M3 iMac and Photoshop alternatives…

[Warped9]

Currently I’m using Creative Suite 4 on my 2011 21.5 iMac. The main programs I use are Photoshop and Illustrator. But in the near future I’ll be getting a spec’d M3 iMac. I’m pretty sure, unless I’m mistaken, my old CS4 will not transfer and run on the M3 iMac. And unfortunately you can only get current Photoshop by subscription—something I absolutely refuse to do given I use the program only periodically.

Can anyone suggest a viable alternative I can actually buy rather than subscribe to? I have no interest in a subscription thats nothing but a ploy to keep getting money out of you.

 

[Bob_DM]

Currently I’m using Creative Suite 4 on my 2011 21.5 iMac. The main programs I use are Photoshop and Illustrator. But in the near future I’ll be getting a spec’d M3 iMac. I’m pretty sure, unless I’m mistaken, my old CS4 will not transfer and run on the M3 iMac. And unfortunately you can only get current Photoshop by subscription—something I absolutely refuse to do given I use the program only periodically.

Can anyone suggest a viable alternative I can actually buy rather than subscribe to? I have no interest in a subscription thats nothing but a ploy to keep getting money out of you.

Creative Software For Professionals | We Are Affinity

Subscription-free photo editing, page layout, graphic design and illustration apps for professionals. Try for free or buy for one low payment.

affinity.serif.com

 

[Jackbequickly]

I was currently using Photoshop CS6 for Windows which I know is "dated" but I do not want to get in the subscription mess. I also have a lot of learning curve invested in CS6 and it does all I need and more. I am now moving to aways from my Windows machines and going all MAC.

I don't suppose that Adobe would let me use CS6 for MAC to allow me to go from Windows to MAC.

Do they have such a program!

 

[picpicmac]

Do they have such a program!

You'll have to call up Adobe and ask them.

I have CS6 on my old iMac and when I move to a new AS Mac I will lament not being able to use the old Adobe software, as I too do not want to be on the subscription plan.

 

[Jackbequickly]

No subscription from Adobe for me!

 

[smirking]

Depending on what you were using Photoshop to do, you should give Photoshop Elements a try. That's not subscription based, will be familiar to anyone who's used Photoshop, and replicates a surprising bit of key Photoshop features.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Depending on what you were using Photoshop to do, you should give Photoshop Elements a try. That's not subscription based, will be familiar to anyone who's used Photoshop, and replicates a surprising bit of key Photoshop features.

‘Thanks, I plan on doing exactly that. Much learning curve put into PS and Elements will not waste it.

 

[MandiMac]

Currently I’m using Creative Suite 4 on my 2011 21.5 iMac. The main programs I use are Photoshop and Illustrator. But in the near future I’ll be getting a spec’d M3 iMac. I’m pretty sure, unless I’m mistaken, my old CS4 will not transfer and run on the M3 iMac. And unfortunately you can only get current Photoshop by subscription—something I absolutely refuse to do given I use the program only periodically.

Can anyone suggest a viable alternative I can actually buy rather than subscribe to? I have no interest in a subscription thats nothing but a ploy to keep getting money out of you.

My vote goes to Pixelmator Pro. Awesome tool for day-to-day and pro usage, too.

 

[Warped9]

Depending on what you were using Photoshop to do, you should give Photoshop Elements a try. That's not subscription based, will be familiar to anyone who's used Photoshop, and replicates a surprising bit of key Photoshop features.

Oh, I’d forgotten about Photoshop Elements. Thanks for the reminder.

My vote goes to Pixelmator Pro. Awesome tool for day-to-day and pro usage, too.

Another one I forgot. I believe Pixelmator can also be used on an iPad.

 

[FSMBP]

Another vote for Pixelmator...very good app! Photoshop is still king but I too will not pay a subscription for something I use maybe once a month.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Paid for and downloaded Elements. All works well except I can not get it to stick to dark mode. I select it and it say I need to shut down the app and restart for it to take effect. When I do restart, back to light mode😡

 

[coolguy4747]

+1 for Affinity Photo and Designer. Both also work on iPad. They don't have some of the fancy AI features some of the others have, but they are really good programs.

 

[ipaqrat]

+1 for the Affinity suite. I had used Photoshop, Illustrator (though I always preferred FreeHand) and InDesign (and PageMaker before that) professionally for decades. Affinity's Photo/Designer/Publisher suite is a reasonable learning curve.

That said, I can't give up Lightroom Classic. I subscribe to Adobe's Photography plan just for that. I watch the market closely, and I was just about to kick LR to the curb, when all of a sudden they got machine-learning/AI tools. Dammit, they got me again!

 

[phrehdd]

Without knowing what you are doing with Photoshop and which tools you consider your day to day go to‘s, it is hard to say what a good replacement would be in term of another software.

GIMP, Pixelmator Pro, Affinity Photo, CorelDraw’s Photo Paint (?), and a few others seem to have all the same basics as Photoshop.

I like Affinity Photo and use 3rd party apps with with it in a round robin fashion akin to plugins. Topaz and Luminar Neo.
I do miss some key items of Photoshop such as its “grain” tool and a bit more control to “wrap” textures around parts of images (Such as patterned material onto a shirt). My needs are 95 percent met with Affinity as I focus mostly on photo restoration.

 

[svish]

Fully satisfied with Affinity Photo. Not happy with recurring payments of Photoshop

 

[Bob_DM]

+1 for the Affinity suite. I had used Photoshop, Illustrator (though I always preferred FreeHand) and InDesign (and PageMaker before that) professionally for decades. Affinity's Photo/Designer/Publisher suite is a reasonable learning curve.

That said, I can't give up Lightroom Classic. I subscribe to Adobe's Photography plan just for that. I watch the market closely, and I was just about to kick LR to the curb, when all of a sudden they got machine-learning/AI tools. Dammit, they got me again!

I wish Affinity could make some Lightroom equivalent …