Photoshop Alternatives - for Free: I saw this on YouTube last night - free alternatives to Photoshop. I'm not making recommendations - just passing this along. They are listed from...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I saw this on YouTube last night - free alternatives to Photoshop. I'm not making recommendations - just passing this along. They are listed from "Good" to "Best." Affinity and Pixelmator Pro are not free, but are not expensive, either.

PhotoScape X
Paint.net
Photopea
Adobe PS Express
Affinity $
Pixelmator Pro $
Krita
Gimp

IDguy Loc: Idaho

Darktable is free. Lightroom clone.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

IDguy wrote:

Darktable is free. Lightroom clone.

This video was about PS, only.

jlg1000 Loc: Uruguay / South America

I use Affinity and while I don't have PS to compare it, currently I could follow each PS tutorial adapting it to Affinity and getting the same results. So I'm very confident that both are equivalent. I've payed $29 for a perpetual license of Affinity 3 years ago and are still getting free updates.

About Gimp, I've used it in the past in my Linux machines. It does work, but it is not very straightforward... It's more like work in progress and you have to do manually tasks that are automated in PS or Affinity. Think of object removal, luma masking, etc.

I'd add Rawtherapee to the mix, it's a free and open source parametric (aka non destructive) developer and editor. While editing it creates a XML file for each RAW file. I use it sometimes because * from a academic point if view* it is more capable at certain tasks than LR or Capture One. Bear in mind that it does *not* masks.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

IDguy wrote:

Darktable is free. Lightroom clone.

Being partially color blind I try to stay away from a lot of PP. I use PhotoScape X which is free, very capable, and can “save” marginal pics without a lot of time or effort.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

dandev Loc: Enumclaw, WA

I use Affinity Photo and find it comparable to Photoshop. I consider it "almost free."
I stopped using PS (I had PS6) once I got Affinity. Lots of tutorials out there.

Jim Bianco

Jimmy T wrote:

Being partially color blind I try to stay away from a lot of PP. I use PhotoScape X which is free, very capable, and can “save” marginal pics without a lot of time or effort.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends

That is what I use 90% of the time, it does the job fast and good to my standards.

radiojohn

Jim Bianco wrote:

That is what I use 90% of the time, it does the job fast and good to my standards.

I've used Irfanview and Photofiltre (free versions available for both) for years and now added FastStone Image Viewer.

Irfanview, which is primarily a viewer, has a feature to launch another program. I also got (on clearance) Photoshop Elements 2020 and it has quite a bit to explore.

profbowman Loc: Harrisonburg, VA, USA

radiojohn wrote:

I've used Irfanview and Photofiltre (free versions available for both) for years and now added FastStone Image Viewer.

Irfanview, which is primarily a viewer, has a feature to launch another program. I also got (on clearance) Photoshop Elements 2020 and it has quite a bit to explore.

John, I'm glad you added IrfanView to the list. But in my experience it is so much more than a viewer. I do most of my editing with it. I also use MS Paint when it does things that IrfanView does not do. --Richard

P.S. I do use Gimp on Win 10 for one thing only. That is, it does "unskewing" of photos nicely and easily.

Toment Loc: FL, IL

Thanks much!

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

The yearly rental for Adobe is better spent on Ai Plugins. Lazy vs struggle learning curve.
Affinity just updated again recently for free.
https://store.serif.com/en-gb/update/windows/photo/1/

radiomantom Loc: Plymouth Indiana

jerryc41 wrote:

I saw this on YouTube last night - free alternatives to Photoshop. I'm not making recommendations - just passing this along. They are listed from "Good" to "Best." Affinity and Pixelmator Pro are not free, but are not expensive, either.

PhotoScape X
Paint.net
Photopea
Adobe PS Express
Affinity $
Pixelmator Pro $
Krita
Gimp

Faststone is free and quite good.

radiojohn

profbowman wrote:

John, I'm glad you added IrfanView to the list. But in my experience it is so much more than a viewer. I do most of my editing with it. I also use MS Paint when it does things that IrfanView does not do. --Richard

P.S. I do use Gimp on Win 10 for one thing only. That is, it does "unskewing" of photos nicely and easily.

Yeah, I've made web pages with it and done simple editing. When I was doing a class on eBay selling, I had the class use Irfanview and the (free version) of Photofiltre. PF was good for adding text and very good for adding arrows to point out specifics in the photo.

Ladybugjf

[quote=jerryc41]I saw this on YouTube last night - free alternatives to Photoshop. I'm not making recommendations - just passing this along. They are listed from "Good" to "Best." Affinity and Pixelmator Pro are not free, but are not expensive, either.

PhotoScape X
Paint.net
Photopea
Adobe PS Express
Affinity $
Pixelmator Pro $
Krita
Gimp

Is that the Best are top to bottom or bottom to top.....meaning Good to Best?
Thanks!!

Hamltnblue Loc: Springfield PA

I’ve tried many and keep returning to ON1.