If you need to edit or manipulate a photo or other image, in all likelihood you've considered using Adobe Photoshop to do so. First released almost thirty years ago, this powerful editing software is preferred by some of the world's top designers and can be utilized to create almost anything the imagination can conjure up. Many graphics-intensive movies and video games, as well as stunning works of art, have come to fruition with the help of Photoshop at some point along the way during the creative process.
Oct 09, 2014 Versi kedelapan aplikasi ini disebut dengan nama Photoshop CS (Creative Suite), versi sembilan disebut Adobe Photoshop CS2, versi sepuluh disebut Adobe Photoshop CS3, versi kesebelas adalah Adobe Photoshop CS4, versi keduabelas adalah Adobe Photoshop CS5, dan versi terbaru adalah Adobe Photoshop CC.
Although you can pay monthly as opposed to a one-time fee, the price of running Photoshop can prove to be prohibitive. Hope is not lost, however, as there are several alternatives available which offer some of Photoshop's features and will not cost you a penny to use. Each of these free applications offers their own unique functionality, and some may be better suited than others when it comes to meeting your specific needs.
For example, not all free Photoshop alternatives support the Adobe application's default PSD format. Others, meanwhile, will not be able to recognize some multi-layered Photoshop files. Limitations aside, one of the free options listed below (or a combination of several) may be exactly what you are looking for to create or modify an image.
GIMP
What We Like
Constantly updated with new features.
Highly customizable and extensible.
What We Don't Like
Limited support for layers, macros, and custom shapes.
Cluttered interface with annoying floating windows.
One of the most full-featured Photoshop alternatives, GIMP (short for GNU Image Manipulation Program) offers such a large set of features that even the most complex tasks can be achieved without any strain on your budget. They say that you get what you pay for, but in GIMP's case, that idiom doesn't necessarily ring true. With a very active developer community that has historically listened to user requests and feedback, this free option continues to grow as raster editor technology expands.
While not always as intuitive as Photoshop in terms of functionality and design, GIMP makes up for some of its perceived clumsiness with several in-depth tutorials for both beginning and advanced users that help you use the majority of its components with little or no pre-existing knowledge of the open source application. With that said, if you're only looking for the very basics in a raster-based graphics editor then GIMP may actually be a little too much and you may benefit from one of the simpler alternatives on our list.
Available in almost twenty languages for Linux, Mac, and Windows platforms, GIMP recognizes almost all file formats that you'd expect from a paid editor like Photoshop including GIF, JPEG, PNG and TIFF among others, as well as partial support for PSD files (not all layers may be readable).
Also similar to Photoshop, a large number of third-party plugins are available that enhance GIMP's functionality further. Unfortunately, the main repository that houses them is outdated and hosted on an insecure site, so we cannot recommend utilizing registry.gimp.org at this time. However, you can also find some GIMP plug-ins hosted on GitHub. As always, download at your own risk when dealing with unverified third-party repositories.
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
Pixlr
What We Like
Extensive layer support with multiple blending modes.
Built-in filters and adjustment tools.
What We Don't Like
No social media integration.
Layer masks tool is cumbersome to use at first.
A browser-based alternative to Photoshop, Pixlr is owned by well-known software developers Autodesk and is quite robust when it comes to available features and allows for progressive editing and enhancing as well as original image design.
The Pixlr Express and Pixlr Editor web apps will run in most modern browsers as long as you have Flash 10 or above installed and offer a significant number of integrated filters along with limited layer support. Pixlr recognizes the main culprits when it comes to graphical file formats such as JPEG, GIF, and PNG and also allows you to view some PSD files, although those larger in size or complex in nature may not open.
The web-based Pixlr even has a handy Webcam feature built right into its dashboard that lets you capture and manipulate photos on-the-fly.
In addition to the browser version, Pixlr also has free apps for both Android and iOS devices that let you perform a number of editing features from your smartphone or tablet. The Android app is so popular, in fact, that it has been installed on well over 50 million devices.
- Chrome OS
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
- Android
- iOS
Paint.NET
What We Like
Streamlined interface is a breeze to navigate.
Helpful keyboard shortcuts.
What We Don't Like
No way to manage plug-ins.
Can't edit text after it's deselected.
A free Photoshop alternative strictly for Windows versions 7 through 10, the Paint.NET interface is reminiscent of the operating system's Paint application; the traditional image editing tool for PC users worldwide. The similarities are no coincidence, as the original developer's intent was to replace MS Paint with something a little better.
That was a long time ago, and Paint.NET has since grown by leaps and bounds to the point where it's comparable in some ways to the more advanced editing software on the market, both free and paid. This includes the ability to use multiple layers and blending, all the while maintaining a fairly simple interface that lends itself to even the most novice user. If you do get stuck, the Paint.NET forums are an invaluable source for assistance where inquiries are sometimes answered in mere minutes. Couple that with the tutorials found on the same website and this Windows-only graphics editor offers a user-friendly experience.
Although Paint.NET does not provide some of the higher-end functionality of Photoshop or even GIMP, its feature set can be expanded upon through the use of third-party plugins. For example, the application does not natively support PSD files but can open Photoshop Documents once the PSD plugin is installed.
The self-proclaimed fastest image editor available, Paint.NET can run in almost two dozen languages and is free to use for both business and commercial use with no restrictions.
- Windows 7 or higher
PicMonkey
What We Like
Cloud storage integration.
Make custom collages without signing up.
What We Don't Like
No layer support.
Free version is limited.
Another platform-independent, web-based design and editing tool with a lot to offer is PicMonkey, which was seemingly designed with the neophyte user in mind but also packs a punch for those looking for more state-of-the-art features. As long as you have a browser running Flash, PicMonkey is accessible on virtually any platform and lets you start your creation from scratch or begin editing an existing image file in under a minute.
PicMonkey will not replace Photoshop's more advanced functionality and you won't have much luck with PSD files, but it is ideal for working with filters and even creating collages from within your favorite browser. The free version offers quite a bit in terms of features, but you'll need to pony up some cash if you want access to some of the app's exclusive effects, fonts, and tools as well as an advertisement-free experience.
The premium adaptation of PicMonkey features a 7-day free trial that can be activated by providing your email address and payment information. If you want to continue using its advanced functionality long-term, though, a monthly fee of $7.99 or $47.88 for an annual membership is required.
With an oft-updated blog featuring a bevy of tips and tutorials, you should be able to figure out whether or not PicMonkey is the right option to suit your needs within the week-long trial period.
Smartphone and tablet users may also want to try the free PicMonkey Photo Editor app, available for both Android and iOS platforms.
- Chrome OS
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
SumoPaint
What We Like
Great layer support.
Affordable pro package.
One of our personal favorites, SumoPaint's interface will look very familiar if you have past Photoshop experience. The similarities are more than just skin deep, too, as its layering functionality and fairly wide range of editing tools, including several brushes and wand types, make it a formidable alternative.
The free version of SumoPaint runs in most Flash-enabled browsers and is mainly supported by on-page ads. There is also a Chrome Web App available for Chromebooks as well as users running Google's browser on other desktop operating systems.
More intricate projects may not be suitable for SumoPaint, and its file support is somewhat limited and does not include Photoshop's default PSD format. You can open files with traditional image extensions such as GIF, JPEG, and PNG while edits can be saved in the app's native SUMO format as well as JPEG or PNG.
If you try the free version and feel that SumoPaint is what you've been looking for, then you may want to give Sumo Pro a whirl. The paid version allows for an ad-free experience as well as access to additional features and tools for about $4 per month if you pay for a year in advance. Sumo Pro also offers a downloadable version of its software that can be used while offline, as well as access to a dedicated technical support team and cloud storage.
- Chrome OS
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
Krita
What We Like
Customizable interface.
Brush tools feature detailed previews.
What We Don't Like
Updates are often unstable.
Consumes a lot of CPU resources.
An interesting editing and painting tool, Krita is an open source application that has seen its feature set expand significantly in recent years. With a nifty palette and a seemingly endless amount of brush customizations which can be stabilized to smooth out even the most unsteady hand, this Photoshop alternative supports most PSD files and offers advanced layer management.
Free to download, the regularly updated desktop application also utilizes OpenGL and allows you to author and manipulate HDR images among many other benefits. Available for Linux, Mac, and Windows, Krita boasts a fairly active forum containing sample artwork created by members of its user community.
There is another version of Krita optimized for ultrabooks and other touchscreen PCs, named Gemini, available from Valve's Steam platform.
- Linux
- macOS
- Windows
Adobe Photoshop Express
What We Like
No registration required.
White balance adjustment with numerous presets.
What We Don't Like
Requires an internet connection to use.
Only edits JPEG files.
While Adobe charges a fee to use its main Photoshop software, the company does offer free image editing tools in the form of the Photoshop Express application. Available for Android, iOS and Windows tablets and phones, this surprisingly capable app allows you to enhance and tweak your photos in a number of ways.
In addition to correcting issues such as red eye with just a tap of the finger, Photoshop Express also makes it easy to apply unique effects and incorporate custom frames and borders before sharing your pictures on social media or elsewhere from right within the app itself.
- Windows 8.1 or higher (desktop or tablet)
- Windows Phone 8.1 or higher
- Windows 10 Mobile
Video tutorial: Linked Smart Objects
Smart Objects are layers that contain image data from raster or vector images, such as Photoshop or Illustrator files. Smart Objects preserve an image’s source content with all its original characteristics, enabling you to perform nondestructive editing to the layer.
In Photoshop CC and CS6, you can embed the contents of an image into a Photoshop document. In Photoshop CC, you can also create Linked Smart Objects whose contents are referenced from external image files. The contents of a Linked Smart Object are updated when its source image file changes.
Linked Smart Objects are distinct from duplicated instances of a Smart Object within a Photoshop document. With Linked Smart Objects, you can use a shared source file across multiple Photoshop documents which is a familiar and welcome concept for web designers.
Perform nondestructive transforms. You can scale, rotate,skew, distort, perspective transform, or warp a layer without losingoriginal image data or quality because the transforms don’t affectthe original data.
Work with vector data, such as vector artwork from Illustrator,that otherwise would be rasterized in Photoshop.
Perform nondestructive filtering. You can edit filters appliedto Smart Objects at any time.
Edit one Smart Object and automatically update all its linkedinstances.
Apply a layer mask that’s either linked or unlinked to theSmart Object layer.
Try various designs with low-resolution placeholder imagesthat you later replace with final versions.
You can’t perform operations that alter pixel data—such as painting, dodging, burning, or cloning—directly to a Smart Object layer, unless it is first converted into a regular layer, which will be rasterized. To perform operations that alter pixel data, you can edit the contents of a Smart Object, clone a new layer above the Smart Object layer, edit duplicates of the Smart Object, or create a new layer.
Note:
When you transform a Smart Object that has a Smart Filter applied to it, Photoshop turns off filter effects while the transform is being performed. Filter effects are applied again after the transform is complete. See Apply Smart Filters.
You can create embedded Smart Objects using several methods: by using the Open As Smart Object command; placing a file (CS6) or placing a file as embedded (CC, CS6), pasting data from Illustrator; or converting one or more Photoshop layers to Smart Objects.
- (CC) Choose File > Place Embedded to import files as Smart Objects into an open Photoshop document.
- Choose File > Open As Smart Object, select a file, and click Open.
- (CS6) Choose File> Place to import files as Smart Objects into an open Photoshop document.
Note:
Although you can place JPEG files, it's better to place PSD, TIFF, or PSB files because you can add layers, modify pixels, and resave the file without loss. (Saving a modified JPEG file requires you to flatten new layers and recompress the image, causing image quality degradation).
- Choose Layer > Smart Object > Convert to Smart Object to convert a selected layer into a Smart Object.
- In Bridge, choose File > Place > In Photoshop to import a file as a Smart Object into an open Photoshop document.
Note:
An easy way to work with camera raw files is to open them as Smart Objects. You can double-click the Smart Object layer containing the raw file at any time to adjust the Camera Raw settings.
See the video Open an image as a Smart Object to learn how.
Select one or more layers and choose Layer > Smart Objects > Convert To Smart Object. The layers are bundled into one Smart Object.
Drag PDF or Adobe Illustrator layers or objects into a Photoshop document.
Paste artwork from Illustrator into a Photoshop document, and choose Smart Object in the Paste dialog box. For the greatest flexibility, enable both PDF and AICB (No Transparency Support) in the File Handling & Clipboard section of the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Illustrator.
Note:
The Linked Smart Object feature is available in Photoshop versions 14.2 (Photoshop CC | January 2014) and later.
In Photoshop CC, you can create Linked Smart Objects. The contents of Linked Smart Objects are updated when the source image file changes. Linked Smart Objects are particularly useful for teams or in cases where assets must be reused across designs.
Follow these steps to create a Linked Smart Object:
- Choose File > Place Linked.
- Select an appropriate file and click Place.
The Linked Smart Object is created and is displayed in the Layers panel with a link icon ().
Note:
You can also create a Linked Smart Object in an open document by dragging and dropping the appropriate file while keeping the following key pressed:
(Windows) Alt key
(Mac OS) Option key
To change this default behavior, turn off Preferences > General > Always Create Smart Objects While Placing.
Since Linked Smart Objects maintain a dependency on an external file rather than embedding a source file within the containing document, they often result in significantly smaller file sizes. While Linked Smart Objects do not store the original file in the containing document, they still store a flattened and scaled version of the image data from the original file. In some cases, the size of this data may be much larger than the size of the original file, making the file size savings seem negligible.
If an external source file changes while a Photoshop document referencing it is open, the relevant Linked Smart Object is automatically updated. However, when you open a Photoshop document containing out-of-synch Linked Smart Objects, you can update the Smart Objects:
- Right-click a Linked Smart Object layer and choose Update Modified Content.
- Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Update Modified Content.
Linked Smart Objects whose source images have changed are visually highlighted in the Layers panel:
Note:
You can update all linked Smart Objects in the current Photoshop document by choosing Layer > Smart Objects > Update All Modified Content.
Note:
While detecting changes to Linked Smart Objects or updating a Linked Smart Object, Photoshop looks only at the immediate linked file. Links nested inside Smart Objects are not updated.
To resolve a Linked Smart Object with a missing external source, follow these steps:
- Right-click the Linked Smart Object layer icon and choose Resolve Broken Link.
- Navigate to the new location of the missing object.
- Click Place.
With a Linked Smart Object layer selected in the Layers panel, choose Window > Properties.
The following properties are displayed:
- The path of the external source file for the Linked Smart Object
- The Linked Smart Object size and positional coordinates (X, Y)
You can perform the following actions directly from within the Properties panel:
- Edit the contents of the external image file. If necessary, Photoshop opens an external application that can handle the source image file. For example, Photoshop opens Adobe Illustrator if the external source image is a .ai file.
- Embed the Linked Smart Object within the current document.
Do one of the following:
- Right-click a Linked Smart Object layer in the Layers panel and choose Embed Linked.
- Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Embed Linked.
- In the Properties panel, click Embed.
Note:
Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Embed All Linked to embed all Linked Smart Objects in the Photoshop document.
You can package the Linked Smart Objects in a Photoshop document, such that their source files are saved to a folder on your computer. A copy of the Photoshop document is saved along with the source files in the folder.
- Choose File > Package.
- Select a location where you want to place the source files and a copy of the Photoshop document.
Any audio or video Linked Smart Objects in the document are packaged as well.
Note:
You must save a file before packaging the Linked Smart Objects that it contains.
Photoshop always looks for linked files in the last-known relative location. If the linked file is not found in that location, Photoshop looks for it:
- In the last-known absolute location
- Using a saved alias (Mac OS only)
- In the same folder as the containing document
This behavior allows you to move, copy, and share project folders and files with minimal risk of encountering broken links.
Note:
The Resolve Missing Assets dialog always displays the last-known absolute path of missing source files.
Convert an embedded Smart Object to a Linked Smart Object
You can convert an embedded Smart Object to a Linked Smart Object. Transforms, filters, and other effects applied to the embedded Smart Object are preserved when it is converted.
Do the following:
- Select an embedded Smart Object layer in the Photoshop document.
- Choose Layer > Smart Object > Convert To Linked.
- Select the location on your computer where you want to save the source file. Enter a name for the file, including a supported extension. For example, link_file.jpg.
Filter the Layers panel by Smart Objects | Photoshop CC
- In the Layers panel, select Smart Object from the filtering pop-up menu.
- Filter for up-to-date Linked Smart Objects
- Filter for out-of-synch Linked Smart Objects
- Filter for missing Linked Smart Objects
- Filter for embedded Smart Objects
Note:
You can use the toggle switch () to turn off layer filtering.
- In the Layers panel, select a SmartObject layer, and do one of the following:
To create a duplicate Smart Object that is linked to the original, choose Layer > New > Layer Via Copy, or drag the Smart Object layer to the Create A New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. Edits you make to the original affect the copy and vice versa.
To create a duplicate Smart Object that isn’t linked to the original, choose Layer > Smart Objects > New Smart Object Via Copy. Edits you make to the original don’t affect the copy.
A new Smart Object appears in the Layers panel withthe same name as the original and “copy” as a suffix.
When you edit a Smart Object, the source content is opened in either Photoshop (if the content is raster data or a camera raw file) or the application that handles the placed format by default (for example, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Acrobat). When you save changes to the source content, the edits appear in all linked instances of the Smart Object in the Photoshop document.
- Select the Smart Object from the Layers panel,and do one of the following:
- Choose Layer > Smart Objects > Edit Contents.
- Double-click the Smart Objects thumbnail in the Layers panel.
- In the Properties panel, click Edit Contents.
- Make edits to the source content file, then choose File >Save.
Photoshop updates the Smart Object to reflect the changes you made. (If you don’t see the changes, make the Photoshop document containing the Smart Object active.)
Youcan replace the image data in one Smart Object or multiple linkedinstances. This feature lets you quickly update a visual design,or replace low-resolution placeholder images with final versions.
Note:
Whenyou replace a Smart Object, any scaling, warping, or effects thatyou applied to the first Smart Object are maintained.
- Selectthe Smart Object, and choose Layer > Smart Objects >Replace Contents.
- Navigate to the file you want to use, and click Place.
Convert an embedded or linked Smart Object to a layer
Converting a Smart Object to a regular layerrasterizes the content at the current size. Convert a Smart Objectto a regular layer only if you no longer need to edit the SmartObject data. Transforms, warps, and filters applied to a Smart Object areno longer editable after the Smart Object is rasterized.
- Select the Smart Object, and choose Layer > Smart Objects > Rasterize.
Note:
If you want to re-create the Smart Object, reselect its original layers and start from scratch. The new Smart Object won’t retain transforms you applied to the original Smart Object.
- Selectthe Smart Object from the Layers panel, and choose Layer >Smart Objects > Export Contents.
- Choosea location for the contents of the Smart Object, then click Save.
Photoshop exports the Smart Object in its originalplaced format (JPEG, AI, TIF, PDF, or other formats). If the SmartObject was created from layers, it is exported in PSB format.
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