John Warnock, Creator of Photoshop and PDF Format, Passes Away
John Warnock, the co-founder of Adobe, passed away at the age of 83. The heart of the creator of Photoshop and the PDF format stopped beating on August 19, on what would have been his 82nd birthday, as announced by Adobe in their blog.
Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, John Warnock earned his bachelor's degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy as well as a master's degree in Mathematics from the University of Utah. He also obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science. In 1969, his doctoral dissertation introduced the Warnock algorithm, a solution to the problem of rendering complex images by eliminating hidden surfaces in computer graphics.
In 1982, John Warnock co-founded Adobe alongside his colleague from Xerox, Charles Geschke. Their collaborative effort led to the creation of their first product, Adobe PostScript — a programming language and page layout language widely used in publishing systems.
Retiring as CEO in 2000, John Warnock continued his involvement with Adobe as the Chairman of the Board, a position he shared with Charles Geschke until 2017. He remained a member of the board thereafter.
Throughout his career, John Warnock received numerous accolades, including the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the Computer Entrepreneur Award from IEEE Computer Society, a medal from the American Electronics Association for his significant contributions, and the Marconi Prize for his remarkable impact on information and communication science.
Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, sent an email to all Adobe employees upon Warnock's passing. The email reads:
"The brilliance and technological innovations of John Warnock have reshaped the world. This is a mournful day for the Adobe community and the industry he has inspired for decades. John has been recognized as one of the greatest inventors of our generation, profoundly influencing how we communicate with words, images, and videos."
Among the most notable developments and products stemming from John Warnock's creative endeavors are Illustrator, the PDF format, Acrobat, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro.