Linux Software Picks: Six Alternatives to Photoshop

Posted 10/05/2009 at 6:30pm | by Will Kraft

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Although many graphics professionals turn to Windows or Mac OS to execute their designs, Linux is far from helpless in this area. While it helps that Adobe Photoshop, the undisputed gold-standard program that most professionals use for raster graphics, runs on Linux through Wine, there are several native Linux programs that offer some of the same functionality. Furthermore, there are many free vector graphics programs that can produce infinitely scalable graphics much like what Adobe Illustrator can do. Aside from the software situation, there is no reason why Linux could not be just as effective with graphics applications as OS X and Windows, since Linux supports many peripherals like tablets out of the box with full plug-and-play support.

Are the Linux programs drop-in replacements for Photoshop and Illustrator? The answer could be either yes and no, depending on the way you look at it and what your needs are. If you compare the Linux alternatives to Photoshop/Illustrator feature-by-feature, the free open source tools will come up short by a significant margin and there is simply no way to get around that fact. If you actually need those features on a day-to-day basis, then you should get your wallet out and purchase Photoshop and/or Illustrator. However, if you can get by with less, the free open source software tools may be enough to get the job done and save you considerable money in the process.

Raster Tools

These tools are meant to work with raster (pixel-based) images. This type of image uses a matrix of dots of varying colors to create an image. Rasterized images have hard limits as to how much they can be manipulated in certain ways, but they support for more detail than vector-based artwork. Image formats like PNG, JPG, TIFF, PSD, etc. are raster-based.

GNU Image Manipulation Tool (GIMP)

The GIMP is arguably the most well-known open source graphics tool, and is one of the most mature open source image manipulation tools around. GIMP comes pre-installed in most distros, so there is seldom a need to manually install it. GIMP is quite powerful, with a large toolkit and support for layers/layer masking, channels, and over 150 filters to provide various effects. GIMP can handle all common image formats like BMP, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, etc. and can read many proprietary image formats like Photoshop native PSD and the various RAW formats used by some digital cameras.

GIMP is also very fast and has very good automation capabilities. Those familiar with Photoshop will find the tool window and filter organization to be to be fairly straightforward. GIMP includes the necessary tools for image cropping/retouching and works quite well as a lightweight (and we stress lightweight) Photoshop alternative. Unless you're a professional graphic designer, GIMP will probably be adequate for your needs.

However, GIMP does have problems. To begin with, its interface relies on a multiple window model that can be rather cumbersome for those not used to it. It is often essential to flag the tool window as “always on top” to keep it from hiding behind other windows whenever it loses focus. Fortunately, the GIMP developers are planning to convert the program to a single-document window interface in future versions; such functionality is already available in a derivative of GIMP called GIMPshop. Furthermore, GIMP has no CMYK support while other similar tools do.

Krita

Krita is a KDE application and part of the Koffice suite. Named after the Swedish word for “crayon”, Krita's layout is roughly similar to Photoshop, with a tool panel to the left and layer/color selection panels to the right. Although Krita is not quite as capable as the GIMP (owing in part to Krita's relative immaturity as a fairly new project) it can still do quite a bit.

When you first start Krita, you will be prompted with a preset template to use. There are several different sizes and color spaces (RGB, CMYK, and Grayscale) to choose from or you can define your own custom size and bind it to the desired color space. Once you have created or opened a document, you are able to use the toolkit panel (located to the left, just like Photoshop and GIMP) to work on it. Krita's layer and color management tools (and all the panels in general) are nicer than those in GIMP since they can be docked whereas GIMP's can only be free-floating.

Krita does have its deficiencies, but that is understandable since it is still fairly new compared to GIMP. Krita has about half of the filters that GIMP does, but the ones that are present work well.

Phatch

Phatch is rather unique. It is not an “editor” in a true sense, but is more like an image processor. Phatch has many preset image effects that can be applied to an image; these effects can be stacked on top of each other and be applied in a specific sequence if desired.

Phatch offers batch processing capabilities; if you need to apply effects like sharpen, add border, etc. to many images at once, it would normally take hours if you had to do it manually. In contrast, Phatch can process entire directories at once in minutes. Alternatively, Phatch offers drag-and-drop processing. Phatch may not be a tool you use every day, but it is invaluable in the situations where you do need it.