Are there real alternatives to Photoshop?

DawnMarch

DawnMarch

Active member
I am really unhappy about Adobe's decision to go solely with a subscription service for Photoshop rather than selling new versions of the software that you can "own". I'm curious if there are real alternatives out there for scrapbookers that work for both RAW photo editing and for creating digital scrapbook pages?

So who is using programs other than Photoshop? Any recommendations?
 
I'm not sure about the RAW part, but PSE11 is really a great program..they've come a long way in it's abilities.

GIMP is a version of a Photoshop-like program, though I haven't used it in so many years that I don't know if it can compare any longer.
 
I know PSE looks to have improved loads since I had it, but I just don't think I could ever give up my ACR and Bridge. PSE does have ACR, but it's pretty limited compared to CS. I think the PSE+Lightroom is popular for that reason.

I'm just going to be happy with my CS5 until it literally won't work anymore. By then DH might be done with grad school, but DS will be in school. If DH is using Adobe Premier, and I'm using Photoshop, then at least we can split the cost from our monthly "fun" budgets. With a $25 monthly fun budget, a $20 subscription just isn't worth it to me.
 
Paint Shop Pro, Elements, and GIMP were my first thoughts.

Can you now put shadows on a separate layer in PSE? That's been one of the big drawbacks for me.
 
I haven't used it, but have seen references to a program called Pixelmator. There's also the Corel line. I don't know if any of these do what you want though. The thing is, Adobe knows they have a product that does what people want it to do. It will be interesting to see how this works out. Microsoft has started moving toward a subscription service with Office 365, though they haven't dropped boxed software yet. And a lot of us have stopped buying traditional books in favor of Kindle books, where we never actually own a copy of the book.
 
I have CS5 currently, and I just plan to use that till forever. I think along the lines of "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". Just because Adobe are coming out with new versions every 5 minutes doesn't mean I HAVE to upgrade. I'm happy with what I have.
 
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
 
There is a slight difference in that you do not have to continue to pay for an e-book once it is purchased. There isn't a physical copy of it, but the digital version is paid for once and is yours to read as many times as you wish, rather than having to pay a monthly fee to keep it on your device.
origami said:
And a lot of us have stopped buying traditional books in favor of Kindle books, where we never actually own a copy of the book.
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I too am one that will be using cs5 until it just won't work any longer. I personally thought Photoshop was a bit on the steep side but managed to get CS5 with an enormous student discount and really do like the full array of features vs PSE. I look at the expense as the purchase of a tool for my hobby. As a paper scrapper I have spent loads of money on the latest and greatest tools. I remember starting out with a small sizzix die cutter, then upgraded to a cricut cutter, and have since upgraded to other die cutters as newer ones came along. That being said, these "tools" were purchased once. The only additional investment for these tools are maintenance related(new blades and cutting mats).

I feel that Adobe's decision to move to subscription service is taking away from the "average" consumer the option of having the bells and whistles. I can justify a great deal of expense for my hobby, but $20-$50 a month is not likely to be in my budget.
 
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
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I think this is more true now than it used to be back when I first bought PS. PSE was quite new (and more rudimentary). I bought PS back in the day when I was doing photography professionally and hasn't been a huge expense to upgrade PS every other release or so. But this will be a much bigger expense. PS6 is still quite new so I'm sure I'll be using that for a few years and Adobe's decision will probably open the door for some increased competition.
 
I think there is nothing that is as good as PS. Don't beat me! :-)

I don't know which version you have, but anything from CS4 to CS6 should serve you well for years.

I also have a secret hope they will change their decision a bit and allow you to own what you paid for until a certain period.
 
Robin Carlton said:
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
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This is me - I am fine with PSE and I only have the PSE 9 and haven't upgraded beyond that *gasp*! I scrap for me and I like my pages fine and really don't care what anyone else thinks - really :p
 
PSP does nearly everything you would need including the RAW files. It is all I have ever used since I started scrapping and it is extremely affordable. Like 45 dollars is the most I have ever spent for a boxed copy via Amazon
 
Aside from the debate about scrapping software, I'd recommend trying out Lightroom for your photo editing. I shoot RAW and do 99.9% of my photo editing in LR (as well as organizing my photos, scrap supplies, and completed layouts).

Robin Carlton said:
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
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I've been a PS user for years and years. My hubby first bought it in 2003-4, right after we bought our first DSLR. At the time he was thinking about opening up a photography studio after he retires from the military. We've always been able to purchase it with the academic pricing, so it's been very reasonable. I adore PS and don't want to ever use anything else. Yes, I like my text-on-a-path and manipulate my shadows frequently. I also like some of the other tools like puppet warp. PS is also a rock star when it comes to photo editing. I do most of my photo editing in LR, but the little that I do in PS is with the advanced tools that are in PS but not in PSE.

I got my current version of PS (Creative Suite 6 Design and Web Premium) for $270 - it's the extended version and includes Illustrator and InDesign which I play with occasionally and Acrobat Pro which I use frequently. PS alone would have been about $200 with the student discount. If I had the subscription (academic pricing), I'd pay the same in 9 months what I paid for my permanent license and everything after that would be extra. Not something that I'll be willing to do. I'll be using CS6 until I can't anymore, then I'll have to make a hard decision about where to go from there. I'm hoping that by then Adobe will have a purchase option again. If not, I'll probably look into the other programs.

As for the extra $500 that you mentioned, Robin... if we hadn't have been able to get PS with the academic pricing, we probably wouldn't have gone with it in the first place. Now that I'm hooked on PS, though, I'll be sad to go with something else.
 
I too use PSP and it does everything I need. The only bummer for me is no styles, etc. I have to do all that stuff on my own and sometimes it can be a real challenge, but I usually figure it out.
 
Long long time PSP user here. I think I am on X4 but it might still be X3. There is one layer style PS has that PSP doesn't, it's a burn style, linear I think. PSP has a burn style & I've never felt to myself "Darn this single burn option is limiting". The one single thing I wish PSP did (and maybe X5 does, I haven't really checked) is a text path style that fills in objects. I can do text on a path just fine but if I want to write in the shape of a heart or something I have to manually parse out the spacing. I'm used to it but I would love the option for a fill shape text path.

Other than that PSP has what PS has, including editing .raw files.

I mostly use Lightroom to edit photos.
 
I started on PSE (3 I think... it came with an old laptop), then I switched to PSE 4 or 5 when I got my Mac. When it died and I found out I needed to either go back to my old PSE or buy new, I just hunted up a copy of CS3 on Ebay and bought it for like $150. Somewhere along the way I ended up with a copy of PSE 7 - not too sure how that happened.... - but I have it installed on my mom's computer as a backup. I HATE it. I get so frustrated with it because there are several things I do when making a page that I can't do in PSE, or that requires so much more time and steps than when I would do it CS.

I love my CS3, and I have my disk copy safely tucked away. I plan to never switch - ever.
 
Stacey42 said:
Long long time PSP user here. I think I am on X4 but it might still be X3. There is one layer style PS has that PSP doesn't, it's a burn style, linear I think. PSP has a burn style & I've never felt to myself "Darn this single burn option is limiting". The one single thing I wish PSP did (and maybe X5 does, I haven't really checked) is a text path style that fills in objects. I can do text on a path just fine but if I want to write in the shape of a heart or something I have to manually parse out the spacing. I'm used to it but I would love the option for a fill shape text path.

Other than that PSP has what PS has, including editing .raw files.

I mostly use Lightroom to edit photos.
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I meant that I can't purchase styles for PSP. I would love to be able to purchase some shadow styles, to create plastic, etc.....
 
So, does PSP not do styles at all, or can you just not use PS styles with it? That program sounds like a possibility, but I would definitely want to be able to save some of my own shadow styles since I use them all the time.
 
Robin Carlton said:
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
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^^ This has been my thought as a scrapper. As much as I want to have Photoshop, I just can't justify the cost unless I ever decide to design. Which, I don't see that happening in the foreseeable future. I think my desire to have Photoshop is just to see what it's all about and to be a "cool kid" rather than a need.
 
Robin Carlton said:
I've honestly never understood why scrappers would invest in the professional editions of Photoshop to begin with. I think it's a crazy amount of money to spend to make layouts when PSE does nearly everything you need it to for a fraction of the price. Is text on a path or shadows on a separate layer really worth $500 more? I dunno.
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If I'd had to pay full price for CS3 I definitely wouldn't have bought it. Adobe offered a $199 upgrade for PSE users at one point and hubby bought it for me as my birthday/Valentine's gift. (I have 5 and still use it as well...well I did until my computer decided not to turn on :glare:) I don't use CS3 for scrapping so much...I do more photo editing with it than anything else. I'm not sure what PSE 11 is capable of, but CS3 is worlds apart from PSE5 in terms of photo editing. I don't have Lightroom so no clue on that.
 
It makes a lot of sense to me have Photoshop for the way I scrap and play with graphics in general. I know it's a lot of money (even more here than in the US), but I don't regret the decision to buy it. :-)

I think in the end it's all about the personal preference. I think the same thing can be done in various programmes, I just happen to like PS best (I did try PSP and Gimp ages ago, and never liked them, but that's subjective and probably out-dates as an opinion).
 
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I used another program, Photo Impact for about 5 years when I first started scrapping. It was more powerful than PSE, but less powerful than PS. When I started having recurring compatibility problems and decided to switch to an Adobe program, I couldn't get used to PSE. I didn't like the interface or the inability to write my own actions, something I'd used frequently in PI. PS was worth it for me because I was able to get it with academic pricing; I'd never have been able to justify buying the full priced version.

I'm willing to use subscription software when it makes financial sense; we're probably going to buy a subscription to MS Office in the near future. With Office, you can choose a $99/year subscription for up to 5 computers (we'll use it on 3) or a $130 boxed software that you own for just 1 computer. In our case the subscription makes sense; if I wanted it for just one computer I'd get the boxed version. But there's no comparable cost savings for me with a PS subscription. At $20 a month, I'll spend more in one year than I would have buying a boxed version that I'd be able to use for years.

I already have PSCS6, so for now I'm just going to wait and see how this all plays out. But I'm guessing that when CS6 is no longer compatible with one of my future computers, I'll be switching to whatever is most popular in the digiscrapping world at the time.
 
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Loriebug66 said:
I too use PSP and it does everything I need. The only bummer for me is no styles, etc. I have to do all that stuff on my own and sometimes it can be a real challenge, but I usually figure it out.
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That' s awesome Lorie! I think it's great that you have those skills in your back pocket :)

Also, stumbled upon a blog post comparing Pixlr, Gimp, and FlauntR. Could be helpful--I don't know much about any of them except that I tried Gimp during lunch one day at work (I was doing crazy 80hr weeks and really wanted to scrap lol) but I quickly gave up.
 
I've used PSP, PSE, and now CS4 and just recently upgraded to CS6 before the end of the year.

I need the full CS for work but as a scrapper I also find it much more versatile and love the options I have over PSE. I used PSE for a long time and it was great, but at some point I felt like I hit my limits with it based on my style. I stuck with CS4 for quite a time, and really only upgraded to CS6 because I had to or not be able to upgrade anymore. I'll stick with CS6, and if I'm ever ready to swap it out, I'll see what adobe and others offer in another 4 years.
 
I always used GIMP. It took me forever to learn everything I need (I did trial and error with most of my problems), but now I'm totally happy and have no desire to change anything.
 
Well, it's good to know that there are some alternatives. I continue to hope some of the competitors will step it up a bit to cater to the "serious hobbyists" out there who want more than just a basic photo editor but won't be able to justify $20/month for PS.

I have been considering Lightroom for the photo editing portion of my workflow, but with ACR already built into PS6, there really wasn't a need for it. And Adobe hasn't guaranteed that lightroom will continue to be a freestanding "purchasable" program either, although I think they have a lot of angry photographers on their hands at the moment.

I suppose I just have to wait and see what happens. Sigh. I hate waiting and seeing.
 
I am not much help on alternatives because I've used photoshop from the get go. I needed it for a college course and got the ed discount and went ahead and bought CS5 because I also wanted illustrator. I am so happy I have it. I am disappointed that they are taking away the individual purchases of software - it doesn't make sense to me. That said, I love adobe products so much that I will buy the cc membership to have access to all of them. I like to tinker with designing things in illustrator, I'm a huge photo addict so I'm constantly editing and have done shoots for others before. I also look at is as an educational expense for the kids - my kiddos are all interested in learning photoshop and illustrator, and I bet as they get older they'll want to use in design and dreamweaver as well. It works for us - $20 a month doesn't seem bad at all for all of that. I mean, I spend about $200 a month just on extracurriculars for the kids, so $20 for all of the power in the cc is really not that bad IMO.
 
DawnMarch said:
Well, it's good to know that there are some alternatives. I continue to hope some of the competitors will step it up a bit to cater to the "serious hobbyists" out there who want more than just a basic photo editor but won't be able to justify $20/month for PS.

I have been considering Lightroom for the photo editing portion of my workflow, but with ACR already built into PS6, there really wasn't a need for it. And Adobe hasn't guaranteed that lightroom will continue to be a freestanding "purchasable" program either, although I think they have a lot of angry photographers on their hands at the moment.

I suppose I just have to wait and see what happens. Sigh. I hate waiting and seeing.
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If you have CS6, I think you have plenty of time to think. :-) In the meantime Adobe might adopt the rules based on feedback.
 
I actually always recommend PSE... I think it's awesome and all you really need for scrapping... I do however think it has it's limits especially with photo editing... I started hitting the limits a couple years ago which is why I ended up buying CS5 but I wouldn't have bought it for full price, I thought the education discount was a lot to fork out, but I don't regret it at all and will stick to it forever... my concern is for LR... I much prefer LR over any other program even PS for photo editing and getting PL photos ready for print and tagging and just general organizing of photos especially since I shoot RAW... I do need to upgrade LR and am saving up for that, and I will be really upset if it ends up being a part of the subscriptions, because LR2 doesn't do the ready for print stuff that I need to shave about an hour off my time :/
 
I am a GIMP user and that is all I know. I use it for scrapping and photo editing. It's true that it is NOT user friendly and you will have to dig around the web for tutorials. I have adapted photoshop tutorials for GIMP and got along fine that way. However, if you absolutely CANNOT live without styles/actions (for PS) and presets (for LR), then you may not be happy with GIMP. GIMP runs fast for me but then again, I am a NON-windows users. I have used GIMP on a Windows computer and it does run slightly slower. It's probably the same as Photoshop. GIMP does not have some of the advanced features like PS - e.g. content aware, some of the selection features, actions/styles, and probably more that I am not aware of (I have not used PS or PSE at all). But it works for me.

From a designer standpoint, hands down, you need photoshop. It's much easier with the advanced features to get what you need done for designing. GIMP would be just too many steps and you may need some of those advanced features that only PS can offer.

For RAW editing, there is a program called Darktable which is very similar to Lightroom. I have it and used it. I like it although I don't do as much RAW editing anymore. There's another program that converts the RAW so that you can use it in GIMP (similar to ACR for PS) - it's called UFRaw. I've used that and like it.

I read through the comparision that Jenn posted (GIMP vs PS vs pixelmator) and from my humble opinion, this is more for the people that would be creating (such as our designers). For scrapping and photo editing, you would not need to be creating logos. Also, GIMP is not set up to deal with vector images. I would recommend Inkscape for that (another alternative for Illustrator).

Check my gallery out if you want to see layouts in action using GIMP. All of my layouts are 100% scrapped using GIMP. I can use psd templates as well. However, GIMP does not recognize layered TIFF files so you will have to keep psd files when you use templates.

All of these alternative software that I've mentioned will likely have few tutorials or support although it does exist - just not to the extent that PS/LR/Illustrator have online. But if you're willing to learn and get through the trial and error - its a good alternative. The best part is that its available for free. However, it doesn't hurt to donate to the creators of these software - without them, none of it would exist :)
 
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