Photoshop isn't a verb!

At least according to Adobe.

https://www.adobe.com/misc/trade.html#section-4

Although that link also says that Photoshop isn't a noun, which confuses me a little.  Looks like they're really picky about how you use the word Photoshop. 

I understand the importance of protecting a brand, but they seem a little overly protective. 

no no Marian, it's a trademark! (yes, that was contempt) 

I love Photoshop. But yeah that does seem over the top, although I doubt they are going to enforce any of it.

....maybe I should put something like that on my site:
Incorrect:
I was Definition Imaged!
Correct:
I had my portraits done with Definition Images and I look Damn Sexy!

LOL, omg, that's funny!
Somehow I doubt they would approve.

They may seem overly protective, but because of the way the world is today, they really need to try to protect whatever intellectual assets they can.  Everyone asks for a Kleenex when they want a facial tissue... Kleenex is a specific brand of facial tissue.  This means that the value of the Kleenex brand/name is severely weakened and will have difficulty being used as a foundation of certain legal issues or lawsuits or even valuation of the company's net value.  Adobe is worried about the same thing happening with their software.  They are hoping that artists using the software (called Photoshop ) will respect this as most artists are very concerned about their intellectual property as well... as in copyrights.

Honestly, I don't think there is a whole lot Adobe can do, the terminology has become commonplace already and to try to stop it will cost millions of dollars fighting a fight that can't be won.  Can you imagine Kleenes suing every person on the planet that asks for a Kleenex instead of a facial tissue?!  It's incredulous, really.  But on some level I guess you can't blame Adobe for trying.  The simple fact is, there's not a lot that will change about their situation and there's no point in them trying to fight it too hard; although it does make for some good discussion.  I personally am not taking it too seriously, but I also understand why Adobe would try to create some common knowledge about how their trademark is being used and how it should be used.

Travis

Being as it's buried on their site, and I've never heard of Adobe going after anyone for misusing the word Photoshop, maybe it's just there in case they need it in the future.  Kleenex is a good example, although they're probably in a worse situation since there are other products which are roughly equivalent.  Photoshop doesn't really have any competitors.  Some programs that can do most of what it can, but nothing that has the industry recognition. 

Google is the other example that comes to mind.  People use Google as a verb all the time even when they're using Yahoo or Bing.  Although I did hear someone say they Binged something in a talk last week.

It's called a "Genericized Trademark".  It basically defeats the point of having a trademarked name at all... and it almost always happens to a company that is taking over an industry or becomes the leader of a certain type of product.  This is very typical of products that become huge... Google is also a great example.  They want their name used a lot, but when used the wrong way, it loses legal validity as a trademark, thus destroying their intellectual asset.  It no longer has any value, or legal defensibility.

Here is a little tidbit from Wikipedia and a link to the entire concept on the same site:

"A trademark typically becomes "genericized" when the products or services with which it is associated have acquired substantial market dominance or mind share. A trademark thus popularized puts its legal protection at risk, as unless the owner of an affected trademark works sufficiently to prevent such broad use its intellectual property rights in the trademark may be lost"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark

Travis

I too always say "edit" or "Manipulate" I sometimes use Painter.