Are there viable and cheaper alternatives to Photoshop?
Is there any software like Photoshop that can also open .PSD files? I don't need an enterprise / extremely feature laden editor, but I do wish to have the following required features at a price point less than a Photoshop license:
- Able to crop
- JPG compression optimization
- Work with layers
- Able to open PSD format files
- Save in PDF format
Solution 1:
I think you'll find Pixelmator a good substitute for Adobe Photoshop. It will do everything on your list and it costs $14.99.
Solution 2:
You can try Gimp GIMP stands for “GNU image manipulation program”, and it is one of the oldest and most well known alternatives to Photoshop in existence. Although it doesn’t quite have all of them, you’ll find most of the features included in Photoshop somewhere in GIMP. GIMP is cross platform and supported by a large community.
If just having the feature set isn’t enough for you, there is an alternative based on GIMP known as GIMPShop. It’s the same as GIMP, except the layout has been structured as close to Photoshop as possible, so anyone making the transition should still feel right at home.
Solution 3:
I see many people that get both Pixelmator and Acorn after trying and deciding GIMP isn't their cup of tea.
In alphabetical order:
- Acorn - http://www.flyingmeat.com/acorn/
- GIMP - http://www.gimp.org/
- Pixelmator -http://www.pixelmator.com/
All three have serious image manipulation tools like layers, effects, vector drawing tools, advanced selection tools if you'd rather not go down the various versions of Photoshop path. You will be hard pressed to find image tools that don't open and save to .PSD so it's more a price, feature, use case decision since you have several good alternatives above.