Pixel: A Photoshop Alternative on November 23rd, 2007
I recently stumbled across a very promising alternative to Adobe Photoshop which runs on many different operating systems (and no, it’s not The Gimp!). This is especially good news for Linux users who are tired of running the outdated Photoshop 7.0 in WINE (although some have gotten CS2 to work).
For quite some time website developers using Linux as their operating system of choice have been pretty much forced to use The Gimp as their image editor. Since I use Linux as my operating system, this made things very difficult. I found that The Gimp wasn’t exactly my kind of image editor. It didn’t seem to have the same kind of feel as Photoshop. So like many others I used the very old Photoshop 7.0 in WINE. This didn’t really work either. It wasn’t nearly as powerful as Photoshop CS2 or CS3.
Now things are changing. A new image editing software is emerging. It’s simply called Pixel. It is very similar to Photoshop so when using it, there really isn’t very much to learn. It’s kind of like using Photoshop, just slightly different. Some of the features include:
- Multi-platform support: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more!
- Extremely small and fast
- Support for layers, paths, channels, masks and selections
- Color Management support for RGB, CMYK, Grayscale and CIE Lab modes (8-bit and 16-bit)
- Realtime live effects for layers (adjustments, effects), sets of live effects can be saved as layer Styles
- Powerful text editing with spellchecking and support for IME/XIM (Asian languages)
- Includes variety of brushes, including full-color brushes and animated brushes
- Complex support for image slicing and image optimizations (GIF, PNG, JPEG, WBMP)
- Import/Export of Photoshop file format
- And much more…
However, this lovely bit of software is not free. But compared to Photoshop, it might as well be. At only $38 USD, you can’t go wrong with buying this (and no, they didn’t pay me to say that). You can still download the trial for free which has all the same features as the full version, but all your images will end up with a quite noticeable watermark on them. If your planning on buying, you better buy soon. Once Pixel is out of beta stage, it will cost as much as $89 USD, which is still a very decent price for software of this caliber.
I will give it a try, though I don’t think I will pay the money, though good software is worth paying some money. However, I use Gimp only for fun-reasons and not for work.
Thanks for letting me know this program exists!
Cheers,
Maarten
I gave it a try, its pretty good, and certainly looks more like Photoshop. But I am not a fan of proprietary software, though this is FAR better priced then Photoshop. It looks as though mostly one man has made a decent Photoshop clone, it makes me wonder why still there is not an open source one this good.
That is what really bugs me in the community sometimes. Cornerstone killer apps like this don’t get made because they already have ‘their’ way of doing it. I mean this is something that needs real effort at it to give the community something it really needs, regardless of whether it is what they want. Isn’t that the whole point of community, to selflessly help each other?
Yes, it is definitely a very good program, which has the potential to be much greater. But to be honest, The Gimp and Inkscape are working fine for me for the time being. Seeing as how this program is so young I don’t want to pay for it. Call me cheap, but I just want to see where this program is headed before I pay for it.
I posted this article just to try to get some attention towards the program, that way people can offer suggestions to the developer to help make it better. It is a shame this isn’t open source, it could be just what Linux needs to help convert a lot of people.
I’ve been using Pixel for a few months now. I still am unable to use it as a full replacement for what I usually use (Fireworks). Unfortunately, the developer is VERY slow at putting out updates. He’s been working on Beta 8 for quite a few months now. I’m somewhat regretting buying it actually.
I just gave this a run on Debian. It’s not worth paying for. It’s not even worth keeping even if it was free. I had it freeze on me multiple times and some of the tools (text, for example) could have been designed better. I may try it again when the next version releases, but until then I’ll have to keep on using outdated Gimp.
Don’t fool yourself, that’s almost never the main motivationg ;)
Mostly, people really like getting appreciation for their work. An application also often fills a particular need one has himself, and if someone else helps out with the code then that’s only beneficial. Not to mention companies who try to give outdated applications a new life by turning them open source…
I bought it, tried it and hate it.
Using GIMP again.
I use the Gimp everyday for work. It takes some getting used to the interface, but the features are similar to Photoshop… there just happens to be a learning curve because it is NOT photoshop. I would try this program, but I see two options in my world…pay nothing for a program with a bit of a learning curve…or pay a bundle of money to get the industry standard. Paying good money for a BETA version of an unproven editor just seems silly. Props though for a good product name!
But it’s running under Linux - the most over rated, under functioning, time wasting, nerd-centric mess of code ever devised. Linux < Shit.
JimmyX, I know many people here who agree with you on Linux!
Sounds like GIMP is still the best choice out there for a cheap alternative for Photoshop.
It’s not quite caught up to gimp yet but KDE’s Krita is moving fast and worth keeping an eye on.
There is a difference between cheap and free alteranatives.
To me, Pixel just has that professional feel that Photoshop has. However, it still has it’s problems because it is such a new program. I tried Pixel for a little while, and enjoyed it, but it still has those annoying little problems (like freezing too often) that make it not quite practical. It’s got great potential, but I will keep using GIMP for now.
I bought a copy years ago and the activation was horror and the app mostly unusable. I tried ever so often the product again to see if it’s viable but at some point I just gave up.
For a “professional feel” (whatever that means) in gimp, you can use GIMPshop.
See it in action.
Krita, Gimp, Pixel or Photoshop CS2 with Wine works on Linux.
Linux is underrated. It may be more friendly with experienced users than with beginners, since there is a learning threshold for handling all that power. Non-power-users can use Firefox and Openoffice just fine, no problem.
All operating systems are nerd-centric and the code may be a mess, but at least you have the possibility of reading the code for Linux.
If you’re to dumb to use Linux, keep using whatever you’re using. If you’re too afraid of change or have invested too much time on vendor lock-in, you’re right, Linux is not for you and we don’t want you either.
I’m not a big designer, and I’m using Windows (Vista). I used to use JASC Paint Shop Pro (then Corel), but now I use Paint.NET. It gets the work done for me.
“I found that The Gimp wasn’t exactly my kind of image editor. It didn’t seem to have the same kind of feel as Photoshop. ”
have you tried http://www.gimpshop.com/
to install in gutsy gibbon follow this
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=423635
i don’t know any other linux but I’m surprised you’ve never heard of gimpshop or didn’t at least mention it.
I have used Gimpshop, but felt I didn’t need to mention it because it basically is the same thing as Gimp. It does feel more like Photoshop than standard Gimp, but to me, it’s still not Photoshop. I’m pretty used to the standard Gimp now though.
looking for free photoshop alternative? try Gimphoto.
this is GIMP mod with Photoshop look and feel, try to believe it (^__^)=b
have you tried gimp?
I read similar article also named , and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
Good site I “Stumbledupon” it today and gave it a stumble for you.. looking forward to seeing what else you have..later