Alternative for Photoshop?

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

So, I’m looking to use more ImageLabels so I can customize my buttons with different shapes and whatnot. A lot of people suggest Photoshop but I’m not at the spot where I’m looking to use the money right now, so a free one would be great. I’m not that experienced with making GUI or not even a professional yet so I don’t need anything major, just something that can get the job done.
So perhaps do any of you guys have an alternative for Photoshop to make better shapes such as circles, smoother edges, fonts, and things like that?

Thanks guys appreciate it!

[dragonfrosting]

I use pixlr.com’s online image editor, it’s a little clunky but it’s a basic, free photoshop program that runs in-browser.

However, I use Adobe Illustrator for UI design, I think that might actually be more long the lines of what you need but like Photoshop it does require payment.

[Zabazz (Zabaz)]

GIMP is a good software to use.
Also paint.net

By the way, if you do want to spend money on something in the future, I suggest getting Adobe Illustrator, instead of Photoshop for UI. Illustrator was pretty much made for UI.

[DieSoft]

Krita

[AmyKusanagi]

PDN (paint.net) is a great alternative. I use it mainly for logos, but it’s really useful for things such as thumbnails and place icons!

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

Can all of these make the background transparent?

[AmyKusanagi]

Yep!

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

awesome ty

[Isocili (Pigeon)]

Along with @Raven_Incendria, I’d suggest using Paint.net as well. I’d recommend getting some plugins for it too, as they can go a long way. I’ve used it for a few years (Not much progress, honestly, I mainly do it as a minor hobby), but it’s really easy to learn. Just search up on Google “Paint.net Plugin Pack.” You should find an awful lot, seeing as how Paint.net is community driven.

Using Paint.NET? Make It Even Better With These Great Plugins

Great tutorial for how to install the plugins and a good few of them are good plugins as well.

dpy's Plugin Pack (2014-05-04)

Great plugin pack, DPY makes really good plugins.

The interface on these plugins isn’t anything like Photoshop or something, but once you get the hang of them, I’m sure that you can achieve similar results with Paint.net. The only thing that is lacking is a Taper effect. It’d be really useful.

Anyways, I hope I may have persuaded you to join the Cult of Paint.net. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

EDIT: I thought it might also be useful to know that the website is actually “getpaint.net.”

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

where can I find \program files\Paint.NET\effects? or how can I access it?

[SummerEquinox]

Yes, and it’s very simple.

Select the magic wand from the toolbar, click the white-space, then press delete on your keyboard.

Additionally, if you can’t get PDN to suit your needs, GIMP is good. For custom and interesting text fonts I’ve always used picfont.com - it enables you a lot of Photoshop-esque features.

[Isocili (Pigeon)]

Do you have a Mac or Windows? If you have Windows, do you have Windows 10 or Windows 7?

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

8.1

[Isocili (Pigeon)]

I believe that’s a similar method to Windows 10.

First, you have to download paint.net and locate it on your computer.

https://gyazo.com/9240a50443d47845156b37db9b0faae9

You then open the file location (right click and it should display it there, as in the GIF.)

You then right click on it again to open the file location (again, as this simply took you to the shortcut, not the actual file location.)

https://gyazo.com/6311ec3b7615ef2aa8c8b6756bbd30fb

90 percent of all plugins will go into the “Effects” folder.

https://gyazo.com/a9f2d85952d068aa2d05f86e04566072

You then take all the downloaded plugins and move them to the folder.

[joritochip]

Here are user-made tutorials on GIMP, Illustrator, and Paint-net

Hitchhiker's Guide to GIMP: The Free Image Editor

Quick note: If you haven’t read Younite’s Guide to Illustrator please do, it’ll provide more insight into how image editing works in a more professional environment. Most professional graphic designers use Photoshop/Illustrator rather than a free program like GIMP, which is still a powerful tool but not as widely used in the industry. Installation Installation of GIMP is rather easy, just go to https://www.gimp.org/ and hit the big red “Download” button. This will automatically bring you to t…

Younite's guide to Illustrator

Hello my good citizens of the Devforums! Today, I’ve decided to teach you how I use Adobe Illustrator, if you are currently finding it difficult to use. Lets begin: Setup First, open up Illustrator. I’m using the latest version of Illustrator CC. These are the artboard settings I use, but in all honesty, I work away from the artboard [image] You’ll start with a blank canvas. This is the layout I use. I highly recommend using ‘Essentials’ mode, which you can find on the …

Paint.net - Because Photoshop & Gimp are too hard

So, of course everyone & anyone who wants to get into making high quality graphics & photos go around to the 3 big ones. Illustrator / Photoshop / Gimp. For Illustrator, check out @Younite’s tutorial, and for Gimp, you can check out @FearMeIAmLag’s tutorial. Both of these are great alternatives to using Paint(dot)net, especially if you’re a Mac user, because Paint(dot)net is a Windows Exclusive program. I repeat. This tutorial is only for Windows users. Paint(dot)net does not work on Mac. Now…

[GeorgeOfAIITrades]

Thanks for tagging my post on PaintDN, and sharing that around.

As far as the OP, definitely check out my Tutorial linked in Jorito’s reply, and if you have any questions feel free to DM me, or post to that thread where I or others may provide help!

[GuerillaMayhem (Guerilla)]

Thanks guys, I’ll be going with PDN. Still, thank you all for helping me.

[EmeraldSlash (Rio)]

Remember that there is a search feature

Here are some similar questions (with my replies quoted because Affinity is also a good alternative):

https://devforum.roblox.com/t/photoshop-is-it-worth-it/75965/18

How do I make thumbnails like these?

If you have some money…

What Program do You Find Works the Best?

Aside from free stuff, there’s some really good pay-once software by Serif under the brand of Affinity. They have 3 programs at the moment (one in beta) – Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher (beta). Each one costed me $75 NZ ($50-60 USD I believe). I use all of their software – they’re really good, and can compare with Adobe’s Photoshop and Illustrator. I recommend Affinity Photo in this context, especially if you have some money to spare. Check them out at affinity.serif.…

UI Creation Programs

If you want custom shading/better quality/etc. you’d want to find a software so you can make renders of your game with. Like ScriptOn suggested, Blender is good and is free, but is has a high learning curve if you want to really get into it. As for making graphics, you can use the free and fairly limited programs Paint.NET (www.getpaint.net) or Gimp. They are both pretty good for free software, and you should be able to find ways to green screen (plugins/using adjustments). (You won’t need to g…

Paint.net - Because Photoshop & Gimp are too hard

The Affinity range might be able to help you there if you want higher quality than PDN (and more similarity to Adobe software). One time payment that is like $50 USD (I think?). Their programs are what I use and work well. The software has save/load support for PSD/AI/etc but note that exporting isn’t great atm. They can also use plugins made for the Adobe software.