Photoshop alternatives for MAC

[jjhtt]

Hi guys,returning to the site after a lengthy leave of absence. Just bought a new iMac and I'm looking at alternative PP software. My old hard copy of CS3 is a windows version and as far as I'm aware there are no ways around upgrading/patching it to a Mac version. I also have a hard copy of LR which is cross platform compatible. What are the reputable alternatives out there for Mac users? Maybe something that can work in conjunction with LR. Many Thanks.

[ameerat42]

Funny you should ask!!!

Follow the links here to (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?137900-Reminder-of-Free-Adobe-Photoshop-CS2)...

a sanctioned and free dOWNGRade:D:D

Am.

[farmmax]

There is always Photoshop Elements (http://www.adobe.com/au/products/photoshop-elements.html) which is Adobe's cut down photoshop version, but is still a powerful program.

There is also Photoline (http://pl32.com/index.php). I have absolutely no experience with this software :)

The free open source Gimp (http://www.gimp.org/features/) is an alterative which supposedly runs on Mac.

I was hoping Corel Paintshop Pro had a Mac version, but it doesn't seem to. That is a shame because it can do most things Photoshop can do, with a few extras, and is cheap.

The other suggestion is not exactly a Photoshop, but probably more suitable for many photographers and that is http://www.on1.com/products/suite9/. This is the full suite. It can run as a plug in in Lightroom or as a standalone software. I have plenty of experience with one of their products Perfect Effects and find it extremely handy.

[jjhtt]

Thanks for the response folks perfect photo 9.5 looks interesting.

[farmmax]

You can download Perfect Photo 9.5 for free. There are two versions - one is a standalone product, the other (Premium) can be standalone or as a lightroom/photoshop plugin. I think the Premium also has more presets in it. If your version of lightroom is old, it may not support it. My Windows computer has Lightroom 3.4 in it, and I just checked and yes Perfect Photo 9.5 can run in it. I don't use Lightroom much.

[antony]

Funny you should ask!!!

Follow the links here to (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?137900-Reminder-of-Free-Adobe-Photoshop-CS2)...

a sanctioned and free dOWNGRade:D:D

Am.
Sorry ameerat42, I don't think it works in jjhtt's case. At least not on new Macs.
Adobe CS2 for Mac is PowerPC, not Universal Binary. (Unless jjhtt's "new iMac" is PowerPC based or capable of booting into OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.)

Still, nice suggestion, I might install a copy on my Windows 7 (under Parallels Desktop).



Hi guys,returning to the site after a lengthy leave of absence. Just bought a new iMac and I'm looking at alternative PP software. My old hard copy of CS3 is a windows version and as far as I'm aware there are no ways around upgrading/patching it to a Mac version. I also have a hard copy of LR which is cross platform compatible. What are the reputable alternatives out there for Mac users? Maybe something that can work in conjunction with LR. Many Thanks.
You can always subscribe to Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography Plan for A$9.99 per month (no GST). if you want the latest and most powerful Photoshop + Lightroom.

Apart from what others have suggested,
Affinity Photo (https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/) recently made some headline as a competitor to Adobe Photoshop.
Also, Pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com/mac/) is also very well known.
Both available on Mac App Store.

[ameerat42]

Antony. That's odd. You might well be right, but a friend recently installed it on his ???"latest"??? Mac OS.
There are two versions there, one for Mac. If certain, please let me know.
Am.

[jjhtt]

Apart from what others have suggested,
Affinity Photo (https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/) recently made some headline as a competitor to Adobe Photoshop.
Also, Pixelmator (http://www.pixelmator.com/mac/) is also very well known.
Both available on Mac App Store.

Good lord!! Antony thanks, those both look like great. Looks like I've some researching to do. :th3:

[jjhtt]

Well, just spent a couple of hours looking at these and I must say Affinity looks the part. Next problem is cataloguing. Still waiting to hear from adobe in relation to a changed isp and email address, so can't log in. Hoping that I can upgrade LR3 to a Yosemite friendly version at a reasonable price. Thanks for the link Antony, for a one off $69 and 2yrs free updates, Affinity is leading the race so far.

[Glenda]

I looked at Affinity which is quite similar to photoshop in many ways and definitely much easier on the pocket. It didn't have pano stitching which I wanted so I decided to stay with photoshop for the time being. I dare say it will probably be added one day in the future.

[ameerat42]

Farmmax. For stitching, MS ICE and/or HUGIN. (Nuff's head:cool: Oh, OK! Photoshop for stitching? Pah!:D)

[antony]

Antony. That's odd. You might well be right, but a friend recently installed it on his ???"latest"??? Mac OS.
There are two versions there, one for Mac. If certain, please let me know.
Am.(After spending some time digging out past articles, my memory was correct.)
If your friend's "latest" is Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite, then it is not possible to run Mac version of Adobe CS2 software.
Saying that, it is possible for your friend to run Windows version of Adobe CS2 on Mac under Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion or similar. Alternatively your friend can boot into Windows using Boot Camp and run virtually any Windows software without issues.

Unless your friend's Mac is PowerPC based (G4 or G5), then the final supported OS X (10.5.8) is capable of running Adobe CS2.


If you purchased a CS2 product and are having activation issues, you can download replacement media from this page.

(...)

CS2 system requirements
Mac OS X v.10.2.8–v.10.3.8, PowerPC® G4 or G5 processor
Microsoft® Windows® 2000/Windows XP, Intel® Pentium® III or 4 processor(https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs2-product-downloads.html)
Just to make it clear,
Adobe CS2 for Mac is PowerPC applications.
Intel-based Mac needs Rosetta to run PowerPC apps, and Rosetta is only available until OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) which I don't consider it "latest".

Sorry to point out this, but to best of my understanding, Adobe was not giving away CS2 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/adriankingsleyhughes/2013/01/07/download-adobe-cs2-applications-for-free/). Adobe simply provided license holders a replacement (media and license) due to terminating the activation servers for CS2. Legally speaking, it's for those who purchased Adobe CS2 (https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs2-product-downloads.html). However, that is another topic.




Well, just spent a couple of hours looking at these and I must say Affinity looks the part. Next problem is cataloguing. Still waiting to hear from adobe in relation to a changed isp and email address, so can't log in. Hoping that I can upgrade LR3 to a Yosemite friendly version at a reasonable price. Thanks for the link Antony, for a one off $69 and 2yrs free updates, Affinity is leading the race so far.I haven't used Affinity myself (I am on Photography Plan), however the video does look promising. Reviews are generally positive.

Can't help you with cataloguing since I don't use Lightroom myself. Being old fashioned, I still use Adobe Bridge for organising photos.

[ameerat42]

Antony, now you've got me wondering. He has got both MAC and Win 8.1 7installed on that machine. (8.1 on another!)
We were just talking about "CS2 on the machine", and it may well be the Win version. I will find out.

- - - Updated - - -

Just found out: he has "Mountain Lion", and it was on the Win 7 partition he installed the CS2.

- - - Updated - - -

He couldn't install the Mac version on his MAC OS.

[farmmax]

Farmmax. For stitching, MS ICE and/or HUGIN. (Nuff's head:cool: Oh, OK! Photoshop for stitching? Pah!:D)

Did I want to do any stitching :confused013 I'm lazy and would do it in Photoshop anyway. It is great at stitching. I do have Hugin, in case PS fails, but haven't had to resort to it.

[ameerat42]

Farmmax - Llplates. Such similar names:o
Too much scr:crzy:lling up and down the page. I meant Llplates.:nod: (post 10).