9 Free Photoshop Alternatives For Powerful Editing

The most important thing is that these photoshop alternative software are free where as Photoshop comes for a hefty fee, something that individuals and small businesses may not be able to afford. With these free Photoshop alternatives, you will get simpler interface and variety.

GIMP

GIMP stands for ‘GNU Image Manipulation Program’. It is an old and well-known tool for photo editing. With a widely supported community and compatibility across various operating systems, GIMP is one of the best free alternatives to Photoshop. Although it doesn’t offer quite a features like Photoshop but it possesses all basic and some advanced features.

• Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BSD, Unix, SkyOS
• Key Features: Layers, Selection editing, HDR, Re-touching, Noise removal, Lens and Colour correction, Sharpening, Plugin support, etc.
• Supported File Formats: RAW formats, BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, etc.

Paint.NET

This tool is very similar to default Paint software of Windows but with some advance capabilities. It’s not as powerful as GIMP, but it takes care of all the basic editing features that require editing an image. The functionality of this tool can be extended by installing the plugins.

• Supported Platforms: Windows 7 or Later
• Key Features: Selection editing, Layers, Histogram, Retouching, Resizing, Noise removal, Sharpening, Colour correction, Plugin support.
• Supported File Formats: RAW files, BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG.

Seashore

Seashore is an open-source image editing tool for Mac users. This tool is based on GIMP technology and offers major editing features like gradients, textures, and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes.

• Supported Platforms: Mac OS X
• Key Features: Layers, Alpha channel support, gradients, transparency, Anti-aliased brushes and Plugin support.
• Supported File Formats: JPEG, PNG, TIFF, XCF.

Pixlr

This is an on the go Photoshop alternative that means you can use it anywhere anytime without installing anything on your computer system. All you need is a browser and an internet connection. Pixlr is the simple web-based image editor with Photoshop-like features, layouts and keyboard shortcuts.

• Supported Platforms: Web-Based, Android, iOS
• Key Features: Selection tools, Text overlays, Layers, Re-sizing, Red-eye removal, teeth whitener, Filters, and Effects, etc.
• Supported File Formats: BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG.

PicMonkey

Like Pixlr, PicMonkey is another online image editing tool which lets you edit your images right from your browser. It offers tools like blemish removal, wrinkle removers and such more. You can upload an image from your computer, or point it directly to a URL elsewhere on the Web.

• Supported Platforms: Web-Based
• Key Features: Shapes, textures, text, effects, filters, and overlays, etc.
• Supported File Formats: BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG.

Inkscape

Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor used for creating a wide variety of graphics such as illustrations, icons, logos, diagrams, maps and web graphics.

• Supported Platforms: Linux, MacOx, Windows
• Key Features: Shapes, textures, text, effects, filters, and overlays, etc.
• Supported File Formats: It can import and export various file formats, including SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, PS and PNG.

Xara Xtreme

Xara Xtreme is a general purpose graphics program for Unix platforms including Linux, FreeBSD and (in development) OS-X. Formerly known as Xara LX, it is based on Xara Xtreme for Windows.

• Supported Platforms: Linux and Windows
• Key Features: Adobe Illustrator import, Shapes, textures, text, effects, filters etc.
• Supported File Formats: Supports JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP, PICT, XPM, and others.

Krita

Krita is a FREE sketching and painting program. It is one of the best image editing tools, based on the open-source. It comes as a bundle with the KOffice suite and a great powerful image editing tool for Linux or Unix users.

• Supported Platforms: Windows, Linux, BSD, Unix.
• Key Features: Brush Stabilizers, Pop-up Palette, intuitive user interface, Wrap-around mode, Mirroring Tools, layers etc.
• Supported File Formats: Any Windows-compatible media format.

CinePaint

If you are a Linux or Unix user and want some powerful image retouching tool with support for even high 32-bit color images then CinePaint is for you. The tool is not used to edit or retouch images only but also support videos.

• Supported Platforms: Linux, BSD, Unix, Mac OS X
• Key Features: 32-bit image editing, Retouching, Frame manager, etc.
• Supported File Formats: BMP, CIN, DPX, EXR, GIF, JPEG, OpenEXR, PNG, TIFF, and XCF.