Adobe has pissed off pretty much all of its consumer base by telling us they are going to scan our work whenever they want:
Not only that, they also discontinued some older versions of their creative cloud software in 2019 and we could be potentially sued by third-parties if continue using those versions:
Many artists including myself are looking for alternatives, so here's a list of Photoshop alternatives for digital artists.
I mainly use Photoshop for work work and personal work, but I do like to try out different software just for fun. Therefore I'm not too familiar with any of the following software to talk about their full potentials. Please do comment below to add your thoughts!
PC and Mac users:
Price: $54 for Clip Studio Paint Pro, or $237 for Clip Studio Paint Ex one-time payment. Also there are several options to upgrade.
CSP is my second most frequently used software besides Photoshop. Since everything becomes a monthly subscription, lots of artists have moved to CSP which offers one-time payment to buy a permanent license.
It has a very wide user base, so you'll find many resources, tutorials, brushes, etc that other artists have shared online.
It has all the features you'll need for drawing and painting purposes, but color editing or photo editing is not as strong. I find my colors in CSP always turned out to be a bit more muted than Photoshop. Might just be a me problem tho ~(￣▽￣)~*
Price: free
I just tried Krita yesterday even though I have heard of it for a long time. Its FREE! I don't know why I never download it before.
It's also very popular among artists because it's so affordable (free), which means you'll also find lots of resources and such online.
I can't speak to how much I like painting in it because I just tried out the brushes basically. I do, however, watched one YouTube Krita tutorial and I like the shortcuts a lot more than the Photoshop default shortcuts.
The interface looks a bit outdated/old school, but I think it's the common look for free/open source software. Another free software for 2D animation, OpenToonz, has a similar look. All the brush previews are drawings of an actual brush, which is not my favorite, but it really doesn't matter too much as long as it's working!
Price: Free version available, otherwise $29.49 one-time payment or $2.99/mo
The free version gives you one hour a day usage time, which is very little in my opinion. Any artist could draw easily over an hour a day. I think it's more like a trial version. However the paid version is pretty affordable comparing to Photoshop.
After trying it out for a bit, Ibis Paint Windows interface looks more like an app. It's pretty intuitive though. I was able to find everything pretty easily, so I believe it's very beginner friendly.
The UI design looks a bit outdated? I'm not a fan of the cursor being visible while using the brush or the eraser. A setting to turn it on/off would be great. Comparing to software at similar price range, I feel like ibis paint Windows version is falling a little behind competitors.
Price: 5500 JPY ($35 USD) one-time payment
Ok I started painting digitally over 15 years ago with Paint Tool Sai because at the time it was either free or *a friend* gave me a pirated version I can't really remember. It must've changed throughout the years, but I remember I liked it a lot for it's brush smoothing feature and had a hard time actually when transitioning to Photoshop.
I think it's more popular among people who has an anime style. I mean its created in Japan after all, same as Clip Studio Paint.
It's very affordable being at 5500 JPY or about $35 USD at the time of this post for a permanent license and it has a 31-day trial. I don't remember if it has any color adjustment features, but it's certaintly worth a try!
Price: $89.99 and $149.99 for the pro version one-time payment
I just saw a well know artist in the animation industry sharing this software the other day, so I downloaded a trial version to see what it's about.
The whole software looks like it's built for traditional artist because everything looks very *realistic* in a minimalist way. As soon as you open the software, the canvas look like a real piece of cold press water color paper. The edge is also jagged (whaaaaat) which is so cool!
The brushes are categorized as real categories of traditional paint: oil paint, watercolor, markers, gouache, etc. I like how realistic those brushes feel - like how the colors mix together on the canvas, and how the brushes tilt as you tilt your stylus.
It reminds me of the old Corel Painter, which looks like it's still on the market? But I haven't heard of much discussion about it. Someone let me know how is it doing nowadays.
Price: $29.99 one-time payment, or $19.99 for students.
I tried Heavypaint for a while before and was amazed by the minimalist interface. It was created by an amazing artist, Vaughan Ling. They have a drawing challenge called #heavyjan that happens every January, during which artists participate by painting something every day using Heavypaint.
The software started out as an app, if I remember correctly, and it also has a web version. All the brushes somehow feel both traditional and graphic at the same time, but the art artists make with it looks so cool.
All in all, it feels like software for painters who like having textures in their paintings and who prefer using a minimal amount of layers.
Ipad users:
Price: $12.99 one-time payment
Needless to say this is almost the official drawing/painting app for iPads. It's great because the interface is so well designed imo and minimalistic. It's easy to learn for beginners, but also powerful enough for professionals if your iPad is powerful enough.
Some downsides are the layer limitation, and for me is how the brushes feel. There is no "mixing" in the brushes I've tried. They all feel pretty digital to me. Don't get me wrong though, you can still create amazing pieces with Procreate. I personally don't love how the brushes feel, but I still love the app overall for personal work.
Price: free; options to pay to unlock certain features
Please chime in with your experience because I haven't tried it myself. It does have amazing reviews in the app store though! I would love to try it some day.
Price: $0.99/mo for smartphones, $4.49/mo for all other devices (price for use on one device only, more devices require a higher monthly fee)
Again huge competitor to the mainstream one, and this time on the iPad. The app looks very close if not identical to the desktop version, but it has a monthly fee that you have to pay to use the app. You can try the app for free forever, but you won't be able to save or export.
I love how the brushes feel though! I don't know how to explain it. It's a feeling!
Price: $6.99/mo or $29.99 one-time payment
Another app I haven't used myself but have heard a lot of good things about. I heard it has limitless layers and feels very close to Photoshop. However it is a little more on the expensive side if you want to buy out the license, or pay a monthly fee.
Price: $9.99 one-time payment, additional $4.99 for more brushes
Same with the desktop version, I don't have much experience with it but it feels pretty smooth to work with and the painting looks more traditional than digital. The interface has the same minimalistic look as Procreate which I love.
CONCLUSION
For professional work, I would still mainly use Photoshop because it is the industry standard. Clip Studio Paint is a close second because how close it is to Photoshop, the additional drawing and painting tools, and the ability to be exported as Photoshop files.
For personal work, it really depends on your personal preference! If you use a lot of layers like I do, I will stay with Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, and Paint Tool SAI. If you don't like using lots of layers, then all the mentioned alternatives are pretty good choices!
That's my list! There are probably way more software/apps that I don't know about. These are some of the more well-known ones. Some I've tested myself and some I want to in the future. Let me know your thoughts!