Photoshop is a powerful computer program used to edit and manipulate photographs and digital images. Created by Adobe in 1988, Photoshop lets people adjust colors, remove unwanted objects, combine multiple images, add text and effects, and transform pictures in countless ways. A photographer might use Photoshop to brighten a dark photo or remove a distracting background element. A graphic designer might use it to create a movie poster by blending several images together.

The program became so influential that “photoshop” turned into a verb. When someone says an image has been photoshopped, they mean it's been digitally altered, sometimes dramatically. You might see a magazine cover where someone's skin looks impossibly smooth or a viral photo showing something that never really happened, both photoshopped to look real.

While Photoshop enables incredible creativity and useful corrections like fixing lighting or cropping images, the ease of altering photos can also be used to deceive viewers. Many people now expect labels or disclaimers when images have been significantly altered, especially in advertising and news. Understanding that images can be photoshopped helps you think critically about what you see online and in the media.