0)
Windows
August 21, 2003
Rewritten source code for the whole program
Multiple nested timelines
Color correction tools
Sample-level audio editing
Track-based audio effects
5.1 surround sound support
VST audio filters and ASIO audio hardware support
AAF export
Customizable keyboard shortcuts
Adobe Media Encoder
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5
Windows
May 24, 2004
Project Manager
Panasonic 24p support
Effects favorites
Project-ready Photoshop file creation
Automatic loading of built-in After Effects plug-ins
After Effects clipboard support
One-click color correction
AAF and EDL import and export
New DeEsser and DeHummer audio filters
New GPU effects
Bezier keyframe controls
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5.1
Windows
March 1, 2005
HDV support
Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0
Windows
January 17, 2006
Docking Workspaces
Multicam editing
Adobe Clip Notes
Dynamic Link with After Effects projects
DVD authoring from the timeline
Native HDV editing
Native SD and HD support
Enhanced color-correction tools
10-bit and 16-bit color resolution support
32-bit internal color processing
GPU-accelerated rendering
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
Windows and Mac OS X
July 2, 2007
Output to DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and Flash
High-quality slow motion with time remapping
Direct-to-disc recording and professional on-set monitoring
Publish Adobe Encore projects to the web
Multiple project panels with smart file search
Improved editing efficiency
Output for mobile devices
Help documentation available online
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 v3.1.0
Windows and Mac OS X
October 18, 2007
Native Panasonic P2 MXF import, editing, and export
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 v3.2.0
Windows and Mac OS X
April 14, 2008
Native Sony XDCAM MXF import and editing
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4
Windows and Mac OS X
September 23, 2008[36]
AVCHD support, but not in the trial version
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 v4.0.1
Windows and Mac OS X
November 20, 2008[37]
Final Cut Pro project import
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 v4.1.0
Windows and Mac OS X
May 29, 2009[38]
Additional support for REDCODE
Performance improvements to project load time
Improvements to AVCHD support
Performance enhancements for DV/HDV playback
Support for Avid captured DV or IMX footage
Export media to a still format now bypasses the AME render queue
Enabled .VOB extension support
Third-party support
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 v4.2.0
Windows and Mac OS X
November 10, 2009[39]
Panasonic P2 AVC-Intra material is now supported; new sequence presets are also included for editing this format

Corel Draw

A drawing program for Windows and the Mac from Corel. Introduced in 1989, CorelDRAW has been Corel's flagship program, which became very popular due to its speed and features. CorelDRAW has been offered in various suites with other Corel programs, including at one time, the Corel VENTURA desktop publishing program. See Corel DESIGNER and Corel.

CorelDRAW is a vector graphics editor developed and marketed by Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Canada. It is also the name of Corel's Graphics Suite. Its latest version, named X4 (actually version 14), was released in January 2008.

History:-

In 1987, Corel hired software engineers Michel Bouillon and Pat Beirne to develop a vector-based illustration program to bundle with these desktop publishing systems. That program, CorelDRAW, was initially released in 1989. CorelDRAW 1.x and 2.x runs under Windows 2.x and 3.0. CorelDRAW 3.0 came into its own with Microsoft's release of Windows 3.1. The inclusion of TrueType in Windows 3.1 transformed CorelDRAW into a serious illustration program capable of using system-installed outline fonts without requiring third party software such as Adobe Type Manager and also was the first all-in-one Graphics Suite, which combined a vector graphics software with a photo editing program (PhotoPaint), a font manager and several other pieces of software included with each version.

Features by version:-

Ver. 2 (1991):

Envelope tool (for distorting text or objects using a primary shape), Blend (for morphing shapes), Extrusion (for simulating perspective and volume in objects) and Perspective (to distort objects along X and Y axes).
Ver. 3 (1992):

Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.
Ver. 4 (1993):

Included Corel PHOTO-PAINT* (for bitmap editing), CorelSHOW (for creating on-screen presentations, CorelCHART (for graphic charts), CorelMOVE for animation, Mosaic and CorelTRACE (for vectorizing bitmaps). The inclusion of this software was the precedent for the actual graphic suites.
Ver. 5 (1994):

This is the last version which was made for, and works on Windows 3.x. Corel Ventura was included in the suite (and then sold as a separate program). It was a desktop publishing application akin to PageMaker, Quark Express, or InDesign.
Ver. 6 (1995):

This is the first version which was made exclusively for 32-bit Windows. New features were customizable interface, Polygon, Spiral, Knife and Eraser tools. Corel Memo, Corel Presents, Corel Motion 3D, Corel Depth, Corel Multimedia Manager, Corel Font Master and Corel DREAM (for 3D modelling) were included in the suite.
Ver. 7 (1997):

Context-sensitive Property bar, Print Preview with Zoom and Pan options, Scrapbook (for viewing a drag-and-dropping graphic objects), Publish to HTML option, Draft and Enhanced display options, Interactive Fill and Blend tools, Transparency tools, Natural Pen tool, Find & Replace wizard, Convert Vector to Bitmap option (inside Draw), Spell checker, Thesaurus and Grammar checker. The suite included Corel Scan and Corel Barista (a Java-based document exchange format).
Ver. 8 (1998):

Digger selection, Docker windows, Interactive Distortion, 3D, Envelope and tools, Realistic Dropshadow tool, interactive color mixing, color palette editor, guidelines as objects, custome-sized pages, duotone support. Corel Versions was included in the suite.
Ver. 9 (1999):

Mesh fill tool (for complex color filling), Artistic Media tool, Publish to PDF features, embedded ICC color profiles, Multiple On-screen Color Palettes and Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications 6 support. The suite included Canto Cumulus LE, a piece of software for media management.
Ver. 10 (2000):

CorelR.A.V.E. (for vector animation), Perfect Shapes, Web graphics tools (for creating interactive elements such as buttons), Page sorter, multilingual document support, navigator window. Open, save, import and export in SVG format.[1]
Ver. 11 (2002):

Symbols library, image slicing (for web design), pressure-sensitive vector brushes, 3-point drawing tools.
Ver. 12 (2003):

Dynamic guides, Smart Drawing tools, Export to MS Office or Word option, Virtual Segment Delete tool, Unicode text support.
Ver. X3 (2006):

Double click Crop tool (the first vector software able to crop groups of vectors and bitmap images at the same time), Smart fill tool, Chamfer/Fillet/Scallop/Emboss tool, Image Adjustment Lab. Trace became integrated inside Draw under the name PowerTRACE.
Ver. X4 (2008):

Whatthefont font identification service linked inside CorelDraw, ConceptShare, Table tool, independent page layers, live text formatting, support for RAW camera files.[2]

Features:-

CorelDRAW was originally developed for Microsoft Windows and currently runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista.[3] The current version, X4, was released (ver. 14.0.0.567) on 22 January, 2008.
Versions for Mac OS and Mac OS X were at one time available, but due to poor sales these were discontinued. The last port for Linux was version 9 (released in 2000, it didn't run natively, instead it used a modified version of Wine to run) and the last version for OS X was version 11 (released in 2001). Also, up until version 5, CorelDRAW was developed for Windows 3.1x, CTOS and OS/2.
Characteristic features
Several innovations to vector-based illustration originated with CorelDRAW: a node-edit tool that operates differently on different objects, fit text-to-path, stroke-before-fill, quick fill/stroke color selection palettes, perspective projections, mesh fills and complex gradient fills.[citation needed]
CorelDRAW differentiates itself from its competitors in a number of ways:
The first is its positioning as a graphics suite, rather than just a vector graphics program. A full range of editing tools allow the user to adjust contrast, color balance, change the format from RGB to CMYK, add special effects such as vignettes and special borders to bitmaps. Bitmaps can also be edited more extensively using Corel PhotoPaint, opening the bitmap directly from CorelDRAW and returning to the program after saving. It also allows a laser to cut out any drawings.
CorelDRAW's capability to handle multiple pages along with multiple master layers from within the main program provides a major benefit compared to Adobe Illustrator. Multipage documents are easy to create and edit and the Corel print engine allows for booklet and other imposition so even simple printers can be used for producing finished documents. One of the useful features for single and multi-page documents is the ability to create linked text boxes across documents that can be resized and moved while the text itself resets and flows through the boxes. Useful for creating and editing multi-article newsletters etc.
Smaller items, like business cards, invitations etc, can be designed to their final page size and imposed to the printer's sheet size for cost-effective printing. An additional print-merge feature (using a spreadsheet or text merge file) allows full personalization for many things like numbered raffle tickets, individual invitations, membership cards and more.
CorelDRAW's competitors include Adobe Illustrator and Xara Xtreme. Although all of these are vector-based illustration programs, the user experience differs greatly between them. While these programs will read their native file types and vice versa, the translation is rarely perfect. CorelDRAW can open Adobe PDF files: Adobe PageMaker, Microsoft Publisher and Word, and other programs can print documents to PDF using the Adobe PDFWriter printer driver, which CorelDRAW can then open and edit every aspect of the original layout and design. CorelDRAW can also open PowerPoint Presentations and other Microsoft Office formats with little or no problem.

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite:-

Over time, additional components were developed or acquired and bundled with CorelDRAW. The list of bundled packages usually changes somewhat from one release to the next. There are several mainstays that have remained in the package for many releases now, however: PowerTRACE (a bitmap to vector graphic converter), PHOTO-PAINT (a bitmap graphic editor), and CAPTURE (a screen capture utility).

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop, launched by Adobe Systems in 1990, updated several times, and still the most widely used software application for processing digital images. The professional package is expensive and complex, taking about nine months to master completely. However, a reduced version introduced in 2001, Adobe Elements, offered a selection of features to the advanced amateur. Photoshop's principal image manipulation procedures are: contrast and brightness control, colour balance and correction and the use of filter algorithms to provide image blur, despeckle, sharpening, unsharp masking, and dust and scratch removal. With practice, the toolbox allows for the elimination of parts of the image, and the paintbrush and pipette to fill in.

Adobe Photoshop, or simply Photoshop, is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems. It is the current market leader for commercial bitmap and image manipulation software, and is the flagship product of Adobe Systems. It has been described as "an industry standard for graphics professionals"[1] and was one of the early "killer applications" on the Macintosh, later also for MS Windows.[2]
Adobe's 2005 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS4 is the 11th major release of Adobe Photoshop. The CS rebranding also resulted in Adobe offering numerous software packages containing multiple Adobe programs for a reduced price. Adobe Photoshop is included in most of Adobe's Creative Suite offerings.
Photoshop's popularity, combined with its high retail price, makes Photoshop's piracy rate relatively high.[3] Adobe countered by including SafeCast DRM starting with Adobe Photoshop CS.

Early History:-

In 1987, Thomas Knoll, a PhD student at the University of Michigan, began writing a program on his Macintosh Plus to display grayscale images on a monochrome display. This program, called Display, caught the attention of his brother John Knoll, an Industrial Light & Magic employee, who recommended Thomas turn it into a full-fledged image editing program. Thomas took a six month break from his studies in 1988 to collaborate with his brother on the program, which had been renamed ImagePro.[4] Later that year, Thomas renamed his program Photoshop and worked out a short-term deal with scanner manufacturer Barneyscan to distribute copies of the program with a slide scanner; a "total of about 200 copies of Photoshop were shipped" this way.[5]
During this time, John traveled to Silicon Valley and gave a demonstration of the program to engineers at Apple and Russell Brown, art director at Adobe. Both showings were successful, and Adobe decided to purchase the license to distribute in September 1988.[4] While John worked on plug-ins in California, Thomas remained in Ann Arbor writing program code. Photoshop 1.0 was released in 1990 for Macintosh exclusively.[6]

Features:-

Photoshop has strong ties with other Adobe software for media editing, animation, and authoring. The .PSD (Photoshop Document), Photoshop's native format, stores an image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and duotone settings. This is in contrast to many other file formats (e.g. .EPS or .GIF) that restrict content to provide streamlined, predictable functionality.
Photoshop's popularity means that the .PSD format is widely used, and it is supported to some extent by most competing software. The .PSD file format can be exported to and from Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and After Effects, to make professional standard DVDs and provide non-linear editing and special effects services, such as backgrounds, textures, and so on, for television, film, and the Web. Photoshop is a pixel-based image editor, unlike Macromedia FreeHand (now defunct), Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw, which are vector-based image editors.
Photoshop can utilize the color models RGB, lab, CMYK, grayscale, binary bitmap, and duotone. Photoshop has the ability to read and write raster and vector image formats such as .EPS, .PNG, .GIF, .JPEG, and Adobe Fireworks.
CS3:-

Smart Layers display the filter without altering the original image (here on Mac OS X)
Photoshop CS3 is marketed with three main components of improvement over previous versions: "Work more productively, edit with unrivalled power, and composite with breakthrough tools."[7] New features propagating productivity include streamlined interface, improved Camera Raw, better control over print options, enhanced PDF support, and better management with Adobe Bridge. Editing tools new to CS3 are the Clone Source palette and nondestructive Smart Filters, and other features such as the Brightness/Contrast adjustment and Vanishing Point module were enhanced. The Black and White adjustment option improves users control over manual grayscale conversions with a dialog box similar to that of Channel Mixer. Compositing is assisted with Photoshop's new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools and improved image stitching technology.[7]
CS3 Extended contains all features of CS3 plus tools for editing and importing some 3D graphics file formats, enhancing video, and comprehensive image analysis tools, utilizing MATLAB integration and DICOM file support.[8]
CS4:-
Photoshop CS4 features additions such as the ability to paint directly on 3D models, wrap 2D images around 3D shapes, convert gradient maps to 3D objects, add depth to layers and text, get print-quality output with the new ray-tracing rendering engine, and enjoy exporting to supported common 3D formats; the new Adjustment and Mask Panels; Content-aware scaling (also known as seam carving[9]); Fluid Canvas Rotation and File display options.[10] On 30 April, Adobe released Photoshop CS4 Extended, which includes all the same features of Adobe Photoshop CS4 with the addition of capabilities for scientific imaging, 3D, and high end film and video users. The successor to Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS4 is the first 64-bit Photoshop on consumer computers (only on Windows – the OS X version is still 32-bit only.)[11]

Language Availability:-

Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian.
The Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Middle Eastern, and North African language versions are available from Winsoft.

Plugins:-

Photoshop functionality can be extended by add-on programs called Photoshop plugins which act like mini-editors that modify the image. The most common type are filter plugins that provide various image effects. They are located in the 'Filter' menu. Photoshop plugin API has become a standard, and many other image editors also support Photoshop Plugins.
Adobe Camera Raw (also known as ACR and Camera Raw) is a special plugin, supplied free by Adobe, used primarily to read and process raw image files so that the resultant images can be processed by Photoshop.[12] It is invoked by attempting to open such a file, rather than from the 'Filter' menu, but like other plugins is listed in the 'Help > About Plug-In' menu (as "Camera Raw").

Trademark:-

Adobe discourages use of "Photoshop" as a verb, as in using photoshopping to refer to photo editing or image manipulation, to prevent its trademark from becoming a genericized trademark.[13] Nevertheless, photoshop is commonly used as a verb.[14] Its essential ubiquity in the high-end market almost assures that it will be inducted into reference works (such as dictionaries) as a viable definition for any type of computerised image alteration, whether done through the use of the software or not.

Consumer market:-

While Photoshop is the industry standard image editing program for professional raster graphics and other digital art, its relatively high suggested retail price has led to a number of competing graphics tools, such as GIMP, Paint.NET and GraphicConverter (for Mac OSX only), becoming popular. To compete in this market, and to counter unusually high rates of piracy of its high end products, the company introduced a consumer-oriented version of Photoshop as Adobe Photoshop Elements. A more user-friendly interface and new tools such as the "red-eye" reduction brush were aimed firmly at the more casual image editor. Many professional features were omitted. Removing CMYK functionality, for example, initially made Elements unsuitable for commercial prepress work; paradoxically, the ability of Adobe InDesign to enable an entirely RGB workflow has meant that Elements can now be used as part of a professional workflow.