I recommend using Pixelmator. It was $15 at the Mac App store recently.
It has A LOT of the tools you get in Photoshop, plenty of filters, layer support, etc. and best of all iCloud support too (so you can save files using Documents in the Cloud), and it's only like 30MB or something ridiculously small versus Photoshop which takes like 5GB with all its dependencies).
Oh, and it's RETINA optimized so it looks terrific.
I was in the same position as you, getting annoyed at how terrible Photoshop looked on my rMBP. I like the resolution and the size of things when the screen is in Retina-optimized mode, so I don't want to keep changing things back and forth just to make one program look slightly better.
I mostly used Photoshop to create layouts for websites, marketing materials, documents, etc. and occasionally touching up a photo. I found that Pixelmator has taken care of that completely, so I haven't had to launch Photoshop since I installed it.
without layer styles, pixelmator = useless
without layer styles, pixelmator = useless
Or wait a couple months for Adobe to update to retina... I admit it looks terrible now, even the install screens are blurry but it's not unusable.
I'm amazed that people are so picky on features given the price when it's a very good value.
If you really want to, you can create many of the layer style effects by hand. Photoshop is one of those aging applications that is still dragging along a very heavy code base. I'm amazed that people are so picky on features given the price when it's a very good value.
why in god would i want to build each layer effect by hand? plus the fact that the whole point of layer styles is to have non-destructive editing. i couldn't think of a more stupid thing then adding certain effects, being told by your creative director to change it/alter/pull back/add more, but you have to start all over again since pixelmator can't do that.
plus if you ever need to collaborate with someone else using the .psd file (which everyone does if you're actually creating things on a professional level in a professional environment), you are royally screwed.
why in god would i want to build each layer effect by hand? plus the fact that the whole point of layer styles is to have non-destructive editing. i couldn't think of a more stupid thing then adding certain effects, being told by your creative director to change it/alter/pull back/add more, but you have to start all over again since pixelmator can't do that.
plus if you ever need to collaborate with someone else using the .psd file (which everyone does if you're actually creating things on a professional level in a professional environment), you are royally screwed.
Valid points, so for people who do Photoshop for a living Pixelmator is not the best solution.
However, for ordinary people who do things on their own (freelancers or hobbyists) it is just fine.
So before I got my rMBP I kept reading about people being pissed off at Photoshop because the canvas was blurry.
Answer: Just switch to 1920x1200. The image clears right up and you get added workspace to boot. Yay!
I agree. I'm using Lightroom 4 and PS CS6 at 1920x1200 and it looks great to me. If the text is blurry, I've not noticed. In these products, it's the quality of the image, not the menu text, that interests me.
Yeah, but if you haven't purchased the new one yet, Pixelmator at $15 is a bigger bargain than Photoshop at $200 for an upgrade or $589 for a full version (on amazon, since MSRP is $699).
It sure beats being a bootlegger. With something you buy on the App store you also get the ability to update and re-download as you please without worrying about backing up your discs or serial keys.
If you are on an older version of Photoshop then you are probably out of luck anyway. I doubt Adobe will update CS5 to retina, they will most likely just update the latest edition.
It may be because people didn't really fork over the money for a legit copy of Photoshop, so to them Photoshop = FREE while Pixelmator costs $15 making it much more expensive.
Not making any accusation, I am just saying that for a program that costs only 2% of Photoshop's price tag while doing most of what ordinary people would use Photoshop for anyway, people aren't cutting Pixelmator a lot of slack.
($15 / $699 MSRP of Photoshop full version = 15/699 = 0.021... or 2%). And even taking subscription options into account, $15 one time forever is still FAR less than any legitimate Photoshop buying option.