So anyway, I created an updated version of that XdanielArt chart that contains all the Adobe alternatives since there are a lot more now than there were back when that list was originally made, and Adobe has continued to get shittier and shittier.
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This is an absolutely amazing list, and includes some of my personal favorite yet sometimes neglected options (material maker, kdenlive, pixelorama, LMMS)
Only thing I'd add is the blender addon ucupaint as an alternative to substance painter, but since it's an addon I get why it'd be excluded.
Another good premiere replacement is Movalvi. It’s single purchase and I use it for all my videos, it also has a keylight option for anything with greenscreen if you’re someone who relies on After Effects for that
I also shared this because the price unexpectedly jumped twice in the last two years, and it's a huge hurdle that is gatekeeping professional animation.
Anything is better than Adobe! The other animation software in your list are legit 👌🏻
Thank you for sharing this, I reference it regularly
(Toon Boom is the new industry standard, but unless it's needed for professional reasons it's an unnecessary expense. Their monthly plans are also extortionate)
I have very limited experience with animation, but my experience with Clip Studio Paint EX was generally good, and I was also impressed with OpenToonz (which is free).
I only bought the Adobe pack CS5 when I was in art school and got it for very cheap because of that. I got 1 free update to CS6 after that and havent bought anything from then since. However I bought the affinity pack, Rebelle, and of course Clipstudio.
I'm gonna put out there, as far as alternative DAWs to Audition go, Reaper is my absolute fave. I've been using it for over a decade, and individuals can buy a license for under $100 that gives two additional major version updates
you know, after using the winrar-style infinite trial to learn it.
I've never understood why people make fun of Reaper so much. In my experience it has __most__ of the functionality of ProTools without requiring a multi-thousand-dollar studio setup.
I've literally never heard of anyone making fun of it lmao, news to me
either way, a DAW is a DAW, and if you know how to make what you want with the one you use, real musicians don't give a shit which it is, at least not beyond "don't use audition if you don't have to because it's adobe"
most of these i don't have experience with, but as a studio one user, you are not required to subscribe. they were pressured into offering perpetual licensing again, and i think that is technically true even with the "updates" thing they do now.
This is MARVELOUS! Definitely saving this to share it around, if that's all right with you! (If I repost this to my Tumblr, I'll be happy to point them at your post here!)
I use photopea dot com as a photoshop clone. It’s free with ads (they use part of the screen) but there’s a paid option to remove them (never checked the price don’t know if it’s good).
mypaint should come with a warning for people who draw quickly, it has a bonkers time based undo (at least last time i tried). draw three quick lines and want to just undo the last one? tough luck, they're all gone
On the note of Blender slotting into a bunch of categories, v4.4 was a *huge* bug fix and general QoL update, and development of some incredible features are now coming at a breakneck pace, so if there was ever a time to learn Blender.
GIMP 3.0 just released with non-destructive effects and a TON of improvement to finally be a decent alternative to PS for image editing. Aldo they're now working on proper color space support!
Do you know if any of the photoshop alternatives (other than photopea) are able to read, edit and save RGBA channels, particularly in DDS or TGA format?
I'm afraid I don't know - TGA is a really old format (and no longer particularly popular) format so a lot of developers just kind of ignore it. I DO know there are places online (like https://convertio.co) where you can easily convert DDS or TGA format to RGBA, and vice versa.
Unfortunately looks like they can't by it's own since sbs it's propietary format, but looks like there is a plugin for armor paint that allows you to convert sbs files to the armor paint format https://github.com/armory3d/armortools/issues/505
What of Affinity Design/Photo/Publisher? Also on iOS I've used Pixaki for pixel art, but I haven't touched it in a while so idk if there's better stuff now
AE alternatives are still very much behind. Although blender has been trying - its still has wayyys to go.
Also just FYI - "Fable" shut down half a year ago or so.
Quixel Mixer (substance painter alternative) is also basically dead since 2022 (which is really sad, it was pretty great).
It’s not amazing, but I’ve done some fun stuff with the material painting in Procreate. If there was a good way to UV unwrap on iOS I would be set. You can really do a lot just from exporting from nomad into Procreate
3D materials are not something I have a lot of experience with, and it's been a while since I've relied on iOS - but I do remember liking Procreate for other reasons back when I DID use my iPad regularly.
It’s just a less known feature that can be fun for quick work. You can import a model, use any brush but set physical material properties, and paint directly on the model.
Great post, I’d also like to recommend Clip Studio Paint for pixel art, it’s not necessarily meant for it but it can make very complex animations in pixel art easier than most of the alternatives. But I guess that’s kinda covered by having it under animation!
Unfortunately the insane sale going on for Clip Studio Paint just ended. But even at full price its only just under 60$ for a perpetual license. Been using Clip for years and just upgraded recently, it does not disappoint!
Yeah!! Im having so much fun playing with all of the new brushes that got added. I also was only using 1.0 before, and so a lot of the free brushes weren't compatible, so now I have an endless library to pick from. Such an awesome accessible program
So this post is escaping my regular orbit - I'm glad it's circulating among artist types since that's who I did it for, but please don't follow me if you're going to be weird (derogatory) about kink stuff.
Also, DO NOT come into the replies here and talk about how X option or Y option is inferior to Adobe's option. If you don't want to use any of these, then don't. The idea here is to get away from Adobe. I GENUINELY don't care about your reason for not doing so. Keep those opinions to yourself.
Or you could use literally anything else. There's no moral judgment here against piracy, but it's kind of like pirating the Harry Potter novels: there are other books in this world, and most of them are better. You don't NEED it.
But I've used Photoshop for over 15 years, it's a bit too late to start a completely new art program from scratch, I don't have the time nor the energy to invest into something like this... So sadly I'll keep my Photo"Jack Sparrow"shop, thank you anyway.
Not to mention that while I mostly do paint, I also do some photo editing and very occasional pixel art, and based on the chard I'd need three different programs...
(but I do have Toon Boom from when school pirated it to us students...)
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Only thing I'd add is the blender addon ucupaint as an alternative to substance painter, but since it's an addon I get why it'd be excluded.
Thank you for sharing this, I reference it regularly
(Toon Boom is the new industry standard, but unless it's needed for professional reasons it's an unnecessary expense. Their monthly plans are also extortionate)
For iPad users the gold standard is Callipeg (imo) which is a one time purchase app.
you know, after using the winrar-style infinite trial to learn it.
either way, a DAW is a DAW, and if you know how to make what you want with the one you use, real musicians don't give a shit which it is, at least not beyond "don't use audition if you don't have to because it's adobe"
I would like to point out a couple things, if you don't mind; That being FireAlpaca and Paintstorm also have Linux versions.
Also just FYI - "Fable" shut down half a year ago or so.
Quixel Mixer (substance painter alternative) is also basically dead since 2022 (which is really sad, it was pretty great).
Some good options in there…
Or you could use literally anything else. There's no moral judgment here against piracy, but it's kind of like pirating the Harry Potter novels: there are other books in this world, and most of them are better. You don't NEED it.
(but I do have Toon Boom from when school pirated it to us students...)
https://postimg.cc/tYmvTkr2