![Photoshop Photoshop](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125513002/536864867.jpg)
Earlier this week we took at look at some great web based to Photoshop. Since we don't always have web access (this can be especially true during our favorite photo editing time: while riding on a ), we decided it was a good idea to look at some free photo editing options available for download. In this list we've broken our software down just like we had with our based list. Basic applications will perform basic photo editing tasks like cropping and resizing, while the More Robust applications will be more akin to Photoshop with options such as working with layers.
Adobe Photoshop is known to be a VERY expensive software but due to this bug, you can now get Photoshop for free on Windows 10, 8, 7 and Mac! It works in 2015 and is gonna work for the years to come!
Applications built for the Mac will have an 'M' at the end, Windows a 'W,' Unix a 'U.' Basic.: Since iLife comes free on every Mac, it makes our cut for a decent free basic photo editor.
Of course iPhoto also boasts great photo organization in addition to the simple editing. M.: This simple editor is like a pared down Photoshop and would have made our More Robust category had it included layer support. W.: Think of this software as Google's answer to iPhoto mashed with Flickr. M, W.: Yet another basic photo editor, bonus for the lay users, this one comes with a tooth whitener tool. W.: This basic photo editor allows for RAW conversions to JPEG and has a tool for creating animated GIFs.
More Robust.: Easily the most popular free robust Photoshop replacement, and it is easy to see why. With an amazing array of editing tools and thriving developer community, Gimp is a fantastic choice for a real Photoshop replacement and is the one we most frequently use here at Unplggd. M, U, W.: This easy to use editor has a surprising amount of tools including layer management and multi-touch support.
M.: Another open source editor, Seashore, features gradients, textures, and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes.: Originally intended as a free replacement to Microsoft Paint software, Paint.Net has grown over the years into a much more powerful tool that includes layer support and several editing tools. W.: This open source editor is designed specifically for pixel artists and features elegant layer support and great animation tools. M Did we miss your favorite free photo editing application? (Lead Image: Flickr member editing photos, licensed for use under ).
I don’t think there’s a whole lot of debate over the premise that Photoshop has become the gold standard in photo editing software. I’m pretty sure that my earliest use of Photoshop goes back to Version 3 or 4. Now deeply entrenched in CS6, I’ve decided to sit tight for a while. If I actually stopped to think about the relatively small percentage of PS’s full functionality that I actually use on a daily basis, I might also have to stop and ponder why I’m not still using an earlier version.
Features have obviously evolved over Photoshop’s lifetime, but much of my workflow remains the same. So, in the absence of some huge development that I just can’t ignore, PSCS6 and I are doing just fine together for the time being. Also, while I see the potential benefits of The Cloud– immediate updates, etc.– there’s still a part of me that remains more than just a little pissed off about the new subscription format. There seems to be a new deal every time I turn around, and nobody seems capable of giving me a straight answer to the question of how much it costs when the discount period comes to an end. It would seem that I’m not alone.
In a Photoshop-dominated editing world, it’s nice to know that there are options available that are either free, or at least won’t break the bank if you choose to purchase them. Today we’re going to take a look at some of those Photoshop alternatives. Originally launched as General Image Manipulation Program in the late 1990s, is a free graphics editor that packs a pretty powerful punch. While most of us only care about its image editing and retouching capabilities, it can– like Photoshop– be used for some pretty robust graphic design work.
Almost constantly evolving, GIMP relies heavily on input from its diverse group of users for suggestions and recommendations when implementing new features and functions. Available as a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Is a free image and photo editing software program, featuring a similar user interface to Photoshop’s. Supporting layers and other effects, the interface was designed for a pretty short learning curve. One feature I really like about the tabbed display when multiple images are open is that each tab can be easily identified by an image thumbnail, rather than just the file name. I tend to have several images open at once, and would love to see Photoshop incorporate a feature like this.
Available as a free download for Windows only. Originally created by Lifescape in 2002 and owned by Google since 2004, is a free image viewer, organizer, and editor. In addition to its file importing and tagging features, it also offers several basic photo editing functions, including the usual suspects– cropping, color enhancement, red eye reduction, etc.
Images can also be optimized for external use, such as email and web posting, as well as slide shows and integration with online photo printing services. Picasa supports both JPEG and RAW formats, as well as Google’s WebP image format. Available for Windows and Mac. Is a completely cloud-based set of imaging tools and utilities, including a solid editing program and photo sharing service. Originally developed in Sweden in 2008, the program was never intended for non-professionals. Don’t let the anti-hype fool you, though. Pixlr’s got some serious game.
Pixlr Editor is free and available for Windows PC, but is also downloadable in two mobile versions, and, for both iOS and Android. I’m not a Mac user, but checking out Pixelmator’s website had me making some phone calls to borrow one. Is a full-featured graphics/image editor developed for Mac OS, built on a combination of open source and Mac OS technologies. The program features retouching, selecting, painting, and color correction tools, as well as layer-based image editing functions. Pixelmator uses Core Image and OpenGL technologies that use the Mac’s video card for image processing.
Pixelmator is the only non-free entry on this list, but at $29.99 (USD), it’s incredibly affordable. Ridiculously affordable, actually, when compared to even just a one-year subscription to. Just to be clear, Photoshop is still my image editor of choice. It has been part of my workflow for years and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
I’m sure at some point I will even suck it up, cross over to the Dark Side, and subscribe to the cloud. The fact remains, though, that I’m a guy who believes in options– even if I don’t necessarily need them for myself. Additionally, the less-expensive editing options tend to be stripped down, or at least scaled back a bit from Photoshop. The result for new photographers and editors is a much more shallow learning curve, and– sometimes– an even better understanding of what the tools do and why. Let’s not forget that virtually everything in the digital darkroom originated in the REAL darkroom.
Having a better understanding of the editing process brings with it a better understanding of photography, as well as your goal of getting it right in the camera. Do you edit your images in a program other than Photoshop and Lightroom? Tell us about it in the comments. I’ll give you a simple example, have a look at this: One of those images is the 16bit straight from the RAW file. The other is exported 8bit, brought into GIMP, then had levels adjusted such that I removed 64 from either end (of 255), then re-expanded to full range. That type of violent action should produce a ‘noticeable’ banding in the blue sky, right?
Which one is which, then? I understand what you’re trying to say, but to dismiss the usefulness of GIMP out of hand in such a fashion does a disservice to both GIMP and yourself. Look, I’m not debating that 16bit will provide more leeway to violently manipulate an image and avoid things like posterization. I think we all understand that it does. I am saying two things: 1. It’s not nearly as bad as you think it is. It’s dependent on the image, what you’re doing to it, and what its intended display medium is.
Dismissing GIMP out of hand because of this is a flawed premise. It’s not “useless” unless your only definition of usefulness is that you can violently compress and expand the image levels with minimal posterization.