Deciding on an alternative for Photoshop depends a lot on what you use Photoshop for. There are five apps that I'll give you some information about that are trying to compete head-to-head with Photoshop. If you have more targeted image creation needs there are some apps that may even be a better option than Photoshop.
1. GIMP: A Great Photoshop Alternative and It's Open Source
Gimp has a strong user community that supports its product and a large feature set, though it has a different interface and way of doing things than Photoshop.
For those used to doing things in Photoshop, but who are interested in checking out this free software, look into Gimpshop. It's a modification of Gimp that is similar to Photoshop's user interface.
Download Gimp
Download Gimpshop
2. Pixelmator: Young Application Though Growing Strong
Wow, their website is beautiful. You shouldn't buy software based solely on its brand design, but let's face it, it sure does help. Pixelmator is a young application, but has a growing set of features. For example, in their 1.1 release version, code named kitten, they've just added tablet-based pressure sensitivity support. They have active forums, a downloadable manual for their product, and some juice moving them forward fast. Watch out for this app.
3. Corel Paint Shop Pro X2: Robust Application with Long-Term Development History
PSP X2 is mainly targeted at photo editors. Though it has many features that a Photoshop user is used to, it is just a fraction of the price.
The new graphite workspace theme of X2 looks great and has a modern elegant feel. Corel is a large respected company and continues to develop PSP so you don't need to worry about this vanishing one day.
They have built in documentation for the products as well as online community support. They also have an option to test drive the product in your browser. I tried it and it worked well to evaluate, but of course that depends on your connection speed.
4. PhotoLine: Lots of Features but Lacks that Mac-Like Feel
Photoline is positioned as a Photoshop alternative. It is a commercial app with a large feature set. Its fast, powerful, and stable. But a few issues would make me hesitate before investing any time into the software: their website lacks that professional feel that makes you feel confident about the software your buying, their forums don't appear to be very active. Macapper does, however, give them high ratings and there is a Photoline Review there. Photoline has a few features where it may edge out Photoshop that are pointed out in this review, so it's worth a read.
5. Pixel Image Editor - Lone Developer Application
Pavel Kanzelsberger has been developing Pixel Image Editor in his spare time for the last eight years, and as we know from the popular Textmate, sometimes these lone developer apps can be great. Pixel looks like it'll deliver the goods too. There is a wide range of tools, lots of layers, effects, and workspace options. I tried to follow a link to the Wiki and Forums and it went nowhere. So, no guarantee with community support on this one.
Noteworthy Alternatives
A. Acorn: A Lighter Image Editor
While Acorn is not a strong competitor to Photoshop, it may be a good solution for users that have light image editing needs and are on a budget.
B. Iris: Rated B as in Betaware
Iris is a single window editor. No option for floating palettes. While I often like that kind of interface, I would like more workspace options. This product has a ways to go before it will meet up to its listed launch price. Here is a link to a review over at CreativeBits that points out some nice features found in Iris.
Alternatives to Photoshop Based on Your Industry or Needs
There are some applications that are more refined for specific industries image needs, or may be for niche work within the industry. While Photoshop is generally seen as the leading tool for building website layouts, one major alternative for production-based work is Fireworks. About a year-and-a-half ago, Macromedia, the company behind Fireworks was acquired by Adobe, so it's hard to know what the future for this program is, but one hopes it'll continue on.
Another example of a good industry-specific tool is Cinepaint. This open source application focuses on prepping images for movies. Some top studios use it in their workflow.
Scaled-Back Alternatives to Photoshop
Another way to look at alternatives to Photoshop may not reside in full-blown apps. It takes time to launch Photoshop—after all it's a big app. It may be overkill for some needs. So there are a plethora of products out that cater to doing just a handful of actions really well and very fast. An example of an application like this is ImageWell. If you need to crop an image, adjust its quality, and then send it directly to Flickr, then this app was made for you.
Adobe Has a Scaled Back Version of Photoshop as Well
Photoshop Elements is a lighter version of Photoshop for the budget-conscious. If you only need to do simple image editing in Photoshop, then check it out.
Download Photoshop Elements Trial.
Conclusion
If you can afford Photoshop, it will in most cases solve your needs. Though if you are on a budget, have a philosophical preference for open source, like trying out new software, or you have refined image-building or editing needs then there are some alternatives out there to Photoshop.
Anyone in the community that has experience with these applications, or alternatively, applications in other operating systems, let us know in the comments. We'd like to gather more resources for Photoshop alternatives for the PSDTUTS community. A lot of the programs listed in this article are available for multiple operating systems. Let us know your experiences with alternative image editing applications in different operating systems as well.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Markus February 11th
Thanks for sharing!
And you are right Pixelmators do actually have a beautiful website!
David February 11th
Also check out Seahore (http://seashore.sourceforge.net/), I used that before I got into Photoshop and it worked OK for simple stuff.
Eric Gruber February 11th
I think you mean, “Lone Developer Application” instead of “loan.”
Mateo February 11th
Fireworks CS3 is worth a mention. I agree that the older versions under Macromedia were a joke, but Adobe’s version is great. I’ve been a PS guy until I upgraded to Creative Suite 3. Haven’t touched photoshop since (of course I’m not a print guy, just web..)
Worth checking out the trial..
dayv February 11th
I think that programs on this list are good - but not as good as Photoshop
I was testing all of them, but Photoshop is the best 
Munteanu Octavian February 11th
Great staff ! Thanks
Constantin Potorac February 11th
Thank you very much Sean.
I am new to Mac and I must say that I love it so much that I will even try some of these alternatives myself.
Mario Andrade February 11th
Great list
giackop February 11th
I tried Gimp but it’s a bit too slow… But it free so it’s good..
Zach February 11th
I personally cannot stand Gimp. It’s far too complicated and has a lousy interface. I can’t even figure out how to make simple shapes. Also the toolbar gets shot to the back everytime you click anywhere. I honestly don’t see how anyone is capable of making something they could make in MSPain in Gimp, let alone something you would make in Photoshop. Also note, I tried Gimpshop and it didn’t really change anything. the program is just awful.
Collis February 11th
hehe, thanks Eric, fixed that typo!
Ben February 11th
Another interesting one currently in development (but with a public beta) is “Naked Light” … http://www.naked.la/
impNERD February 11th
Awesome list. GIMP getting some love!
Andrei Constantin February 11th
I’ve been using Gimp on my FreeBSD since quite some time now and I’m very happy with the things it does.
However, I’m a windows user on day by basis so I’ll pass the rest of the apps
Jonno Riekwel February 11th
What about http://getdrawit.com
fabio sasso "zee" February 11th
Great list… I like Gimp a lot, the only thing that bothers me is that it needs the X11 thing to work on mac. Pixelmator is the fastest and most beautiful of them all, at least with filters. Now, as Mateo said Fireworks is an amazing app, actually it’s the tool I use the most.
SALIM February 11th
Possible (mnfdhlkm) positions for the photoshop lessons. Blessed the master in you …
Arik February 11th
Keep a lookout for this suite:
http://a.viary.com/
It seems very, VERY promising.
bratwurst February 11th
sean- thanks for the useful info buddy!
Sean Hodge February 12th
Hey all,
I just got an email from the developer of “Drawit”. Looks like a nice app. One of its features is it has both bitmap and vector tools and keeps everything non-destructive. I haven’t tried it out, but the screenshots show off its icon making abilities. If anyone has used it leave a comment. Here is a link to “Drawit”: http://www.getdrawit.com/
arky February 12th
I would also like to add “Seashore” http://seashore.sourceforge.net/ which is cocoa version of Gimp, though still in early development cycle still guite usable for small tasks. I think GIMP’s UI is quite horrible and not that easy to use.
Simon Strandgaard February 12th
Also checkout “Toolbox”, http://toolboxapp.com/
Alpha version. Non destructive. Realtime filters. 2D layers. Still cheap.
screenshots:
http://toolboxapp.com/screenshots/001.png
http://toolboxapp.com/screenshots/002.png
http://toolboxapp.com/screenshots/003.png
http://toolboxapp.com/screenshots/004.png
Deniece February 12th
wish there were alternatives for InDesign… nevertheless, great stuff!
Xethorn February 12th
I’m not sure we can talk about “alternative”. For me, all of these software (included Photoshop) are complementary.
Toan February 13th
“We’d like to gather more resources for Photoshop alternatives for the PSDTUTS community”
Don’t do that, man. Else, you’ll make this become a crappy tutorial sites like hundreds of sites out there.
Daniel February 13th
Hey, make on for PC users. I am thinking of getting a mac, but i can’t find anywhere on the net for a cheap one. SO hook the PC users up with other alternative ways of Photoshop. Shweeett!
kuldeep February 14th
I have an experience with GIMP. Its a very powerful application, not as photoshop though. But, it lacks that user friendly factor and it takes lot of time to get use to.
I’ll recommend this application if you want to play at pixel levels.
Rob February 15th
Actually Pixel is pretty spectacular. I used to use it on Ubuntu all the time. It beats the heck out the gimp and acts just like Photoshop. There are a few bugs, but it is still in development. From personal experience, I have used Pixel to produce client work and didn’t curse ath teh programs missing features once, it’s as close a photoshop clone as one can get.
Brandon February 20th
I’m contemplating a switch from PC to mac and have gotten incredibly used to PaintShop pro over the years. I use it for photo editing and really like it’s blemish removing/skin smoothing tools as well as it’s glamour filters which can really enhance portraits. This article made me think there was a MAC version of the new X2 release… nope. Very misleading there…
By the way, because Portrait Professional (a simple but genius portrait retouching app) isn’t available for the mac, I’ll *always* have to keep windows around, just for that.
Bill February 23rd
Graphic Converter from Lemkesoft has been around a long time. It is still being actively developed, meaning that new file formats and new graphic editing Features are constantly being added.
It has every basic graphic editing feature and many advanced features. It is even compatible with photoshop plug-ins.
Its $20 shareware - a real bargain that’s easy to overlook.
Mr K February 25th
Hey there
I have to chime in here. I’ve been a long time Photoshop user (since version 2) and recently started using PixelMator. I have to say while Pixelmator is showing signs of being good, it’s just not there yet. Many things about the application make it very painful to use.
1) You can’t drag in item from one window into another like photoshop
2) Apple + T doesn’t work to pull up transformations
3) Transformations often result in the item being placed outside the transformation box
4) Copy n Paste anything transparent and the alpha truns black when pasted
5) There gradient system leaves terrible banding, esp when using Opacity ( the only way I found to do a decent one is use a solid colour & Layer mask )
6) Their save window could really do with some work, you have little control over the output of your file (as compared to photoshops Save For Web)
I want to support PixelMator (hey I didn’t buy it) but these issues are forcing me back to photoshop
Geoserv February 25th
Nice list. Photoshop user myself.
Stumbled!
Added to TopStumbles:
http://www.topstumbles.com/software/psdtuts-photoshop-tutorials-and-links-top-5-alternatives-to-photoshop-for-mac-users/
ks March 3rd
Paint Shop Pro is NOT available for the Mac. Why is it on this list??
iSaac March 3rd
Used Photoshop back in the day (2000) to mess around with.
GIMP user today….i like GIMP a lot….you cannot beat free
and its decent so far.
GIMP 2.4.4 FTW!!!
Stumbled!
PEACE
ISAAC
aarfb March 17th
How could you leave out Corel Painter (originally Fractal Design Painter then MetaCreations Painter).
Many PhotoShop similarities, can even run PhotoShop filters, plus amazing Natural Media brushes, chalks, etc…..
Harry May 3rd
Great programs might check one or two out
eldernorm May 22nd
Here is an oldie that has versions for Mac and PC. CANVAS. If you get the educational copy its a full version for under $100. OK, its not free. BUT
It has both object control and pixel control. You can do autocad type work and even have it dimension the drawing for you. It has full text controls, full filtering and conversion too.
It also has a huge stack of converters. While it will not convert EVERYthing, it will allow me to import autocad native (not templete) drawings, modify them and export it back to autocad.
Just a thought. Its been bought by ADSee or some such and has not been updated like it should but you can more than likely find the last version on ebay or amazon for cheap.
elder Norm
PS, I use it all the time. Its pretty Mac like, even in the pc version.
Rob K June 4th
Folks! Where is mention of Aperture 2.0? I can’t imaging why this application was ignored.
Ibrahim July 21st
thanks a lot.
Rexibit Web Services July 23rd
Gimp is probably the best alternative, though I have had some memory leak issues with it.
Allan July 27th
I really like Color-It! This came out for Mac OS8 & 9 & worked great (still works great under 10.4.1 emulation Classic) and took photoshop filters and everything! The OSX version 4.5 came out a coupla years ago and still works fine, but won’t accept the old photoshop filters I’ve paid money for (ouch). I still like it. You might give this a try. I do lots of pixel level work with this. Allan
The Xelt September 14th
I dont think corel paintshop pro is available for mac?
if im wrong
someone please send me the link to thexelt@live.com
cheers
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