While Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard
for graphic designers and photo editors, it’s also clunky and expensive for beginners and
definitely not for those on a RAM budget. So if you’re searching for a program that’s
lighter, easier, and cheaper, then you came to the right place, because today I’m going
to tell you the 9 Best Alternatives to Photoshop for Graphic Design. #1. Affinity Photo. As a photo editing tool, Affinity Photo is
a more lightweight option than Photoshop that promises fewer crashes and lightning-fast
rendering of all your edits. And there’s no shortage of features! Enjoy unlimited layers, over ONE MILLION percent
zoom, a full set of 16-bit filters, and effects like blurring, lighting, and distortions.
Heads up, this feature-rich tool still has
a similar learning curve to Photoshop. #2. RelayThat Full-disclosure, this one is an AppSumo partner,
which means that for a limited time, you can get lifetime access to RelayThat for a *super*
low price. But that’s not the reason to brag about
it! This tool is so unique that not even Photoshop
can touch it. Once you’ve uploaded your brand assets,
like the colors, logos, images, and fonts, kick back and watch as RelayThat auto-generates
multiple designs at once in a variety of sizes for a variety of use cases. This is the perfect app for creatives focused
on digital social media and website graphics. #3. PicMonkey PicMonkey is a Canva-like photo editing and
design tool that is chock-full of design assets and templates, so if you’re wanting to create
graphics for business use cases, PicMonkey may be a faster way to get designs out the
door.
Plus, with photo enhancement and real-time
team collaboration, this tool can be a gamechanger for more than just Instagram graphics. #4. Photopea. Pssst, Sumo-lings: of the free alternatives
on this list, this one is definitely the most similar to Photoshop. Photopea is a free alternative to Photoshop. On their website, you can jump straight into
a project, with much of the functionality you’re used to enjoying with premium photo
editing tools. Photopea lets you add text, crop images, blur
certain layers, change colors, and much more. Plus, you can export the final product in
most of your favorite formats! #5. GIMP. GIMP was designed with designers in mind,
and it empowers them with the tools to edit photos and create graphics. It also provides different code support for
developers who want to use their designs across websites and have more custom-rich options.
While the UI is a *touuuch* outdated and some
additional downloads may be required, GIMP offers many top photo editing features to
help you touch up your favorite photos, add filters, and even customize your working interface. #6. PhotoScape X. Get excited! This one is another free alternative to Photoshop. PhotoScape X helps you design and edit photos
using a variety of powerful tools. You have all the normal editing tools like
cropping, filters, brushes, and color and background changes. Pluuuus, with bulk-editing features like batch
resize, batch format change, and more, you’re guaranteed streamlined organization and editing. #7. FireAlpaca. First of all, we can’t talk about FireAlpaca
without pointing out how classy this Alpaca is in a bowtie. And while you may come for the classy Alpaca,
users stay for the free paint tool with simple functionality for creating graphics.
FireAlpaca gives you different viewing options
as well, including 3D view, and you can use the Pencil, Airbrush, or Blur tools to edit
graphics with artistic accuracy. If you’re leaving Photoshop because it’s
too complex, FireAlpaca is the tool for you. #8. Photoshop Express. Of course, Adobe has also gotten into the
free image editing and collage app game with Photoshop Express. The difference here boils down to interface
and functionality—plus the fact that Photoshop Express is “built for mobile device photography.” You can think of it as Photoshop lite for
mobile. With intelligent edits, spot healing, auto-fix,
and robust filters and effects, you can edit photos for social posting to your heart’s
content in this tiny but powerful app.
#9. Krita Krita is a free, flexible, open-source painting
program that won TechRadar’s #1 best free painting software for 2019. With over 100 brush types, 9 brush engines,
and brush stabilizer, there’s plenty to play around with inside Krita. A more intuitive and lightweight alternative
to a previously mentioned GIMP, Krita is one of the best alternatives to Photoshop
in terms of brush performance. Graphic designers! We want to know what tools you’re loving. Let us know down in the comments which of
these you’ve tried out, and head over to the blog post linked in the description for
five more tools that will take your design skills to the next level..