Alternatives to the Creative Cloud

[davedunlap1]

With Adobe's decisions to force users to go to subscribe to the creative cloud, I thought it might be a good idea to get a list going of some alternative programs. I'm a designer working mostly in print with some web - anyone know of some good alternatives for these?

Photoshop -> Gimp

Illustrator -> ?

Indesign - Quark

Dreamweaver - ?

Flash - been moving away from that anyway

What programs are you going to look into to replace the creative cloud?

[wkjeiwoi]

A bit more on the idea that Adobe is the only game in town right now..

I got my first Mac in fall of '92. It was pretty exciting for me, not just having a computer, finally...but all of the software titles there were! We were silly with software possibilities. Many great ones died. Anyone remember Video Spigot?

Yes there was photoshop, but even the raster image category had *scads* of titles, maybe not every one a  heavyweight, but all with their niche, with some nice overlapping of functionality.

One survivor from those days is Painter. At the time, Painter was the only commercial title that was on-par with Photoshop. Still is, IMHO, however Painter's focus is "natural media" art creation.

Painter had layers before photoshop did, and offered many of the same tools, adjustments and whizzy features, plus many that PS even 20 years later lacks.

Things  simply seemed better then, to me, for the user and not in the 'lookin' back at the good ol' days' sense, but because the market place was healthy and alive with possibilities. Each company striving to do its best. Everything was up for grabs, no smack-down had yet happened.

Overall, I never had the feeling of being locked-down to just 1 choice, and that's part of what made that time very exciting and full of hope. Back then, it wasn't despotic.

Just my recollections and 2¢ worth..

[John_R_SF]

Thank you for posting this.

I am growing increasingly distrustful of the "Creative Cloud". Because of Adobe being hacked, my main credit card was canceled and I had to spend hours setting up all sort sof automatic payments again and who knows what late fees I'll incur for things I might have forgotten to change.

That's bad enough, but the software is becoming EXTREMELY flaky. The "Adobe Creative Cloud Connection" box pops up every 30 seconds, even though I'm signed in. I'll be in the middle of something and this &#*$&#*@&$ box just keeps appearing and I have to click OK or CANCEL to make it go away.

It's as if the legitimate, paying customers have to suffer while those who steal software have no such worries.

[Herbert2001]

I second Photoline as a great Photoshop alternative (minus the 3d and video fluff). It actually outperforms Photoshop in a number of key areas (such as how the layer system is implemented). Raw Therapee is a free open source equivalent to ACR. If you need 3d painting 3dCoat is far beyond what Photoshop can do. Lightworks is a good (free or almost free depending on the codec support you need) alternative for Premiere. Corel is nice too. For digital drawing Manga Studio (Clip Studio) and Painter do a much better job than Photoshop.

Xara Designer Pro not only is a great alternative to Illustrator, but also provides similar web export as Muse (as does its sibling Xara web Designer). And there are several good InDesign alternatives out there.

Dreamweaver can easily be replaced as well by a myriad of better web tools, editors, and IDEs: both commercial and open source (or free).

Only After Effects is a tough one - not a real complete professional replacement for it on the market as of yet. Though depending on the type of effects you are looking for Nuke, Blender, Motion, Hitfilm Pro, Fusion, Boris, etc. can replace it. After Effects is, however, very VERY flexible. And fast to work with.

[MyCoalescence]

Thank you greatly for the advise on alternatives! Every time people talk of alternatives I learn of a few ive yet to hear of. I look them up and get more options. ya corel and xara both look great. Others looks good also. Im trying to keep an open mind and look into any software people recommend. Also even hear good things about many freeware and cheapware. Even though id prefer against it. Id rather give my money to the next best company than just get freeware. That will show adobe by supporting a competitor. I was reading a few different news reviews and several said since cc was forced on us many adobe alternatives have seen 2x new subscribers. Thats significant if you ask me.

It may not be people leaving adobe in droves but they are leaving and/or new customers as myself are just not choosing adobe. I say im a new customer because Ive yet to buy any software but used adobe off and on for 10 years since high school. Also because as we know most people only upgrade adobe products ever 2-4 years it will frankly take that long for those people to feel like they need something new. I suspect it will not be for 1-3 years that we the current cs 5-6 users start switching to alternatives as would be their reuglar upgrade cycle. For adobe it wont be a 35% of people leaving in 1 year but it maybe 35% of current customers leaving over 2-4 years. Its still bad for adobe but not a sudden all at once crippaling blow. Im sure over those 2-4 years adobe will still get new customers so maybe that will off set the people leaving and maybe at 2-4 years the number of customers will be the same as now instead of if they had continued with cs 7 and cs 8 it could have been say 50% more customers. The whole time their competetors will be grows and adobe only maintaining.

I have 3 main wants in a adobe alternative:

1. group of products that could stand in for a group of adobe products, a few in a group that complement each other such as 2d, 3d, video, DTP, audio, web ect...

2. highest quality (professional, usable, intuitive, ect), this makes me wary of freeware, I know many have great reputations but the upgrades are understandable very slow and Im willing to pay for good stuff but not have a gun held to me and my computer as cc (credit card, cash cow, crazy cloud, critical contaminant and any others good acronyms)

3. going into graphic design so im interested in 2d (vector drawing and bit map/photo editing, DTP and some web

[Guest]

Well i don't think there is an actual alternative to Photoshop or a software with all the features of Photoshop. But i think photoshop elements can be used as a photoshop alternative since it will be easy for photoshop users to switch to elements.

Here is a list of Photoshop alternatives including both free and commercial alternatives.

http://alternativeto.hubpages.com/hub/10-free-cross-platform-Photoshop-alternatives-for-a-stunning-i...

[mytaxsite]

But i think photoshop elements can be used as a photoshop alternative

Or even better!! Continue using Photoshop CS6. It is still working and

start worrying about it when it stops completely!!.

People are worrying unnecessarily. Products can come and go but the

life should go on.

[wkjeiwoi]

Well i don't think there is an actual alternative to Photoshop or a software with all the features of Photoshop.

It is impossible for for a Photoshop alternative to have all the attributes of Photoshop. If it did, it would be Photoshop itself.

And, there was a time when Photoshop didn't have all the features it has now, yet people created amazing things with it.

Today's Photoshop alternatives are more feature-rich than Photoshop once was.

So, are you truly in need of each and every feature - and there must be thousands - simply can not do your work without all of them...every single one? Or..is there a subset of features you use everyday, which these alternatives have?

[rainschub]

No. It isn´t. For a Hobbyist or an private user espec. not.

But as an professional you have to handle files, given to you from other users.

And if THEY used functions, you can´t read, you have a problem.

Also most of the competiting (or all) are missing a CMYK Support in a professional way.

Ans that´s a fundamental problem.

[MyCoalescence]

I agree. The need of your software is as an tool. It depends on your needs and wants.

Hobbyist = dozens of free/cheap alternatives with new ones all the time.

Student/Prosumer = dozens of cheap alternatives. If you need to make money this changes.

Profesiona =  few options and fewer cheap ones. Inport/exporting of files can be a deal breaker depending on if you need to colaborate.

Top picks because they can all do this are Corel, Xara and Serif. If you cant handle the standard of AI/PSD you could be sunk right there. Yes many dont support CMYK at all or properly which is for many a deal breaker. Luckily CMYK is less of an issue than it was 10 years ago. I do prefer CMYK when printing but it is less of an issue that in the past. Programs are handeling RBG better than before. I think of it similar to how macs and pc were pretty much non compatable 15 years ago. Now they are compatable for most needs. CMYK is preffered for printing but I think less of a deal breaker as it used to be.

Consider MS paint. I opened in a few months ago for fun in windows 7. I was amazed how far it had come as a free drawing program. I compared it to what i grew up with of windows 95/98 and XP. It blew them out of the water. It could even handle several dozen font famalies and weights, had more shapes/colors and a simple pen tool. This amazeses me as free generally considered trash program. The point is what is cutting edge now will in time become standard and eventually become nearly free or included free with other things.

[wkjeiwoi]

Right..I get what you are saying but, with respect, this argument is almost a tautology..it's as though you're saying, "there are no alternatives to adobe software which are exactly like adobe software; ipso facto, there are no alternatives."

In reality, there are alternatives — for professional use — to adobe's fine products. iDraw,  iSketch and Pixelmator are 3 that my colleagues and I have used for professional work (yes, we're professionals).

In large parts of the world, Gimp and Inkscape users could not care less about what adobe does.

You might use Adobe 98% of the time, yet find that the first 3 apps I mention are far faster and more nimble than their adobe counterparts...AND can be used without breaking anyone's workflow.

I do not feel that the concept of "alternative" connotes the ideas that you will be able to do things exactly the same way while changing nothing that you do...that's sort of intrinsic to the word's meaning, wouldn't you say? It's doing something a different way, using a different resource, a different tool..

..a different mindset.

cheers!

[frankgrimes]

I'm not sure what we're really arguing here.

People have used Adobe software and gotten used to it. So, try something else and get used to that. It's absurd to think Photoshop is the only thing that can edit photos. Levels, curves, layers, simple drawing tools...what else do you really need?

Personally, I think PS has gotten to be ridiculous bloatware over the last decade or so. Who really needs another blur filter? Video editing? OMG. CS6 will last me a long, long time.

Someone else used the argument you need the current version because clients may use features in it that are not available in past releases. Sure, this could be true, but given the fact Adobe adds new and useful features and a slower than glacial pace it's unrealistic.

I just wish they'd spent the time to clean up the f-r-i-g-g-i-n' UI. Make the dialogs consistent. For example, some can be closed with the ESC button, others not. Sloppy. I'd love to see the source code (ha! Now I can thanks to the hack! *rolling my eyes*) -- I bet it's full of whole blocks commented out here and there with bandages holding it togther.

Honestly, what software do they have that someone else doesn't also make? It was convenient having all the types I used in one bundle, but it's not worth the price they're asking now. Not by a long shot. And I say this knowing I have free access to it, just won't.

[Phillip_M_Jones]

Yesterday, either Macworld or MacLife put out an Article about 9 different alternatives to Photoshop. Prices Varying from  Free (Gimp) $200.00

[wkjeiwoi]

here's the link to that article..worth reading, IMHO:

http://www.macworld.com/article/2064681/photoshop-killers-nine-os-x-alternatives-to-photoshop.html

[csunberry]

All I can say is that OpenCanvas is a FANTASTIC alternative to Photoshop. The brush engine might not be as good, but, it has a lot of potential and is approx $60. I've been trying to get Creative Cloud for three weeks---imagine how I feel, since I'm failing my class now. Good job, Adobe!

[will taylor xiii]

The student price has now been increased as well. I have loads of friends (also students) who go to the torrents. I've resisted doing that, figuring that $19.99 p/month was a fair enough price for student usage. But now, at $30 something p/month + tax (nearly $400 p/year), I'm thinking that I'm being kind of a chump. I love Adobe products and I think pirating is lame. But my lame friends have loads of great software and I've got a monopoly snatching 30 bones out of my student loan account every month. Hmm.

[Was DYP]

Hard to tell who the real pirates are now days.

[MyCoalescence]

Ya who are the pirates? Who is robbing who? Adobe reminds me of the robber barons of the 19th century. It was all legal but all dirty.

I dont trust new things especially fads. That is just one reason I dont trust CC. Dont get me wrong. I do like many of adobes products. I just cant risk my future on a subscription. I just read an article about adobe cc and subscriptions. It said within 10 years 50% of software will be SaaS (sale as a service). Im sure things are going that way but I will resist it as long as I can. I would refuse to pay even 5/month for microsoft windows which is 120 flat rate. I would not even pay 1/month as they then own you. If windows OS went subscription I would use windows 7 for the life of my computer and keep using it on new computers until the hardware could not support it.

[rainschub]

How to chancel subscriptions:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1050818?start=40&tstart=0

Thats Customer Care?

[MyCoalescence]

True that is customer support. This also the only maybe 2nd time in forum ive seen adobe make any effort. I would love to hear from a real adobe reperesentative who has some authority to comment in the forums.

[rainschub]

>MyCoalescence >wkjeiwoi

Wondering, how you can state, that CMYK-Workflow is something, that´s not important.

If you are professionals: Never had to use CMYK-Files with Color-Profiles to get a perfect,and calibrated image result??

CMYK is fundamental important for me (print standards of clients) and professional Print Designers.

Yes, it´s right, you can work with RGB nearly the same as with CMYK, but if you have to fulfil absolute correctness of colors, there is no (NO!) way around CMYK (for Print).

RGB can be used for Web and Video and all work, that are only produced for monitors.

>wkjeiwoi

"there are no alternatives to adobe software which are exactly like adobe software"

Of course. But if I used the 3D ability of PS and I want to use this file with an competitors App, there is no way to do so (as far as i know) for example.

Means: After the Deal (the CashCow) I have files, that are not to be opened with full access.

(A 3D Img. baked to a layer isn´t satisfying...)

[wkjeiwoi]

rainschub wrote:

Wondering, how you can state, that CMYK-Workflow is something, that´s not important.

If you are professionals: Never had to use CMYK-Files with Color-Profiles to get a perfect,and calibrated image result??

CMYK is fundamental important for me (print standards of clients) and professional Print Designers.

I myself never said such a thing. My background is Print. There are RGB>Press workflows which are handled by pre-press after you hand off your files.

And, I hasten to point out that there is the web, interactive and video, which don't use RGB, tho some files need to be converted to RGB for them.

I have to say I'm not much into having a feud; just saying that there are software applications other than Adobe's, which are capable of pro-level work, and which people use for such every day.

Cheers!

w

[rainschub]

I myself never said such a thing.

Xcuse - You are right. But (as far as I know) none of your 3 alternatives has a satisfying CMYK support (today).

And for many Print-Designer that´s the Deal-Breaker No.1.

I read your post in a way (may be I understood wrong) that CMYK isn´t very important.

True, there are RGB to Print Workflows. No question.

But if you want to reach accurate colors they all fail more or less.

But I know also, that many are OK with the quality they can reach this way.

[wkjeiwoi]

The CMYK thing is a road block, I fully agree..

a couple of years back, a buddy of mine and I experimented with Apple ColorSync, there is a lot of information on how to use it; I found it pretty thick and confusing.

our results were...on the good side...good-ish, compared to Photoshop's. Then there's Seashore, which can convert to CMYK, but again, in our non-scientific testing, I can't vouch for how accurately Seashore does it.

And another point, does Adobe have a lock on CMYK algorithms in software? I can't think of any other software publisher's software, now available, which does. Does/Did Canvas? Freehand did..

Naturally, CMYK printing pre-dates all of this computer stuff by quite a few years...

Anyone know about this aspect of the discussion?

thanks!

[rainschub]

No Adobe hasn´t a lock on CMYK.

A competitor can develop an alternative workflow.

Seashore and Graphic Converter (which also does CMYK Conversion) couldn´t use else.

And I think, it will come in a near future.

If I have a look, how the competitors around PS grew up last years...

I hope there will come a day, where PS isn´t the Nr 1 in Image Editing any longer.

There are already competiting Apps with features, PS can´t offer.

[MyCoalescence]

All I meant was:

CMYK is best for print. Are some satisfied with printing from RGB, yes. That is all.

Back to the cc alternatives. What companies are even doing a subscription option? Of the dozens of software companies on my quest to alternatives to adobe there are very few doing any sort of subscription or cloud. Many dont even have box or download options.

MS offics 365, looks like as adobe you pay more over a few years

CorelDraw Subscription and Premium, the subscription is an option and they still do box or down loads. The premium is you buy your box/download and get cloud ontop of that being early upgrades to said program. Subscription only is 200/year. Premium is 100/year and like subscription you get the next edition free and early access to new features ect. The upgrade cost for a full version is generally 200 and every 2 year so if you upgrade every time you are paying the same but get extra goodies.