7 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives

Let your creative side out with our Photoshop alternatives

If you’ve heard of Photoshop, you’re probably also aware that it’s quite an investment. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of free alternatives to Photoshop. We’ve come up with a list of options suited for both graphic editing newcomers and seasoned Photoshop users.

So, if you’re looking to reimagine your ideas as a design, showcase your products on your store, or promote them on your blog and social media accounts, read on!

But, before diving in, let’s explore Photoshop.

Photoshop and Creative Cloud

Adobe Photoshop is an industry-leading raster (pixel-based) image editor used to create unique graphics and edit photos. It’s packed with many useful tools for resizing, colour adjusting, and retouching images. Photoshop used to be a program you could buy from Adobe and use to your heart’s content. But since 2013, it’s a part of a monthly subscription-based service – Creative Cloud. Photoshop is included in multiple plans starting with Photography plan ($9.99/month).

Creative Cloud is a marvellous software for experienced designers and is a great investment if you’re planning on expanding your business or employing a designer team. Creative Cloud offers many useful features like storing and sharing your projects and even working on them at the same time. It’s the perfect graphic design environment.

If you’re a casual user or a total newcomer to graphic editing, Creative Cloud could seem overwhelming or impractical. That’s because even the slightest change to an image – like a decoration on a sales banner – or even just opening software-specific files like .psd (Photoshop Data file) requires a subscription to access the editing software.

So, if you’re testing the waters and don’t want to invest in Photoshop or have experience using Photoshop and want to try something a little different, you might be interested in free Photoshop alternatives.

So here we go in no particular order some Photoshop alternatives.

1. Photopea

Use it for: DTG, Cut&Sew, Poster & Canvas printing, Sublimation, UV printing, Photo editing, Social media graphics

This might be the Swiss army knife of free alternatives to Photoshop. Not only does it look like Photoshop, it also has many of its features. Photopea offers pre-made sizes and templates for posters and social media graphics. All in all, it’s the perfect software for both Photoshop users and total graphic design newcomers.

Price: Free
Platforms: Windows, Browser
File Format: .PSD, .PNG, .JPEG, .PDF, .SVG, .GIF
Color Space: RGB

2. Gimp

Use it for: DTG, Cut&Sew, Poster & Canvas printing, Sublimation, UV printing, Photo editing

No list of free Photoshop alternatives would be complete without Gimp. This software has established a strong presence in the graphics editing world and has built a strong community. It’s the perfect software for editing small files and creating simple designs.

Price: Free
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
File Format: .PSD, .JPEG, .PNG, .GIF, .PDF, .EPS
Color Space: RGB, CMYK (only with a plugin)

3. Krita

Use it for: DTG, Cut&Sew, Poster & Canvas printing, Sublimation, UV printing, Photo editing

Krita is the only raster graphic software on the list suited for creating seamless all-over print patterns. It’s great for basic photo editing, It does, however, need some getting used to. Since it’s made with artists in mind, it has a highly customisable Brush tool and can be linked to graphics tablets.

Price: Free
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
File Format: .PNG, .PSD, .JPEG
Colour Space: RGB, CMYK (see Color Managed Workflow for Print)

4. InkScape

Use it for: DTG, Cut&Sew, Embroidery, Poster & Canvas printing, Sublimation, UV printing

If you want to take things to the next level, I suggest checking out vector editing software. As such, InkScape is a handy program for creating print files of any size. That’s because vectors are made of objects such as lines, curves, and polygons and designs created on vector editors can be resized without damaging their quality. This means that each design made on InkScape can serve both for small prints – a personal brand image on an inside label – as well as bigger ones – posters or canvas. IncScapes Measure tools also make it a handy program for creating embroidery designs. InkScape has no size limit and even offers options on tweaking your document file. But, similar to programs like Photoshop, it has a learning curve.

Price: Free
Platforms: Windows, macOS (using XQuartz), Linux
File Format: .PDF, .EPS, .SVG, .PNG, .PNG
Color Space: RGB

5. Canva

Use it for: Social media graphics, Poster & Canvas printing

Canva might not be the most obvious choice of Photoshop alternatives, yet it’s a useful platform for any designer. Their free toolkit is quite extensive and their paid plans offer even more editing possibilities. It’s great for designing posters. It also lets you post your creations straight to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and others. Canva Pro also offers a feature named Brand kit, which makes branding each graphic exceptionally easy.

Price: Free (Canva Pro is $12.95/month)
Platforms: Online Browser, Also available for iOS and Android
File Format: .JPEG, .PDF, .PNG (transparent background only available with paid plan)
Color Space: RGB

6. Desygner

Use it for: Social media graphics, Poster & Canvas printing

Desygner is an online platform, which is great for creating poster designs and social media graphics – you can post designs straight to Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. It has a desktop app as well as separate mobile apps (iOS and Android) for more specific design needs. Desygner Premium offers the Brand kit feature which is a great tool for establishing a uniform style for each created graphic.

Price: Free (Desygner Premium is $9.99/month)
Platforms: Online Browser, Also available for iOS and Android
File Format: .JPEG, .PNG, .PDF
Colour Space: RGB, CMYK (only available in .PDF)

7. Pablo

Use it for: Social media graphics

Pablo by Buffer is a great starting point for a social media and graphic design newbie – it’s completely free! The program lets you post your creations straight to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Feel free to play around with Pablo’s design options, but remember that it’s not meant for making print designs!

Price: Free
Platforms: Online Browser, Also available as Google Chrome extension
File Format: .PNG

Which option is the best for me?