Adobe Photoshop - Alternative

[Vidya]

Hi!

I can not afford to buy 'Adobe Photoshop' as it is very costlier, around $500. Is there any alternative to this? Please suggest me, if you know any...

Thanks,
Vidya.

[SoCal69]

Try Adobe Photoshop Elements. Somewhat scaled down version of photoshop, but it still has many of photoshop features.

[Laziferous]

I use Photoshop Elements. Have been for about a year, and I still haven't tapped into it all. It does what I need it to, and you can get it for about $75.00. You can see a pic I edited with Elements here:

http://www.bytephoto.com/photopost/data/500/16myselves-work-small-med.jpg

Also, many people rave about Paint Shop Pro, by Jasc Software. It's about the same price as P. Elements, and from what I hear, does an incredible job. I've never used it myself however. You can download the full version as a trial for thirty days to see whether or not you like it.

http://www.jasc.com/download_4.asp?prod=K-PSP8-USDIR

Hope I helped.

[Jack W.]

Of all the image editors I've tried, Paint Shop Pro remains my favorite. Has about 90% of the functionality of Photoshop at about 1/6th the cost, and the tech support is second to none.

[steve6]

I will second the motion on Paint Shop Pro.

check it out

http://www.jasc.com there is a free trial of the latest version.

[evilenglishman]

--

[zoom]

I use paint shop pro and am extremely happy with it, photoshop is used by the pro's and does more stuff but if your poor like me and you're not employed as a graphic artist psp will do just fine.

[dtrayers]

Well, I thought I'd chime in here.

I use Photoshop Elements 2.0. I also purchased Richard Lynch's The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 2. It comes with a CD of tools which allows for channel separations and curves, two of the most lacking features of PSE2.

Plus, you'll learn a lot about how PSE works.

It certainly isn't as full featured as Photoshop 7, but I may upgrade someday to the full version and all I've learned with PSE2 can be applied to PS. The reverse is true also. Many techniques for Photoshop can be done with PSE2. At amazon.com, you can buy the software and the book for under $90, and come very close to PS7.

FWIW...

[Vidya]

I thank everybody, who responded to my posting. So, the options we have are : 1) Adobe Photoshop 2) Paint Shop Pro 3) Photo Shop Elements; from the above discussion. Thanks to your inputs.

I read in one of the postings, here, in this forum, GIMP is another software, which is available for FREE and it covers many of the features of Adobe Photoshop.

Please take a look at www.gimp.org to download this FREE software. Source code is also available.

I just downloaded this today and exploring.

If anybody has any experiences with GIMP, please let me know.

Thanks and Regards,
Vidya.

[msvirick]

Arcsoft makes a PhotoSuite. This program has a free try out and worth to start with. It is more for a beginners and things seem to be automated for you.
For $79 you get a very comprhensive suite of programs.

[Laziferous]

I was under the impression gimp was only compatible with linux.

[Vidya]

GIMP has windows version also.

- Vidya.

[Laziferous]

Cool. How do you like it?

[billdcat]

There were a few posts about GIMP in the thread at http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14075 including links to where to download it. There are binary versions out there for Windows, Mac, Linux, and probably other OSs as well.

[Laziferous]

Thanks for the link. After reading through a few sites... it seems a little buggy to me. I just want my apps to work. I think I'll stick with P. Elements. Maybe I'll upgrade to the full version someday.

[tsoutherwood]

vidya wrote:
I thank everybody, who responded to my posting. So, the options we have are : 1) Adobe Photoshop 2) Paint Shop Pro 3) Photo Shop Elements; from the above discussion. Thanks to your inputs.

I read in one of the postings, here, in this forum, GIMP is another software, which is available for FREE and it covers many of the features of Adobe Photoshop.

Please take a look at www.gimp.org to download this FREE software. Source code is also available.

I just downloaded this today and exploring.

If anybody has any experiences with GIMP, please let me know.

Thanks and Regards,
Vidya.

I use the GIMP regularly to work on G3 photos. Here are my opinions in comparison to Photoshop which I have used a little. GIMP is probably one of the best examples of stable functional free software (linux version - I haven't used the Windows port). It does a great deal of what PhotoShop does (caveats following).

It has a bizarre user interface - most menus are got by right clicking on the image window. After that it's not bad and fine when you get used to it.

Many operations are not as intuitive as PhotoShop.

Manipulation in terms of colour adjustments, scaling, cropping, distortion correction (perspective, rotation etc) are extemely competant.

Does have full layers support and channel support (merging multiple images, working on red, green or blue channels seperately).

Competant but not massive collection of filters/effects. PhotoShop would beat it hands down on this front.

It is scriptable but only if you like writing lisp or perl. It has no macro recording features. This can be a real pain for batch work. It's being discussed on the developers mailing list but I suspect it will be a while coming.

No CMYK colourspace suppport - but if your a Pro who needs it, then PhotoShop would be a necessary business investement. For mere mortals like me: I don't need it so I'm fine working entirely in RGB.

It's a lot better value for money than PhotoShop (!).

Overall, I would recommend starting with Gimp. If you upgrade to PhotoShop, most of the concepts are the same so it won't be time wasted learning to use it. Despite being free, the documentation and tutorials on the web are pretty reasonable and there is a book specifically about using the more advanced features.

Just my 2p's worth. Hope it helps :-)

Timbo

[Vidya]

Thanks Timbo, for your inputs. I have downloaded recently and going through the manual also. I feel, it, definitely, has lot of features. Its free, though. I think, it definitely serves the needs of many amature photographers like me. Probably, the real professionals may have to look for Photo Shop.

Thanks and Regards,
Vidya.

[gjdagis]

May I ask for opinions please. . . ? If one HAS Photoshop 7, is there any reason to also download GIMP? I mean does GIMP do anything that Photoshop doesn't do, or doesn't do as well? Thank you so much for your valuable comments

[Fred Bopp]

I have been using Paint Shop Pro for years. Currently version 8. I have Photo Shop 7.1 but prefer PSP. It is much more user friendly and it does 99% of what PS can do. PSP8 works with most plugins also so if you want to use something like Nik Sharpener Pro or iCorrect's photo lab it will work. Jasc lets you try PSP8 for 30 days so you can decide for yourself.
I also use Breezebrowser to convert my raw CRW files from a 10D and 300D.
Jasc added a scripting engine called Python to Paint Shop Pro 8 and it puts Adobe's actions to shame.
Regards, Fred

[ilya]

Here's what you do - Buy the 10D, and get Elements free!

Problem solved?

[John_T]

Just to throw a wrench in the works, I've been using Corel Graphics Suite, now version 11, for many years and it has more than filled my professional requirements. It includes Photo-Paint which is the Corel equivalent of Photoshop. Corel Draw and Corel Photo-Paint are very well integrated, which makes it easy to produce anything from flyers to full-blown books with photos, illustrations and graphic layouts.

Reviewers give some points to Photoshop and some to Photo-Paint, but all in all, the biggest difference is the price. I use Photoshop Elements 2 for some quick things and mostly for viewing with trial fiddles, mainly because it was bundled with my scanner, but when it comes to anything beyond minor, I use Corel Photo-Paint.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I was just thinking,.. there is also Corel Photo Paint...:D

In my humble opinion,. Elements is propbably the best choice if you have any thoughts on maybe someday owning photoshop. What you learn in Elements will translate very well to PS.

[Jesper]

I like Paint Shop Pro version 8: http://www.jasc.com.

I also use Picture Window Pro from Digital Light & Color: http://www.dl-c.com - it has some great advanced features, like full support for color management and 16/48-bit editing.

[lsippell]

Try this.
http://buysusa.com/

Its upgradable also

[jdagnall]

There is another spin-off of the gimp called cinepaint (formerly filmgimp). It had a (for me) critical feature that the gimp did not have several months ago: support for 48-bit images. I use RAW mode on my Canon D60, and convert the images into 16-bit tiff images , and the gimp couldn't handle it but filmgimp could.

Here's a link to cinepaint:

http://cinepaint.sourceforge.net/

That being said, neither Gimp, cinepaint, or (AFAIK) PS Elements have adjustment layers, which allow you to stack a series of non-destcructive changes into the image. This is an extremely important feature for me when creating composite images, working with color transformation, etc. because I can "experiment" with a variety of changes to the image, and go back to rexaimine and tweak those changes, even between file save. But if you can't afford photoshop then nevermind :)

[snapperv6]

evilenglishman wrote:
I have been using it professionally (and almost daily) for over 11 years, and I still don't know everything about it.

That's good enough reason to use one of the less bloated and more realistically priced competitors.

If one has used it professionally for a considerable period and doesn't know it inside out then it's obviously not intuitive or is full of unusefull functionality.

There is a good reason one costs big bucks and the other a reasonable price - it's because of the brand snobbery that exists in every market sector, thus enabling the likes of Adobe to push up the price knowing people will pay for the prestige.

[snapperv6]

jdagnall wrote:That being said, neither Gimp, cinepaint, or (AFAIK) PS Elements have adjustment layers,


Just to cofirm:

PS Elements 2.0 does have adjustment layers.
So does PSP 8.0
As does Corel Photo-Paint 11.

[billdcat]

> There is a good reason one costs big bucks and the other a reasonable price - it's because of the brand snobbery that exists in every market sector, thus enabling the likes of Adobe to push up the price knowing people will pay for the prestige.

-----

I think you are mistaken. Photoshop is the best tool out there that I have used for photo editing, period. You don't need to know everything about all the features to use it well. You start learning the core tools, then progressively add experience with other features, such as channels, adjustment layers, spot colours, channel operations, etc. Keep in mind that Photoshop targets multiple types of graphics professionals, including print designers, web developers, and photographers, each of which have their own needs. I don't know much about the pre-press features of Photoshop not because they are hard to use, but because I don't particularly need them for my work as a web developer and my hobby as a photographer. I am efficient with the features that I can use for my area of work because Adobe has put a lot of effort in ensuring that the product is usable for the audiences that they target.

The reason that Photoshop is expensive is because they target the professional market, for whom the cost of Photoshop is quite reasonable. It is overkill and overly expensive for non-professionals, and for that Elements is much more suitable.


I can only conclude by your belittling statement about "brand snobbery" that you know little about the product of which you speak, and likely are not a professional graphic designer. Issuing denigrating statements such as this only serves to make others discount your post as the writing of someone who has not used the product.


Ok, I've said my bit. If I have sounded like a brand snob, then so be it. I do have seven years of using the product, four of those professionally, to back myself up.

Nathan

[snapperv6]

billdcat wrote: Photoshop is the best tool out there that I have used for photo editing, period.

Having used it professionally for 3.5 years, I still believe it overpriced but I agree.

You don't need to know everything about all the features to use it well.

I agree.

Keep in mind that Photoshop targets multiple types of graphics professionals...............Adobe has put a lot of effort in ensuring that the product is usable for the audiences that they target.

I fully understand this and that's why I said it was bloated/full of useless functionality for mere photo editing.


The reason that Photoshop is expensive is because they target the professional market, for whom the cost of Photoshop is quite reasonable.

I would question the "reasonable" - I am self employed within graphic design - it's my money!

It is overkill and overly expensive for non-professionals, and for that Elements is much more suitable.

Totally agree.

....that you know little about the product of which you speak, and likely are not a professional graphic designer.

Untrue, and it sounds like the snobbery thing could be creeping in there - "...likely not a professional graphic designer..."!

My rants and raves re. "brand snobbery" are born out of frustration that very few people accept there is reasonable competition to the photo editing capabilities of Photoshop.

Vidya started the topic explaining Photoshop was too expensive, recommendations were made for competent alternatives, but still someone had to stress that PS is the only thing to use.

To add insult to injury someone else described PS features they mistakenly believed to be absent from PSE, PSP etc only to finish with a patronisingly "But if you can't afford photoshop then nevermind".

Maybe I went OTT with the "brand snobbery" but I still believe it is rife, especially where professionals and non-professionals mix. I was just spouting off re. the price hike, my defense - my pocket still hurts.

May I say you put the case for PS eloquently and had others gone to this trouble rather than just making the statments that nothing else will do, I would not have responded as I did.

[billdcat]

I fully understand this and that's why I said it was bloated/full of useless functionality for mere photo editing.


Fair enough. For photographers who just want to do colour corrections, cropping, red eye reduction, etc, there are lots of tools out there for just those tasks. I agree that paying for something that can do spot colours is indeed overkill.

I would question the "reasonable" - I am self employed within graphic design - it's my money!

Point taken. I work for a company who has pretty large pockets (but still makes it very difficult to make basic software purchases. Aargh!), so my definition of reasonable is probably a little off the mark from most people's definitions.

Untrue, and it sounds like the snobbery thing could be creeping in there - "...likely not a professional graphic designer..."!

That's just how your post read, and was what I reacted to. I frequently get asked about software to use for graphics work. I usually reply that if you have the money, get Photoshop, otherwise check the many handly little freeware and shareware apps out there, or check out Elements.

My rants and raves re. "brand snobbery" are born out of frustration that very few people accept there is reasonable competition to the photo editing capabilities of Photoshop.

Vidya started the topic explaining Photoshop was too expensive, recommendations were made for competent alternatives, but still someone had to stress that PS is the only thing to use.

To add insult to injury someone else described PS features they mistakenly believed to be absent from PSE, PSP etc only to finish with a patronisingly "But if you can't afford photoshop then nevermind".


Again, fair enough. Understandably frustrating.

Maybe I went OTT with the "brand snobbery" but I still believe it is rife, especially where professionals and non-professionals mix. I was just spouting off re. the price hike, my defense - my pocket still hurts.

It did come off as being harsh and untargeted, but there was at least truth to it. I do agree that it is easy for pros to just use Photoshop and forget there are lots of other really great graphics tools out there. (Plug: GraphicConverter for Mac is definitely one of them).

May I say you put the case for PS eloquently and had others gone to this trouble rather than just making the statments that nothing else will do, I would not have responded as I did.

Thanks! Now to try installing Gimp. I think I'll wait until my copy of MacOS X 10.3 comes in, though. It has X11 installed by default, so hopefully that will make the task a bit easier. So much to do, so little time.

[Evanrich]

evilenglishman wrote:
photoshop and paint shop cannot be compared.

photoshop is THE standard image editing software and has been since it was released over 15 years ago.

I have been using it professionally (and almost daily) for over 11 years, and I still don't know everything about it.

there is a reason why one product costs $500 and another costs $75

its kinda like comparing a D1s to a webcam


I couldn't agree with you more.. I am also a semi-pro photographer, and I use PS 7 almost daily to work on my images. Everyone moans and complains about photoshop costing so much....well, for the people that actually need photoshop, they make that cost back with a single client... so it's not that much to ask for when you really need it. Everyone just wants to have photoshop so they can be cool.... trust me and evilenglishman...it's for the pros. Why do ferrari's cost so much? because they're built of the best materials, and craftsmenship.. they're only for the people that can afford them, not for every person on the face of the earth.

[By S]

I would like to get away from Photoshop because it is bloated, non-intuitive and overpriced...but the alternatives mentioned all give up 16 bit editing which makes them "non-starters in my view. What's the point of having a 12 bit camera or a 14/16 bit film scanner if the software can't read or edit it?

Photoshop gets away being overpriced because the competition doesn't understand what really makes Photoshop powerful. Adobe does...and that's why they make sure PS Elements is crippled in the key areas.

[snapperv6]

By S wrote:
...but the alternatives mentioned all give up 16 bit editing which makes them non-starters in my view.


Read http://www.alanlittle.org/weblog/Photoshop16.html