Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop

GIMP GIMP is a free program for such photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. Essentially it's the closest thing to Photoshop you can get for free. It is probably the closest alternative to Adobe Photoshop, at least from those I know. Popular open source Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop for Windows, Linux, Mac, PortableApps.com, BSD and more. Explore 25 apps like Adobe Photoshop, all suggested and ranked by the AlternativeTo user community. List updated: 10/8/2020 6:04:00 PM. We earn commissions if you shop through some of the links on this page.

1. Photoshop Alternatives Free
2. Best Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop
3. Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop Cc
4. Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop

1. It's tough to offer the exact same features that Adobe Photoshop provides. However, if you follow the official documentations and resources, you can do a lot of great stuff using the above-mentioned Photoshop alternatives. Adobe has a range of grpahics tools and we have open source alternatives to entire Adobe Creative Suite.
2. If you're looking for a free Photoshop alternative, you've come to the right place. This guide will lead you through 16 free Photoshop alternatives. Some are great for basic photo retouching, some can be used for graphic design, and some offer the best of both worlds. Some of the best free Photoshop alternatives in 2020: Luminar; Apple Photos.
3. Do you want other Adobe alternatives? The company also offers Affinity Designer and a Beta version of Affinity Publisher, which are similar to Illustrator and InDesign, respectively.

Graphic design software tools are used by graphic designers to create and organize their work. Take a look at these stats on the career prospects of graphic designers: In 2020, the demand for graphic designers will increase by 13%. You don't need to get a 5-year degree in graphic design to land jobs in this field. Talented graphic designers can make a lot of money as big companies are willing to pay thousands of dollars for logo designs. In fact, niche graphic designers can earn more money than those who do regular 9-5 jobs.

Now let's look at a few revealing stats on the graphic design industry: About 25% of graphic designers are self-employed. The manufacturing industry hires 14% of graphic designers. Many graphic designers earn additional income by teaching part-time at local universities or schools. Graphic designers can improve their career prospects by learning to work with a range of media types such as traditional printing and web-based applications.

To create appealing designs you need to invest in a quality graphic design software solution. But how do you land the perfect system for your needs from the scores of apps out there? We make your task easier by listing the key features and benefits offered by Adobe Photoshop CC as well as the top 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop CC.

What is Adobe Photoshop CC?

Adobe Photoshop CC is an image, photo, and design editing software tool designed for professional artists, photographers, and designers. This app is a part of Adobe Creative Cloud service and enables users to design icons, banners, posters, mobile apps, and websites through its intuitive tools and easy-to-use templates. It also offers professional photography tools that help to create and improve pictures, and make them into amazing artworks.

With Adobe Photoshop CC, you can create and enhance 3D artworks, illustrations, and paintings. The platform provides unique effects and patterns, and advanced brushes that help you to create and customize digital artworks. Key tools include: variable fonts, quick share menu, group layer arranging, color and luminance masking controls, paint symmetry, curvature pen tool, Lightroom photo access, brush smoke smoothing, brush management, and more.

Benefits of Adobe Photoshop CC

1. It offers the capability to create smoother brush strokes and clearer lines.
2. It provides three smart stroke smoothing modes.
3. It enables you to easily change the directions of your strokes by using its Pulled String mode.
4. You can quickly share your creations and projects directly from the platform.
5. Easily share them with several social media channels and services such as Twitter, Facebook, Feedback Hub, Skype, and OneNote.
6. Its Single App (Individual) package includes 100 GB of cloud storage, social media tools, premium fonts, and your own portfolio website.

If you think this app is too basic for your needs, don't go away. We also provide you the lowdown on the top 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop CC. You get 3 sound reasons to invest in the alternative product instead of Adobe Photoshop CC and vice versa.

Top 10 Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop CC

1. SketchUp

SketchUp is an intuitive CAD platform that you can use to create and edit 2D and 3D concepts. With this reliable product, you can create appealing 3D models of landscapes, furniture, interiors, and more. The highlight of SketchUp is its ease of use which is supported by robust features and expert support. Its built-in features include animations, a layer manager, textures, and lighting effects. In addition, the application offers unique access to Trimble's 3D warehouse. It avails all models and symbols which enable CAD designers of various skill levels to achieve the results they want. Main features include: 2D models, 3D models, animations, layer manager, textures, and lighting effects. For more good options, here are SketchUp alternatives.

Why use SketchUp instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. Using this tool is as simple as drawing with a pen and paper.
2. You can easily maneuver around this program using the highly customizable palettes.
3. It offers tools and features that support 2D designing.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of SketchUp?

1. You can use its templates and intuitive tools to design icons, banners, mobile apps, posters, and websites.
2. Use its professional photography tools to create and enhance pictures.
3. It allows you to create and enhance paintings, 3D artworks, and illustrations.

2. Paint 3D

Paint 3D is a standalone graphics editing tool created by Microsoft. This app helps beginners as well as seasoned artists to use their creativity and create impressive artworks. This classic paint tool has been updated with a modern look and feel. You can use its range of editing tools and brushes to create all types of dimensions. Plus, you can structure your projects from all angles. The new version has an extra dimension of the complex modeling platform but retains the user interface and the menu structure of the older version. Paint 3D offers features that add an extra angle to the casual image creation. This set of features includes: create instant cutouts, export video, 3D doodle tools, debut work on Remix3D.com, and set the scene. You can also consider these Paint 3D alternatives here.

Why use Paint 3D instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. It works with 2D designs and adds extra capabilities to flat works of art.
2. It's highly touch-compatible and comes with a new look and feel.
3. You can intuitively create and manipulate 3D objects using this tool.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Paint 3D?

1. It offers unique patterns and effects and advanced brushes that allow you to create and customize digital artworks.
2. It provides users the capability to create smoother brush strokes and clearer lines.
3. It offers three smart stroke smoothing modes.

3. Pixlr

We have included Pixlr in this list of top 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop CC because it is a popular suite of web-based and native mobile image editing tools. It is designed using Flash, therefore it needs the plug-in to work. Currently, the app is free to use without any enterprise pricing fees. Pixlr offers editors mobility as well as robust tools. This set of image editors enables them to use advanced editing tools from anywhere, on any device. In addition, Pixlr keeps your images private. You can open your files directly from your computer, phone, or tablet, and the app does not store copies of the images in your systems. Key features include: effects, photo collage, digital inking, image retouching, and digital painting. If you wish to scout for other solutions, browse these good Pixlr alternatives here.

Why use Pixlr instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. It can run on any browser on any operating system.
2. It offers tools for complex editing processes as well as quick fixes.
3. This makes it simple for you to make quick touch-ups on images.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Pixlr?

1. It allows you to protect specific areas on your images as you can make adjustments such as changing the shadows, contrast, exposure, tint, and temperature.
2. You can quickly share your creations and projects directly from the app.
3. You can share them with popular social media channels and services such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype, OneNote, and Feedback Hub.

4. SVG-edit

SVG-edit is a web-based SVG drawing editor that is supported by JavaScript. This application uses only CSS, TIFF, GIF, SVG, JS, and HTML5 (it does not feature any server-side functionality) but works on all popular browsers. The product is also designed into browser add-ons including a Firefox add-on, standalone Opera widget, and a Chrome app. It is designed to modify Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) content files and support output to file formats such as BMP, PNG, JPG, and WMP. Top features include: stylable text, layers, zoom, align, raster images, rects/squares, polygons/curved paths, ellipses/circles, wireframe mode, convert shapes to path, lines and polylines, and freehand drawing. For more good options, peruse these SVG-edit alternatives here.

Photoshop Alternatives Free

Why use SVG-edit instead of Adobe Photoshop CC? Compress image.

1. It is a free, open-source SVG graphics editor that needs no additional software.
2. Its converter component allows you to easily convert SVG files to PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP, JPG, and WMP formats.
3. You can easily generate documents in a user-defined location.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of SVG-edit?

1. It offers a curvature pen tool and variable fonts.
2. The Single App (Individual) pricing edition provides 100 GB of cloud storage, premium fonts, your own portfolio website, and social media tools.
3. Its easy-to-use templates and intuitive features allow you to design websites, icons, banners, posters, and mobile apps.

5. Adobe Dreamweaver CC

Adobe Dreamweaver CC is a full-featured mobile and website content visual development platform. It enables to you to create, manage, and publish websites and their content as well as web apps. The product offers a suite of tools that empower developers to create attractive websites using multiple languages. Their end-products will show attractively on any device and browser. With this tool, website designers can publish their designs faster on the web. This is facilitated by templates that can be customized for your business needs. In addition, the platform aids coders to read lines of code to quickly make updates and edits. You can also consider these Adobe Dreamweaver CC alternatives here.

Why use Adobe Dreamweaver CC instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. You can use it to create web applications and websites for any device.
2. It helps developers to quickly finish their website and web application projects.
3. Visual aids help to reduce errors and swiftly finish sites.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Adobe Dreamweaver CC?

1. It provides professional photography tools that you can use to create and enhance pictures.
2. It offers unique patterns and effects, and advanced brushes that allow you to create and customize digital artworks.
3. It provides the capability to create clearer lines and smoother brush strokes.

6. Adobe InDesign CC

Adobe InDesign CC is a layout and page design app used by businesses and graphic designers to create, preflight, and publish documents for digital and print media. It is a desktop publishing tool that enables them to design magazines, annual reports, brochures, posters, flyers, stationery, professional layouts, and books with tables, images, and rich graphics. The platform also helps them to create interactive digital magazines, eBooks, PDFs, and other online documents that are improved by animations, slideshows, video, and audio. Adobe InDesign CC also offers tools that users can utilize to collaborate with their editors and writers. This enables them to design and create their documents smarter and faster. The latest edition of Adobe InDesign CC offers features such as HTML export improvements, PDF accessibility enhancements, object height and width styles, paragraph borders, and endnotes. For more good choices, browse these Adobe InDesign CC alternatives here.

Why use Adobe InDesign CC instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. It allows you to add alternative texts to objects or graphics you are tagging as figures.
2. You can add tags to captions, keyword indexes, anchored text frames, footnotes, and table of contents that contain hyperlinks.
3. It enables you to insert endnotes into your documents. This allows readers to access references directly from the annotations you added to the texts.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Adobe InDesign CC?

1. You can utilize its intuitive tools and easy-to-use templates to design banners, icons, posters, mobile apps, and websites.
2. It offers professional photography tools that help to create and enhance pictures.
3. It enables you to create and enhance illustrations paintings, and 3D artworks.

7. Adobe Fireworks

Adobe Fireworks CS6 is a robust yet lightweight image editing tool that enables you to easily create graphics for apps and websites without needing coding skills. The platform supports iQuery Mobile theme skinning and CSS/sprite creation, and provides API access. It offers powerful tools you can use to easily draw and edit bitmaps and vectors. The software mainly focuses on creating assets for apps and websites. It is a versatile product for creating, optimizing, and editing vector and bitmap images, and it can extract code from CSS designs. Key features include: symbols and templates, enhanced color tools, color swatch, slices and hotspots, and size optimization. You can also consider these Adobe Fireworks alternatives here.

Why use Adobe Fireworks instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. It makes graphic cropping and optimization easy and helps to automate repetitive tasks.
2. You can save images in a range of formats with reduced size including GIF, PSD, PNG, and JPEG.
3. Its robust optimization tools help to achieve the right balance between visual quality and size.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Adobe Fireworks?

1. It provides unique patterns and effects, as well as advanced brushes that allow you to create and customize digital artworks.
2. It offers a range of tools such as curvature pen tool, Lightroom photo access, brush smoke smoothing, and brush management.
3. It provides the capability to create smoother brush strokes and clearer lines.

8. Blender

Blender is a free 3D computer graphics tool that has been designed with the combined efforts of artists, game artists, animators, visual effects experts, students, and scientists around the globe. The software is intuitive and feature-rich, and can be used to create video games, 3D applications, 3D printed models, arts, visual effects, and animated films. Blender contains a path-tracer engine that enables you to achieve ultra-realistic rendering. Plus, it offers comprehensive modeling tools that you can use to create, transform, and edit your models quickly. You can use Blender's object and camera tracking features to import and track raw footage, and look at camera movements in 3D scenes. Finally, the app offers animation and rigging tools that can be utilized to create TV series, advertisements, and short films. If you wish to scout for other platforms, peruse these excellent Blender alternatives here.

Why use Blender instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. It speeds up rendering processes.
2. It provides a game engine that allows users to create 3D games.
3. It offers animation features and tools that are useful for creating feature-length and short films.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Blender?

1. It provides the capability to create smoother brush strokes and clearer lines.
2. It enables you to easily change the directions of your strokes by utilizing its Pulled String mode.
3. Easily share your projects and creations with popular social media channels and services such as Facebook, Twitter, OneNote, Skype, and Feedback Hub.

9. Photoshop Elements 2019

Photoshop Elements 2019 is a photo editing and organization suite that makes photo management and sharing easier. It is designed for professional photographers and helps them find the best photos from thousands. You can use the tool to enhance photos and share them on social media. The platform's organizer tool utilizes artificial intelligence to recommend the best photos and saves you time. Automatic organization of photos offers a visual view of numerous folders, while organization by places, subject, people, and date enables you to keep track of thousands of images. Automated smart editing and step-by-step edits allow you to focus on being creative instead of spending time on manual tasks. For more good options, peruse these Photoshop Elements 2019 alternatives here.

Why use Photoshop Elements 2019 instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. Automatic organization of photos allows you to quickly browse hundreds of folders.
2. The tool automatically sorts photos based on criteria such as people, date, subject, and more.
3. It uses machine learning to make it easy to edit photos with precision.

Why uses Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Photoshop Elements 2019?

1. It offers three smart stroke smoothing modes.
2. You can quickly share your projects and creations directly from the application.
3. The Single App (Individual) plan offers premium fonts, social media tools, and your own portfolio website.

10. Renderforest Logo Maker

Renderforest Logo Maker is a user-friendly logo generation platform. It utilizes proprietary algorithms to match a user's description on the kind of logo that they want and provides them with several logo designs that they can customize via an easy to use logo editor. Users can opt for free logos in PNG format that can be modified with basic customization options, including changing backgrounds and font styles. Meanwhile, the paid logos allow for more premium customizations and are downloadable in SVG format. Peruse our Renderforest Logo Maker alternatives to compare and contrast this online logo generation platform with other quality options.

Why use Renderforest Logo Maker instead of Adobe Photoshop CC?

1. You can bring up a list of logo designs by simply indicating your logo description.
2. It features a free and paid logos, both of which can be customized and downloaded.
3. It allows you to easily modify elements of your logo via a user-friendly logo editor.

Why use Adobe Photoshop CC instead of Renderforest Logo Maker?

1. You can utilize its templates and intuitive features to design websites, mobile apps, banners, icons, and posters.
2. It provides unique patterns and effects and sophisticated brushes that allow you to create and customize digital artworks.
3. It enables you to protect particular areas on your images and you can make adjustments such as changing the temperature, tint, exposure, contrast, and shadows.

We recently took a look at the Adobe Creative Suite, breaking down when to use Photoshop vs. Illustrator vs. InDesgin, but there's one glaring fact we didn't mention: not every designer has access to these programs.

For designers who are just starting out, still in school or operating on a tight budget, Adobe Photoshop might be a luxury that you just can't afford. But if you find yourself in one of these categories, breathe easy; there are several free photo editing programs out there that can deliver close to the same results as Photoshop with none of the added cost.

You'll probably end up upgrading to photo editing software with a little more power at some point in your career. However, if you need something to work with now and you can't spend any money, using these free Photoshop alternatives as a substitute can be a lifesaver.

Cross-Platform, Open Source Alternatives to Photoshop

GIMP

You can't have a list like this one without including GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP to those who know it. There's a lot to love about GIMP—it features Photoshop staples like layers, masks, gradients, text tools, plug-in support and more. Best of all, it's open source software with a large community of users, so there are plenty of GIMP tutorials and add-ons out there to help you overcome any of the program's limitations.

https://mrs-software.mystrikingly.com/blog/printworks-1-2-all-purpose-desktop-publishing. Be aware that GIMP cannot output CMYK files by default, so if you're preparing a print-ready design in 4-color, you'll need an additional GIMP plugin with CMYK support.

Gimphoto

If you really need to work in a Photoshop-like environment, Gimphoto is a version of GIMP that imitates Adobe's layout while still keeping it open source. The menus, terminology, and basic interface have all been tweaked to give Photoshop veterans a more familiar working environment.

Unlike the similarly-interfaced Gimpshop, Gimphoto includes many extra features, such as new brush styles, layer styles, and support for standard Photoshop plug-ins.

CinePaint

Best Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop

CinePaint is deep image editing software that is primarily used in video editing, but it's also a useful tool for retouching photos because it can work with images of higher color fidelity. A higher quality image produces better results in your print projects, so this might be a program worth looking into.

Inkscape

Inkscape uses a vector-based environment, so it's a much better option for illustration than most other free alternatives to Photoshop; in fact, it's almost more of an Illustrator alternative (though it can still be used for basic bitmap edits like photo retouching). The program's native format is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), so you don't have to worry about your project looking fuzzy if you try to resize it. Overall, Inkscape is a great choice for any designer who wants to learn vector illustration on a tight budget.

Photoshop Alternatives for Mac

Seashore

Seashore is open source Mac-only editing software based on GIMP, but with an interface designed to match the MAC OS X aesthetic. The result is a good-looking program that may not exactly be equivalent to Photoshop, but ultimately produces attractive results with ease.

ChocoFlop

The good news is that ChocoFlop is a formidable design tool made exclusively for the Mac OS, and there is a freeware beta version available. The bad news is, the designers decided not to continue forward with the project and will not be releasing any more versions or support for the program. However, it's still a worthwhile tool, especially with its unique non-destructive image editing capabilities.

LiveQuartz

This simple photo editor for Mac offers multi-touch support and non-destructive filters as well as some essential drawing tools. The newest version of LiveQuartz does cost a few bucks on the App Store, but if you're really strapped for cash, you can still download older freeware versions.

Photoshop Alternatives for Windows PCs

Paint.NET

Paint.NET might not be fancy, but it has an intuitive interface and plenty of the same features as Photoshop—though you might find yourself missing those features that it lacks. Despite the name, Paint.NET is really best used for photo editing since it doesn't have many illustrative tools, though it's also open source with an impressive support base.

Photo Pos Pro

Photo Pos Pro is a freeware program for Windows that's great for beginners. The interface is easy-to-use, there's a low learning curve and the software even provides helpful pop-up tips. These are the sort of things that might make a more experienced designer lose their mind, but can be a major boon for those who are just starting out. Comodo filesystem filter driver is not loaded.

Serif PhotoPlus

Many designers look at Serif PhotoPlus as a serious contender with Photoshop. Unfortunately, the advanced version does cost money (though not as much as the Adobe products will set you back.) However, there is a basic freeware version of PhotoPlus that might not have as many features, but still gives you the basics at a comparable quality to Photoshop, along with a simple, user-friendly interface.

Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop Cc

PhotoFiltre

PhotoFiltre is an easy, intuitive program for photo editing and manipulation. True to its name, the program has a wide range of filters that make it easy for novices to jump right in and alter their images, but there's plenty here for the seasoned pros to find appealing, too.

Pixia

Pixia is a Japanese program which has found popularity in the west and has since been translated into English. Pixia was created mainly for digital illustrations (specifically for manga and anime artists), but it has plenty of useful features for design and photo manipulation as well. The biggest downside to Pixia would be the outdated-looking interface, but if you don't mind your editing software looking a bit 'retro,' this may be the right tool for you.

Picasa

Google's Picasa software might not have the full capacity of Photoshop, but it's a good program for making last-minute edits. Picasa does have a few unique tricks up its sleeve such as batch editing and photo-management tools, not to mention easy integration and sharing on Google platforms.

Online Photoshop Alternatives

Alternatives To Adobe Photoshop

Pixlr

Pixlr is a great online Photoshop alternative, especially if you need to do work when you're nowhere near your home computer. It has an impressive amount of clout for a program that works in your web browser, and it stands out for having three different levels of editing power to choose from: playful, efficient or advanced. There's even a mobile app version for designers who are on the go and need to make quick fixes.

Splashup

Splashup is an online image editing program with a clean design interface that's highly reminiscent of Photoshop. It doesn't have a ton of features, but it does support layers and pixel-level control. Splashup is a good tool for beginners, especially since it allows for easy sharing on the web's top photo sharing sites like Flickr and Facebook.

SumoPaint

SumoPaint is another web-based favorite of many professional designers, since it features an interface similar to Photoshop with plenty of the same features. There's also an inexpensive desktop version available if you don't want to use it in your browser, and a mobile app for illustration on the go.

Photoshop Express Editor

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If you absolutely have to use Photoshop but don't have access to it, there's always the browser version, Photoshop Express Editor. Of course, it would be silly for Adobe to give away their product for free, so the online application has limited tools, but it's a good option for editing essentials from a name that you trust.

Conclusion

They say a poor workman blames his tools, and the same must hold true for designers. Yes, we admit, no freeware program can serve as a complete replacement for a high-end program like Adobe Photoshop. But we truly believe that a creative, clever, budget-conscious designer can overcome the limitations of any program and create beautiful results.

Are there any free Photoshop alternatives out there that we missed? Do you have any advice for working with free photo editing software? Leave your comments below, we're looking forward to hearing from you!