Free and Open Source Alternatives to Photoshop
For any web designer, Adobe Photoshop is a must on any wish list. Photoshop comes with a multitude of features that allow exceptional and professional photo editing. But the reason many designers do not use Photoshop is simply the price, which can be too expensive. Fortunately for designers, there are numerous open source and entirely free programs out there that do as much as Photoshop if not more.
Doodlekit is a fully hosted online free website builder and CMS (Content Management System) that helps you build a personal or business website. It’s perfect for anyone from first-timers to advanced web developers and web designers. Unlike other website creator tools, Doodlekit is all online. You don’t need to install any software on your computer, and you can use it from any computer, anywhere in the world that has internet access, at any time.
One Photoshop substitute is Gimp. GIMP is short for “GNU image manipulation program.” GIMP is one of the oldest and most popular alternatives to Photoshop. GIMP does not have all of the features that Photoshop has but you will find the majority of features there. GIMP has a large community of support and it is also cross platform.
Cinepaint is almost designed specifically for video and it is often utilized to make animated feature films by major studios. Like Photoshop it has many capabilities and as a photo editor it can reach fidelity of up to 32 bit color.
Communities of web designers also use Krita as a Photoshop alternative. Krita is known for its easy learning curve and in 2006 won the Akademy Award for Best Application. Krita is a little less powerful than GIMP and Photoshop, but it also has many unique features.
Paint.NET has become the de-facto replacement for the popular MSPaint and has transformed into a fully featured open source image editor with large community of support. To run Paint.NET you will need Windows.
A design application that was designed specifically for the Mac is ChocoFlop. ChocoFlop is a pretty comprehensive design application. Thought this program will not always be free, at the moment it is in its beta version and is being offered for free download.
Pixia was originally designed in Japanese and was almost exclusively used for Japanese anime. Today, though, it has been re-designed for English and can be used as an editor in general. It does not have easiest learning curve out of all of the programs discussed but if you are serious about web design, it is worth a shot. Pixia is designed for application on Windows.
As a web designer, your pocket book may not always allow you to use the most ideal design programs, but with a little research and searching around, you will find that there are numerous alternatives to Photoshop that any web designer can use to make an excellent web site.
About the Author
BEP 4th Anniversary iPad Prize
|
|
Oregon Scientific PR18-06 Smart Globe $92.99 Oregon Scientific PR18-06WA SmartGlobe has everything, including a pullout map of the United States. It gives you history, locations, capitals, and everything you would want to know about any place in the world. If you are planning to purchase a high tech globe, this is definitely the one to get. The SmartGlobe is the only learning globe on the market that can be updated using a USB cable from the… |
|
|
Total Immersion Swimming: Perpetual Motion Freestyle in Ten Lessons $29.32 Studio: Bayview/widowmaker Release Date: 10/05/2010 Run time: 93 minutes… |
|
|
The Sims 3: World Adventures $22.75 Features include: •Enjoy a unique all-star soundtrack of songs, especially recorded in Simlish for the expansion.•Accept challenges, find treasures, discover the dangers lurking in hidden caves and more as you and your sims explore famous landmarks in China, Egypt, and France.•Learn new skills like photography, martial arts and nectar making (a favorite sim beverage) as your sim pur… |
|
|
Dance Paradise $12.59 Dance Paradise is multiplayer Rhythm-Music game exclusively developed for play on Xbox 360 that utilizes Microsoft Kinect technology. The most advanced Dance game to date designed for use with Kinect, Dance Paradise features extensive two player versus play modes. It also contains 40 tracks, each with a corresponding music video viewable as players mimic the dance moves that are queued. Addition… |
|
|
Assassin’s Creed 2 Deluxe Edition [Download] $19.99 Assassin’s Creed II is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance. Assassin’s Creed II retains the core gameplay experience that made the first opus a resounding success and features new experiences that will surprise and ch… |
|
|
QuickBooks Pro 2012 $132.00 For the business that is upand runningProductInformation QuickBooks Pro 2012 lets you organize your business finances all in oneplace so you can quickly find the information that you need. Easily create invoices and track your sales and expenses -and get reliable records at tax time. QuickBooks Pro 2012 canbe set up in minutes and is easy to learn and use. Save timeand get or… |
|
|
QuickBooks for Mac 2012 $129.50 Easily manage your businessProductInformationQuickBooks for Mac 2012 is small business accounting that lets youorganize your finances all in once place so you can quickly find whatyou need. Easily create invoices and track your businesssales and expenses – and get reliable records for tax time. QuickBooks for Mac 2012 is set up in minutes and is easy tolearn and use along with looking a… |
|
|
Diablo 2 $11.72 Evil has survived in thisepic roleplaying adventureProduct InformationIn Diablo II Diablo the Lord of Terror has fallen to a brave herobeneath the church of Tristram. Now that hero is gonereplaced by a Dark Wanderer who roams the world of Sanctuary leavingdeath and destruction in his wake. As a hero of humanity youmust face the minions of Diablo’s evil brothers and stop the DarkWandere… |
|
|
Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! $1.50 BIG R, little r, what begins with R? Rosy’s red rhinoceros. R…r…R From Aunt Annie’s Alligator to Rosy’s red rhinoceros to a Zizzer-Zazzer-Zuzz, learning the alphabet is bound to be fun with Dr. Seuss. And with this small, sturdy board-book version of his classic ABC book (Dr. Seuss’s ABC), even the tiniest tots can indulge in a little alphabetical education. Each letter is featured with … |
|
|
First Things First $3.99 Introduction: If working harder, smarter, and faster won’t solve it, what will? If you were to pause and think seriously about the “first things” in your life-the three or four things that matter most-what would they be? Are these things receiving the care, emphasis, and time you really want to give them? Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile. While we do control … |
