PRODUCT REVIEW
Photoshop Express Is Surprisingly Snappy

Express is a rich Internet application (RIA), which basically means it's an app that provides far more functionality than what most users expect from a standard Web browsing experience. It's based on Adobe's Flex, which is the company's free, open source framework for building RIAs.

While the service is free, users have to register to get access to the tool and 2 GB of photo storage space. Sign-up is quick and easy, and doesn't require too much in the way of demographics, though Adobe wants users to be at least 13 years old. Signing up will give you a URL for your photo gallery -- something like "http://yourname.photoshop.com."

Testing Express

Adobe Express requires an Internet connection, a Web browser such as Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari, and Adobe's Flash Player 9. For my testing, I used a new Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) MacBook running OS X and Safari over a residential digital subscriber line Internet service, using fairly large photos taken with an 8.1 megapixel camera. The photos ranged in size from 2.5 to 3 MB in size.

Uploads aren't particularly fast, and part of this is certainly due to the fact that most home broadband services have slower upload speeds than download speeds. For three photos totaling 8.4 MB, it took a few minutes. Still, it's easy enough to select a batch of photos, click Upload, and take a short break while Express uploads your shots.

The Interface

The Express interface is sleek and intuitive. The background is a dark gray, and you have the option to break out of the browser and into a full-screen mode. At the left is a navigation column similar to iTunes in that it has a "Library" with Albums below, along with links to Facebook , Photobucket, and Picasa to make it easy to edit and share photos with your accounts on those sites.

Express lets you sort through your photos in several different ways -- by name, ratings, date or caption, as well as sort by newest date, oldest date or rating. Adding captions and rating photos is easy -- just click and type -- but Express doesn't let you change the file name, which is the name of the file when you uploaded it.

Editing Your Pix

Double click a photo and Express will prepare it for editing. A large 3 MB file takes about a minute, at which time Express will move the interface to an editing mode. At the left-side column, your editing tools are listed in three main categories: Basics, Tuning and Effects.

The Basics tools are comprised of Crop & Rotate, Auto Correct, Exposure, Red-Eye Removal, Touchup, and Saturation.

All of the tools are surprisingly fast and snappy, especially when you consider that this is still just an Internet application. More important, though, is how Adobe obviously thought through the delivery mechanism for editing. Choose Auto Correct, for example, and six thumbnails of your photo will appear above the main photo. Instead of offering you just one automatic solution, the thumbnails each contain differing types of corrections. Mouse over any of the thumbnails and you'll see the corrections instantly implemented on your photo. Click on the best option, then click on a green check mark, and your photo has been corrected.

The Touchup tool works surprisingly well, but the mouse control is hard to get used to -- for blemish removal, most users will likely prefer to zoom in quite a bit to make the area selection control seem more accurate.

The Tuning tools consist of White Balance, Highlight, Fill Light, Sharpen and Soft Focus. Again, when you select one of these tools, Express generates a row of thumbnails that lets you see variations of each tune, which makes it easy to pick the best. A handy side effect of this delivery method is confidence -- even users with little editing skills can fix their photos without being surprised or worried by an unexpected outcome. Express also lets you go back to your original photo at any time.

Freaky Effects

The Effects set of tools consists of Pop Color, Hue, Black & White, Tint, Sketch and Distort. These tools are designed mostly for fun, with the exception of Black & White. People used to getting one option when converting their digital photos to black and white in other programs will get a welcome surprise here: Adobe's thumbnail options reveal there's more to making a black and white photo look great than simply sucking out the color.

Speaking of color, the Pop Color feature lets you choose a color to amp up -- while muting all the other colors. It's kind of cool, as is the ability to turn a photo into a sketch or distort your friend's forehead, then send it to him in an e-mail with a message about his ego and brain power.

Fooling around, it seems, is something that Adobe expects users to take full advantage of, because what's the point of distorting an image if you're not going to share it?

Sharing Photos

In addition to the aforementioned connections to user accounts in Facebook, Photobucket and Picasa, Adobe Photoshop Express also makes it easy to e-mail photos or albums. The results on the receiving end make it appear as if you sent the e-mail from your default e-mail account that you provided during signup, with the same reply-to address.

The online slide shows, by the way, are pretty slick -- elegant and clutter-free.

Adobe also generates direct URLs to photos, as well as HTML code for embedding your content into other Web pages.

Free, for Now

Obviously, this is a beta product from Adobe, so the company is looking for feedback for improvements and bug fixes. In addition, Adobe says it will eventually amp up Express with subscription services like additional storage. There's plenty of room in the interface for Adobe to add more editing tools, as well as connections to other social networking services.

Overall, I found Adobe Photoshop Express beta to be surprisingly snappy and intuitive to use while editing, and the interface clean and pleasant. Personally, I prefer the power of Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 on my desktop, but for users looking for a free option, Express covers all the basics.