5 Open Source Photoshop Alternatives That Save You Money

Looking for some open source Photoshop alternatives? We get it. Photo editors are great for digital marketing.

Adobe Photoshop is a given in any designer’s wish list—and it comes with a host of features that allow for excellent and professional photo editing—but the biggest obstacle to any designer who wants Photoshop is the price. Fortunately, there are a number of open source and free alternatives to Photoshop out there that do much of what Photoshop can do (and sometimes more). In this collection, you will find some excellent examples of open source Adobe Photoshop competitors.

5 open source Photoshop alternatives for designers of all skill levels

1. GIMP

GIMP stands for “GNU image manipulation program”, and it is one of the oldest and most well-known alternatives to Photoshop in existence. Although it doesn’t quite have all of them, you’ll find most of the features included in Photoshop somewhere in GIMP. GIMP is cross-platform and supported by a large community.

This editor is great for developing creative marketing ideas and campaigns.

2. Krita

Krita has been lauded for its ease of use and even won the Akademy Award for Best Application way back in 2006. Krita is slightly less powerful than both Photoshop and GIMP, but does contain some unique features.

3. Paint.NET

Paint.NET has grown out of a simple replacement for the well-known MSPaint into a fully-featured open source image editor with a wide support base. You’ll need Windows to run Paint.NET.

4. Inkscape

Inkscape is a vector graphics editor that allows you to create .svg, .ai, .eps, and more file types that suit your needs. This free open source Photoshop alternative works with MacOS X, GNU/Linux, and Windows.

5. Pixia

Pixia was originally designed in Japanese, but English versions now exist for this rich editor. Although the original focus was on anime/manga, it is a very capable editor in general. Some features are a little counterintuitive, but there are plenty of English tutorials available now if you want to give it a shot.

Pixia works for Windows and has options for different languages.

Get started with your new open source Photoshop alternative!

Don’t be afraid to dive right in and start creating. The best way to learn is to practice and explore, so feel free to test out different editors until you find one that suits you best. If you’re looking for professionally-designed graphics from a team of creative experts, fill out the contact form on our website for a free quote.