Whether you are fond of taking cool selfies, or a professional photographer, the importance of photo editing is not unknown to anybody. There is hardly any uncertainty, Adobe Photoshop is the king of photo editing, and it comes with almost all the features, you need from a photo editor. What I think is, Adobe Photoshop is more than just a photo editor. But, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop Express, and others, always come with a hefty price tag, which is most cases, are out of reach for normal people. Thus, it is always a grand idea to find some of the best Photoshop alternatives online and offline for different platforms such Windows, MacOs, and Linux (Ubuntu, Cetnos, Linux Mint and more).
SmartDeblur is a free open source and portable forensic photo enhancement software for Windows and MacOS. Using this software, you can extract faces and text from an unclear or unfocused image. To forensically enhance an unclear image, it uses a combination of multiple deconvolution algorithms.
- Despite the search results, open source photography is not about open source photography software. It's about providing a tangible sense of community for something that's often hard to explain to.
- Best Suited For those looking for a best open-source solution; In the world of full-on advanced photo editing software solutions that cost a lot of money, Gimp is one of those that are doing the opposite. In the hindsight, the photo editing software is excellent with all the features you get, but at the same time, it is free of cost.
Thanks to numerous free and open source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop, which in many cases are more powerful than the mighty Adobe Photoshop. Just stop Adobe Photoshop Express download, and find the best alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. In most cases, the free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop editor, are open source and come with GNU public license.
Most GNU image manipulation photo editor programs are similar to Adobe Photoshop, and no doubt they are powerful, but, you need to spend some time, in order to learn the new software. But believe me, it is worth the time. With some coding knowledge, you can even develop new features to use the software in your own way.
Let's now fulfill my promises, by sharing all the best free alternatives of Adobe Photoshop.
Best Free Photoshop alternatives for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
- GIMP
- Krita
- Paint.net
- Pixlr Editor
- Inkscape
- Cinepaint
- Sumopaint
- Photopea
- Seashore
- GIMPshop
GIMP (Open Source Photoshop)
When I start talking about any of the alternatives for Adobe Photoshop 7.0 or any newer version of it, GIMP is the 1st app, which comes to my mind. Just looking at the interface you can make out the power of the application, and you can do almost all the tasks which you can do in Photoshop, on GIMP.
Among the many Photoshop alternatives, GIMP is open source, which means, you can use almost all the features of Photoshop, completely for free. All the great features of Photoshop, which include layering, editing selected elements, noise removal, and all others are available in GIMP.
There is hardly any image format, unsupported by GIMP, and apart from using GIMP on Windows and Linux, you can even download GIMP for Mac, and use it completely for free.
GIMP review, which I came across, are always great, and most hardcore Photoshop user might even use GIMP for small tasks, as GIMP even loads faster than Photoshop. GIMP being available for most platforms, I will recommend most users to switch to it, if they do not have any emotional attachment to Adobe Photoshop.
Krita (Open Source)
Another great program among the free Photoshop alternatives is Krita. It is really a great application, and it comes with all the features, which you can find in Adobe Photoshop. Unlike other applications, which claim to be alternatives of Photoshop, Krita comes with almost all the features, which you need from an advanced photo editing application like Photoshop.
If you are on Linux, I will always recommend Krita, if you are unhappy with the features, user interface, or anything else of GIMP, and looking for an alternative one.
Krita, though being completely free, you can enjoy all the great features of Photoshop, with such an easy to use, and lightweight software.
After using the software for quite some time, I found a lot of similarities with Adobe Photoshop, but the only problem I faced was, at the time with working with texts. Though, that is not a big reason to ditch the software, if you do not work with texts, or can manage to work with such a trivial limitation.
Paint.net (Free)
If you are acquainted with Photoshop and is looking for a similar application, which offers the same set of features, Paint.net is a best free application, you should go for. The user interface is quite similar to that of Adobe Photoshop making it the best choice among many.
You can easily work with a lot of advanced features of a photo with the Paint.net app, but it is not that powerful as Photoshop, in many cases. But it is not a con, as come on, you're getting it for free.
Though, one con of paint.net is that it is only available for Windows, whereas most other Photoshop alternatives come with support for a number of other platforms like Linux and Mac.
You also require Microsoft.net framework 4.7.1 to run Paint.net, which is not a con, but an extra requirement. I will recommend Paint.net if you are planning to learn advanced photo editing, without purchasing the highly priced Adobe Photoshop, and if it fulfills all your requirements of everyday photo editing.
Pixlr Editor -Free online photo editor like Photoshop
Another great piece of online photo editor, which really functions great, is the Pixlr Editor. With the help of Pixlr Editor, you can not only do small editing, like blurring out images, and do other minimal tasks, but you can also get a number of other features, which are available on Adobe Photoshop. Though Pixlr Editor is completely free to use, you can get a great user interface just like the free GIMP image editor, which is favorite among many.
You can get almost all the tools, on the free online Pixlr Editor, and it works in the same way, you do in Photoshop. Thus, finding out your favorite tool is not a tough job, if you are using Pixlr Editor.
As Pixlr Editor is a free photoshop online alternative but it comes with some ads, which is not a con, for a powerful free software available online. Come on, they need to earn money! But the only thing I dislike is that Pixlr Editor too, requires Adobe Flash Player, which I kinda dislike, as it slows down the browser for numerous websites. But, I will not consider it as a deal breaker, as most people might not dislike Flash Player like I do.
Inkscape (Open source Photoshop)
Inkscape is yet another great photo editing application which can also be considered to be one of the best alternative applications to Photoshop. There is no doubt, Photoshop is powerful, but it is heavy on the other hand, as well. In many cases, in order to edit small details, you need to go through a number of tough steps, but everything has been made easy with the help of Inkscape. You can work with a lot of elements, apart from photos, which include texts, strokes, and many others, with the help of the simple yet free Inkscape.
Inkscape might lack a great user interface, but nobody is stopping you to modify it according to own requirements, as the source code is freely available, making it a great open source alternative for Adobe Photoshop.
As it is open source, it is also available for Mac and LINUX, apart from its availability on the most popular Windows platform. You can also draw your own photos and diagrams on Inkscape, which make it the perfect blend of Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Paint, which is available on all Windows platforms.
Cinepaint (Open Source)
If you are on LINUX and is looking for the best image editing tool, I will recommend Cinepaint. It is another great image editing tool, which is not only available on LINUX, but also for Mac OS, and it offers an almost same set of features, which you can find on Adobe Photoshop, making it favorite among the Photoshop lovers.
There are reasons, why I'm calling Cinepaint, the best alternative applications to Photoshop. Adobe comes with a separate Adobe Premier work with videos, but the following application even offers you the interface to edit videos.
If you want to work with various technical aspects of the photo, and not want to go for Adobe Photoshop, I will surely recommend Cinepaint. Though Cinepaint is not available for Windows, I will not call it a con. But if you are working on Linux or Mac, the following free software is surely going to be the best alternative to choose.
As far as video editing is concerned, you cannot do a lot of video editing with Cinepaint, but some common tasks associated with video editing can be handled easily with Cinepaint. One interesting fact about Cinepaint is that it has been used by the Hollywood Studios to design animated films, though it nowadays. Now, what are a reason to download Cinepaint!
Sumopaint (Free / Paid)
Cloud computing has made a lot of things easier, and there is every possibility, software as a service or SAAS will take over PC applications. Why not use small SAAS tools from now onwards. Here is SumoPaint, which is an online photo editor like Photoshop, which comes with almost all the features, you want from the best photo editing software just like Photoshop. Though SumoPaint is not free, but it is what using SumoPaint instead of Adobe Photoshop if you're not having a very powerful computer to handle the heavy software like Adobe Photoshop.
Using the software is very easy. Just visit Sumopaint.com, sign in and get started. I'm not asking you to directly go for the Pro version, as trying all the software out before purchasing, is a judicious idea. Just use Sumopaint.com for 30 days, and make sure it is the best online Photoshop editor alternative for you. Found it great! Now invest your hard earned pennies.
After using it for a while, I really like the features, which are offered in SumoPaint, but the only con is that it requires Adobe Flash Player 10 or more to run. Though, if you are planning to move on to SAAS platform, it is not a con for you, but come on SumoPaint, you are offering an alternative for Photoshop, but that with another application by the same developer!
Photopea (Free / Paid)
If the previous 2 online alternative applications to Photoshop was unable to grab your attraction, I'm sure Photopea will surely do that. It comes overcoming all the limitations, the previous 2 online alternatives to Photoshop had. Yes, you got that right, you can use Photopea on any of your browsers, without the need of installing Adobe Flash Player or any other third-party software. Now it is justified, an alternative for Adobe Photoshop, without taking any help from the developer.
Moving on to the features, Photopea is completely free to use, and the good side is that the ads are not that annoying, just like other free online software used regularly. Though a small ad will be visible on the right side of the screen, but that makes a valid point, as it will not shorten your workplace a lot, and thus you will not face any kind of troubles.
Photo Open Source
Though there is a paid version of Photopea, which come with extra features, like completely ad-free experience, sending your own opinions to improve Photopea, and many others. But if you are not a professional photo editor, the free version of Photopea will not make you feel unprivileged.
Seashore (Free)
Most people out there are looking for some great Photoshop alternatives, but they hardly work with the powerful features, which Photoshop offers. Most don't even need them. If you are one of them and is looking for some basic and mediocre photo editing, on your Mac, I will recommend you to choose Seashore, which is free, yet it offers a number of great features, which can fulfill all your basic photo editing needs.
But don't worry, the features are not as basic, as you think. There are a number of expert tools, which include working with brushes, working with gradients, edit multiple layers, and similar other tasks. Most Photoshop users work with all the features, which are available on Seashore.
It also supports a number of image formats, which are used a regular basis. Thus, if you do not want to overload your system, with heavy applications, and is using a Mac, I will surely recommend you to go for Seashore. You will not regret using it.
GIMPshop (Free)
GIMP is another good alternative to photoshop. If you are looking for the best modification of GIMP, and that too with the features for Photoshop, you can go for GIMP Photoshop or the GIMPshop app. The GIMPshop app is a modification of the open source GIMP, in order to offer you all the features, which you can get in the most popular Adobe Photoshop application.
By using GIMPshop for a long time, and by reading various GIMPshop review, I came to know, almost everybody is satisfied with the program, as it is not only free but also for a very beautiful user interface. I am not also an exception to that.
If you have used Photoshop for a long period of time and is now looking for a change, and that too without learning something completely new, just close your eyes and go for GIMPshop. But, the only problem I felt with GIMPshop is that it does not come with a proper help file; which might make you suffer a lot if you are not an expert in photo editing. But, wait, online help and tutorials are available in plenty.
GIMPshop doesn't even support the default Photoshop plug-ins, which though will not be a deal breaker for a number of users. If you are looking for a free alternative to Adobe Photoshop, however, because of open source and free software version, I can hardly find any other options apart from recommending you GIMPshop.
Open Source Photography Software Download
Free Photoshop alternative verdict
I have compiled all the best Photoshop alternatives here. I'm not saying, all the applications, which are mentioned here will perform the same way, at the time you use it. Most of the applications are very powerful and are close to Photoshop in many cases. But after all, Photoshop is a paid software, and there is no doubt you can get the best support, and everything premium with it.
But if you're looking for the free alternatives, you can try out any of them, and am sure it will surely fulfill your needs. Knowing your needs is very important, as there are also a number of small photo editing utilities, which can help you to some basic editing, like cropping photos, merging photos, and many other tasks.
If you're looking for such options, I will not recommend you to go for Adobe Photoshop or any other alternatives mentioned here, as you will hardly use the expert functionalities, which are available in all the programs mentioned above.
Open Source Photography Software Free
Hope this small information about the best free Photoshop alternatives helped you a lot, and I'm sure, you will use one of the applications mentioned here, for your photo editing needs. If you know any other great alternative for Photoshop, do not forget to comment it down below.
