1 – Acorn

This is a Mac product that costs $49.99 and works to help maintain the integrity of your image even after you have altered it. The program is not really for professionals, as it lacks some of the highly sophisticated tools, but has been improved so many time that it is now very fast and has some very impressive functions that you can use without making your image look as if it has been altered.

2 -Pixlr

You can use it free with the iOS and Android and it has over six hundred edits/effects that you can add or do to your pictures. It is one of the most popular online editors of our age. It allows you to do many of the things you can do with your standard pre-installed photoshop software, along with many other features to improve or edit your images. The interface is easy to learn and easy to use, which along with it being free is probably why it is so popular. It is a very popular photoshopping program that is used by many mobile users.

3 – Sketch

This is a Mac product and it has both an illustrator and photoshop, but gives them to you at a much lower price of $49.99. It allows you to add in layers and your own creations in order to alter and improve your images. The amount that you may zoom in is impressive and it is rather good at maintaining resolution and image integrity. There are a few features that suggest this program is worth more than the money you pay, but still falls just short of being something a professional would be proud of. However, if you are artistic and able to work wonders to digital images then you may not feel so let down by how well the program may be used for artistic purposes.

4 – Serif PhotoPlus X6

This is a photoshopping program that is rather sophisticated and sets out to be very similar to the larger and more professional photoshop programs, which is why it is mainly a desktop program. It works for Windows 8, 7, Vista and XP and costs $89.99. It has lots of tools that are similar to those on Adobe’s software for the PC, but it sets out to be a lower priced alternative. It is more sophisticated and ergo is more tricky to use and learn.

5 – GIMP

This is a well-known program that is free and works for Linux based systems, Windows and Mac. There are a lot of tools that you can use and you do not have to pay money for them. It does a lot of things that Adobe programs do. It can be a little difficult to learn at first, and people that are used to using Adobe may find it restrictive, but that could be said of all the photoshop programs on this article. It is actually rather good if you want to move away from Adobe Photoshop.

6 – Aperture

It has a sexy name and is more for professional use which is why it is around $79.99, so still not too expensive, and is a Mac software product. It has a lot of the functions that Adobe Photoshop programs have, but it misses out on many of the features that photo-editing artists would like. That is why it is more for people looking to clean up and improve images rather than make art out of them. It has refining tools and an Auto White Balance that uses tones in the image as a basis for improving the image as a whole.

7 – PaintShop Pro X6

This is a Windows program that is very streamlines and is based on the less sophisticated Paint program you find on your Windows computer. It costs around $89.99 depending on where you buy and when you buy, and there are a lot of tools for color correcting, editing and cloning. It allows you to use sophisticated tools flat editing and it has media tools with brush effects. It is a cheaper alternative to Adobe that allows you to build in another upgrade if you are willing to pay more.

Author’s bio

The article is written by Sonia Jackson from www.cool-essays.com. She writes essays on different topics and can give you useful advice.