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Photoshop alternatives for the occasional user

To ‘Photoshop’ something has now become a generic term for ‘digital manipulation’. Adobe Photoshop itself is an amazing application, but it’s not for the occasional user as it’s only available on a subscription plan. If you need to just resize a logo or crop an image every now and then, the price is a bit steep.

So what’s the alternative for the occasional user? Many people are quite comfortable with making tweaks in smartphone apps nowadays, but that doesn’t give you enough control for most professional purposes. When you click ‘Save’, just what format or resolution is the image being saved in? It’s hard to know.

If you’re happy with a web-based tool, Canva is a free service which can do quite a lot. It’s particularly good for social media graphics. If you prefer a traditional computer based app, take a look at Affinity Photo (£50), GIMP (free) and Krita (free). All have different strengths and weaknesses, but there should be at least one which covers your particular occasional needs.

UPDATE: Readers have also recommended Paint.net, Zoner Photo Studio X and Adobe Photoshop Elements.

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