Web Design & Marketing Blog

Don't Have Money For Photoshop? Don't Worry, We Got You Covered

Category: Blog

Written by Estevan Montoya

As you probably know, we use Adobe Photoshop around here. It has many great features that help with web development and graphic design (which is what it was NOT made for in the beginning). Many people think of Photoshop as a program for graphic design, and had become popular in the design world. Many people do not know that it was intended to be a piece of software that came with your scanner so a user could edit photos in a "digital darkroom."

That being said, this image editing software is well, made to edit photos and images. If that is all your wanting, or if you want some program to create cool graphics, but can't afford $600 for one program, then look no further, we have some alternative places you can go to create great images with out taking out a business loan for a piece of software.

Where Can I Create Nice Graphics Without Going Broke?

Pixlr

This piece of online software is great when it comes to creating, manipluating, and editing photos and images. If has a format that is similar to Photoshop and allows for layer and layer styles. It also has several functions like filters and brushes, so one can manipulate images. Here is a list of Pro's for Pixlr

• Free!
• Online Editing - No Huge Software Installation
• Layer & Layer Styles
• Filters & Brushes
• File Formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, PXD (Native file format which saves layers & styles)

Another great thing about this program is that if you create a free account, you can save your files and publish them on Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa. You can also save your craetions in their online library, which saves your hard drive from huge layered image files.

Sumo Paint

Another grate online alternative to Photoshop is Sumo Paint. Just like Pixlr, Sumo Paint has an interface that resembles Photoshop. One of the add benefits is that they created a link for people to go full screen, so if you have a window open just for Sumo Paint, it will give a enviroment like standalone software. Here are a few of reasons to try Sumo Paint:

• Free online version
• Free Account, with limited features
• Layers & Layer Styles
• Filters & Brushes
• File Formats: JPG, PNG, SUMO (Native file format which saves layers and styles)

Alternatively, you can pay for Sumo Paint for about $25 and have a standalone version that installs on your computer. This also gives you the ability to unlock more features that give you very similar features to Photoshop it self. 

Gimp

This is king of Photoshop alternatives. Unlike the two previous Photoshop alternatives, Gimp is software that does not have an online version, but it is still free to use. It falls into the category of Open Source, so there is a wide community of people taht use it on systems like Linux, or just don't want to pay over $500 for a program. Want o know why Gimp is good alternative to Photoshop?

• Open Source/Free
• Addons from Open Source Community that give more functionality
• Ability to write your own scripts and create addons
• Can create your own brushes & patterns
• Has same fonts as your computer since it's installed on your computer
• Can open PSD files, but may have some layer styling issues
• File Formats: JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF,  GIMP (Native file format which saves layers & styles)

The great thing about this program is that there is a large community of users, so one can find online documentation relatively easy. Also, people have written books on GIMP that you can find at your local Barnes & Noble. 

Monthly Photoshop Rental

Well, maybe you just want to real deal and not alternative will satisfy your craving for full blown image editing at its best. Adoobe finally got the hint that people would steal the software since it was too expensive, so they created a "rental" version. You can now rent Photoshop on a month to month  basis: $49/mo. If you commit to a year of renting, the price drops to $35/mo. Now anyone can jump on board and have their own version of Photoshop without going broke! Allo you have to due is change the options when you add it to your cart.