Online Photoshop Alternatives: Which is Best?
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- Опубликовано: 4 май 2024
- Online Photoshop alternatives compared, including Pixlr, Canva, Photopea, Adobe Express and Photoshop on the Web. This video has a particular focus on testing true Photoshop functionality, including layer effects and the accurate import and export of PSD files.
The five cloud packages reviewed can be accessed from the following links. Note that the first four can be used for free, and that Pixlr and Photopea can be used for free without creating an account.
Pixlr: pixlr.com/
Canva: www.canva.com/
Photopea: www.photopea.com/
Adobe Express: express.adobe.com/
Photoshop on the Web: www.adobe.com/uk/products/pho...
If you enjoy this video, you may find useful my video “Explaining Image File Formats”: • Explaining Image File ...
There is also a full list of my videos on free software here:
www.explainingcomputers.com/f...
More videos on computing and related topics can be found at:
/ @explainingcomputers
You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: / @explainingthefuture
Chapters:
00:47 Pixlr
06:59 Canva
10:27 Photopea
14:17 Adobe Express
16:39 Photoshop on the Web
19:46 Wrap
#Photopea #Pixlr #Canva #Photoshop #AdobeExpress #ExplainingComputers 
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Anytime I think I'm a pretty good developer, I remember that Photopea was created by one person and I'm reminded that there's levels above me.
What a beautiful comment.
but it took him 10 years
Keep humble: there's nearly *always* better, there's nearly always worse than I as well.
Soon, there will be an MIT-license alternative to Photopea, with a Peocreate-inspired "invisible" interface, with a feature-set approaching Krita. :-)
Don't compare yourself to others or if you do, use that as motivation to become even better.
Greetings from across the pond near Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. It just doesn't get better than EC. It just doesn't. Such a treasure. Thanks for all your hard work.
Thanks for your support, most aappreciated. :)
I tend to look on Photoshop as a GIMP alternative ;)
👍
Photoshop supports .xcf files now? 😀
It's nowhere nears as intuitive and looks old fashioned which is why IMO so many people stick to photoshop.
@@rupertthecatandfamily I don't find Photoshop especially intuitive, and as to looks... that's just superficial. At least I don't have to sell one of my kidneys to get GIMP.
@@ftumschk that is why I an using cs6 which I purchased years ago. Started with the first version of photoshop and it is very difficult to change.
ExplainingComputers always uploading awesome, informative and straight to the point videos!
Thanks. :)
I heard about Photopea but never used it. Thank you for pointing that one out.👍
Gimp is my preferred Photoshop alternative. I haven’t used Photoshop a lot in my life, as you need to pay for it of course, and the only times I used was during some of my Middles School classes. Gimp allows me to mess and play with screenshots, making art and change them to make them look different!
People say that it’s missing some things, but it doesn’t bother me that much since I’ve grown up with Gimp more than Photoshop. Gimp is a must have Linux application to those looking to make great photo edits!
Works with Windows too. I'm not great at using photoshop but I can do more with Gimp even with my lacking skills.
I agree, I tend to use GIMP near daily. It's great to have as a Linux user!
And yet GIMP still can't handle simple vector layers and masks. It's been decades and GIMP still can't do basic vector image editing operations! And don't get me started on the awfulness of Inkscape. Photopea handles vector layers and masks approximately the same as Photoshop. GIMP had its chance to clone Photoshop and has failed to do so. Even a cursory glance at Photopea immediately blows GIMP out of the water.
GIMP is awesome.! 👍I think many people would stop paying big $$ for photoshop if they gave GIMP a good honest try.
I really wish there was a good alternative to GIMP. The fact that they _still_ don't have non destructive editing ruins it for me.
Lucky for me, I don’t have any psd files. But I suppose many people do. It’s good to know that there is an alternative.
Great video. Photopea looks very good, can't wait to start using it on Linux mint, it's also great that you don't need an account for it either.
A very informative video, especially Photopea... I'll have to have a look at that...
Thank you Chris and as always stay well - see you next week!
Good comparisons, that must have been time consuming, thanks for all you do. 👍
Time consuming, but rewarding! This video left me with knowledge that I wanted based on "I've actually tried them all now" evidence!
@@ExplainingComputers thanks it was a great episode 👍👍
Corel PaintShop Pro user here. Just gets the job done.
Thank you, Chris. Because of this video, I’ll be saving some money on Photoshop
Excellent! :)
(Does he mean PhotoPea?)
I love these well-researched dives, Chris. You make my Sundays.
Nice already Sunday! Today with Photoshop alternative we can do nice things. Competition is everything too. Chris for president!
Great comparison video, Chris. It would be PhotoPea for me too, If I needed an image editor. Stay safe and well and thanks for sharing.
I love Photopea. Thanks Chris for sharing more details about each program. Your point of view is right on target.
Canva has acquired Affinity. Which means another one-time purchase bundle about to go software subscription (SaaS) in the future. Probably not today, but never say never.
I'm sticking to Corel for ease of use + lifetime ownership + no frequent updates pestering me. Just a solid, utilitarian suite.
That's a depressing comment. For many Affinity without a subscription, (instead a one off purchase), is a main selling point
They say that a version of Affinity Photo/etc with a perpetual licence will remain available. We shall see . . .
Wonderful clear insight once again - thank you!
I'm not heavy graphic design user, but it's fun how Photopea looks more closer to Photoshop than Photoshop itself.
The thing that made me prefer Photopea is that it can work offline, although I think that browser based apps can be less performant than native desktop apps.
Thanks Chris!
Another brilliant video Mr Chris!!! Best thing about a Sunday evening !
Thank you for another clear and coherent video that makes choosing an option much easier.
Thanks so much for making these compilations! I learned about Photopea from one of your own previous videos.
Very informative as usual and down to the point. Thank you for maintaining the quality and objectivity of your videos!
I agree, it is always good to have a picture of a bee. Truly, interesting online image editors. Looking forward to your next video!
Thanks Perry.
@@ExplainingComputers You are always very welcome!
Haha i laughed out loud when you Changed best to worst without hesitation whiling editing with canva😂
Thanks Chris! Photopea looks fantastic, I'll have to keep it in mind if I'm ever away from my home machine.
Excellent and clear as always. Thank you
Great info, thanks Chris, I'll try out Photopea asap ! 😊
Thank you SO much for this video! I've been using PS since version 3 and have really wanted something portable, YOU have done it :) I always love your videos and can't wait to see whats next.
Enjoy Photopea!
I'm not even surprised that a non-Adobe Photoshop alternative managed to out-Photoshop actual Adobe Online Photoshop. I'd never heard of Photopea, but I'll definitely be using it when/if I actually make it to the "learn to do basic image editing" item on 2024's todo list. I really like that it's fully PSD compatible and supports advanced features, so it can grow with me.
A friend of mine is trained on Adobe Cloud products for work, but can't get a home license for personal projects. I'm going to send them PhotoPea to check out.
Spectacular video. :)
Photopea is awesome, for me I can set canvas size and create pictures for low res Oled displays in an instant and I am sure I could do this in all the other stuff too !! But I just like it and now with your seal of approval I like it even more because I know you use this software in the wild...cheers.
Pro tip for Photopea: You can also upload custom fonts 😉
If you used Photoshop to create a psd which includes a non-system font, the font won't be correct if you open the psd in Photopea. Just import your custom font and you are good to go ☺️
The fonts are usually a problem, same as with a Powerpoint presentation on a different laptop which doesn't have the used fonts installed. Make sure you have your fonts at hand 🙂
Yes, true. And if you load in fonts, you can select for them to be automatically uploaded on subsequent loads.
Same with Pixlr.
Pro tip: Use PDFs for presentations, not Powerpoint. You can embed the fonts and PDFs are readable on pretty much anything. The only features that Powerpoint has that PDFs don't are music embeds and transitions for elements on a single slide which are largely unpopular or unnecessary.
The fact that things like this exist at all is amazing to me
I'm glad to so a comparison and basic evaluation, since much of my experience is GIMP.
This is one of the most useful video in months on RUclips! Photopea is impressive. And I love your British humour (worst AI websites 😅). Canva has bought Affinity and I am wondering if these offline products will becime subscriptions...
Such great information, Thank you, :)
great episode Chris...I don't do much photo editing anymore but a great find and good to know if I need to in the future..
Thanks Chris for the video, PHOTOPEA, wow !
Well researched content thanks for sharing
This video is going to be useful for many people. 👍
Wow, PhotoPea seems very useful!
Good video, I choose Gimp 👍
Useful stuff. Bookmarked!
It's coincidental this video has been down loaded at the exact time that I have been looking for a Photoshop stand alone or web based alternative without the premium graft Adobe charges. I remember having to fork out $400+ for lifetime licence in the early 2000's for a photo editor program that was really feature rich, however it really sucked up a lot of hardware and memory resources at a time when computer hardware were nowhere near as powerful as they are today. I somehow misplaced original CD and license key, it wasn't Photoshop, it definitely was on par with it if not superior. In the past decade and a half I've basically been using freeware or trial versions to do my photo editing with say-so success. This EC video has saved me wasting a lot of time searching with Photopea being the alternative that I've been looking for. Cheers Chris 👍
Good luck with Photopea. :)
@@ExplainingComputers Will do.👍
Well this should be interesting, let's have a closer look 😊
Excellent video 👍 Thank you 💜
Thanks, more useful even than usual as I'm a photographer and very dependent on LR & PS.
An invaluable video. I love to see a company like Photopea out do Adobe. The day can't come soon enough where Adobe is no longer the king of the hill. This video took a lot of work and I appreciate it Chris. Thank you soo much.
How useful, thank you for this. 🙂
Good evening y'all!
Greetings Chris! Informative video. It's great to know there's a good web alternative to photoshop in the form of photopea.
2 o'clock already, time flies went your having fun. I used to use Gimp but start using krita some time ago I like it, and make use of psd.
Great content, thanks Sir
Wow!! Thanks again.
Many years ago I worked at a TV station in Telecine. When tweeking the colour and exposure of a film we did it mostly by looking at the waveform on the CRO. So, make the blacks black and the whites white (easy to do by waveform once you know what to look for) and you were 90% done as it did not depend upon the colour accuracy of the monitor. A final look at the image for any additional tweeks. Run the film for a few seconds to be sure then cue it up for transmission. The same applies for any still images we needed for transmission. I still use the 'make the blacks black and the whites white' technique in PhotoShop.
And it remains a good way to work! :)
Very impressive reviews, and Photopea is absolutely amazing!
Greetings Chris!
Great video, as always. I don’t have a current need to edit PSD files, but should that need arise I will choose PhotoPea.
11/10. Thank you really appreciated.
I like PhotoPea. One of it's killer features for me is the "Magic replacement tool" that is great for removing people and artifacts in life photos. Also I like the user plug-ins and although it doesn't support PS plug-ins, its library is increasing with the amazing effects.
These web based photoshop alternatives are great when having to use a locked down computer, such as at a public library or work environment
A very good point.
A lot of love & respect from Pakistan. Your videos are always well researched. Donot stop making theses videos!
Good job. very helpful
I've finally switched over to gimp instead of the student copy of Photoshop cs6...
One thing I wish it had was some sort of AI tools for selecting objects to move to a new layer... And like an AI stamp tool to remove it from the layer.
Like I can do this stuff by hand... But it does kinda start to cause a tension to form in my throat and chest... (This originally happened when trying to get stuff to snap when building settlements and the vault 80 something....)
Wow that photopea will come handy!
I came to the same conclusion in 2020 but good to see an update as things chnge
Well, thanks. I've been looking for a PS alternative. Cheers!
1:31 The free Pixlr doesn't seem too bad. The first thing I look for with these alternatives is the content aware fill. With Pixlr it's the Band-Aid tool (2nd row 4th icon). I just tried an image that even Photoshop content aware fill has trouble with and it did a little better. It's actually even a tad better than photoshop on simple clean backgrounds but the more complex the background they are all about the same. I know Gimp has Heal or Resynthesizer as the alternatives to Content aware fill, I haven't tried those yet. They are plugins though not built natively into Gimp.
Good morning, everyone!
Afternoon for me.
Greetings!
@@ExplainingComputers Hi, Chris! :)
Night Time For Me :)
Good afternoon :)
very useful thanks
Canva is amazing with the tools it provides, allowing you to easily make greeting cards or promotions. And the UX felt very easy to handle.
It is indeed extraordinary what it allows you to quickly do online.
Nice introduction. If I am not wrong, Pixlr offers a web app for Chromium based browsers. I also have this list of web apps I can use for low performance laptops though it is becoming exceedingly rare, even my old i5-3317U can handle GIMP and stuff. I tried a N100 laptop, can be kinda slow from single core performance (despite being skylake), it does such apps reasonably well too.
Thanks for sharing
Gave a like even before watching this video.🎉❤😊
Great, Photopea supports multiple languages, even Slovenian!!!
Photopea being a pure JS application can probably be downloaded to the local computer and run locally without having to visit a website. Looking at the very short HTML source code and the number of network requests being made (only a handful), it looks completely isolated and wouldn't be too hard to strip out the ad and cookie handling requests (i.e. remove the ads and cookie trackers) so that it makes zero external network requests and works completely offline. I just did a quick surface test of Photopea and it immediately blows away GIMP. GIMP continues year after year to fail to clone Photoshop. GIMP *still* can't do vector layers and masks, which Photopea handles like a champ.
What I'm trying to say here is that all of the components required for Photopea could probably be placed onto a USB thumbdrive and run from there without any network connection whatsoever. If someone's feeling cheeky, it could even be wrapped up in an Electron app layer to make it look and feel like a regular desktop app.
GIMP is difficult to follow if you are used to the easy UI and UX of paid creative apps. A common man would waste more time Googling the right menus and buttons whereas Pixlr is a no-brainer for those who used PS.
Kudos to The Document Foundation for recognising this problem with Free Open-source Software and offering a first-launch intro explaining UI and giving users choices to match what they were accustomed to previously. LibreOffice is truly a competitor to Office.
Gimp never had the intention to be a Photoshop copy. But I wish you much pleasure with the discovery of Photopea. A childs hand is easily satisfied.
It you are used to working (professionally) in Photoshop, Photopea offers a much better and much faster significant experience. I've no idea why you choose to dismiss it as a child's toy, which it clearly is not.
@@hansreynders6853 Gimp's official logo and icon is that of a grey cartoon mascot. Ironically childish, don't you think?
Awesome Thank you for Sharing! 💯✴
I have Photoshop and Lightroom!
I have tried Darktable and it's pretty awesome.
My kind of video, this, Chris. Thank you.
I use Pixlr for my thumbnails and my go-to for text in Shotcut who sadly can't do things like drop-shadow.
Pixlr is so simple but I feel like giving PhotoPea a go. So will look forward to doing my next thumbnail with it.
Also, looking forward to the video on GIMP 3.0 video.
Greetings! I remember for many years being very impressed with Pixlr. Then I found Photopea . . .
@@ExplainingComputers Just so I don't forget, I'm adding this to Google Keep.
@@ExplainingComputers Hello, Chris, well, I did it. My latest motovlog video of me simply driving around Eastbourne - #1806 - begins with the thumbnail - that was made with PhotoPea - before it dissolves into the video, proper. I tried pretty dismally to convert a PNG into a bitmap vector to iron out those pixels when stretched. Calling the Properties, or the Inspector, Blending Options didn't help but I think I'm over the worst now. I'll keep trying with PhotoPea for now.
Thank you Chris for a brilliant Sunday afternoon video my day is now complete. I’ve watched the video twice & taken notes which I’ll use at the photo group on Tuesday evening.
For me Photopea definitely gets my vote as it's got every thing I need & you can use it on Linux 😄 It’ll save me having to dual boot into windows every time I need to edit photos plus not having to use GIMP (hair pulling time). Regards Alan :)
Greetings Alan! I thought you may find this interesting.
Very useful. One question that is perhaps not asked these days is whether we actually need Adobe products at all bearing in mind the advances that have been made elsewhere since they were the greatest game in town.
Creative cloud stated the subscription model but has also fuelled sites like photopea, so may end up being an own goal.
For non commercial use it’s expensive, like office.
Cool alternatives! As a GIMP user I was about to comment I am OK with GIMP without finishing the video, but the AI functionality at those alternatives are worth giving a try.
Out of context; will you review Commander X16 any time soon? It would be a cool addition to your Retro Computing series!
I'll take a look at Commander X16.
Photopea looks pretty impressive. The similarity of the UI to Photoshop is a big plus, as is the ability to provide basic edits on RAW files. While it opens some of my .xcf files without incident, some don't open properly (running Photopea in Firefox, might work better with a Chromium-based browser), so switching back and forth from GIMP might not work so well. One hopes that going forward, Photopea retains the ability to use the app without an account or subscription.
Thank you. I have sent links to my 2 Granddaughters and will try this out (I can't stand the UI and usability mess of GIMP !)
FYI, I used to have both Photoshop and Corel because of client requirements. I could always do whatever was needed faster, easier with less clicks in Corel than Photoshop, including Apple's show demonstrators.
Great episode! However, I think we can analyze this in two ways: 1) Alternatives to do similar work as Pshop.; 2) Alternatives to Pshop. but being able to use already created files in the application.
I think that are two related things, but different.
Of course, someone would like to be able to use already edited work in a new alternative, but that's the catch: staying in that proprietary format and ecosystem or not.
If you can sacrifice a part of the already made work, there are more alternatives. If you can't... Well, as we saw, not many.
Very interesting and is a real problem when you have experience and known workflow, to migrate. I have a similar dilemma right now with C.Draw... And I'm using an old version for now.
(product names edited to avoid YT automated censorship).
Why do so many people here not appreciate that PSD files are an industry standard used in pipelines and by applications way beyond image editing? For example, video compositing applications (like After Effects and Autograph), and 3D graphics applications, import and rely on elements created in PSD format? So it's not just about being able to use existing assets, but also being about to create assets in a pipeline of other applications.
@@ExplainingComputers This is a good point especially when one has to collaborate with someone else in a workflow. Unfortunately most players in related industry aren't learning this lesson namely that it is dangerous to standardise on a proprietary format. Partly it's economics: the largest player's format(s) will get the biggest market share etc.
Yes I agree in specific cases you can find an alternative format that works between specific apps but even beyond image editing we tend to be locked to proprietary industry standards.
Thanks Chris for another outstanding review. I have allot of my parents photos that I need to be retouched so I can send my nephews. This looks like the acceptable alternative to the $$$ Adobe Photoshop program when Gimp can handle the load.
Have a great week!
BTW! Nice drawing, from a stick-figure school graduate….😂!
Woow nice! 👍👍
Thanks 👍
Very interesting episode Chris. As a long time user of Photoshop 7 for photographic work, when I needed a 64 bit program to cooperate with the latest version of Neat Image I bought the very reasonably priced program Photoline, which is an excellent Photoshop replacement. It will handle psd files but I've never tried it with multiple layer files. In it you can create actions, similar to Photoshop, which is a most important feature as far as I'm concerned. Edit. Just tried it with a 5 layer file and no problems at all. Btw, Photoline runs perfectly in Wine on Linux.
I will take a look at Photoline. But as you note, it always depends on the use case. For some of us, Photoline needs to to a lot more than handle layers -- it also needs to handle text, vectors, masks and all Photoshop layer effects. As this video shows, every package can handle layers, only two here can do so correctly. As far as I can see from a quick check, Photoline has good PSD import, but not export, so cannot be use in a pipeline that requires Photoshop (eg in video editing, video compositing or 3D graphics).
Great video. Would love to see one comparing gimp, krita and other desktop alternatives
I've done a couple of such episodes in the past -- ruclips.net/video/TXr6IBK2ElA/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/IQ7Ly-9sX4k/видео.html But I may well revisit soon, not least as GIMP 3.0 will be with us soon.
Nice !
The genuine "alternate to" video I ever watched...
not my area of interest but still a very informative unbiased presentation
Perhaps we sit on the tipping point of transferring the training toll from the person to the system, app agnostic. Graphic editing is an instance. For the majority of users, app functionality is a commodity.
Also, Photopea has a time based restriction on tool using. For instance, non-paying users wait 2 hours for reusing 'background removal'.
Interesting. For me all I want is the tools. The automated/AI stuff (like automated background removal) is nice, but never delivers the quality of a manual edit. So if you have to manually clean up the output anyway (which you do) for a professional job, you might as well not waste the time and just do it manually first.
@@ExplainingComputers Yes, to my surprise, I've observed many capable, technical people resisting the use of AI in various forms. However, there's no turning back now. I've been a paying subscriber of ChatGPT since day one, even though I am an engineer with a 30-year career. Many colleagues tend to underestimate its value for some reason. But you see, if it can be described, machines will inevitably do it better. This even applies to tricky tasks like background removal when the subject has a lot of hair, which has always been a nightmare. Perhaps you might be interested in a recent interview with Mr. Huang, where he predicts the end of traditional software in the not-so-distant future. We are indeed living in incredible times.
Informative as usual.
I had thought that GIMP was clearly the best alternative to PhotoShop. You amazed me to find one non-Adobe photo editor that can handle PSD files.
Canva is something I use only for posters and flyers - which it's quite good at. I didn't think its image editing capabilities were on a par with the others.
Never heard of Pixelr or PhotoPea. I have now. 👍
Thanks for this. Once you've tried Photopea, it's hard to go back to GIMP. :)
This better be a popular video. I know that the past few videos have not been that popular, but judging by the title, thumbnail and topic of this video, I really hope RUclips will push this video out to as many people as possible.
We can but hope! :)
I have mainly just used canva for social media posts and never thought of it as a photoshop replacement, but interesting it could somewhat handle a photoshop file.
Sorry that we are a week behind, sir!
Sometimes? Life gets busy and "Slaps You In the FACE!" LOL :-)
Cheers! - Judson & Buddy!!
Greetings my friends.
I primarily use GIMP for photo editing "Bring out the GIMP" but it lacks a function which Adobe Photoshop has and is enormously useful: Curves. Open the curves function and move the slider dot on the right to where the curves are in the rectangle, then do the same on the left and TA-DA! Photo comes alive. I do wish GIMP had this function!
Huh... I didn't know until the 17:00 mark there was a new version of Photoshop. It could be that the new version doesn't have Curves. I use my 15 year old version in my Windows 7 Pro PC.
Thank you so much Chris for this outstanding episode. I have one important question: Do you know, or can you find out, if your personal copyright is in any way compromised by using these free on-line photo editors? Years ago, after using Adorama for multiple 16x20 prints, that the 'fine print' T's and C's for their service included their retention of my copyright to the image. I don't use them anymore.
I'm not aware of any copyright issues/compromises here, although I have not checked the background details for Canva and Adobe Express.
Amazing how web apps online can almost function the same as a very heavy app installed on a computer.
Krita is not “online” but it’s amazing. Recommend 10/10
Great
I really wish that there was a web based version of GIMP. I think that would be very useful.