Even as Photoshop became less of a prepress tool, it found new life with the rise of the Internet and the advent of portable display devices such as smartphones and iPads. Over time, Photoshop evolved to serve a wider range of needs, including those of Web-image creators and formatters. The introduction of raster and type layers, which enabled the use of vector art and unrasterized fonts, was a huge step forward in the quality of Web graphics. (The more recent advent of rendered fonts on webpages has mostly, but not entirely, ended Photoshop-created type.)

My memories of Photoshop strangely fade the closer we get to the present, rather than farther in the past. Photoshop was a new element in the periodic table of programs more than 20 years ago, but it became more like the air I breathed over time. I admit freely to using only a tiny percentage of the program's current set of features. But I still head to the Levels dialog box to adjust dynamic range and white balance; at heart, that tool has remained unchanged in nearly two decades.

There have been lots of Photoshop-alternatives over the years, and I use some of them myself. For example, I often launch Lemkesoft's when I need to find an image and rotate or crop it; it launches quickly and is far simpler than ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ).

Likewise, when I have a library of photographs to work with, I usually fire up Adobe's ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), which has tools custom-made for darkroomlike touchup and improvement. Lightroom, despite its separate history and aesthetic, reminds me more of the early Photoshop than it does the modern version.

I've used several programs for big chunks of my working and personal life since I began using a Mac. I used from 1985 through 1991, for instance, ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ) for the last decade, and ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ) for the last several years. I lived in ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ) for decades, but abandoned it bit by bit the less I needed it, and I now use ( Macworld rated 4 out of 5 mice ) when necessary. But Photoshop remains one of the only pieces of software that I have consistently turned to for over 20 years, and it remains important to me today. It's jack-of-all-trades nature means I can always find a tool I need in it today. Even as I turn to other software for specific needs, Photoshop remains an indispensable part of my toolkit.