Photoshop in your palm

Point, click, upload, share: Adobe's new mobile app lets smartphone users transfer photos from handhelds to Photoshop.com.

Specialized apps for iPhone empower users to upload photos directly to Facebook and Flickr, but other smartphones lack a comparable service.

The Photoshop.com Mobile app may fill that niche, at least for some. Built expressly for Windows Mobile units, it supports the Samsung Blackjack I and II, the Palm Treo 700 and 750, the MOTO Q 9h and Music 9m. Android, iPhone, Symbian and RiM BlackBerry device support are in play for 2009.

The process is not as straightforward as it could be. Photos from camera phones are auto-uploaded to Photoshop.com, but must be transferred to other photo-sharing sites from a computer. (Sites like Facebook and Flickr increasingly enable people to upload photos from phones via email, however.)

From Photoshop.com, users can drag photo thumbnails to their photo sharing site of choice. That's simple enough, and Webmonkey says Adobe is working to eliminate this step entirely.

Basic Photoshop.com membership is free and includes 5GB of storage, mobile access to library and photo albums, and photo sharing. Photoshop Plus boasts storage space of 20GB, online back-ups, and free templates and artwork. According to CNet, Adobe hopes users will start with the free package and transition to Plus for more storage. The method has worked for Flickr, which charges a yearly subscription fee — $24.95 — for unlimited video and photo uploads.

The PhotoShop.com Mobile app debuts in public beta this September. Adobe also plans to release new versions of its "hobbyist-level" photo and video editing software, Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements.