16 Useful Free and Paid Photoshop Alternatives
The development of Photoshop alternatives has increased dramatically in the past few years. There are a few reasons why you might want to look at alternative software to Adobe’s image editing software, while Adobe’s software is still a top choice among designers.
There are a number of great Photoshop alternatives that produce professional results and are at least comparable to Adobe’s software. Some are even free.
1. Corel PaintShop Pro
You can edit both raster and vector images in PaintShop Pro. Software is suitable for beginners as well as for more advanced users, with different workspaces for editors of different levels and capability levels. The New AI Background Replacement tool intelligently identifies and masks people in a photo, allowing seamless background replacement and trying out different color schemes and scenarios.
Because of PaintShop Pro’s immersive technology, you can automatically apply bokeh blur to a background. Make your headshots more effective by blurring out the background and ensuring the subject remains the focus.
The price for Paintshop Pro Ultimate is $79.99 (one-time $63.99)
Platform:
Windows
Features:
AI Background Replacement, AI Portrait Mode, AI Style Transfer, Frame Tool, Creative Content, Highlight Reel, etc…
2. Procreate
It is the most popular creative application made for iPads. It’s recommended that you try Procreate if you’re interested in getting into digital art. The app is ideal for professional artists and casual artists alike. Featuring an advanced layer system, hundreds of handmade brushes, and the lightning-fast Valkyrie graphics engine, The Brushes Suite offers a uniquely personalized creative experience.
With Procreate you can create expressive sketches, colorful paintings, beautiful illustrations, and engaging animations. It is a portable art studio with all the tools you need.
Procreate App can be downloaded from the Apple Store at $9.99, comparatively to many design programs, this is a one-time cost.
Platform:
iPad and iPhone App
Features:
Apple Pencil support, Paint with filters, QuickShape, Color Harmony, Color Companion, Valkyrie Engine,120hz Performance
3. Affinity Photo
As a Photoshop alternative, Affinity Photo plays a similar role. It can be a fairly challenging process for new users, as well as those moving from other platforms. As you start using Affinity Photo, you are given a brief overview of some of the most commonly used features. Although you are tempted to skip this, especially if you are a fairly advanced editor, I recommend you take a look.
The tools and options provided by Affinity Photos are extensive. Affinity’s functions, however, may be viewed differently by those accustomed to Adobe products.
You can own Affinity Photo for Windows and Mac versions for just $54.99 and iPad versions for just $21.99 – with no subscription fee.
Platform:
Mac, Windows, and iOS
Features:
Live, real-time editing, Super smooth pan and zoom at 60fps, Open and edit PSD and PSB files, Massive image support (100+ Megapixels
4. Rebelle 4
The revolutionary software program Rebelle 4 allows users of any level of proficiency to create stunning, realistic, and intuitive paintings. The app offers an easy-to-use and flexible interface which allows you to apply the most common techniques and tools in traditional and natural painting. The tools provided by Rebelle 4 enhance your artwork’s exactness, refinement, and attractiveness.
An amazing set of brush presets in Rebelle 4 will blow your mind, including palette knives, watercolors, and sumi-e brushes, along with a realistic pencil and other dry media tools.
You can own Affinity Photo for Windows and Mac versions for just $ $89.99, with No Monthly Payments
Platform:
Mac and Windows
Features:
Hyper-Realistic Paintings, Papers & Canvases, Lithography Stones, Wet & Dry Media, Watercolors Simulation, Dripping Effects Natural RYB Color Mixing, Soft Proofing, etc….
5. Photopea
The Photopea website allows you to edit photos online. Opera, Edge, Chrome, and Firefox, this extension is compatible with all modern browsers. You can work with files in various formats with this software, as it supports both vector and raster graphics.
Photoshop’s PSD format as well as JPEG, PNG, DNG, GIF, SVG, PDF, and other image formats can be imported into the app. This editor has a very similar interface to Adobes in terms of tools, menus, and usability.
Photopea offers advanced photo editing capabilities for free.
Platform:
Web
Features:
Make natural color gradients by smearing and blending thick oils., Pencil sketches are shaded with the edge of the tip., Develop watercolor strokes that respond to canvas texture., While painting, make use of photographs as references., Layout your Perspectives with Guides and Grids.
6. ArtRage
ArtRage is unique and intuitive drawing software that is ideal for creative professionals. Oils, pencils, watercolors, canvas textures, and other traditional painting tools are available, ArtRage makes up an excellent creative tool for kids, adults, beginners, and professionals alike.
ArtRage for Windows and Mac is just $39.99.
Platform:
Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS
Features:
Make natural color gradients by smearing and blending thick oils., Pencil sketches are shaded with the edge of the tip., Develop watercolor strokes that respond to canvas texture., While painting, make use of photographs as references., Layout your Perspectives with Guides and Grids.
7. Sketch
Sketch app has created a lot of impression within the web design community, and has become extremely popular among professionals in the field. With Sketch, you can have a collaborative design process that spans the entire project.
Using the Vector or Pencil tools, you can create brand-new graphics from primitive shapes. In addition to layers, gradients, color pickers, and presets, it also features a UI similar to Photoshop and Illustrator.
Users can subscribe to Sketch for $9 a month for one editor seat or $99 annually.
Platform:
macOS
Features:
Collaboration Tools, Data Import/Export, Feature Library, Content Library, Prototype Creation, Customizable Templates.
8. Krita
Krita is a free illustration software program (open-source) that can be used by concept artists, illustrators, texture and matte artists, and VFX producers. In addition to creating digital paintings and pixel art, Krita offers pre-built brush presets that can be used to add 3D texturing to images.
Users familiar with Adobe’s software will find this easy to use since the interface is similar to Photoshop. While Krita includes some beautiful paint features, it does not possess Photoshop’s extensive photo editing features.
There is no charge for using Krita, and it is an open-source paint program that is FREE.
Platform:
macOS, Windows, and Linux
Features:
HDR Support, Color Palette, Mirroring Tools, Layer Management, Brush Engines/Types, PSD Support, OpenGL Enhanced.
9. GIMP
GIMP is a free and open-source program that can be used for photo editing, image composition, and image creation. This is the best free alternative to Adobe Photoshop. GIMP has most of the same features as Adobe Photoshop. There are many features in GIMP that can be utilized to create incredible images.
This software can be used by a novice to an advanced graphic designer since the GUI can be tailored to our needs. You can edit the source codes of GIMP, add features, and change its functions since it is open-source software. It’s also easy to install on slow or old computers due to its low memory consumption and low resource requirements.
Gimp is an open-source raster graphics program that is 100% free to use
Platform:
Windows, Linux, and macOS
Features:
Photo enhancement, Graphic design elements, Customizable interface, Digital retouching, Scribus, Inkscape, Swatchbooker, etc…
10. Pixelmator Pro
It is an intuitive and powerful image editor for Mac users. Pixelmator Pro provides access to a variety of improved tools, including effects, brushes, and color presets. Furthermore, Pixelmator Pro offers a full set of vector tools to let you create resolution-independent designs. Smart shapes can be easily customized, and there is a huge collection of pre-designed shapes. You can also access and save SVG vector files.
Using a machine learning technique, Pixelmator Pro uses interactive image editing to deliver more precise results. A machine learning technique enables computers to learn how to perform specific tasks more like a person than an automated interface.
Pixelmator Pro is available at $39.99.
Platform:
macOS
Features:
Batch Processing, Design Management, Pre-built Templates, Real Time Editing, Image Library, Content Sharing, Content Import/Export
11. Pixlr
Pixlr is an online image editor that’s free to use. In addition to being a browser-based image editor, it emulates an impressive percentage of Photoshop’s most important tools and does so tremendously well. With Pixlr, you can paint and design images right in your browser.
There is no need to download it on your computer. It can be accessed from any browser. This editor is useful for many other purposes as well, including associating images together and creating new ones.
The free versions of Pixlr X and Pixlr Pro are available. The Pixlr Pro edition subscription plan starts at $5 a month.
Platform:
Any Browser
Features:
Content Import/Export, Content Sharing, Customizable Templates, Data Storage Management, Data Synchronization, Drag & Drop, Multi-Language, Pre-built Templates, Real-Time Editing, Social Media Integration, etc…
12. Crello
Crello is an online, cloud-based photo editing software suite that supports features such as resizing images, stickers, shapes, and icons, as well as filters, cropping, blurring, and layers. With it, anyone can become a graphic designer and create visually appealing designs. It is incredibly easy to use, which is the best part of the tool.
Easy to design images custom suited for popular social media platforms, covers, and ad graphics. Crello is web-based, so you don’t have to worry about whether it’ll work with your computer.
With the Starter plan, you can use the basic design service for free. A Pro plan is available for $7.99/month billed annually
Platform:
Any Browser
Features:
Crello Content Library, Built-In Audio Editor, Templates Made by Professionals, Customizable Branding, Collaboration Tools, Multiple Format Support, WYSIWYG Editor, Video Editing, etc…
13. Pixelied
Pixeled is an easy-to-use design tool that allows you to create promotional designs. It offers pre-made templates, stock photos, premium icons, fonts, and editing tools for digital marketers, content creators, and bloggers. Edit eCommerce product images, replace the background and create branded content for social media, blog posts, and other content.
Starts free and costs $7.95/month for the Pro version
Platform:
Any Browser
Features:
Image Editor, Ready-Made Templates, Mockups, Stock Images, Illustrations, Premium Icons etc..
14. Acorn
Those who have no experience with photo editing and want something simple and reliable should look into Acorn. It’s simple to use, yet provides a variety of editing options. The Acorn photo editor is exclusive to the Mac, but it is renowned for its circle text tool and text-on-a-path feature, which is particularly suitable for graphic designers, advertising professionals, and logo designers.
There is a lot you can do with an Acorn Editor. Using a magic wand or an alpha eraser tool, for example, you could remove picture backgrounds. From the Tools palette, you can quickly access tools for zooming, cropping, and lifting; drawing and retouching; making selections, and handling text and colors. Photoshop PSD files can be opened by Acorn and layers will be preserved, but styles and editable text aren’t imported.
One-time payments for Acorn start at $29.99.
Platform:
macOS
Features:
Circle Text Tool, Perspective Fix & Crop tool, Super Accurate Color Picker, Non-Destructive Filters, Vector Tools, Smart Layer Export, Clone Across Images, Layers, and More
15. Colorcinch
A powerful photo and text editor, Colorcinch provides a wide selection of image filters and art effects. Colorcinch lets you edit photos online. It includes tools for text editing, layers, effects and filters, and stock photo access. By using this photo editor, you are not required to download and install software but can start editing straight away in your web browser by dragging and dropping the selected image that you would like to transform.
Fotor is an easy tool to use for designing for our own needs, so we can make professional-style edits just by following simple steps.
Activation price of $8.99/month (the annual plan of $39.99/year)
Platform:
Any Browser
Features:
Variety of Banner Types, Shape & Clip Art, Heatmap, Drag & Drop Editing, Font Selection, Stock Image Library, etc…
16. Fotor
Fotor’s online photo editing software is fast, intuitive, and user-friendly with exclusive technology that provides a whole new level of editing control. Compared to Photoshop, this is a great alternative for most users. There are so many different filters and lights to choose from, plus the templates are great.
Additionally, it allows users to export their artwork in various formats such as PDF, JPEG, or PNG.
Pricing starts at $5.99 a month (the annual plan is $47.88 a year)
Platform:
Any Browser
Features:
Cloud Storage, Built-in Templates, Import-Export Options, Effects and Filters, Enhancement Tools, Transform tools, Text Tools, etc…
Our list shows that there are a variety of Photoshop alternatives available. Test out which ones you can use in your workflow. By combining a few of the above apps, you may be able to edit images without ever having to open Photoshop, as I do.
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