Alternatives To Photoshop Mac Retina Displays

Add fast browsing and full-screen operation into the mix alongside integration of Faces, Places, and Photo Stream features, and you get a full set of sharing and syncing options to top off the Aperture package.

Subscriptions to Photoshop via Creative Cloud cost 50 per month and are popular with a certain segment of Adobe users, mostly the cadre of commercial artists, graphic designers, Web developers, and photographers who use multiple apps for high-end professional work.

To sweeten the deal for photographers, Adobe is now offering a special photo-oriented subscription package targeted to previous users that includes Photoshop and Lightroom for 10 per month (based on a years commitment), until December 31.

A similar offer targeting everyone else, regardless of past Photoshop ownership, runs until December 2.

And even some Creative Cloud cheerleaders may now be pausing to reconsider this path, especially in light of recent issues with Adobe security.

That, added to general consumer opposition to subscription software, may play a role in an accelerated quest for a Photoshop alternative.

Even when Photoshop was available as a perpetual license, the 699 standard edition price tag was steep, as was the 350 upgrade price, though a hefty portion of enthusiasts were willing to fork over that amount for the best image editor money could buy.

Adobe continues to sell Photoshop CS6, the last presubscription version.

We poked around and found nine good prospects that would be suitable for most amateurs and photo enthusiasts.

Some of those alternatives, not surprisingly, come from Adobe itself, while others emerge from familiar vendors like Apple and Corel, as well as more recent players in the software marketplace.

Note that prices can vary, and those below are the latest from the vendors websites.

While it lacks certain high-end professional features such as support for four-color separation, as well as other advanced controls, its price is about 17 of the pro version.

Photoshop Elements specifically targets hobbyists and advanced amateurs with a consumer oriented approach to image editing, such as Quick, Guided, and Expert modes.

Elements ships with an Organizer app (shared with its companion video program, Premiere Elements) that tracks and organizes photos and videos and facilitates creation of artistic projects.

Features such as Pet Eye editing (related to red eye in humans), Instagram-style photo effects, textures, auto smart tone, and content aware move make Photoshop Elements a strong contender for hobbyists at all levels.

While Lightroom is available via Creative Cloud subscription, its also available as a stand-alone license-based application for non-subscription purchase.

While primarily a photo manager on par with Apples Aperture, Lightroom offers a high degree of editing functionality.

Hobbyists with advanced knowledge of editing techniques or who shoot Raw may well find Lightroom an acceptable substitute for Adobes high-end editor.

Lightroom has an agreeable one-window interface thats easy to work with.

Advanced new features include Upright, which offers four options for straightening images with a mouse click; smart previews for working on images when originals arent available; advanced healing brush to correct irregular shapes; and a radial gradient tool that directs the viewers focus within an image.

While it bills itself as more photo organizer than editor, like Lightroom, it has a great many image- editing features that hobbyists and enthusiasts can rely on.

Alternatives To Photoshop Mac Retina Displays

Newer versions of the app fully support Mac Retina displays and join together the databases of both the Aperture and iPhoto libraries to promote the smooth transition back and forth between the different photo editors.

A new white-balance tool, an enhanced shadow-highlight editor, and an improved auto enhance feature balance the apps concentration on photo editing.

Alternatives To Photoshop For Mac