Free and Cheap Alternatives to Photoshop

The ability to edit photos and create graphics can be very useful to a campus minister, and Photoshop is far and away the best tool for the job. But how many of us have $700 to spend on it? Here is a non-exhaustive list of some free and cheap alternatives to Photoshop.

I have minimal experience with most of these products, so you’re on your own in terms of picking which is the best fit for you. Do you have any experience with these, or ideas for others? Let us know in the comments.

Web-Based Photoshop Alternatives

• Photo editor
  • Picnik: Free (or Premium with added features). Powerful photo editor, limited in terms of creating graphics and non-photo designs.
• Designed to emulate Photoshop
  • Aviary Phoenix: Free
  • Adobe Photoshop Express: Free
  • Sumo Paint: Free or Pro with added features
  • Pixlr: Free.
  • Splashup: Free.

Photoshop alternatives for Mac & Windows (and Linux?)

• GIMP: Free, open-source. As powerful as Photoshop (more?) but with an extremely high learning curve.
• Photoshop Elements: $79.99
• Paintshop Pro: $79.99
• Inkscape: Free, open-source. NOTE: Inkscape is not actually an alternative to Photoshop, but rather to Illustrator; it’s useful for text layout and illustrations, but not for manipulating photos.

Photoshop alternatives for Mac

• Pixelmator: $59.99
• Acorn: $49.95
• Seashore: Free, open-source

Photoshop alternatives for Windows

• Paint.NET: Free, open-source
• Xara Designer: $89

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