However, while GIMP is great for quick photo editing, Photoshop takes editing to another level. Here is the verdict: Featuresīoth have many similar features, such as the Rectangular & Elliptical Selection Tools, The Lasso Tool, and the Magic Wand. I compared them based on four categories: features, UI, Compatibility, and pricing. For content production, I switched from Adobe XD to Canva, and this month, I’ve been testing GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) to try and replace Photoshop. For graphic design, I successfully replaced Illustrator with Vectornator.
Recently I decided to try out cheaper or free alternatives. But all these fantastic tools come with a hefty price of around 50€ per month. Programs such as Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, and Adobe XD are the industry standards when it comes to generating content both for professionals and amateurs. They say that Adobe is a graphic designer’s best friend, offering many digital and print media art tools. Twenty years later, this program became a part of my daily life. Shortly I discovered that I could manipulate my photos with tons of effects and filters. I clicked on an unfamiliar blue icon with the acronym Ps on it.
At the time, owning a digital camera was a big thing, so I took some random photos outside, and I immediately came home to plug the camera into my computer.
We would love to hear some of your suggestions as well on how you save money with alternatives to the expensive software we all know and hate to pay for.In the early 2000s, my dad bought me a small Konica Minolta digital camera.
Search by a specific topic with key words and you can pretty much find it all right at your finger tips!īe watching for our continued series on cheap and FREE alternatives to expensive software.
You can get the FREE Gimp download here.This last weekend I was on YouTube checking out some of the great video tutorials by individuals that had done exactly what I was looking to do – watching them was so much easier than trying to follow a step-by-step list of instructions.Ĭheck out the following links to get started:
If I have a question, a task or a project that I am trying to complete – I have been able to find tutorials as well as YouTube videos that show me step-by-step how to complete my goal. The real question with any software – whether paid or FREE – is how to actually use it! Well, to help answer that for Gimp, you need to check out the large amount of information on how to actually utilize the Gimp program. And…I hadn’t actually looked at the recent cost of Pro-Level Adobe Photoshop for about five years – I was quite amazed. According to this magazine article – Gimp does nearly everything that this $1,300.00 software does. I have to admit that it was an eye-opener to me on the value that I was actually getting. It has done everything that we would want and more. In fact, our logo, button and new diaper deal banner was all made with using this FREE software. We use Gimp for much of our editing quite frequently here on The Thrifty Couple (caveat: the limitations in our images is not that of Gimp but of mine – a work in progress P). We have used it from the most basic usage (to help us fine tune our photos for our photo FREEBIES) all the way to using some more advanced features (e.g., knitting photos together, layers, paths). Not only have I been using it for approximately that last 3-4 years, but I am really starting to see this product’s name everywhere as a great alternative to Photoshop. I was actually very impressed to see this.
What is the difference in cost? Well, pro level Adobe Photoshop can be up to $1,300 and Gimp is as FREE as you can get! I read an article on my recent copy of Popular Mechanics that Gimp is a relatively equal quality software to Adobe Photoshop. Up first: Gimp – a powerful yet FREE alternative to Adobe Photoshop. In fact, be watching for our next article in this series when we talk about an alternative to Microsoft Office – some of the features the alternative provide are actually better then the “real thing”. I actually work in the software industry and know that very often these alternatives (often either dramatically cheaper or even better – FREE!) will give you the same features and often more. One thing that Thrifty Cas and I do to help stretch our budget is to find alternatives to paid software and services.