Photoshop's Content and Message

Photoshop is computer program utilized by professionals and amateurs alike. Its content includes an array of digital enhancement tools, including tools for cropping, resizing, recoloring, and reconfiguring. These tools are used to edit personal photos, images found on the Internet, and they can even be used to develop an image from scratch. Once an image is loaded onto Photoshop, its pixels become part of the program's content. One can perform a variety of tasks by taking advantage of an image's unique pixel makeup. Pixels can be manipulated using the program's many tools. The magic wand tool, lasso tool, and feathering tool are a few among many of these tools.

In relation to Mcluhan's concept of "The Medium is the Message," Photoshop has had many effects on our society as a whole. Photoshop isn't just a computer program, it is a major force in the media world. Photoshop has revolutionized advertising. You can't find a magazine cover photo that hasn't been retouched. This has resulted in a society that is obsessed with the idea of perfection, a quality that, in reality, is unattainable. Magazine readers are constantly bombarded by images of beautiful women and handsome men. Products are ideolized to the extreme. In many ways, society has been brainwashed by the digitally enhanced images found in magazines, on billboards, and on television.

Photoshop and similar photo editing programs allow photos to be manipulated indefinitely. For this reason, a photograph is no longer viable evidence in court cases. Computer technology has come so far that what is really real in a photograph can easily come into question.

In addition, Photoshop is utilized as a creative outlet for artistic and computer savvy individuals. In this way, Photoshop and other digital media programs have affected the artistic world tremendously. Many would rather use the computer for artistic purposes than sit down with a pencil and sketchbook or take photos using a manual camera.

Ultimately, Photoshop was affected our society in a variety of ways. As new editions of the program become available, the possibilities will be endless.