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Adobe Photoshop is the professional graphic editor. His name is now a verb for image editing (which is something that Adobe absolutely hates). However, Photoshop is not the only publisher in the city. Over the past few years, new editing applications have come in which are almost as good as Photoshop, for a fraction of the price. But there need enough funds to get you a Photoshop license. No problem, we are going to explore on the Best Alternatives to Photoshop programs to replace this venerable app.
You need the program to have more than a few effects or the possibility of sizing the images. If you want some programs that can make you forget Photoshop, these are your best options: GIMP and Photo Pos Pro.
The 5 Best Alternatives to Photoshop in 2017
1.-GIMP
I will be honest; I personally am not a fan of GIMP. I think it’s a horrible piece of software that represents everything that can be bad about open source projects. Teaching me how to use it was a big problem, and there are many things in GIMP that are more complex than they should be.
But there is no doubt that it is powerful program, and it is 100% free.
No doubt GIMP is the best alternative to Photoshop in 2017. And it’s totally free and they have no restrictions on its use. It has layers, masks, advanced filters, color adjustments and transformations, among many other things.
It has a large number of plugins and scripts created by the community and are ready to be used. Virtually all Best Alternatives to Photoshop tools have their counterpart in this free software.
And do not be scared GIMP. There are many tutorials online and you have an excellent help to get started. If you’ve ever used Photoshop, the look of GIMP is very similar. It’s not going to be strange. You have to give it a try.
In fact, it’s so powerful that there’s not much you can do in Photoshop that you cannot do in GIMP as well. They just have to do these things less intuitively. If price is your only consideration (or if you are running Linux), take a look at GIMP. But if you want your life to be simple, try one of the paid (but relatively inexpensive) alternatives below.
2.-Photo Pos Pro
The second best option is this complete program of design and retouching. It is a very good tool for beginners as it offers different interfaces depending on your level of experience. It is more intuitive than GIMP.
Photo Pos Pro offers layers and layer masks, as well as very good options for cloning or brushes. It has support for batch editing and scripting to save time on routine tasks.
Its only glitch is that it can only save images of 1,024 x 2,014 pixels in its free version. If you want to unlock all its potential you have to go through the box and pay about 20 dollars (not much compared to Photoshop). Test it and then you decide.
3.- AFFINITY PHOTO ($ 50 IN WINDOWS AND MAC)
Affinity Photo is one of the first applications that made me consider switching from Photoshop. It is available on Windows and Mac for only $ 49.99.
Affinity Photo is a best alternative to Photoshop, and as with GIMP, you can do almost everything Photoshop can. The only thing that is lost is the Adobe ecosystem, and some of the more advanced features of Photoshop.
For day-to-day users and beginning photographers, it does virtually everything they need. $ 49.99 may seem exaggerated for some, but compared to Photoshop, it’s a steal, and a big step from GIMP.
This software costs a fraction of what a Photoshop license costs you, Affinity Photo is an application that allows you to almost complete all the image editing functions you have available with PHotoshop, some advanced Photoshop features may not be available.
Among some of its main characteristics we have:
Full RAW editing
Reveal RAW camera files in a dedicated built-in workspace with all the processing settings and fixes you need.
Unparalleled File Compatibility
We have the best support for existing PSD files, in addition to all standard formats including PNG, JPG, TIFF, EPS, PDF and SVG.
Work with any color space
RGB, CMYK, LAB, Grayscale. CMYK color workflow with ICC color management, and 32-bit channel editing.
4.- PIXELMATOR ($ 30 ON MAC)
Pixelmator is an image editor for Mac only. It does not have as many functions as Photoshop, but it can do a lot. At $ 29.99, it’s the cheapest app you can get.
As Affinity Photo, Pixelmator is a valuable alternative to Photoshop and a big step from GIMP. The biggest problem is that the flow of work may be unintuitive, especially if they come from Photoshop, or applications similar to Photoshop. There is a learning curve if you want to change.
What separates Pixelmator from Affinity Photo is that they can do much more design work and vectors. Affinity Photo can replace Photoshop for photographers, but Pixelmator can do it for anyone.
Well, I cheated on them a little. Yes, I’m putting the same Photoshop on this list, and here’s why: your current pricing scheme is, depending on your situation, cheaper than it used to be. So if you have not used Photoshop for some years because of its $ 700 price, I recommend taking another look.
5.- Pixlr Editor
If you do not want Photoshop because you do not want to install anything, and you are looking for a web application that will help you get out of the way, Pixlr Autodesk Editor can serve you perfectly for the occasion: a web interface with tools that we are already accustomed to, including elements like Filters or histogram. The only thing we can blame is that it is built in Flash.
Finally we bring you a classic of the competition, open source and standardized systems such as Linux: GIMP has long been present among us, and although its way of working is much more rudimentary than Photoshop, can be used to make small editions. Again, in GIMP you will not find something at the height of Photoshop, but it will work for users interested in doing small things.
