![]() GOOD FOR: Great for semi-pro image editing and seriously creative image manipulation tasks. ![]() There’s a great Vimeo channel with tons of very well-made Affinity tutorials. And at the current $39 offer, quite a steal at that. This means that Affinity is a pro tool, just like Photoshop, minus the features that most of us – even photo pros – don’t need, such as 3D.Īffinity, unlike Photoshop, is a one-off payment. The important thing, however, is that Affinity truly is Photoshop without the bloat: it supports all the best Photoshop features, such as tons of layer features, blending modes and adjustment layers, channels for retouching and masking, pro cut-out techniques, vector works and working with the RAW format. The interface is slick, just like the Adobe one, although the type and icon sizes are a bit too small even with the largest settings selected. Out of all the tools in this list, Affinity Photo is the closest to Photoshop. PRICE: Free, with upgrades: $1.99/month or $14.99/year.Īffinity photo – Desktop alternative to Photoshop for Mac and Windows (beta).WORKS ON: Browsers, Mac, Windows, iOSX, Android.NOT SO GOOD FOR: The fact that there are so many different app options can be confusing.Autodesk Pixlr is to get creative with images. GOOD FOR: Pixlr Editor is a basic Photoshop.If you are posting to your own site make sure you run your image through TinyPNG or similar. Note that there is a resize option, but no image optimisation feature to make your image lighter and faster for the web. Some more advanced features need the paid version ($1.99/month or $14.99/year in Jan 2017). It’s a quick and dirty, unpretentious image editor with lots of nice filters, stickers, effects, borders, type and overlays that would make a professional photographer run away in horror but that are perfect for the everyday user. The desktop app, Autodesk Pixlr, is much better, it does not try to ape Photoshop. But it isn’t: so instead of thinking, ah, this is so simple, how refreshing!, I immediately go looking for my favourite Photoshop features, one of which are the layer blending modes, which aren’t there. The interface of the in-browser app Pixlr Editor looks like Photoshop. I have used the desktop browser app, which is called Pixlr Editor, and the desktop download, Autodesk Pixlr. To be honest, this can make things a bit confusing, also because each app is a bit different from its sister app that does more or less the same thing. Pixlr is a whole suite of different apps for mobile, web and desktop that are available for download as well as online use. Pixlr – Suite of image editing apps for mobile, web and desktop In the case of large images, offline is better. You will need to download a copy from the main Gimp home. NOT SO GOOD FOR: If what you are after is a quick and dirty image helper then Gimp is not the ideal tool for you.GOOD FOR: More complex photo manipulations jobs.Some everyday tasks that you take for granted in Photoshop, such as Save for Web, require a plugin. If you have used Photoshop before, it will take you a short while to navigate the tools, but you’ll get familiar with it quickly. The interface, if you are used to a Mac, is charmingly old-fashioned, but it all works. It’s also an artist’s tool, with an array of brushes and other tools. It’s a tool that can be used for high quality image manipulation: retouching, restoring, compositing. Well, yes of course: the community guarantees that it does. For this reason only, it is a beautiful thing! But more importantly: does it work? Much like WordPress, the core of Gimp is created, maintained and updated by a community of developers using a variety of open-source coding languages. It was originally conceived for the GNU operating system, a project based on the concept that software should be free and not be tied to a proprietary platform, the way Photoshop is. Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the granddaddy of all open-source photo editing programs. ![]() Gimp – Desktop open source alternative to Photoshop Here are 9 tried and tested alternatives to Photoshop that you can use on your mobile, tablet or desktop. Piccia runs her own business from Valencia in Spain doing graphic and web design for clients, she’s also an avid photographer and teaches Photoshop at a prestigious photography school in London. Here is Piccia Neri who I met in a WordPress meetup in back in 2013 in London. Why? Because the guest posts I get are usually crap. In the 10+ year history of has only had four guest posts. Here are 9 of the best alternatives to Photoshop that are both FREE and cheap! Photoshop is so expensive! Do you really need this behemoth of a program to carry out your daily photo editing tasks, your social media graphics or your wacky picture manipulations? Thankfully the answer is “NO”. ![]()
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