Are you a professional designer or just a hobbyist? Well, whatever the case may be the one thing that is common between both of them is the familiarity with Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is often referred to as the ultimate tool for any type of designer. It can help you alter almost every image. The tool is so vast and customisable that it lets your imagination flow. If you are a designer then it can get you the results you want but it will depend completely on you how you create it. Although a lot of people wish to explore more and being a part of the creative industry, it becomes important that you do so. Therefore, in order to know the best 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop read down the article below.

1.SketchUp

About: SketchUp is a 3D modelling computer program that can be used to perform a variety of tasks. The software can be used for architectural, interior design, landscape architecture, civil & mechanical engineering, as well as film making. The application is owned by Trimble Inc. and initially launched in the year 2000. They also have an online library and the user of the application can actually contribute to it(just like Git). The software comes with great functionalities such as layout customisation, surface rendering, multiple variable styles, and support for multiple third-party plugins. It is a great software and can be an easy alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Capability to create 3D models for buildings, furniture, interiors, landscapes, and much more.
  • Print a 3D model using a 3D printer.
  • Create animations, scenes, printout using realistic lightning and shadows.
  • Customise the tool as per your likeness.
  • Capability to import 3D models from other applications.

 

2.Procreate

About: Owned by Savage Interactive, the software has been specifically designed for iOS and iPadOS. Procreate is a tool that can be used for digital painting. It is a raster graphics editor app and is being greatly used in the industry. The software came into being in the year 2011. The software is capable of providing a natural feel for physical drawing while you are doing it digitally. It is being used by a variety of artists to let their imagination free. It gets access to over 130 realistic brushes along with multiple features to let your artistic side flow to its ultimate. There are features like multiple layers, blend modes, masks, 4K resolution etc. All of your artwork can be easily imported and can be modified for later use. This software is also compatible with Adobe Photoshop. It is one of the best software for creative people and is a true alternative to Adobe Photoshop with more physical control.

Features:

  • The software has been created for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
  • Have the capability to process resolution as high as 16K.
  • It offers 64-bit color and smudge sampling.
  • Undo and redo your work upto 250 levels.
  • It has been powered using the 64 bit painting engine Silica M.
  • Get shortcuts using the keyword.
  • Quick Menu on a single touch.
  • It allows you to create any sort of shape.
  • It continuously auto-save your work.

 

3.SVG-Edit

About: SVG or Scalable Vector Graphics is a vector image format that is being used a lot for making interactive animations. The format is widely used in websites and apps these days. SVG-Edit is a wonderful software that lets you control the SVG and create new for development purposes. It is a free and open source software that launched in the year 2009. It is a web-based software which can also be added to your browser as an addon. The minimal version of this software was created by Narendra Sisodia and was later evolved to Version 2.0. It is another really great alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Helps you create polylines, wireframes, and polygon/curved paths.
  • It can work with raster images.
  • Create a variety of complex shapes.
  • Gets you the feature of align and zoom.
  • Gets you access to styleable text.

 

4.Adobe InDesign CC

About: Adobe InDesign CC is another really great software that comes from the company. It is a typesetting and desktop publishing application. This application is often used for creating posters, flyers, brochures, magazine, newspapers, presentations, books, and ebooks. This application is also capable of creating content for Tablets. In addition to all the great features it brings on the table, Adobe InDesign CC can also have XML Support, Style Sheets, and coding markup support. The application was initially launched in the year 1999. This is also a great application that can be featured in our list of alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Create your footnotes to endnotes and vice versa.
  • Access to all the Adobe Fonts.
  • It can help you enhance a PDF format.
  • It can help you edit the frame of your images and a lot more.
  • Adjust the layout of your design very easily.
  • Have to access and compatibility to a plethora of formats.

 

5.Sketch

About: This Application comes from the house of Bohemian Coding. Initially released in the year 2010, Sketch is another Vector Graphics Editor. The editor has been specifically designed for MacOS. It is in essence a tool that can be used for designing UI/UX for both mobile as well as website format. Although, for now they have also started to integrate features which can help in prototyping and creating more collaborative work. The application has some issues for now but all of those can be mandated using third-party applications. It may not be the best but still deserves to be listed in our article of alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Gets you one of the most powerful vector graphics editor.
  • It is quite intuitive and easy to use.
  • Easily share your content with your teammates.
  • It is very fast to create a prototype using the tool.
  • Create using real data like add faces, places, and a lot more.
  • Work in closed unison with everyone by creating, prototyping, and collaborating.

 

6.GIMP

About: In case if you have been looking for a full-fledged tool to manipulate an image then GIMP could be your arsenal of choice. This one is another free open source application. It is basically a raster graphics editor. The application has been made for platforms like Linux, MacOS, and Microsoft Windows. Infact, there is a mobile version of this app which is available for both Android and iOS(although its interface is more like proper software than an app). The application was launched in the year 1996 and is being used by many people who like software with loads of customisable options. 

Features:

  • Gets you multiple options for photo enhancement.
  • Ideal tool for getting a digital touch up.
  • Supports a variety of hardware.
  • Has the capability to register multiple formats.
  • Supports multiple platforms including Android and iOS.

 

7.Blender

About: Well, if your line of work asks you to create 3D stuff then Blender will be the perfect tool for you. It is a free open source 3D creation suite. This one is capable of handling the entire process of creating 3D animations with things like rigging, modelling, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, video editing, and a lot more. This is more of a public project that came into being because of the efforts of hundreds of people’s collaboration. It is a tool of importance and is actively being used by professionals, hobbyists, Scientists, Students, VFX Experts, animators, game artists, modders, and a plethora of people. It is a great tool and that is why we have mentioned it in our list of 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Create jaw-dropping 3D renders using the software.
  • It supports any kind of modeling like Sculpting, retopology, curves etc.
  • It can be used to create great animation that have won awards.
  • Allows you to create design and art using pencil.
  • It offers powerful simulation tools.
  • It allows people to write scripts using the Python API.
  • Comes with an effective video editing tool.

 

8.Pixlr

About: Ohkk, before you start reading about this one, I wish to tell you that it has been my favorite tool for years. Although, there are other tools now that can give you better results but this doesn’t mean that it falls short of anything. If you are a complete layman in terms of designing then it can be a handy tool for you. Infact, this is often preferred by many designers since it provides results at a faster pace. There are multiple filters and settings that can help you completely alter a picture. Infact, if you want then this one does customisations like double exposure, adding text with multiple fonts, control saturation & vibration, and much more. It is a great tool and is commonly used on the smartphone platform. This is one software that I believe deserves to be in the list of alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. The reasons are simple: first is the ease of use and second would be that it helps you learn. 

Features:

  • Comes with a variety of effects, brushes, and layers.
  • Capability to make multiple adjustments.
  • It can retouch any image.
  • Has a variety of fonts to use.
  • Comes with the option of digital painting and digital inking.
  • Great tool for quick fixes.

 

9.Corel Photo-Paint

About: Corel is another great company that shells out great editing tools. Corel Photo-Paint is an entry from their humble abode. The software has been marketed by the company since 1992. Just like some of the apps that are mentioned here in our list of alternatives to Adobe Photoshop, this one is also a raster graphics editor. The application is available to the user in multiple languages like English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, Russian, Hungarian etc. This is a great tool that gets you features like Photo Blur(Gaussian type blur actually), Mesh Warp, Camera Lens Flare, Trace Contour, and many other great features. It is a tool that truly needs to be mentioned.

Features:

  • Stores information like objects, colour profiles, text, transparency, effect filter.
  • Capable of opening and editing vector formats.
  • It supports opentype font features.
  • Comes with capabilities like Smart Blur, Mesh Warp, Trace Contour, Camera Lens Flare etc.
  • Available to the users with multiple languages.

 

10.Photopea

About: Photopea is another really great tool that can be used by you folks online very easily. It is completely free and supports a huge variety of extensions for editing. Extensions like PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD, and CDR formats. With this image editor one can easily create an entirely new image or import something from your system. Their aim was to create something for the general public and they did it thanks to the collaborator from Github. It may be the last but deserves every inch to be in our list of 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.

Features:

  • Supports formats like PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD, and CDR formats.
  • Capability to save work in PSD, JPG, PNG, SVG.
  • Create new images from scratch or import from the system.
  • It is free and online.

 

So this was our list of 10 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. In case, if you have been looking for an app development company then maybe we can help. To send us an enquiry mail us at [email protected]. We have also written an article over Best Selfie Apps to use in 2020. We hope this article may have been of some help to you. Also, thank you for reading the article until the end.



Sudeep Bhatnagar
Co-founder & Director of Business
Sudeep Bhatnagar

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