Photoshop Alternatives
Tuesday, 25. August 2009, 02:39:52
In my travels I constantly hear "but I can't afford Photoshop, what can I do?". Honestly that depends a lot on what you are trying to do and why you think you need to have Photoshop.
Let's get this out of the way first, Photoshop is a professional image editing program it is not meant for the home user.
Sure it's great to have all those features and maybe some day you'll sit down and try to learn to use them. In the meantime it just sits there and taunts you with its multitude of tool bars, palettes and options.
If you don't know the difference between CMYK, RGB, HSL or Lab colour modes you don't need Photoshop!
Okay so you want to fix up your digital photos, well if you are passionate about photography then check out Photoshop Lightroom if you are an average user then check out Photoshop Elements
Are you a student or a teacher? Then get the student pricing at your college or university. It's usually an 80% discount.
No money in the pocket? Not a problem, there are many free image editing applications available for downloading and there's a couple of very promising and interesting online editors as well. To check out some of the many free editors available visit Download.com
This little post of mine isn't about those downloaded pieces of software though. This is about some of the online tools that are available now!
Picnik is one of those online tools and its free! There is a paid version, but why bother when you can fix your photos and with advanced controls fine-tune your results.
Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Pixlr is an online cloud-based image tool.
There are two applications Pixlr Editor, which will allow you to open images with layers and create layers; and Pixlr Express which opens a flat image. Either will correct a digital photo easily.
Pixlr Editor includes a great set of tools, including brushes, stamps, image adjustments and filters.
Aviary is an online set of tools that all work in your browser. Phoenix is the basic layer-based image editor; Peacock, is a visual laboratory for creating amazing effects and visualizations and Toucan is their color palette coordinator.
While not as intuitive as other web based tools, they are still remarkably easy to use.
I know I said I wasn't going to mention downloadable software but here goes anyhow.
Artweaver is easy to use through a clear and simple program window .
The individual palettes can be displayed or hidden, to make a optimal organization of the work environment possible. You get a simple selection of pre-defined brushes, and custom brushes can be added.
Artweaver is Freeware and therefore it is usable without restrictions but I'd like to suggest you give them a donation.
There you have it, 4 programs that are completely free, easy to use and worth checking out.
Let's get this out of the way first, Photoshop is a professional image editing program it is not meant for the home user. Sure it's great to have all those features and maybe some day you'll sit down and try to learn to use them. In the meantime it just sits there and taunts you with its multitude of tool bars, palettes and options.
If you don't know the difference between CMYK, RGB, HSL or Lab colour modes you don't need Photoshop!
Okay so you want to fix up your digital photos, well if you are passionate about photography then check out Photoshop Lightroom if you are an average user then check out Photoshop Elements
Are you a student or a teacher? Then get the student pricing at your college or university. It's usually an 80% discount.
No money in the pocket? Not a problem, there are many free image editing applications available for downloading and there's a couple of very promising and interesting online editors as well. To check out some of the many free editors available visit Download.com
This little post of mine isn't about those downloaded pieces of software though. This is about some of the online tools that are available now!
Picnik is one of those online tools and its free! There is a paid version, but why bother when you can fix your photos and with advanced controls fine-tune your results.Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Pixlr is an online cloud-based image tool. There are two applications Pixlr Editor, which will allow you to open images with layers and create layers; and Pixlr Express which opens a flat image. Either will correct a digital photo easily.
Pixlr Editor includes a great set of tools, including brushes, stamps, image adjustments and filters.
Aviary is an online set of tools that all work in your browser. Phoenix is the basic layer-based image editor; Peacock, is a visual laboratory for creating amazing effects and visualizations and Toucan is their color palette coordinator.While not as intuitive as other web based tools, they are still remarkably easy to use.
I know I said I wasn't going to mention downloadable software but here goes anyhow.
Artweaver is easy to use through a clear and simple program window . The individual palettes can be displayed or hidden, to make a optimal organization of the work environment possible. You get a simple selection of pre-defined brushes, and custom brushes can be added.
Artweaver is Freeware and therefore it is usable without restrictions but I'd like to suggest you give them a donation.
There you have it, 4 programs that are completely free, easy to use and worth checking out.
WIDGETIZE
ellinidata # 25. August 2009, 02:57
I might give this link to a couple of friends (if this is OK with you
themugs # 25. August 2009, 03:02
ellinidata # 25. August 2009, 03:42
thanks!
I was talking about your post in one of my entries two days ago...
the title "phones and music "
do not expect phone knowledge there...
but it was about phones ,
and you inspired it with your cell phones entry !
Quinnuendo # 25. August 2009, 17:37
Yes there are too many people who use Photoshop to do red eye reduction, or just a tiny contrast fix, or even as a file format converter
Most average users don't need remotely as much power as PS full has.
I would also take into consideration Picasa for people wanting to organize their photo collections, it has a few nice tools to fix up the photos and it's also free (as in no charge).
themugs # 25. August 2009, 18:51
There are literally hundreds of free programs. For people who just want to fix a little blemish on a photo. To think you need Photoshop is just silly.
Zaphira # 25. August 2009, 20:31
Tabmartel # 26. August 2009, 19:46
Shaunak # 28. August 2009, 22:05
oldephartte # 30. August 2009, 10:00
And this post will be indexed through Twitter http://twitter.com/,Del.icio.us http://delicious.com/OPIT and in Photo/Illustration
http://my.opera.com/oldephartte/links, though that should eventually end up in Collections Forwarded to Blogger, in its own category at http://opitslinkest.blogspot.com
You might think of starting accounts at Diigo and/or Del.icio.us yourself. I do searches using community resources on Del.ico.us as a matter of routine...even if only for a 'heads up' on what's new without the distraction of paid promotions. Your Bookmarks will then be available in that social bookmarking community...unless you choose to keep it or them private.
themugs # 2. September 2009, 21:32
oldephartte # 3. September 2009, 08:04
Tabmartel # 3. September 2009, 21:29
themugs # 4. September 2009, 23:49
Links come and go - if I think they will benefit anyone or are interesting then I put the link here. If you look up there near the top of the page in the menu bar it says "Links".
solid copper # 5. September 2009, 03:13