Top 5 Best FREE PHOTOSHOP Alternatives (2020)
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Date: 2020-05-09
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Comments and reviews: 10
L.
Photoshop users would say that Gimp is clunky, but in my experience, it is no worse than Photoshop! It seems that Photoshop has a monopoly on being used in college classes. I was looking into taking an advanced graphics course in college, and a required software product to take the course was (you guessed it) Photoshop. I would have to purchase Photoshop for use while taking the course, and keep it up to date for the duration! When I looked at the student cost of Photoshop, I knew that course was not for me, so I decided not to pursue it. Thing is I am a CGI artist, using several Image editing software and 3D art software, as well as modeling software. Gimp 2.8 is my current version of that software, and it does pretty much all i need it to do. I also have Paintshop Pro, PD Howler 12, Inkscape, Twisted Brush, and several texture generation software. My 3D art apps are DAZ Studio, Poser, and Blender. For modeling, I use Wings 3D, Blender, Bryce 7.1 Pro, and sometimes Hexagon. The Windows Paint 3D I find to be lacking in many aspects. I have also Flame Painter and Amberlight; both from the same company.
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Photoshop users would say that Gimp is clunky, but in my experience, it is no worse than Photoshop! It seems that Photoshop has a monopoly on being used in college classes. I was looking into taking an advanced graphics course in college, and a required software product to take the course was (you guessed it) Photoshop. I would have to purchase Photoshop for use while taking the course, and keep it up to date for the duration! When I looked at the student cost of Photoshop, I knew that course was not for me, so I decided not to pursue it. Thing is I am a CGI artist, using several Image editing software and 3D art software, as well as modeling software. Gimp 2.8 is my current version of that software, and it does pretty much all i need it to do. I also have Paintshop Pro, PD Howler 12, Inkscape, Twisted Brush, and several texture generation software. My 3D art apps are DAZ Studio, Poser, and Blender. For modeling, I use Wings 3D, Blender, Bryce 7.1 Pro, and sometimes Hexagon. The Windows Paint 3D I find to be lacking in many aspects. I have also Flame Painter and Amberlight; both from the same company.
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AngryB4ker
I've been using Photoshop since 2005 and I never once hesitate to tell people to use GIMP. I've never used the other alternatives like paint.net and Affinity. I still use Photoshop CS5 for my day-to-day stuff and I STILL use it daily. I understand why Adobe would go the subscription-based alternative, and having the latest-and-greatest version of Photoshop would definitely be useful but as a professional, most of the new features are almost pointless and/or can be achieved through alternatives like GIMP. But it depends on your usage, definitely. Mine is primarily through photo editing and styling which really only requires the more bare-bones features that PS CS5 has to offer. If I'm not using CS5 I'm using GIMP. GIMP is easier to teach to people, not because of its interface, but because it's accessible to anyone and everyone by being free. GIMP is the 2D version of Blender. Blender is becoming the industry standard for 3D modeling and rendering because it has better features than even the most expensive modeling and rendering tools, and as far as I'm concerned GIMP is becoming that too.
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I've been using Photoshop since 2005 and I never once hesitate to tell people to use GIMP. I've never used the other alternatives like paint.net and Affinity. I still use Photoshop CS5 for my day-to-day stuff and I STILL use it daily. I understand why Adobe would go the subscription-based alternative, and having the latest-and-greatest version of Photoshop would definitely be useful but as a professional, most of the new features are almost pointless and/or can be achieved through alternatives like GIMP. But it depends on your usage, definitely. Mine is primarily through photo editing and styling which really only requires the more bare-bones features that PS CS5 has to offer. If I'm not using CS5 I'm using GIMP. GIMP is easier to teach to people, not because of its interface, but because it's accessible to anyone and everyone by being free. GIMP is the 2D version of Blender. Blender is becoming the industry standard for 3D modeling and rendering because it has better features than even the most expensive modeling and rendering tools, and as far as I'm concerned GIMP is becoming that too.
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Laurent
I have been using Gimp intensively this year as an alternative to Paint Shop Pro (which I have been using for years). In the end I switched back to PSP. I agree that Gimp is a feature rich software but it is not handy. I am not saying it is not easy to use, I am saying it is unpleasant to use. Same features as the ones in PSP will require one or two extra clicks and very often there's no obvious reason for this. It is common to read that Gimp was developed by developers for developers and I would agree with that. I don't know much about the other softwares. My next option is to try Affinity Photo. The goal is to decide if I conitnue with PSP or switch to another solution. I am not saying PSP is the soluton to go. It has limitations mainly because Corel doesn't invest enough on it , but it is good enough for most usage. At least it deserves an honorable mentions.
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I have been using Gimp intensively this year as an alternative to Paint Shop Pro (which I have been using for years). In the end I switched back to PSP. I agree that Gimp is a feature rich software but it is not handy. I am not saying it is not easy to use, I am saying it is unpleasant to use. Same features as the ones in PSP will require one or two extra clicks and very often there's no obvious reason for this. It is common to read that Gimp was developed by developers for developers and I would agree with that. I don't know much about the other softwares. My next option is to try Affinity Photo. The goal is to decide if I conitnue with PSP or switch to another solution. I am not saying PSP is the soluton to go. It has limitations mainly because Corel doesn't invest enough on it , but it is good enough for most usage. At least it deserves an honorable mentions.
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The
I'm retired, now, but I had a photography business for many years. I'm still an avid photographer. Needless to say, I used Photoshop, exclusively, for most of the years. I did that because it was, by far, the best and most powerful photo app. I briefly tried one, or another program along the way, but Photoshop was the best. Back when you could actually buy Photoshop, it was terribly expensive. That said, having a photography business, it was an acceptable business expense. I still have a Photoshop subscription and use it regularly. I've explored more alternatives, in the last few years. My favorite photo app, now, is Luminar. Except for a couple of specific tools that I prefer in PS, I like Luminar better, over all. Affinity Photo is the other program that I like and use. Affinity Photo is very good, but my favorite is Luminar. Luminar is excellent.
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I'm retired, now, but I had a photography business for many years. I'm still an avid photographer. Needless to say, I used Photoshop, exclusively, for most of the years. I did that because it was, by far, the best and most powerful photo app. I briefly tried one, or another program along the way, but Photoshop was the best. Back when you could actually buy Photoshop, it was terribly expensive. That said, having a photography business, it was an acceptable business expense. I still have a Photoshop subscription and use it regularly. I've explored more alternatives, in the last few years. My favorite photo app, now, is Luminar. Except for a couple of specific tools that I prefer in PS, I like Luminar better, over all. Affinity Photo is the other program that I like and use. Affinity Photo is very good, but my favorite is Luminar. Luminar is excellent.
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Rex
I did stop use Gimp for it often are 3 extra step to save an image... sorry, Gimp can not save Images, you need to export even you want to save over, and after you have saved... sorry, exported the image it ask you to save the image again. It can only save to Gimps own format, but for some reason you can open all format without need to Import other formats. Over that Gimp do so many things backwards that it still feels like it is in 2002, and the development have almost halted on it, I think Gimp will soon be pushed out be all the other alternatives. It still good, but I had not placed it at Nr 1 maybe at Nr 4 to be nice.
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I did stop use Gimp for it often are 3 extra step to save an image... sorry, Gimp can not save Images, you need to export even you want to save over, and after you have saved... sorry, exported the image it ask you to save the image again. It can only save to Gimps own format, but for some reason you can open all format without need to Import other formats. Over that Gimp do so many things backwards that it still feels like it is in 2002, and the development have almost halted on it, I think Gimp will soon be pushed out be all the other alternatives. It still good, but I had not placed it at Nr 1 maybe at Nr 4 to be nice.
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soco13466
I don't know if there's the lack of thumbnails for PSD files, but I've come up with a solution. Whenever a PSD is created, I save it, then flatten the image, reduce the size by about 90%, then save as using the same filename, but as a jpeg. In Explorer, I use large thumbnails. The thumbnail sized jpeg will be beside the PSD file of the same name. I crashed a computer once, by downloading an app that did work, showing thumbnails, so this go around, I went thru all of the PSD's, and made thumbnails. From this point on, I will make a thumbnail, with new files.
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I don't know if there's the lack of thumbnails for PSD files, but I've come up with a solution. Whenever a PSD is created, I save it, then flatten the image, reduce the size by about 90%, then save as using the same filename, but as a jpeg. In Explorer, I use large thumbnails. The thumbnail sized jpeg will be beside the PSD file of the same name. I crashed a computer once, by downloading an app that did work, showing thumbnails, so this go around, I went thru all of the PSD's, and made thumbnails. From this point on, I will make a thumbnail, with new files.
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Amy
Thank you for this video! I currently teach at the high school level and our entire district is likely moving away from Adobe because of the new subscription prices. It's astronomical for school districts to use this now even with 'educational pricing'. It's really too bad as we've been using it for years. However, in the end Adobe will suffer as we will be teaching hundreds of students new software every year that they will likely continue using after they graduate. Again, thank you for supporting those that can no longer pay for Adobe on a monthly basis. #adobe
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Thank you for this video! I currently teach at the high school level and our entire district is likely moving away from Adobe because of the new subscription prices. It's astronomical for school districts to use this now even with 'educational pricing'. It's really too bad as we've been using it for years. However, in the end Adobe will suffer as we will be teaching hundreds of students new software every year that they will likely continue using after they graduate. Again, thank you for supporting those that can no longer pay for Adobe on a monthly basis. #adobe
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John
Thank goodness...Adobe thought they had us by the cojones when they parceled Photoshop out on the Cloud. You couldn t buy the whole package, but you could rent an effect or a paint brush disjointed from all other effects, for a brief while.. It was a shattered mess of its former excellent self. I stopped using PS in ANY form. I hope these alternatives drive wooden stakes into the black hearts of Adobe management.....drive them bust. We don t buy our ice cream cones one lick at a time.
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Thank goodness...Adobe thought they had us by the cojones when they parceled Photoshop out on the Cloud. You couldn t buy the whole package, but you could rent an effect or a paint brush disjointed from all other effects, for a brief while.. It was a shattered mess of its former excellent self. I stopped using PS in ANY form. I hope these alternatives drive wooden stakes into the black hearts of Adobe management.....drive them bust. We don t buy our ice cream cones one lick at a time.
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artistjoh
Forgotten here is Corel Draw Graphics Suite. While more expensive than any apps here, none of these apps is a full graphic design solution. The Corel software is for illustration, layout, photo editing and font management. In very recent years the software has advanced tremendously and has both Mac and Windows versions. And you don t have to pay a subscription but you have the choice of perpetual license or subscription. A lot of pro studios love it.
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Forgotten here is Corel Draw Graphics Suite. While more expensive than any apps here, none of these apps is a full graphic design solution. The Corel software is for illustration, layout, photo editing and font management. In very recent years the software has advanced tremendously and has both Mac and Windows versions. And you don t have to pay a subscription but you have the choice of perpetual license or subscription. A lot of pro studios love it.
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Stephan
Nice video, but it would be easier to check what is NOT possible! Simple programs often do not support advanced features like HDR with autoalignment, panoramas, or have limitations in effects like compensation for vignette, or totally miss adavanced stuff like gradient/selective filters. If your pc is not that fast, then also the speed of the different programs may vary a lot. I also wonder why you do not inspected Darktable?
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Nice video, but it would be easier to check what is NOT possible! Simple programs often do not support advanced features like HDR with autoalignment, panoramas, or have limitations in effects like compensation for vignette, or totally miss adavanced stuff like gradient/selective filters. If your pc is not that fast, then also the speed of the different programs may vary a lot. I also wonder why you do not inspected Darktable?
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