My New Year’s resolution for this years has a couple of line items that still need to be addressed, and the sooner the better.
1) Pull the plug on cable TV (Apple TV isn’t really a good replacement yet). And, 2) Pull the plug on Adobe’s Photoshop in protest of their new monthly rental payment scheme. If you’re tired of paying through the nose, but need some of what Photoshop does, here are two good replacement apps.
Goodbye, Earl
Take the Dixie Chicks Goodbye Earl song and apply it to Adobe and Photoshop. Yes, friends, wrapping Photoshop (or, in the alternative, executives who charge monthly rent for popular apps) up in a tarp may be the right thing to do.
Kicking the Adobe Photoshop habit is easier said than done, but much easier with either one or both of these graphic powerhouse apps you’ll find in the app bargain bin.
Top of the list is what many would call Photoshop mini. For $15 you get what looks like and works much like Photoshop– Pixelmator.
No, that’s not $15 a month forever. Just $15. Forever. If you live, eat, breathe, and sleep Photoshop already, then Pixelmator isn’t for you.
If you’re on a budget and need some of what Photoshop does, but can’t afford the time for the learning curve, or the monthly fees to pad Adobe executive’s bonuses, Pixelmator is a worthy but bargain competitor.
Does this look familiar?
Pixelmator not only looks and feels like Photoshop, it has many similar tools– painting, drawing vector images, retouching tools, 150 filters and special effects, and all the basic floating palette tools you know and love.
It even opens and save Photoshop PSD files. This may be the ultimate Photoshop-like bargain app.
Second on my list is the venerable GraphicConverter for the Mac. While it does some of what Pixelmator does, the claim to fame here is not ease of use or familiarity.
GraphicConverter is often used even by graphic designers high on Photoshop because of its built-in ability to convert files from one format to another. The interface resembles more of a hodge-podge approach to adding features and functions, but it all works.
There’s a built-in file and image browser with slide show functions. Use GraphicConverter to batch convert hundreds or thousands of photos. Color management is handles with ColorSync and ICC profiles, but like Pixelmator, there’s no CMYK support (but GrahpicConverter now handles Photoshop plugins).
You’ll spend less on both GraphicConverter and Pixelmator than you will on Photoshop in just a few months of renting. Why both? They’re different, though there’s plenty of overlap with basic image tools. Think converter and batch edits, vs. the gloss and shine of Pixelmator’s Photoshop mini approach.
Both apps are true bargains from the cost-benefit perspective, and while not as robust as Photoshop, they don’t have to be to replace functionality that is seldom used.
