Photoshop alternative - free or otherwise?

[Blandt]

The only reason to use CS5 over any older version of photoshop is that "background aware" fill tool.

YES .. just unbelievable .... and also for a host of other things ...

 

[Kevin]

hahaha the last thing we need is Microsoft competing with Adobe ... hmmm on a second thought maybe it's a good idea

Have you caught this in the news...

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/microsoft-and-adobe-chiefs-meet-to-discuss-partnerships/

Microsoft & Adobe might be getting a lot more cozier with each other in the days ahead.

 

[Blandt]

A possible acquisition of Adobe by Microsoft was among the options.

And

In the past, Adobe and Microsoft have been rivals with competing software, and the companies became really combative in 2007 when Microsoft began promoting Silverlight, its software plug-in for the Web that directly competes with Adobe Flash.

Well .....well ...speak of the devil ....

 

[Miko]

Another one not free but cheap at $59 and Mac only is Pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com)
Possibly to no no for you but if you are on a Mac and don't have much cash pito spare is good little program.
The native quartz composer kick ass and really wish Photoshop would have it too!

 

[EQnoble]

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshopextended/

you can always try it free for 30 days then uninstall it LOL

tbh im such a noob I DID use mspaint until about a year ago when i made the switch to photoshop, also I use axialis icon workshop to make icon sets easily.

The fun thing about photoshop is...you may wonder if you paid too much for it...then everytime you use it you find some new technique to use simply because the plethora of tools available in it.

IMO if you make money off of images directly or indirectly just get photoshop and learn it inside and out. I have been doing that for over a year now and I've still only touched like 12% of it and will not be attempting to make money with it until I can master the software...considering I used to draw schematics and wiring diagrams in mspaint... photoshop overloaded me with shortcuts to operations that used to take me 30 some-odd steps ( seriously what was I thinking before working with layers, the unsung hero of image editing software.)

I have tried gimp have nothing against it... but I like to familiarize myself with one interface to speed up the job I'm doing as time passing can cause a creative idea to be lost. If you can handle learning many interfaces and remembering hot-keys and shortcuts then by all means try everything out. But if your like me and predispositioned to using commands from one program in another then I would stick with what you know. Free trials are your friend


Lol for the heck of it here are my original sketch-up of my arcade machine I drew in paint using the line tool.

In short I would venture to say there is NO free alternative to photoshop but that is opinion and based only on my needs verses what yours may be.

 

[James]

Hi guys (and girls). I'm looking for an Adobe Photoshop alternative (preferably free) just so I can pull apart this PSD and grab dimensions of things. Is there an alternative out there (again, preferably free) that can read PSD files layer by layer?

Thanks

 

[Elizabeth]

Hi guys (and girls). I'm looking for an Adobe Photoshop alternative (preferably free) just so I can pull apart this PSD and grab dimensions of things. Is there an alternative out there (again, preferably free) that can read PSD files layer by layer?

Thanks

PC or Mac?
GIMP is free can be used on either one.
IF you are a PC, you can download a trial version of PSP and evaluate it. It's not nearly as expensive as PS.

But sometimes they lock the psd layers and then only PS will read it.

 

[Floren]

You can use Gimp to edit .psd files, in a basic way.
For example, it will not support advanced layering and cannot save a file as .psd format.

 

[Blandt]

discussed here
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/free-photoshop-alternative.5963/#post-88266

 

[James]

Just to read it and grab dimensions of things. I'd export it but I don't even have an application to do that.

I'll give GIMP a try, thanks

 

[Elizabeth]

Another one not free but cheap at $59 and Mac only is Pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com)
Possibly to no no for you but if you are on a Mac and don't have much cash pito spare is good little program.
The native quartz composer kick ass and really wish Photoshop would have it too!

That one I am still learning. Got it on recommendation from the Apple store here in town.

 

[Paul B]

I've merged your thread with the original James.
That way we can keep all related discussion in one place

 

[James]

Appreciate it Paul, thanks! I was about to request it

 

[BlackJacket]

I would also like to see a Microsoft answer to Adobe. Adobe has this market cornered. There are plenty of free and paid solutions, but none compare to Photoshops power.

On a side note, do you think Adobe would sue a new company that is developing a much better product?

 

[EQnoble]

Adobe has algorithms that are going to be hard to compete with, they are patented and in my opinion they earned the corner they hold down in this market.

I would DEFINITELY NOT want to see Microsoft making competition with adobe...microsoft should concentrate more on a bug free ( as much as possible ) OS and give due justice to the market THEY already corner. They have enough and I'm glad adobe is where it is. I would like to see photoshop keep developing without the counter intuitive competition of a company who really isn't ready to offer a real alternative to PS, and the competition between two companies might cause haste that will require more bug fixes from whatever software developer you choose.http://xenforo.com/community/threads/3152/

 

[Sean S]

Maybe some of you already know this, but for the rest you should definitely take advantage of the student discounts available for these products. Still not the cheapest, but you could get the whole creative suite for between $250-550. Not a bad price for all the things you will be getting. Most times all you're required to provide is your school's valid/active email address to get access to these discounts.

 

[Ra]

used to Paint.NET
has some problems with multiple layers
but for simple editing is perfect and easy to use

 

[Steve Machol]

For Windows machines I have always liked PhotoImpact: http://www.novadevelopment.com/soft...eta=software&cat=digital-photography-software

Sadly it's not available for the Mac. I like and use PhotoShop, but it's pretty slow and overkill for many quick photo-editing sessions. (PhotoShop Essentials is just as slow.) I'll have to take a look at Pixelmator.

 

[Elizabeth]

Maybe some of you already know this, but for the rest you should definitely take advantage of the student discounts available for these products. Still not the cheapest, but you could get the whole creative suite for between $250-550. Not a bad price for all the things you will be getting. Most times all you're required to provide is your school's valid/active email address to get access to these discounts.

That's great IF you are a student but some of us have been out of school longer than Adobe has been a company.

 

[Apokalupsis]

It's not free...but one of the more powerful programs out there is Xara. I use both it and PS CS5. Both are very good programs. Xara is a lot cheaper than PS too.