PhotoDeluxe was a consumer-oriented

image editing Image editing encompasses the processes of altering images, whether they are Digital photography, digital photographs, traditional Photographic processing, photo-chemical photographs, or illustrations. Traditional analog image editing is known ...

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

line published by

Adobe Systems Adobe Inc. ( ), formerly Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American software, computer software company based in San Jose, California. It offers a wide range of programs from web design tools, photo manipulation and vector creation, through to ...

from 1996 until July 8, 2002. At that time it was replaced by Adobe's newly launched consumer-oriented image editing software

Photoshop Elements Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editing, ...

. Adobe no longer provides technical support for the PhotoDeluxe software line. PhotoDeluxe had a range of image processing capabilities for the home photographer and image handler. These included removing red-eye, cropping, and adjusting

brightness Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating/reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception dictated by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminance, and ...

contrast Contrast may refer to: Science * Contrast (vision), the contradiction in form, colour and light between parts of an image * Contrast (statistics), a combination of averages whose coefficients add up to zero, or the difference between two means * ...

, and

sharpness Sharpness may refer to: * Sharpness, Gloucestershire, a port in England * Sharpness (cutting), the capacity of a surface to initiate a cut on another surface * Sharpness (visual), a combination of resolution and acutance ** Critical focus or cr ...

. It also included software to extract pictures from an

image scanner An image scanner (often abbreviated to just scanner) is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object and converts it to a digital image. The most common type of scanner used in the home and the office is the flatbe ...

. Among the functionality included was the ability to dynamically resize photos and export them in a wide range of formats. It also had a range of printing options including printing multiple copies of an image on the same page. It was often bundled free with

Epson Seiko Epson Corporation, commonly known as Epson, is a Japanese multinational electronics company and one of the world's largest manufacturers of printers and information- and imaging-related equipment. Headquartered in Suwa, Nagano, Japan, t ...

scanners or as free software with new computers.

Features

Despite the critical concerns regarding the quality of the setup, Photo Deluxe supports layering, blurs, sharpening, cloning, gradient fills, color and background switches, color variations, resizing options, and many other features. Another drawback of PhotoDeluxe was that it was designed for Mac computers, so working on Windows PC was a problem for those who were unable to customize their preferences.

Versions

Adobe PhotoDeluxe 1.0

The first version was released in 1996 for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

computers. In one year, it sold over one million copies.

Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0

The new version was released in 1997 and had added features such as a Clone Tool, red-eye removal, and sample templates for making posters, cards, and calendars. It also had new special effect features.

Adobe PhotoDeluxe 3.0

The 3rd version was released in 1998. The new features included customizable clipart settings, the ability to import photos on the web, enhanced repair activities following Guided Activities, and Adobe Connectables to add new activities.

Adobe PhotoDeluxe Home Edition (4.0)

Version 4.0 was created by the makers of

Photoshop Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe for Windows and macOS. It was created in 1987 by Thomas and John Knoll. It is the most used tool for professional digital art, especially in raster graphics editin ...

. It had advanced abilities such as tools to add animation, voice, and music to a picture. It also had features to restore photos to their original position.

History

Adobe PhotoDeluxe 1.0 was released in 1996 for Macintosh computers, initially retailing for an

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

of $49. The software did quite well, reportedly selling over a million copies by February of the next year, primarily due to bundles with companies like

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

and

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

. PhotoDeluxe was primarily advertised to consumers as a way to do basic photo manipulation, such as cropping and rotating images, or creating simple cards and calendars. PhotoDeluxe 2.0 was released in 1997, and was the last version of PhotoDeluxe that Adobe made that worked on Macs. PhotoDeluxe 2.0 became the "number one selling consumer photo-editing software product in the world." PhotoDeluxe 3.0 was released in 1998, where it was rebranded as "3.0 Home Edition", as Adobe released PhotoDeluxe Business Edition later that year for a higher price. PhotoDeluxe Home Edition, unofficially called PhotoDeluxe 4.0, was released in 1999 and was the last version of PhotoDeluxe to be released. Adobe officially cancelled PhotoDeluxe on July 8, 2002, citing the presence of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements, with support being officially cancelled in mid-2003. No version of PhotoDeluxe is compatible with

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...

, rendering the program obsolete.

Pricing

All home versions of PhotoDeluxe retailed for an MSRP of $49. PhotoDeluxe 2.0 and onwards allowed users to upgrade from a previous version of PhotoDeluxe or a competing piece of graphics software for $39. Additionally PhotoDeluxe Business Edition allowed a similar deal, allowing users to upgrade from other versions of PhotoDeluxe or a competing software for $59, instead of its normal price of $99. Adobe also offered a bundle allowing users of 1.0 or 2.0 to get 3.0 and Business Edition for $79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adobe Photodeluxe PhotoDeluxe Macintosh graphics software MacOS graphics software Windows graphics-related software Vector graphics editors PhotoDeluxe Graphics software 1996 software