Photoshop Alternatives

[Duane Pandorf]

I'm a happy with my subscription to Adobe using both LR and Photoshop.

 

[daveleo]

I process multiple RAW-to-JPG's in the cameras and postprocess the best of those JPG's with The GIMP (though sadly limited to 8-bit color space, it meets my needs).

I loved Paint Shop Pro when JASC owned it, but the Corel bought them out and it got way too complicated for me (I think that was version X ?).

 

[Godfrey]

Hey Godfrey,

I thought Photoshop was first developed for photographers. Not to nit pick with you but correct me if I'm wrong. I thought there are a lot more photographers who used to buy ps as compared to others.

Aren't some of the terms used ps derived from the analog darkroom?
Check this out:

http://www.storyphoto.com/multimedia/multimedia_photoshop.html

PS was created by Knoll who had interest in photography, and is obviously an image processing application which has a lot of photographic stuff in it. But the target market for the Adobe Photoshop was always preparing images for publication in print, pre-press in other words, the domain of graphic artists not photographers. That comes through in the way the tools and features are organized for use: it's the graphic artist's workbench as opposed to the photographer's darkroom.

Lightroom was developed for photographers doing photography.

(I started using Photoshop in 1991—it was included in the graphic arts software tools available from my company, used for the development of pamphlets, catalogs, and other MarCom collateral. None of the folks using it other than me were doing photography, they were editing pictures and illustrations for the various publications.)

G

 

[raydm6]

Mostly PhotoScape (Editor). Very simple UI, free & easy to use.

 

[nongfuspring]

I would agree, having used it since 2 (I finally threw away all those cool PS boxes). It really began it's use for logos and type after 95 or so, when "everyone" began using it for web images.

Even now vector based design rules for a lot of branding and design work.

I don't think Adobe quite knows what it is now?

PS for bitmap, Ai for vector, ID for layout. Adobe knows exactly what they're doing (graphics at least).

A lot of the programs mentioned in the OP are made specifically for RAW processing, which isn't really what PS is for. They're supplementary programs, not replacement photo editors.

There are programs that allow for better workflow/organisation than PS when working with multiple photos and libraries (like Lr) but PS is king when it comes to editing. It really beats the living daylights out of everything else. Many programs superficially do what PS does, but IMO PS has far more flexibility and depth. If cloud computing is an issue then use PS5. it might not be the latest version, but it's still much more advanced than any other bitmap editor I can think of - and being the standard it's worth learning to use well.

When I do anything serious with a x trans camera RAW goes into silkypix then into PS5. When it's casual stuff, social media/emailing friends, its all just JPEGS SOOC.

 

[KCG]

Peter, I use ACDSee Mac, latest version. It does a great
job on Xtrans files and is excellent for cataloging. As you,
I am surprised fewer photographers use it. A lot less expensive
then PS or Capture One Pro 7, and unlike Capture Pro 7
it has a table of contents.