Are you looking for programs similar to photoshop? You have come to the right place
Photoshop may be the standard for image editing, but there are still other options.
Photoshop is such a powerful brand that, like Google, it has become a verb – no one really talks about editing an image, it’s all about Photoshopping these days. It all adds up to great PR for Adobe, but it can make you believe that no other software could do as good a job as the great PS. For this reason we bring you these alternatives to photoshop that you must see.
In fact, Adobe doesn’t necessarily have the market cornered and its move to Creative Cloud in 2013 really helped spur a wide range of Photoshop alternatives. These options can be just as powerful and produce just as professional results.
So if you’re looking elsewhere because you can’t afford the subscription, want to support smaller development houses, or just don’t need all the millions of features that come with Photoshop CC, there is a selection of open photo editing software. for you. Here are the best Photoshop alternatives.
We leave you a list with the best programs similar or similar to Adobe Photoshop
01. Affinity photo
- Platform: Mac, Windows, iPad
- Price: £ 48.99 / $ 49.99 (one-time payment)
- Buy here
Fully compatible with Photoshop and other file formats, Affinity Photo is aimed squarely at professional photographers and designers, and while it is much cheaper than Photoshop (no subscription), its creators argue that it is actually better. We think it’s perhaps the most serious Photoshop alternative we’ve seen to date.
It comes with the promise of higher speeds, fewer drops, and unlimited rollbacks, but in truth, the amount of improved performance you’ll get will likely depend on the gear you’re using (it’s been specifically designed to take advantage of the latest quad-core technology).
Available for Mac and Windows, if you are looking for an alternative to Photoshop, Affinity Photo is definitely worth investigating.
02. Photopea
- Platform: Web
- Price: Free, Premium from $ 9 for 30 days
- Try it here
Thanks to continuous advancements in web technology, you don’t always need an unobtrusive app to do much of what Photoshop would use, and Photopea is the latest browser-based image editor that can handle a decent part of your workflow.
Designed to be an advanced editor with professional tools, Photopea bears a distinctive resemblance to Photoshop and features most of the tools you will need for everyday image work. It will open most standard file formats, such as JPG, PNG, and RAW, and will accept Sketch, GIMP, and even Photoshop PSD files.
Photopea supports layers and layer masks, lets you use blending modes, and features a stack of selection tools, from standard marquees to a magnetic lasso and a quick selection tool. While it doesn’t offer the kind of advanced features you’d expect in Photoshop CC, like content-aware padding, it still has more than enough to keep most designers and artists happy, and it’s completely free.
However, if you don’t like the ads, there is also the option to subscribe to a premium version that removes them and also gives you additional levels of undo: 60 instead of 30.
03. Sketch
Sketch is a professional vector graphics application for creatives that has created quite a stir within the design community, and web designers in particular.
The development team behind Sketch has made it as flexible as possible, with infinite zoom support and vector shapes that are perfect for multiple resolutions. You can create a new graphic from primitive shapes or start a new one with the Vector or Pencil tool.
It has a pleasantly simple user interface and has many features similar to Photoshop and Illustrator, including layers, gradients, color picker, and style presets. Its popularity means that there are also many Sketch plugins created by the community that you can use to extend its functionality.
04. GIMP
A free and open source alternative to Photoshop that has been around for the donkey years, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Today it is available in versions for Linux, Windows and Mac.
GIMP offers an extensive set of tools, similar to Photoshop in many ways, and is a great option if you are looking for a free image editor. The interface differs a bit from Photoshop, but a version of GIMP is available that mimics the look of Adobe, making it easy to migrate if you leave Photoshop.
The full set of tools is available here – everything you’re used to is at your fingertips, including painting, color correction, cloning, selection, and enhancement tools. The team overseeing development has also worked hard to ensure compatibility, so you will be able to work with all popular file formats without any hassle. You will also find a very capable file manager built in, along similar lines to Adobe’s Bridge.
Overall, this is a great option if you’re on a budget or want to steer clear of Photoshop for other reasons.
05. Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator has been around for a while, but more recently the team released Pixelmator Pro. While the previous tool used floating windows, the Pro version has a more usable single-window user interface and offers non-destructive image editing. The team has shortened the interface, which should make it easier to use, and there is a ‘hidden interface’ option that you can activate if you just want to see your image, without any distractions.
This Photoshop alternative is specially designed for use on a Mac, and it supports features such as tabs, full screen, and split view.
06. Pixlr
- Platform: iOS, Android, web app
- Price: free
- Download here
Pixlr is a free Photoshop alternative that features over 600 effects, overlays, and borders. It also lets you do all the main things you’d expect from a basic photo editor, from cropping and resizing to removing red eyes and teeth whitening.
And if you are used to using Photoshop, you will find Pixlr’s user interface easy to learn quickly, as it is very similar. This free app is available in the iOS and Android varieties, or you can use it as a web app.
07. Corel PHOTO-PAINT
PHOTO-PAINT is a dedicated photo editor in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. The suite was updated for 2018 to provide support for Corel AfterShot 3 HDR, as well as interactive tools for straightening photos and adjusting perspective. Pen control has also been improved, with PHOTO-PAINT responding to different pressure, tilt and rotation of the bearings.
The suite is designed to work seamlessly with Windows 10, offering multi-monitor display and support for 4K displays .
08. Paint.net
Paint.net is a Windows-based alternative to the Paint editor that Microsoft shipped with versions of Windows. Don’t let that put you off, though – it’s a surprisingly capable and useful tool, available completely free of charge. The software started life as an undergraduate project sponsored by Microsoft, and has grown into an open source project maintained by some of the alumni.
The focus is on ease of use, and there is a clear trend towards photo editing rather than artistic creation. With that said, there are a range of special effects available, allowing you to easily create a mock perspective, blend and push pixels around the canvas, mosaic and repeat selections, and so on.
A good range of selection tools, support for layers and adjustments like curves and brightness / contrast mean that Paint.net is a great alternative to Photoshop for photo editing, especially if you can do without some of the more recent additions to the set of Photoshop tools.
09. SumoPaint
- Platform: browser or iPad
- Price: Free (basic), $ 4 / month (Pro)
- Download here
SumoPaint is a free, highly capable, browser-based image editor. All the standard features that you would expect from a desktop tool are present and correct. It’s light and fast to load, and the free version is very useful. There is also a paid Pro version and a paid iPad app.
The standard range of tools and adjustments you would expect are included. Brushes, pencils, shapes, text, cloning, gradients, etc. can be quickly accessed. from Photoshop-esque floating toolbar. You can also open saved documents from your hard drive, making SumoPaint a perfectly viable option for editing and re-editing.
Some tools work differently from Photoshop, offering possibilities that would be difficult to match in Adobe’s offering. However, there are limitations that will put off some users.
10. acorn
Image editing software Acorn debuted in 2007 and has since provided hobbyists and artists on a budget with a great affordable alternative to Photoshop. Features of the software include layer styles, non-destructive filters, curves and levels, blending modes, and much more.
The most recent edition, Acorn 6, includes new Scaling and Transform options, the ability to use the Clone tool on layers or images, and the ability to use emoji in a path (if you wish).