Here are three free amazing and best software programs which can act as an alternative to Photoshop in Linux.
Photoshop is a raster graphics image editor and manipulator developed by Adobe. This decade old software is a de facto standard for the photographic industry. However, it is a paid product and doesn’t run on Linux. And it remains that way in the near future.
Though nothing technically replace a software however below three free apps which comes close to Photoshop in terms of its functionality
Also, all these three apps are available as Flatpak and Snap. So you can install it in any Linux distributions.
Best Photoshop Alternatives for Linux
GIMP
GIMP aka GNU Image Manipulation Program is the default and best image editor program available as free in Linux, Windows and Mac. GIMP is also as old as Photoshop in terms of how long the software are there in the industry.
GIMP is very active in development and each of the new releases delivers the next set of improvement, keeping in line with the industry.
Though some very advanced Photoshop features are not available in GIMP, still GIMP can match its features as close to Photoshop. GIMP also supports scripting, which is a powerful feature of this application. GIMP is supported by a huge list of free plugins such as GMIC for filters, which you can use to extend its features to a great extent.
How To Install
GIMP is available as both Flatpak and Snap which you can execute directly. Download from below links.
Install GIMP via snap Install GIMP via Flatpak
Or, if you use Ubuntu, Linux Mint, please run below commands via terminal:
sudo apt install gimp
For Windows, Mac visit this page for download options.
Inkscape
Inkscape is a vector graphics editor for editing illustration, logos and complex paintings. Though this app is mainly used to manipulate svg diagrams, however it can also be used for editing images as well and help with certain functionalities of Photoshop. This can act as a light alternative of Photoshop.
How to Install
Inkscape is available as both Flatpak and Snap which you can execute directly. Download from below links.
Install Inkscape via snap Install Inkscape via Flatpak
You can also install Inkscape via terminal using the below commands if you are using Ubuntu/Linux Mint and derivatives.
sudo apt install inkscape
Darktable
Darktable is a photo editing, photo workflow application designed to handle raw photos. It has the ability to manage photos in a non-destructive way for post-production. Like Photoshop, it can also handle/edit raster graphics as well and this app is really helpful to the photographers who handle large number of photos for their workflow.
You can find more darktable features here.
How to Install
Darktable is also available as both Flatpak and Snap which you can execute directly. Download from below links.
Install darktable via Flatpak Install darktable via snap
Alternatively, you can also use the below commands via terminal to install darktable if you are using Ubuntu/Linux Mint and derivatives:
sudo apt install darktable
Summary
Photoshop is an amazing application and became a standard today. However, I feel above three free apps can somewhat be close to photoshop and act as best Photoshop Alternatives for Linux systems.
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