Adobe Enters the Mac App Store With 'Photoshop Elements 9 Editor'

photoshop elements 9 editor
As noted by Macworld, Adobe has finally dipped its toe into the Mac App Store for the first time, releasing a slightly scaled-down version of its consumer Photoshop Elements software, Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 Editor [Mac App Store]. Priced at $79.99, Photoshop Elements 9 Editor drops the Adobe Elements Organizer functionality found in the retail version of the software, but is also discounted by $20 off the retail list price.

The omission of the Elements Organizer, a tool for managing images, will not affect users who depend on iPhoto to manage their image library, and is in fact designed to be used alongside iPhoto for more advanced editing features than iPhoto offers.

The Mac App Store version of Elements 9 includes the same editing tools that made the full version popular, including content aware-fill, Group Shot, Panorama, and Style Match Photomerge tools. The novice-friendly application offers guided edit modes that walk users though adding effects and cleaning up photos.

Apple has of course been pushing its Mac App Store as the future of software delivery for the Mac platform, going so far as to distribute its new OS X Lion exclusively through the store beginning tomorrow. While a number of other developers have embraced the Mac App Store for its ease of software distribution and consumer convenience, observers have been waiting for some of the software heavyweights like Adobe and Microsoft to make their presences felt in the marketplace.

Microsoft has also dabbled in the Mac App Store with its free Windows Phone 7 Connector, and while it may be quite some time before the software giants release their flagship Creative Suite and Office software through the Mac App Store, if they ever choose to do so, it is encouraging to see them making their first efforts at distributing content through Apple's preferred software marketplace.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...

Top Rated Comments

farmermac Avatar
186 months ago
I can't imagine ms or adobe releasing their full suites. Thatd require forking over huge commissions to apple that would eat profit margins. 30% is too high for ms. They don't need that distribution channel. Just like FireWire and thunderbolt the Mac app store will remain very niche.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mwayne85 Avatar
186 months ago
Those cats are adorable! Can I buy those on the app store?:D
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
benthewraith Avatar
186 months ago
Anyone have any experience with Elements and how it compares to Aperture 3???

Aperture's Adobe counterpart is not Elements. You're looking for Lightroom.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sackvillenb Avatar
186 months ago
$80 huh? Is elements useful enough to cost $80? No really, I'm legitimately asking.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
186 months ago
I think Adobe is making a rather clever move here. Elements is the perfect app to test the waters of the Mac App Store. Out of all their apps, it has the widest appeal, and yet isn't their core money-maker. I can see it being fairly popular on the Mac App Store for casual everyday users who want to take things to the next level.

Elements is also a great introductory application to their flagship software such as Photoshop. I know a lot of kids and teenagers who started out on Elements on their path to becoming a designer. Even though Adobe leads the professional segment right now, getting young designers hooked on your products helps ensure a future user for your more expensive professional lines. Just like iPod Touches help ensure future iPhone users, and even Mac users to a certain extent. Marketing has many components!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gamoe Avatar
186 months ago
You're ignorance is incredible. With MAS many developers are reaching big audience without loosing money cause packaging, distribution, servers costs. THE YARE GETTING THE MONEY DIRECTLY MORE THAN BEFORE. Yes i know many devs.

People like you make me sick.

Really, people like him make you sick? Why? Because he has a different opinion than you on software distribution channels? Seriously? I think you need a little perspective. And stop insulting people online since you don't have the guts to do it face-to-face.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)