After a long beta testing wait, Adobe Photoshop for the Web (which includes Firefly generative AI features) is now available as part of all Photoshop plans.

Major Milestone 

The release of Photoshop on the web, which Adobe describes as “a major milestone” offers creators who are new to Photoshop “a streamlined user experience” (with easier navigation) and gives existing Photoshop users access to new tools like Generative Fill from any web browser. In short, it’s a simpler version of Photoshop, but it offers the convenience of being accessible from anywhere (with an Internet connection), and the power of Adobe Firefly’s generative AI features.

Web 

The advantages for users of having a cloud-based version of Photoshop are that download / installation aren’t necessary, it’s easy to access and get started, users can pick up where they left off on any Photoshop document on the web, and users can choose to jump back into the desktop app with the click of a button.

Also, the web version enables collaboration on projects through by allowing users to invite others to collaborate, even if they don’t have a Photoshop subscription, simply by sharing a link.

Made Easier For New Users 

With users able to invite non-subscribers, i.e. new Photoshop users, it makes sense that Adobe has tried to simplify Photoshop. Some methods that it says it’s achieved this include grouping the tools in the tollbar together based on workflows, thereby making it easier to retouch a portrait, select an object in an image, or apply a quick action. Also, Adobe says it’s added tool names to the toolbar for users who aren’t familiar with Photoshop tool icons.

Existing Users Can Switch To Old Desktop Look 

Not wanting to alienate its existing users, Adobe has provided the option in Photoshop on the web for existing and experienced Photoshop users to hide the new view and work with the old, familiar desktop-style interface.

Generative AI 

One of the recently introduced value-adding additions to Photoshop desktop (which will now be available in Photoshop on the web) is the Adobe Firefly family of creative generative AI models. In short, users can use a text field (just as with ChatGPT and other chatbots and image generators) to describe how they want to change and add to an image and features like Generative Fill and Generative Expand will do it. Obviously, this saves a great deal of time and effort in having to learn how to use all the Photoshop tools.

Adobe says: “These features allow you to add, expand, or remove content from your images non-destructively, while magically matching perspective, lighting, and style of your image to deliver truly mind-blowing results.” 

The Contextual Task Bar Too 

First introduced in June in Photoshop desktop, Adobe is also including its Contextual Task Bar with Photoshop on the web. This AI-powered on-screen menu gives users recommendations designed to help reduce clicks and save steps in common workflows in design projects, e.g. replacing the background of an image or adjusting the lighting and tone of images. This again is a way to make Photoshop more user-friendly to all and save time, while still giving a professional-looking output.

How Much? 

Now the (long) beta phase is over, a free-to-use version is no longer be available, and Photoshop on the web paid plans for the app start at $9.99.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Adobe’s Photoshop has enjoyed being an industry-standard professional designer’s tool for many years but in recent times it’s seen some strong competition from cheaper alternatives such as Affinity. It’s also seen competition from ready to use, template-based alternatives such as Canva, from free image editors like GIMP, and from free, online (more limited but still valued) touch-up alternatives like Pixlr.

The huge, disruptive game-changer has been generative AI and the introduction of AI image generators, which enable users to quickly create incredible-looking images with no need to spend time learning how to use all the tools that would normally be needed to create them. Many of us are now also used to using cloud-based apps where work is automatically saved (pick up where you left off) and accessible from anywhere. Of course, Photoshop is a trusted brand, most strongly associated with professional/business use, with its own considerable use base, but it has very quickly (like the major Photo vendors), found itself in an environment where there are many good (and cheaper, and free) alternatives. It’s also an environment where there are a large number of potential customers who don’t want to spend a lot of money and time learning just to carry out basic image tasks on complicated and expensive professional tools, or where they can still quickly meet their needs and get professional looking results with trusted alternatives e.g., Canva, or simply by typing a description into an AI image generator.

Photoshop on the web (with Adobe’s generative AI Firefly tools thrown in) represents a way for it to compete and stay relevant in a rapidly changing market by trying to meet lots of customer needs in one go. For instance, it’s online (convenience), it has AI (you don’t have to learn the tools), it allows collaborative working even with non-subscribers, it’s simplified and more user friendly but experienced and invested users can have the old desktop look if they want (retention), it’s SaaS, and more.

Adobe appears to be looking primarily for new users here and as a leading brand in the photo editing world that’s packaging generative AI with cloud-based convenience it will have high hopes for its long-awaited Photoshop on the web.

‘Stooky Bill’ : 02 October 2025

In days gone by, a Scottish person with a broken appendage might well have said their arm or leg was held in a ‘stooky’ (or ‘stookie’) which meant a plaster-cast. It’s thought the word comes from ‘stucco’ (plaster) although the term also has a derogatory meaning for a ‘stupid person’, so perhaps it’s no surprise that one specific dummy was named Stooky Bill.

This particular dummy was a crudely made ventriloquist-model and was chosen because of its highly-contrasted painted facial features. These were necessary because on the second of October 1925, the first ever (grayscale) image was transmitted by television at an incredible five images per second. At the time, the lights were so hot that poor old Stooky Bill was singed and cracked although the inventor, John Logie Baird wasn’t too upset because he’d experienced many, many other setbacks along the way.

Whilst he was famous for pioneering the ‘telly’ he did have various other television-related successes including primitive video-recording (‘phonovision’ 1928), the first transatlantic television transmission (1928), the first 3D Television (1940) and the first colour-TV (1944). Not that he was limited to television because his achievements also included radio direction finding, fibre-optics, infrared night viewing and even a primitive cousin to radar as early as 1926 (according to his son).

However, like all pioneers, he had his fair share of flops too, including rust-resistant razors made of glass (they shattered often) and diamonds made from graphite (too much current required – he shorted-out Glasgow’s power supply). Suffering from poor circulation to his feet, he also worked on thermal socks and pneumatic shoes, although the balloons inside the soles kept bursting so he abandoned his idea. As an aside, his failures in pneumatic footwear didn’t stop Dr Martens boots becoming wildly successful later on, with their air-cushioned soles.

Innovation is the lifeblood of many successful IT companies and it can be developed internally (such as in Baird Television Limited) or acquired externally – just think of all the successful acquisitions companies like Google have made and added to their repertoire (including YouTube as this is a video-themed post).

Whilst watching broadcast-television is now in decline (in the UK it’s declined by around a quarter in the last three years alone) we can nevertheless be thankful that in 2023, we’re not watching unintelligible dummies with overly-painted faces who need to be manipulated by their operators behind the scenes. Or are we?

In this insight, we look at the introduction of the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (ETDA), what it means and why it’s so significant, plus its implications.

The ETDA 

The Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (ETDA), which was based on a draft Bill published by the Law Commission in March 2022, came into force in UK law on 20 September. This Act allows the legal recognition of trade documents in electronic form and crucially, allows an electronic document to be used and recognised in the same way as a paper equivalent. The type of trade documents it applies to include a bill of lading (a legal document issued by a carrier, or their agent, to a shipper, acknowledging the receipt of goods for transport), a bill of exchange, a promissory note, a ship’s delivery order, a warehouse receipt, and more.

The Aims 

The aims of the ETDA, which gives the electronic equivalents of paper trade documents the same legal treatment (subject to criteria) is to:

– Help to rectify deficiencies in the treatment of electronic trade documents under English law and modernise the law to reflect and embrace the benefits of new technologies.

– Help the move towards the benefits of paperless trade and to boost the UK’s international trade.

– Help in the longer-term goal to harmonise and digitise global commerce and its underlying legal frameworks, thereby advancing legal globalisation.

– Complement the 2017 UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR). This is the legal framework for the use of electronic transferable records that are functionally equivalent to transferable documents and instruments, e.g. bills of lading or promissory notes.

Why The Reference To Blockchain In The Title (‘Blockchain Bill’)? 

The development of technologies like blockchain (i.e. an incorruptible distributed ledger) technology that allows multiple parties to transfer value and record forgery-proof records of steps in supply chains and provenance in a secure and transparent way has made trade based on electronic documents possible and attractive.

What’s The Problem With A Paper-Based Trade Document System? 

Moving goods across borders involves a wide range of different actors, e.g. transportation, insurance, finance, and logistics, all of which require (paper) documentation. For example, it’s been estimated that global container shipping generates billions of paper documents per year. A single international shipment, for example, can involve multiple documents, many of which are issued with duplicates, and, considering that two-thirds of the total value of global trade uses container ships, the volume of paper documents is immense.

The need for so much paper, therefore, can slow things down (costs and inefficiencies), creates complication, and has a negative environmental impact.

Based On Old Practices 

Also, existing laws relating to trade documents are based on centuries old merchants’ practices. One key example from this is, prior to the new ETDA, the “holder” of a document was significant because an electronic document couldn’t be “possessed” (in England and Wales), hence the reliance on a paper system. Under ETDA, an electronic document can be possessed, thereby updating the law.

How Does It Benefit Trade? 

Giving electronic equivalents of paper trade documents the same legal treatment offers multiple benefits for businesses, governments and other stakeholders involved in trade. Some of the notable benefits include:

– Efficiency and Speed. Electronic documents can be generated, sent, received, and processed much faster than their paper counterparts. This can significantly reduce the time taken for trade transactions and the associated administrative procedures.

– Cost Savings. Transitioning to electronic trade documentation can save businesses considerable amounts of money by reducing costs related to printing, storage, and transportation of paper documents. For example, the Digital Container Shipping Association (DCSA) estimates that global savings could be as much as £3bn if half of the container shipping industry adopted electronic bills of lading.

– Environmental Benefits. As mentioned above, the shift from paper to electronic documentation could reduce the environmental impact associated with paper production, printing, and disposal. Also, as highlighted by the World Economic Forum, moving to digital trade documents could reduce global logistics carbon emissions by 10 to 12 per cent.

– Accuracy and transparency. Electronic documentation systems often come with features that reduce manual data entry, thereby decreasing errors. Additionally, digital platforms can provide more transparency in the trade process with easy-to-access logs and history.

– Security and fraud reduction. Advanced digital platforms come with encryption, authentication, and other security measures that can reduce the chances of document tampering and fraud. Blockchain, for example, is ‘incorruptible.’ It’s also easier to track the origin and changes in electronic documents.

– Accessibility and storage. ETDA doesn’t exactly specify any one technology, only the criteria that a trade document must meet to qualify as an “electronic trade document” (see the act for the exact criteria). That said, electronic documents can generally be easily stored, retrieved, and accessed from anywhere with the appropriate security clearances, making it easier for businesses to manage and maintain records.

– Interoperability. Digital documents can be more easily integrated with other IT systems, such as customs and regulatory databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, or financial platforms, providing more seamless trade operations.

– Flexibility and adaptability. Electronic systems can be more easily updated or modified to reflect changes in regulations, business practices, or market conditions.

– Harmonisation of standards. The adoption of electronic documents can pave the way for international standards/global standards, simplifying cross-border trade and making processes more predictable and harmonised across countries.

– Enhanced market access. For smaller enterprises that might not have the resources to deal with cumbersome paper-based processes, the digitisation of trade documentation could make it much easier to access global markets.

– Dispute resolution. Having a digital (secure) record with a clear audit trail, could make it easier to resolve disputes when discrepancies occur.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The technologies exist now to enable reliable, secure, and workable systems that use digital rather than paper documents and this UK Act, in combination with other similar legal changes in other countries could help modernise and standardise global trade. Accepting digital documents as legal equivalents to their paper counterparts will bring a range of benefits to global trade including cost and time savings, greater efficiency, reduced complication (and making it easier for more businesses to get involved in international trade), environmental benefits, the advancement of standardisation of trade globally, and many more.

For the UK, not only does the Act update existing laws but could bring a significant trade boost. For example, the government estimates it could bring benefits to UK businesses (over the next 10 years) of £1.1 billion. It’s easy to see, therefore, why the introduction of EDTA is being seen by some as one of the most significant trade laws passed in over 140 years.