5 Good Alternatives To Photoshop for Photo Editing

Looking for good alternatives to photoshop for photo editing or graphics designing? Then this guide will help you explore 5 best alternatives to Photoshop. So keep following this guide and choose the best alternative that suits your purpose.

Sometimes as a beginner it could be a little challenging to master Photoshop skills as it requires a lot of dedication, creative skills and efforts to understand the software. At the same time if you are just getting started then you can try your hands on any one of these 5 good alternatives to Photoshop so that you can start creating your desired results and with practice you can easily learn photo editing that will also make it easy for you to try Photoshop.

No Doubt Adobe Photoshop has its own monopoly as one of the best Industry Standard software for photo editing but nowadays we have many more tools that are web based or can download and use in your computer either for free or with paid versions available.

So before we get started let's understand the need for Good Alternatives to photoshop at a glance;

Good Alternatives To Photoshop At a Glance

The photo editing software from Adobe is user-friendly and effective. If you're fully immersed in the Adobe ecosystem, the tool also effortlessly connects with other Adobe creative programs to produce an effective workflow.

Of course, some alternatives to photoshop continues to be far less effective than Photoshop, but even these have their uses because they are sometimes much less expensive (sometimes even free). Furthermore, a lot of individuals don't actually require all of Photoshop's functions, especially if they only intend to alter photographs rather than perform more complex transformations.

The point is that if you are the one who doesn't want to use photoshop or want an easier solution so that you can create professional-quality digital art at home or in the studio then you can achieve it with the finest Adobe Photoshop alternatives.

To uncover the finest Adobe Photoshop alternatives, we tested out some of the best photo-editing programs. For you we've compiled a list of the good photoshop alternatives in the section below, largely based on our own testing.

We assessed them in terms of features, usability, and, of course, cost-effectiveness. The majority of the top Photoshop alternatives listed here may be bought for a one-time cost, and some are even free, in contrast to Photoshop, which is only accessible as a subscription.

1. Canva

I am a big fan of Canva and would like to suggest it as the best free alternative to photoshop in the top position. This is one tool that even I use personally more than anything else for creating quick and easy photos and graphics when it comes to publishing on the web. I am a big fan of Canva and would like to suggest it as the best free alternative to photoshop in the top position. This is one tool that even I use personally more than anything else for creating quick and easy photos and graphics when it comes to publishing on the web. 

Canva is an easy-to-use, entertaining, and feature-rich web design platform that enables you to make content for all types of social media that looks professional.  It is free to use online without having to download anything, and it also has a more feature-rich pro edition that you can purchase for $9.95 per year or $12.95 per month.

You may work with up to 10 team members, have access to more than 8,000 editable templates, and have a generous 1GB of photo and asset storage with Canva's free edition.

You may work with up to 10 team members, have access to more than 8,000 editable templates, and have a generous 1GB of photo and asset storage with Canva's free edition.

Given that Photoshop requires payment for online storage as part of the Creative Cloud, the free online storage is quite amazing which makes Canva as one of the Good free alternatives to photoshop. 

Canva is the greatest option for mixing images with text, which is frequently required when creating content for Instagram and other social media sites. All the relevant sizes are already accessible as templates, ready for you to utilise.

So how does it fare as a good alternatives to photoshop? It doesn't have all of Photoshop's sophisticated retouching features, but there are still enough one-click tools to let you modify photographs and make unique designs.

It's an online application, which has both advantages and disadvantages. One major advantage is that you don't need a powerful computer to use it (and won't see the dreaded Photoshop "scratch drive full" error), but you'll need an Internet connection to get started.

There are a tonne of free, modern-looking icons, badges, design grids, stickers, and photo frames available on Canva. You won't find that in the original version of Adobe Photoshop.

Although it lacks Photoshop's fancy AI tools, the free version of Canva is frequently used by photographers and other creative professionals to quickly and easily create graphics. Its straightforward interface and minimal learning curve make it ideal for beginners to create eye-catching graphic designs.

2. GIMP

Professional open-source photography powerhouse GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Therefore, it's both the greatest free alternative to Adobe Photoshop and the finest alternative overall.

GIMP rivals Photoshop in terms of the sheer number of features and capabilities it offers. This programme is very versatile thanks to the large developer and artistic community that has produced a broad variety of plugins. If there's a feature you want, there's undoubtedly an add-on for it.

This free, open-source photo editor has been around for a while—its initial release was in 1996, 24 years ago. The GNU image manipulation programme, or GIMOP for short, is utilised by everyone from amateur artists to seasoned picture editors and is one of the best Adobe Photoshop alternative overall.

The editing software contains a wide range of expert tools that are easily comparable to Photoshop's own functionalities. GIMP's user interface is also very simple, so getting used to the programme won't take long.

Since the user interface is fully flexible, you can use as few windows and toolbars as you like or as many as you require. Because of this, GIMP has a comparable steep learning curve to Photoshop, but after completing a few courses, it becomes rather comfortable.

You can build layers and masks in GIMP, and you can also modify colours as needed. The platform's ability to be customised to fit your individual preferences is another fantastic benefit.

GIMP is renowned for its ability to provide its users with a huge selection of plugins. Even the Content-Aware Fill tool from Photoshop can be supported by it. One of the first and most helpful additions made for this platform, this plugin's name is Resynthesizer.

GIMP may be a superior and one of the good alternatives to photoshop if you don't want to spend any money on image editing software. In our experience, GIMP was a little slower to respond and consumed a little bit more resources than its proprietary version, but this can easily be excused given that GIMP has always been free and open source and always will be.

3. Pixlr 

One of the greatest free Photoshop alternatives online is Pixlr, which is also accessible as a web application. We stated in our assessment of the HTML 5 picture editing programme that it is "so feature-packed, it seriously competes with desktop programmes.

Pixlr's UI is simpler than either Photoshop's or GIMP's, but that's okay. The process is streamlined and simple to use. After dragging and dropping a photo from your computer or adding a URL, you can start working on image adjustments using the familiar one-click filters and sliders.

Many people believe Pixlr Editor to be one of the good alternatives to photoshop online application. This photo editor is entirely free to use; no download or trial period is necessary.

Layers, masks, and an overall non-destructive image editing process are all fully supported by Pixlr. Pixlr's configurable interface, which you can tailor to your own needs and which can make the photo editing process more convenient, is another thing to highlight as a plus.

Pixlr features unusually robust layer support for an online application, which is one of the reasons it's regarded as one of the best Photoshop replacements. But there are still some crucial components missing. For instance, custom brushes are yet to be created but are planned for future development.

Pixlr offers an extremely simple and user-friendly interface for simple to medium-complexity photo editing. Pixlr will display a sizable number of advertising as you use it, much like every other free software, so be ready for this aspect of the deal.

This particular tool will require you to download and install Flash, so be prepared when you see the alert straight away. This is another crucial point to note. You'll recognise a lot of the tools in Pixlr, including Crop, Move, Lasso, Wand, Brush, Erase, and many others that are identical to those in Photoshop.

Pixlr is unquestionably a great nice choice if you're seeking for a free Photoshop alternative. Just keep in mind that minimal to moderate photo editing is better in this application.

4. PhotoPea

As one of the good free photoshop alternatives which is web-based Photopea Online Photo Editor attempts to address the issue of needing to download and install an additional programme onto your computer.

One of the more well-known web-based good alternatives to photoshop is PhotoPea. Using an online image editor is an excellent solution if you ever find yourself needing a free version of your preferred image editor while using someone else's PC.

Additionally, it seeks to save editing time by eliminating the need to wait for Photoshop to load when performing simple activities like resizing a photo.

This web-based editor is cross-platform compatible and has native support for the PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD, and CDR file formats. Your work can be exported as a PSD, JPG, PNG, or SVG file as well.

We adore that the most recent edition of PhotoPea also doesn't demand registration; you can just go to the homepage, click "New Project," and begin creating.

Similar to Photoshop, it provides the essential tools for altering images in a clean column along the workspace's edge. The operation is very smooth for an online programme, however obviously this depends on the speed of your connection.

We particularly appreciate the pre-made social media templates, which make making banners and cover photos really easy. There is a wide variety of creative commons images with text overlays that may all be edited directly in the image editor.

The reason we are considering it as one of the good alternatives to photoshop is due to majority of Photoshop's features are available, including applying filters, adding text, cropping, resizing, and so on, but sadly no content-aware tools or lens correction are available.

Although PhotoPea lacks several of Camera RAW / Lightroom's features, it does offer some basic RAW capabilities. It's uncommon for a free editing tool of this caliber to have a developer who is responsive to user feedback and appears active.

5. Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is the most similar application and can be considered as one of the good alternatives to Photoshop we've yet seen, both in terms of UI and feature set. It is completely compatible with Photoshop and other file formats and is aimed squarely at professional photographers and designers. In the long term, it is also significantly less expensive than Photoshop because you may purchase it once rather than paying a monthly fee).

Affinity Photo is a capable and cost-effective and one of the good alternatives to photoshop. Although you can import RAW photographs, the programme sadly does not provide a mechanism for you to organize your digital assets.

If you need to do focus stacking, panoramic stitching, or make HDR photos, this piece of software is fantastic. Similar to Photoshop, Affinity Photo offers layers, enabling non-destructive picture editing, giving it a substantial advantage over some other image editing programmes.

It can be used for somewhat complicated layered compositions as well as little local modifications. Affinity Photo has been specifically created to take advantage of the most recent quad-core technology, yet depending on the gear you're using, it may be less hardware-demanding than Photoshop. Even though it lacks some capabilities, like neural filters, that Photoshop provides, it still has a lot of impressive functions. Personas, which are customized toolkits for various jobs, proved to be especially useful.

The tools needed for import and overall photo management are what Affinity Photo lacks. Additionally, the programme lacks the ability to design personalized workspaces, which can occasionally be a hassle.

In conclusion, Affinity Photo is one of the good alternatives to photoshop. In terms of serious photo editing skills, Photoshop continues to be the more complex product, but Affinity does provide strong features and tools at a competitive price.

There is also Affinity Publisher for print layouts and Affinity Designer, a fantastic Illustrator substitute, both belonging to the same brand. There is an iPad version of Affinity Photo in addition to versions for Mac and Windows. Affinity Photo is absolutely worth checking at if you're seeking for good alternatives to photoshop.

With this we would like to conclude our guide on 5 Good Alternatives to Photoshop, we hope you find this information help.