The Independent Path of Ivan Kutskir, Founder of Photopea
What Began as a Side Project Became a Global Creative Platform
It’s a story about patience, focus, and quiet determination — and one that might just inspire your own.
What inspired you to create Photopea - and why a graphic editor in particular?
I have been editing digital photos since I was 13 years old with programs like Adobe Photoshop. Later, while studying at university, I used to make my own little “projects”. One of them was a web viewer of PSD files.
I did not want to make a full photo editor during the first years. I was just adding features, one by one, seeing it gradually grow.
You’ve built and maintained Photopea entirely on your own. What does this independence mean to you - and have you ever seriously considered bringing someone else in?
First of all, I was not able to hire anyone during the first six years simply because I had no money - Photopea was not generating enough revenue. Later, I tried to hire several people, but I did not enjoy giving them tasks as much as I enjoyed solving them myself.
At this point, I am glad that I made most of the code myself. It makes it easier to maintain and I can fix problems instantly.
Do you have anyone you regularly bounce ideas off of, even though you work solo?
There is a community of Photopea users at:
Users often ask for new features, which we discuss together. I come up with some ideas myself, e.g., a coloring book generator: here
In the early days, before Photopea generated any income, what kept you going?
Between 2012 and 2016, I was studying and Photopea was just a hobby. In 2016, I had to decide whether to find a regular job (and keep Photopea as a hobby), or work on Photopea full-time.
I had some savings, so I decided to work on Photopea full-time for a few months, and see how it goes. I lived in an apartment with four other guys, trying not to spend much money, to “postpone” finding a job for as long as possible.
The user base of Photopea had been doubling every six months since 2012, which was very exciting. I started to monetize Photopea in 2017, making $500 a month from ads, and my income was also doubling every six months. At some point, I realized that I don’t need to be looking for a job anymore.
What does a typical workday look like for you as a solo developer and entrepreneur?
I usually don’t have any deadlines, and I can choose what I want to work on. All my work can be “postponed”, or I can choose not to do it at all, Photopea would still run well. For example, I have been traveling during the whole month of April, working less than an hour a day.
I usually work from home. In the morning, I reply to emails. After that, I can do “work”, which is either working on new features, or fixing bugs reported by users. I often stop working to meet with friends, go for a walk, for a workout, play guitar, or I just watch an interesting video.
Photopea is now used by millions every month. When did you first realize the project was becoming something big?
Photopea was visited by 30 people a day in 2013, and it grew 3 or 4 times each year. It was exciting and it was hard to tell when it would stop growing.
I think I had two breakpoints. The first one was when I started making “just enough to survive”. e.g. $500 a month. It means that I can keep making Photopea indefinitely, as long as I am okay with this small income.
The second breakpoint was when I started to make what software developers usually make in Czechia, e.g. $5,000 a month.
The first breakpoint told me “Making Photopea was the right decision”, and I was proud. The second breakpoint told me “Making Photopea instead of finding a job was the right decision”, and I was even more proud.
Photopea runs entirely in the browser - a bold and technical choice. What made you go that route?
I have always been a fan of web technologies. I learned how to make simple websites with HTML when I was 13, and I made flash games when I was 16. I loved the simplicity of delivering your work to your users just by giving them a link that they would open (click on).
I was amazed by the performance of this new browser - Google Chrome, which was released in 2008. I rebuilt several of my flash games into web games, and I saw that with browsers like Chrome, web technology has a lot of potential.
On my blog (here), you can see that I was creating many “experiments” in AS3 (ActionScript 3 - Flash), which was later replaced by Javascript, around 2010.
How do you decide what to build next?
It is hard to tell. My users tell me about many features that they’d like to see in Photopea.
Often, I get excited about some new tool or a new feature, so I do it. Sometimes, the excitement might go away in the middle of work, but I still have the energy to finish it and publish it.
How do you balance adding new features with keeping the tool fast and user-friendly?
It is a very hard task. Often, I have to refuse adding new features, because they are simply not needed by anybody except for one user. Even if 100 users need them, I prefer not to do it, as the new button or a new textbox would make the interface more complicated for everyone.
Thankfully, new features do not make old features slower.
What do you enjoy most outside of running Photopea? Any hobbies or habits that help you recharge?
I have several hobbies. I enjoy playing guitar in my spare time. I started to do bouldering a few years ago, which I am also passionate about. I love traveling - discovering new countries, new cities, and trying out new food.
If you had an entire day just for yourself - no work, no obligations - how would you spend it?
I would probably still spend half a day with my computer creating something interesting, since programming is my passion. Then, I would go hiking, go for a nice meal, and meet with friends and family - people I care about.