5 ms·

If you’re on macOS and just want a good and convenient image editor, I warmly recommend Acorn. The Muellers (owners of Flying Meat Software) have put a lot of e

by cpach 5y ago

If you’re on macOS and just want a good and convenient image editor, I warmly recommend Acorn. The Muellers (owners of Flying Meat Software) have put a lot of effort to make it feel like a really solid Mac application. The price is good and from time to time they offer discounts. The whole experience reminds me of using good old Paintshop Pro back in the late 90s (^_^) Other options are Affinity Photo from Serif Ltd and Pixelmator. IMHO Acorn has much better GUI though. (FWIW, Affinity works fine on Windows too.) I realize that some people need the features from Photoshop and then I guess they have to pay the “Adobe tax”. But if you’re not a photo/graphics professional, you can come a long way with the above options. AFAIK there are also lots of good alternatives for Illustrator and InDesign.

danaris 5y ago
I can strongly second the recommendation for Acorn. I'm not a graphics professional, but it is very often useful in my job to have access to an editor on par with Photoshop—which, aside from some of the more advanced stuff, Acorn definitely is. It's extremely polished and well-put-together—and can also both read and write Photoshop PSD files.
yokoprime 5y ago
Thank you! Acorn looks pretty solid, I've got Pixelmator on my iOS devices, so I was wondering if i should go for Pixelmator pro on macOS. For very lightweight stuff, I've often used https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/, even when i had photoshop installed. Works pretty well for å browser image editor I've moved away from Adobe recently, both because of their scummy business practices (but when you know how it works, its predictable at least) but moreso because creative cloud is such a resource hog. Core sync often was listed as a process using significant energy, even though file sync was turned off and the finder extension disabled.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  Pixelmator Photo on iOS is also the mutt's nuts; I have been cynical about Pixelmator on the Mac until recently but Photo really makes the point that they intend to compete. Stay away from the Skylum stuff, IMO; it's usually half-baked and instead of evolving the product they have a habit of abandoning it and launching some new product, which is maddening. Affinity Photo is very very good too (bit confusing on the iPad).
- markwillis82 5y ago
  I am curious if photoshop is better installed from the App Store instead of through creative cloud so all the extra apps aren’t added. Core sync drives me mad.
- cpach 5y ago
  My pleasure! I’ve tried both Pixelmator and Acorn on macOS and IMHO Acorn’s GUI is cleaner and more Mac-like. YMMV.
- ovao 5y ago
  I resisted moving to Pixelmator Pro for a long time since I was a bit miffed at how they handled the original Pixelmator to Pro transition, but it is genuinely a better product, and I now understand the rationale for getting charged again. Ultimately, it’s okay as a consumer to get back to the old “pay for healthy updates” model that I’m sure software developers are very hesitant to try anymore. So long as the value’s there, this is a healthy approach for all parties.
PascLeRasc 5y ago
Acorn looks really great! Thanks for the recommendation.
sokoloff 5y ago
Convenience link: https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ I also loved this bit from their FAQ: Does Acorn use a subscription? Nope! We have a simple philosophy- you buy a thing, you get a thing. I have no affiliation with them (not even a user yet).
brtkdotse 5y ago
Another point of view I’d like to offer is that very few people actually _need_ Photoshop/Illustator. I thought I did, until I discovered Canva and PlaceIt. Sure, they’re not super flexible but you can usually find some template that works and just use that and be done with it before Photoshop has even finished loading. (No affiliation, just a pleased user)
- cpach 5y ago
  Indeed. In my life I haven’t used Photoshop more than like two hours or so. In my youth I used Corel Photopaint and PSP. Then Gimp, and now Acorn.
sprkwd 5y ago
Affinity do their own illustrator, photoshop and InDesign without subscription. Excellent quality and fast.
prox 5y ago
I use Affinity Suite professionally, absolutely possible to switch. Have done for three years, it’s really good.
- fermentation 5y ago
  As soon as Affinity releases a Lightroom replacement I will buy it. I've tried using the open source apps and it just doesn't feel as good on a mac.
  - unfocussed_mike 5y ago
    Definitely a limitation, though I'd imagine we will see a Bridge/DAM type product before we see a specifically Lightroom-type product. Perhaps we'll see a Lightroom-type persona in Photo and integrations with some sort of DAM.
  - sunflowerfly 5y ago
    It is a missing piece, but there are a few alternatives out there. Examples are Raw Therapee, Darktable, Capture One, and Luminar. I cannot give a recommendation on quality, but do have the first two installed alongside Affinity Photo for occasional use.
  - arvinsim 5y ago
    Same here. The only Adobe app left that I am using is Lightroom CC.
- BikeRanger 5y ago
  Same here, on about the same timeline. I miss a few things from Photoshop, but some things are much better in Affinity Photo. Especially love that Affinity isn't a subscription.
anon23anon 5y ago
I've bought both Acorn and Affinity over the years. W/ Affinity they're license is only good for the platform you purchased it on e.g. you can't use a windows license on your mac - you'd need to purchase 2 separate license. Considering I have a work mac and a work windows this was kind of annoying but whatever. The thing that I encountered w/ Acorn was their license was tied to a particular version. For example a new Mac OS version came out, the version of Acorn I purchased wouldn't work w/ whatever version that was so continue using Acorn I need to purchase a new version. The part that irked me here was I only got like 1 years use out of the software. Feel like they should support n-2 or something to that effect. Not sure if things have changed.
- Ma8ee 5y ago
  Yes, either you pay for a subscription or you once pay for a specific version and have to pay again if you want to use a later version. You can’t both, that is, you pay once and get upgrades indefinitely. Even developers have to eat.
- sascha_sl 5y ago
  >W/ Affinity they're license is only good for the platform you purchased it on I threw my Affinity Designer macOS key into a Windows trial and it worked just fine, you just have to download the trial for the other platform.
- nkellenicki 5y ago
  > The part that irked me here was I only got like 1 years use out of the software. Surely it doesn't actually stop working after a year? ie. You can keep using the version you bought after a new version comes out. I presume it still does what you bought it to do?
peebeebee 5y ago
Photopea is also a great ‘alternative’. Free, online, and written by one guy. Quite amazing feat. https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/
eps 5y ago
> Paintshop Pro Now that's the name I haven't heard in a long time :) I still have PSP7 on one of my machines and even use it occassionally!
alok-g 5y ago
Corel PaintShop Pro is alive still and works great.
phgn 5y ago
Gimp also works somewhat on Mac.
wolverine876 5y ago
Krita is exceptional (and it's FOSS): https://krita.org/ https://krita.org/ It's targeted at drawing more than image editing (though Krita handles both raster and vector in one document), but more than any other graphics application, they make relatively advanced features[1] discoverable and usable. And being FOSS, it's extensible and has an apparently active community. Really a gem of usability among FOSS applications. After I tried it, I was surprised I hadn't heard about it. The best graphics program I've ever used, especially in respect to UI (for context, I never really dug into Photoshop and I now despise other Adobe interfaces I am forced to use). Great documentation too: clear, succinct, detailed, easy to find what you need. I rarely use graphics applications, and I didn't need to post one question, and maybe looked once or twice beyond the documentation. And being FOSS, no dark patterns to worry about at all! I find FOSS to be a relief these days - I hardly have to worry about tracking or the rest of that nonsense. [1] Advanced for an IT techie - I don't know what a graphic designer or artist would say, though they are the target audience.
- Shank 5y ago
  Was Krita always available on macOS? I'm shocked -- I swear I checked before and I'm happy to see it is! It looks like Kdenlive is also available on macOS, for video editing! [0] Edit: Kdenlive is really only for Intel Macs. Unfortunately, it crashes under Rosetta :( [0]: https://kdenlive.org/en/download/ https://kdenlive.org/en/download/

by cpach 5y ago

danaris 5y ago

I can strongly second the recommendation for Acorn. I'm not a graphics professional, but it is very often useful in my job to have access to an editor on par with Photoshop—which, aside from some of the more advanced stuff, Acorn definitely is. It's extremely polished and well-put-together—and can also both read and write Photoshop PSD files.

yokoprime 5y ago

Thank you! Acorn looks pretty solid, I've got Pixelmator on my iOS devices, so I was wondering if i should go for Pixelmator pro on macOS. For very lightweight stuff, I've often used https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/, even when i had photoshop installed. Works pretty well for å browser image editor I've moved away from Adobe recently, both because of their scummy business practices (but when you know how it works, its predictable at least) but moreso because creative cloud is such a resource hog. Core sync often was listed as a process using significant energy, even though file sync was turned off and the finder extension disabled.

unfocussed_mike 5y ago
Pixelmator Photo on iOS is also the mutt's nuts; I have been cynical about Pixelmator on the Mac until recently but Photo really makes the point that they intend to compete. Stay away from the Skylum stuff, IMO; it's usually half-baked and instead of evolving the product they have a habit of abandoning it and launching some new product, which is maddening. Affinity Photo is very very good too (bit confusing on the iPad).
markwillis82 5y ago
I am curious if photoshop is better installed from the App Store instead of through creative cloud so all the extra apps aren’t added. Core sync drives me mad.
cpach 5y ago
My pleasure! I’ve tried both Pixelmator and Acorn on macOS and IMHO Acorn’s GUI is cleaner and more Mac-like. YMMV.
ovao 5y ago
I resisted moving to Pixelmator Pro for a long time since I was a bit miffed at how they handled the original Pixelmator to Pro transition, but it is genuinely a better product, and I now understand the rationale for getting charged again. Ultimately, it’s okay as a consumer to get back to the old “pay for healthy updates” model that I’m sure software developers are very hesitant to try anymore. So long as the value’s there, this is a healthy approach for all parties.

PascLeRasc 5y ago

Acorn looks really great! Thanks for the recommendation.

sokoloff 5y ago

Convenience link: https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ I also loved this bit from their FAQ: Does Acorn use a subscription? Nope! We have a simple philosophy- you buy a thing, you get a thing. I have no affiliation with them (not even a user yet).

brtkdotse 5y ago

Another point of view I’d like to offer is that very few people actually _need_ Photoshop/Illustator. I thought I did, until I discovered Canva and PlaceIt. Sure, they’re not super flexible but you can usually find some template that works and just use that and be done with it before Photoshop has even finished loading. (No affiliation, just a pleased user)

cpach 5y ago
Indeed. In my life I haven’t used Photoshop more than like two hours or so. In my youth I used Corel Photopaint and PSP. Then Gimp, and now Acorn.

sprkwd 5y ago

Affinity do their own illustrator, photoshop and InDesign without subscription. Excellent quality and fast.

prox 5y ago

I use Affinity Suite professionally, absolutely possible to switch. Have done for three years, it’s really good.

fermentation 5y ago
As soon as Affinity releases a Lightroom replacement I will buy it. I've tried using the open source apps and it just doesn't feel as good on a mac.
- unfocussed_mike 5y ago
  Definitely a limitation, though I'd imagine we will see a Bridge/DAM type product before we see a specifically Lightroom-type product. Perhaps we'll see a Lightroom-type persona in Photo and integrations with some sort of DAM.
- sunflowerfly 5y ago
  It is a missing piece, but there are a few alternatives out there. Examples are Raw Therapee, Darktable, Capture One, and Luminar. I cannot give a recommendation on quality, but do have the first two installed alongside Affinity Photo for occasional use.
- arvinsim 5y ago
  Same here. The only Adobe app left that I am using is Lightroom CC.
BikeRanger 5y ago
Same here, on about the same timeline. I miss a few things from Photoshop, but some things are much better in Affinity Photo. Especially love that Affinity isn't a subscription.

anon23anon 5y ago

I've bought both Acorn and Affinity over the years. W/ Affinity they're license is only good for the platform you purchased it on e.g. you can't use a windows license on your mac - you'd need to purchase 2 separate license. Considering I have a work mac and a work windows this was kind of annoying but whatever. The thing that I encountered w/ Acorn was their license was tied to a particular version. For example a new Mac OS version came out, the version of Acorn I purchased wouldn't work w/ whatever version that was so continue using Acorn I need to purchase a new version. The part that irked me here was I only got like 1 years use out of the software. Feel like they should support n-2 or something to that effect. Not sure if things have changed.

Ma8ee 5y ago
Yes, either you pay for a subscription or you once pay for a specific version and have to pay again if you want to use a later version. You can’t both, that is, you pay once and get upgrades indefinitely. Even developers have to eat.
sascha_sl 5y ago
>W/ Affinity they're license is only good for the platform you purchased it on I threw my Affinity Designer macOS key into a Windows trial and it worked just fine, you just have to download the trial for the other platform.
nkellenicki 5y ago
> The part that irked me here was I only got like 1 years use out of the software. Surely it doesn't actually stop working after a year? ie. You can keep using the version you bought after a new version comes out. I presume it still does what you bought it to do?

peebeebee 5y ago

Photopea is also a great ‘alternative’. Free, online, and written by one guy. Quite amazing feat. https://www.photopea.com/ https://www.photopea.com/

eps 5y ago

> Paintshop Pro Now that's the name I haven't heard in a long time :) I still have PSP7 on one of my machines and even use it occassionally!

alok-g 5y ago

Corel PaintShop Pro is alive still and works great.

phgn 5y ago

Gimp also works somewhat on Mac.

wolverine876 5y ago

Krita is exceptional (and it's FOSS): https://krita.org/ https://krita.org/ It's targeted at drawing more than image editing (though Krita handles both raster and vector in one document), but more than any other graphics application, they make relatively advanced features[1] discoverable and usable. And being FOSS, it's extensible and has an apparently active community. Really a gem of usability among FOSS applications. After I tried it, I was surprised I hadn't heard about it. The best graphics program I've ever used, especially in respect to UI (for context, I never really dug into Photoshop and I now despise other Adobe interfaces I am forced to use). Great documentation too: clear, succinct, detailed, easy to find what you need. I rarely use graphics applications, and I didn't need to post one question, and maybe looked once or twice beyond the documentation. And being FOSS, no dark patterns to worry about at all! I find FOSS to be a relief these days - I hardly have to worry about tracking or the rest of that nonsense. [1] Advanced for an IT techie - I don't know what a graphic designer or artist would say, though they are the target audience.

Shank 5y ago
Was Krita always available on macOS? I'm shocked -- I swear I checked before and I'm happy to see it is! It looks like Kdenlive is also available on macOS, for video editing! [0] Edit: Kdenlive is really only for Intel Macs. Unfortunately, it crashes under Rosetta :( [0]: https://kdenlive.org/en/download/ https://kdenlive.org/en/download/