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Alternatives to the Creative Cloud

Forum|Forum|12 years ago
May 7, 2013
20 replies
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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?

Creative Cloud

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Anonymous

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wkjeiwoi

Participating Frequently

I have to admit Howard, I'm not entirely sure what you're asking here, or just frustrated with the direction software publishers may go.

I can honestly say that for the past year and a half, I have *rarely* used adobe products and have had vastly less stress in my life. My main tools are: Sketch 3, Pixelmator and iDraw. For web development, I use Text Wrangler.

The only serious Quark/InDesign alternative that I know of is called Scribus. It has some good tools but it's a bit rough around the edges.

HTH

pik80

Known Participant

I started using Affinity Designer for the first time today and it's great! I talked with someone from the company and they said that they should be announcing an InDesign competitor by the end of this week. If the ID competitor is anywhere near as good as their illustration program then there should be some great competition coming down the line!

Howard_Freeborn

New Participant

I've been a graphic designer for over 35 years... early days on Mac with Page maker and followed on to the first Quark. I use Quark still despite the haters. I work for International clients and produce work above and below the line. I have issues with CC on many of the points mentioned and other aspects. I fear the pricing structure may well change and accelerate. I use CS6 and dreamweaver and I find that working in house as a freelancer they all use inDesign mainly due to the cost pushes going back 5-10 years back and Quark loosing the plot at that time. I have stuck with Quark as it gives for me a secure platform in print. From brochure work to 2,000pg p[lus catalogue work... It is for me secure but I suppose this is via a nurture. What to come. I am investigating other vector and pixel based programs... I will look at a replacement for Dreamweaver but will use freelancers to assemble web design for the meantime... Quark I will continue to use as I find it is what I need for my design.

Alienbones

New Participant

I can't hate on Adobe since they are working off of a businees plan and no one ever said they need to do what's financially best for anyone but themselves. There will be no Sherman act at play here either since as long as there are rivals (and there are) Adobe can move along at full steam. Still, aside from Photoshop and Illustrator I find Adobe products severely ill equipped or flawed. Adobe Premiere is seldom used professionally in the film/ TV world. And you'd find a pink unicorn faster than you'd find a VFX artist without acne who uses AE over Nuke or Flame or a proprietary program as their main tool. AE is pathetic. Premiere is a toy. Audition is a joke. Dreamweaver is a deathwish. - I'd stab a hire if they coded for me on DW - And Flash is dead.

Photoshop - Nothing comes even close to this gem and industry must BUT Corel's triple threat of PShopPro, PhotoPaint, and Painter will get the job done and Painter bests Adobe in the brush category. GIMP is amazing as well and due to every geek and th geekette mother who bore them, it keeps getting better with new free plug ins. GEEKS UNITE!

Illustrator - No argument. Simply sublime but Corel Draw isn't too far off.

After Effects - Awww time for the big boy pants. UPGRADE to Fusion, Nuke, or Smoke (Linux/OSX only). I know, I know learning curve head. It's okay.... you got through potty training and tying the laces on your booties ... right?

Audition/Soundbooth - Pure JUNK. I'd rather be deaf like Ludwig Van. UPGRADE to Pro Tools, Logic (OSX only), or Samplitude (PC only)

Dreamweaver - BLOATED terror. UPGRADE to Sublime Text, CoffeeCup. Don't clog the web!

Flash - WHY? No really, why?

Premiere - We graduated kindergarten finally now did we? Avid MC is a BEAST but an industry standard that is made to handle anything. Lightworks Pro can handle any file and has a gorgeous interface. Premiere makes me puke. It''s slower than a lobotomized sloth on pot. Putrid interface and design. A blind man designed it. I'm putting some Benjamins down on that guess!

Soon Adobe will buy out Maxon and add 3D to it's stable of mediocrity. Adobe CC 2 will have Cinema 4D, Meanwhile, in the real world, Maya and 3dMax with Lightwave and Softimage behind them own the 3D world..

Adobe, pumped up Shareware at a ridiculous price.

frankgrimes

Participating Frequently

@alienbones You're mostly right here except for the fact lots and lots of professionals use After Effects. Iron Man HUD is one recent example as with most computer screens in movies. Lots of TV commercials, as well.

Sublime Text is still pretty weak. You can't even print with it. Notepad++ or Ultraedit are better.

Flash is still awesome, but I agree it's dead. Adobe completely destructed that one and it's a shame because it's very powerful. No way Javascript can come close to it. And whoever decided using a quirky, browser-specific language would be better than a complied, write-once, use-everywhere block of code?

Adobe CC2? What's that? I thought the CC was the CC. A (more or less) stream of updates to stay current, not another bunch of periodic upgrades.

Was considering buying C4D, but no more. LightWave 3D is picking up serious steam again so I'll go with that.

Herbert2001

Inspiring

My momma DOES wear combat boots. WHAT OF IT?

I said AE isnt used as a primary compositor and it isn't, not that it isnt used at all. Iron Man used Fusion and Nuke mostly and AE only for some tasks. AE is used widely in commercial and music video work mainly due to its strong motion graphics and swiss army like abilities. But you ain't making Lord of the Rings with it.

And Herbert, LOL I write my comments with flare brother not vitriol. Nothing I say should be seen as a personal attack. I'm sure everyone here is plenty intelligent.

@Alienbones: no problem, man. I recall I was in a bad mood when I posted my comment on your post, so again apologies for using "that word" against you.

And for the record, I stopped using Adobe software for my professional work about 18 months ago myself, though my students (web dev) still of course get taught "the industry standards" like Photoshop and Illustrator, so I keep up with them.

For me Photoshop has become bloated and laggy at times with the incorporation of 3d and video fluff - there are far better tools for both, and I myself use 3dCoat for painting 3d objects for example. The problem with Photoshop is that the core functionality has not really seen any major updates in a long while. I concern myself with professional image editing, and found Photoline a brilliant replacement for that.

It does full 8/16/32bpc, the layer system is arguably an improvement over Photoshop, and for the most part non-destructive. It has some rough edges, but on overall works better than Photoshop (for me). Being able to work with the curves in Lab mode no matter the image mode is one of those extremely handy workflow features that is hard to beat once you get accustomed to it. At times I yearn for an image editor that would incorporate some form of node-based editing, though.

Illustrator is a pretty good vector app, though its workflow is hampered by the legacy code and workflow. It's also been getting bloated over the years. Definitely would benefit from a cleanup. It's very slow to work with compared to Xara Designer Pro (which incidentally also offers full html/css web export).

I left Dreamweaver years and years ago, and now use Netbeans for all my development. SublimeText is indeed very nice for html/css/javascript coding, but not a true IDE with full php debugging and stuff for more complex server side projects, or CMS plugin development. A number of my students do enjoy SublimeText. And Dreamweaver is preferred by some students as well.

The code editor does not bloat the web though - it depends mainly on the quality of the coder behind the code editor. As far as coding environments go it's comparible to the type of clothing a person wears: very much an individual preference.

As for Afx versus node-based compositors: depends on the job. I wouldn't see myself using Nuke to create typical motion graphics - just works faster and more efficient in a layer based environment. I have enough friends in that industry myself, and they tend to favour Afx for that type of work. For compositing a layer-based approach is not that great, so I use node-based comps for that (I also work professionally in 3d).

No-one would be caught dead in Afx doing a very complex virtual environment setup - which is where compositors like Nuke rule.

And yes, I switched to Lightworks myself a while ago.

Anonymous

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-image

mytaxsite

Inspiring

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.

John_R_SF

New Participant

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

Inspiring

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

Participating Frequently

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

AtonMusic

Known Participant

Unfortunately nothing really replaces Photoshop !

The rest - you can ditch !

ReactionAtWork

Known Participant

"Unfortunately nothing really replaces Photoshop".

Wrong. This is what many people believe, when the only files they ever receive or create are TIFFs or JPGs! Endless companies think that if you want to edit bitmaps then you must have Photoshop - which is 95% overkill and bloat. Corel PhotoPaint easily covers the ground that most Photoshop users need, and the entire Corel Suite costs much less than Photoshop. And if you still love Adobe or need to open RAW files, but Lightroom instead!

And why bother with Illustrator? As a former Corel Draw user for many years, I was astonished at how clunky, crude, and downright awkward Illustrator is to use. Corel will still output the PDF, SVG or EPS vector files that people actually place in their documents / webpages.

dawidowicz

Participating Frequently

Well, Aton's phrase should be like: unfortunately nothing really replaces Photoshop/Adobe in the industry-based work.

As long as you work directly for the end client you might export your files in any format you like. The printing-shops are using all variety of software, including some ancient digits, but that's a different story. It's the result that counts in general. But if you are cooperating with other companies or individuals within our industry it's more likely you'll receive .psd or .ai drafts and source files. If you work on Corel then you're puting yourself in disadvantage since it's not reading Adobe's layers, blending modes or effects so well. And flattening every single change is counter-productive.

As for the workflow - it's simply a matter of a habit and preference. I find Corel "clunky and crude" and most plaussible reason is that I don't have as many workhours in it. On the other hand Adobe's soft were easier for me to learn in the first place. Now Illustrator/PS combo became intuitive enough that I don't think how to get to the option I want, I simply press the customed hotkeys subconsciously.

ReactionAtWork

Known Participant

Corel DRAW Suite easily replaces Illustrator and Photoshop. I used Corel for years until a marketing department (with a fat greedy Adobe sized budget) said I had to use Adobe products. So we coughed up 6x the cash for the Adobe suite and ended up with programs that looked very creaky, despite being the 'industry standard'.

Have you ever used Illustrator's Arc tool? Possibly the most laughably appalling 'tool' I had ever used. You can't even enter start and end angles, instead having to work through a complex construction of circle and intersecting lines just to get, say, a 60 degree arc. I was using tools 20 YEARS ago that allowed you to enter start and end angles, and of course Corel can do it.
How about Photoshop's appalling gradient tool? For years, in Corel Photopaint, you can interactively drag and adjust the gradient on screen and see the result instantly. No ridiculous modal dialog box and entering numbers, click OK, oh no that's not right, open dialog, enter number, click OK... oh no that's not right... open dialog...

People who have never used anything except Adobe don't really how much better things can be elsewhere - for a tiny fraction of the cost too.

Anonymous

ReactionAtWork wrote:
Corel DRAW Suite easily replaces Illustrator and Photoshop. I used Corel for years until a marketing department (with a fat greedy Adobe sized budget) said I had to use Adobe products. So we coughed up 6x the cash for the Adobe suite and ended up with programs that looked very creaky, despite being the 'industry standard'.
Have you ever used Illustrator's Arc tool? Possibly the most laughably appalling 'tool' I had ever used. You can't even enter start and end angles, instead having to work through a complex construction of circle and intersecting lines just to get, say, a 60 degree arc. I was using tools 20 YEARS ago that allowed you to enter start and end angles, and of course Corel can do it.
How about Photoshop's appalling gradient tool? For years, in Corel Photopaint, you can interactively drag and adjust the gradient on screen and see the result instantly. No ridiculous modal dialog box and entering numbers, click OK, oh no that's not right, open dialog, enter number, click OK... oh no that's not right... open dialog...
People who have never used anything except Adobe don't really how much better things can be elsewhere - for a tiny fraction of the cost too.

This is what we learned the hard way. After getting used to Adobe software, we thought there was nothing as good out there, until the forced creative cloud sunscriptions started and we started to really explore other software. Not just explore, but really test it and give it a good spin with an open mind.

Our creative team worked hard at exploring many other options and we were very surprised at what we found. There are very good alternatives available TODAY.

Corel, Xara Designer Pro, etc. just to name a few.

We also learned that Adobe software is very bloated with extra usless features for us and that most people only use about 10 to 30% of the tools with Adobe software. They never really use everything. This allowed us to really look at our needs and just focus on good software that meet those needs for us to provide our clients with quality work. We don't need any extra features if we are not going to use them.

Another thing we learned is that with our MAC computers, we can easy use good "windows only" software using products like Parallels Desktop for Mac. This made our choices even greater! The testing we have done has been fantastic!

I am sure many software developers are working hard to make their existing products better and others will be introducing newer products to offer. They all want to take advantage of this opportunity to help people that are not happy with Adobe at this time. Its just a metter of time. This is good news for us (the consumers) since it will always give us many choices for years to come.

Anonymous

Thanks for this helpful answer. Gives me hope as I leave Adobe far behind to use things like Corel, Avid, and maybe Quark.

PaulieDC

Inspiring

I've read through this thread for the most part and am pretty amazed at the time and energy spent doing everything possible to run unconnected replacement programs just to get around a subscription. The most amazing one is Premiere replacement... really? If you're working on high end video jobs you're going to gripe about a $49 monthly subscription? And Gimp for Photoshop... whoa... PS is a swiss army knife and industry standard for photo and some vector text and objects, and people want to try and run Gimp? I admit, I havent used Gimp, but I took a look at the release notes: "Most notorious bugs fixed are: not being able to remember JPEG saving options, slow canvas redraw, not showing page setup options on Windows.". That was dated 8/24/2012. WOW! REALLY?? Those problems in 2012?? And people rely on that software? Seems scary and risky to me. My point is this: if you earn an income with Adobe tools, then that's your toolbox, what's the problem? Cross platform and latest updates perpetually sounds awesome to me. There's always Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements and Lightroom if you want boxed software. I'll take Audition to Speedgrade at my 24/7 disposal on my Windows desktop and MacBook Pro for a monthly fee any day.

Microsoft will be doing the exact same thing with Office... 2013 is the last paid version. That's what Office 365 is and soon it''l be the only choice. Windows also, you watch. It'll become a subscription software like eveything else, a model that has been in the works for years. Adobe was brave enough (and crazy enough) to step out first, but it's ALL going that way. Class action lawsuits are a waste of time, the companies can price their software however they want.

OK, start shootin'! lol!

Biggles Lamb

Participating Frequently

The main gripe is that when you stop subscribing the software stops working

There is also the high cost and it is a high cost for existing CS users compared to the upgrade system especially outside the USA

Now that may not be a problem for Pshop users but for AE and Premiere users it is potentially a big deal as old projects will no longer be accessible

Also the CC system smaks of market manipulation and unfair practices which is illegal in many Countries

Then there is the manner that Adobe has adopted with Encore, it has been dropped, many Premiere and AE users still have to give customers discs and Encores menu functions are way behind other DVD/Bluray authoring software

As for Microsoft Office, for the vast majority of users Office 97 or 2003 oe 2007 will work great for many years to come.

That is the problem the mature products are getting to the end of their development and the bloatware that is so much of the CC is where they are making the effort and just watch software will split so you will need software A software B and software C to undertake a task, then they will have you forever, so enjoy paying $50/month for the remainder of your working life

Oh, do you know what you will be paying next year, the year after, the year after that.

Good luck with your head up your cloud, I sincerley hope it gives you all the satisfaction you wish for

Finally did I mention Adobes track record at issuing bug free software, no well I'm sure others will add to my scriblings

Col

pik80

Known Participant

I wonder if iBooks Author will become more of an ID competior of the next couple of years? Assuming that Apple allows support for other tablets and provides more advanced editing capabilities it might be a good competitor with epub work. You could potentially keep around ID CS6 for other projects other then epub since iBooks Author is limited to eBooks. Does anyone know if there are any good ebook plugins for CS6? Maybe you could keep up with epub advancements though plug-ins rather then relying on updates to ID?

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