Unbelievable fact: The creation of Adobe Photoshop was significantly influenced by the visual effects seen in the iconic Star Wars films.
Heybuddy! I'm a massive Star Wars freak, but I never realized there was a connection between George Lucas' legendary space opus and Adobe Photoshop! The folks at Adobe aren't just known for incredible design tools, they've also got a knack for collaborating with pioneering companies like Pixar, THX, and Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). A casual chat between Adobe Sr. Principal Designer, Russell Preston Brown, and celebrated commercial photographer, Jeff Schewe, has shed some light on the link between Photoshop 1.0 and Star Wars. It's all covered in an episode of The Photoshop Archives (check it out below). Man, it's a fascinating watch! But let's dive back into Star Wars...
In 1987, Adobe Photoshop was brought to life by brothers Thomas and John Knoll. Thomas, a whiz kid studying for a PhD at the University of Michigan, was struggling to display greyscale images on his Apple Macintosh Plus' monochrome screen. Not one to back down from a challenge, he wrote code to make it happen, impressing his brother John. That code became the foundation of Photoshop.
As Jeff puts it in the video, "John was trying to get proprietary image formats from one system to another system," so he sought help from his tech-savvy sibling. According to History of Information, Thomas' work caught the eye of John, who was working at ILM (where he now serves as CCO) and would later contribute to the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition (1997) and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy.
Dock tells the same tale, but quotes a passage from CG 101: A Computer Graphics Industry Reference, which quotes John Knoll as stating; "As Tom showed me his work, it struck me how similar it was to the image-processing tools on the Pixar [a custom computer used at ILM]." So, there's the connection – without John's role at ILM, he might not have spotted Photoshop's potential. And without Star Wars, ILM wouldn't have existed! In a nutshell, Photoshop's existence can be credited to the forces that be...
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If you're into Star Wars and Photoshop, this crossover combo is pure magic! Here's a simple guide on how to add Lightsabers to toy shots. Still not enough? I'll show you how to create a "jump to lightspeed" effect in Photoshop. And did you know? Luke Skywalker's Lightsaber is made from a vintage camera flash!
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Mike HarrisTo gain a better understanding of photography and Adobe Photoshop, Mike Harris completed college courses in photography, cultivating his Photoshop skills and mastering studio and darkroom techniques. With writing stints for various publications, he eventually landed in London to work on Wex Photo Video's content team. He later switched back to print as Technique Editor (later Deputy Editor) of N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine.
Mike's articles have appeared in Digital Camera, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, Practical Photography, Digital Photographer, iMore, TechRadar, and more. His areas of expertise range from portraits and landscapes to abstracts and architecture, wildlife, and, of course, speedy objects racing around circuits...
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This story reveals that Photoshop's origins sprang from the minds of brothers Thomas and John Knoll, rather than Adobe initially. Thomas developed the initial software to display grayscale images on his Macintosh, paving the way for Photoshop. John, working at George Lucas's visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), saw the software's potential and encouraged the development. ILM was involved in cutting-edge visual effects technology for the Star Wars films and other blockbusters, which influenced Photoshop's eventual transformation into a powerful tool for digital image manipulation. Adobe acquired the distribution license for Photoshop and released version 1.0 in 1990. Thomas continues to develop Photoshop and related technologies at Adobe.[Reference 2, 3] In essence, Photoshop's inception is a combination of academic ingenuity, Hollywood visual effects tech (especially Star Wars-related tech through ILM), and Adobe's publishing prowess.
- Mike Harris, an expert in photography and Adobe Photoshop, leveraged his college education to refine his Photoshop skills and master various studio and darkroom techniques.
- Harris's unique expertise spans diverse areas such as portraits, landscapes, abstracts, architecture, wildlife, and even speedy objects on racetracks.
- Star Wars and Adobe Photoshop might seem unrelated, but their histories intertwine through George Lucas's visual effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM).
- Thomas Knoll, one of the brothers who developed Adobe Photoshop, worked on proprietary image formats at ILM, where his code caught the attention of his brother John, who later saw Photoshop's potential.
- John Knoll, now ILM's CCO, contributed to the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition (1997) and the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, demonstrating the impact of the Star Wars franchise on his work.
- The existence of Photoshop can be attributed to the synergy between academic ingenuity, Hollywood visual effects technology (especially Star Wars-related tech through ILM), and Adobe's publishing prowess.
- For enthusiasts interested in Star Wars and Photoshop, tutorials are available on creating "jump to lightspeed" effects, adding Lightsabers to toy shots, and much more.
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