Looking for a free Photoshop alternative? Here are some of the best free and open source software you can use to replace Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is an advanced image editing and design tool for Windows and macOS. There is no doubt that almost everyone knows it. It’s very popular. On Linux, you can use Photoshop in a virtual machine using Windows or through Wine, but it’s not an ideal experience.

In general, we don’t have many alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. In this article, however, we’ll mention some of the best open source Photoshop alternatives available on Linux (which also support cross-platform).

Please note that Photoshop is more than just an image editor. Photographers, digital artists, professional editors use it for a variety of purposes. The alternatives here may not have all the features of Photoshop, but you can use them for a variety of tasks you can do in Photoshop.

Open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop for Linux, Windows, and macOS

Initially, I wanted to focus only on Photoshop alternatives in Linux, but why limit this list to Linux? Open source software is also available to users of other operating systems.

If you are using Linux, all of the mentioned software should be available in your distribution’s repository. You can install it using the Software Center or package manager.

For other platforms, check the official project website for installation files.

The list has no particular ranking order

1. GIMP: A real Photoshop replacement

Main features:

  • Customizable interface
  • Number level modification
  • Photo Enhancement (using transform tool)
  • Support for a wide range of hardware (pressure-sensitive tablets, music digital interfaces, etc.)
  • Almost all major image files are supported
  • Support layer management

Available platforms: Linux, Windows, and macOS

GIMP is a must-have tool for anything I do, no matter how basic/advanced the task. Perhaps, this is the closest you have to a Photoshop replacement under Linux. In addition, it is an open source and free solution for artists who want to create great work on Linux.

It has all the features necessary for any type of image processing. Of course, there is layer management support. The utilization rate will vary depending on your level of experience. Therefore, if you want to make the most of it, you should read the documentation and follow the official tutorials.

2, Krita

Main features:

  • Support layer management
  • Conversion tool
  • Rich brush/drawing tools

Available platforms: Linux, Windows, and macOS

Krita is an impressive open source digital painting tool. Layer management support and the existence of conversion tools make it one of the alternatives to Photoshop’s basic editing tasks.

If you like sketching/drawing, this will help you.

3, Darktable

Main features:

  • RAW image development
  • Support for multiple image formats
  • Multiple image manipulation modules with mixed operators

Available platforms: Linux, Windows, and macOS

Darktable is an open source photography workflow application created by photographers. It allows you to manage your digital negatives in a database. Develop images in RAW format from your collection and enhance them using the available tools.

From basic image editing tools to multiple image modules that support blending operators, you’ll find a lot to explore.

4, Inkscape

Main features:

  • Tools to create objects (best for drawing/sketching)
  • Support layer management
  • A conversion tool for image processing
  • Color selector (RGB, HSL, CMYK, Color Wheel, CMS)
  • Support for all major file formats

Available platforms: Linux, Windows, and macOS

Inkscape is a very popular open source vector graphics editor used by many professionals. It provides flexible design tools to help you create beautiful works of art. Technically, it’s a direct replacement for Adobe Illustrator, but it also offers a few tricks that can help you use it as an alternative to Photoshop.

Like GIMP’s official resources, you can use Inkscape’s tutorials to get the most out of it.

In your opinion, what is the real Photoshop replacement?

It’s hard to provide exactly the same functionality as Adobe Photoshop. However, if you follow the official documentation and resources, you can do a lot of great things with the above Photoshop alternatives.

Adobe offers a range of graphics tools, and we have open source alternatives to the entire Adobe creative suite. You can check it out, too.

What do you think of the Photoshop alternatives we mentioned here? Do you know of any better alternatives worth mentioning? Let us know in the comments below.

Via: itsfoss.com/open-source…

By Ankush Das by Lujun9972

This article was originally compiled by LCTT and released with honor by Linux China