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nareka13710949
nareka13710949
Participant
May 3, 2019
Question

PSD format licensing

  • May 3, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 2200 views

Hello,

The problem is that Adobe hasn't documented licensing for using .psd file format.

Today I discussed with the stuff of Adobe developers and other departments and they proofed that they don't have licensing document.

They suggest me to post about licensing document here and maybe they will take a look for that, so this is what I am doing.

Dear licensing team of Adobe please create the document of licensing .psd file format for commercial and other types of usages.

Regards,

Narek Aydinyan

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    janakporwal
    janakporwal
    Participant
    February 16, 2022

     @nareka13710949  : Did you ever find out the licensing terms? I was a bit unsure about open source tools strictly being meticulous about the psd format licensing terms - but given that Corel Draw also allows PSD import: https://www.coreldraw.com/en/pages/psd-file/  it seems a new tool is permitted to allow PSD read / write. 

     

    However, legally - someone else is doing it is not a valid justification to escape from charges of doing something illegal. I also came across an article / website of a book releaed a decade or two ago that contained the PSD file format specification and the book itself had the CC something license.

     

     

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 3, 2019

    Adobe Photoshop File Formats Specification

    They may not have a licensing document, but Adobe published the description to the PSD file format and there are 3rd party implementations reading and writing PSD files, including the open source Gimp.

    I do not think that you need more than this to implement a PSD reader/writer program.

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
    nareka13710949
    nareka13710949Author
    Participant
    May 6, 2019

    I agree but also don't agree. I saw that document but like Gimp there are FFMpeg and ImageIO which give 3rd party API. But licensing for those may restrict commercial use. I would like to know the licensing, especially for commercial use. The document you cite doesn't mention if I can use those APIs for commercial use.

    Abambo
    Community Expert
    AbamboCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 6, 2019

    The link above does not point to an API but only to the description of the Photoshop file format.

    The information in this document is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe Systems Incorporated assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license.
    Welcome to the Adobe Photoshop® File Format Specification!
    This document is the detailed specification of the Adobe Photoshop file format and other pertinent file formats that Adobe Photoshop reads and writes.
    Audience

    This document is provided for 3rd parties to read and write the Photoshop native file format. This document does not explain how to interpret the data. This document describes the format of the data only.

    It looks like you are free to create a software that reads and writes Photoshop files.

    FYI: Here are the standard licensing therms for Adobe developers:

    https://wwwimages2.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/legal/servicetou/Adobe-Developer-Additional-Terms_en_US_20180605_2200.p…

    ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
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