The Next Best Photoshop - The GIMP

The GIMP has to be - hands down - the best free professional image editor you can get. Originally made for Linux (since there's no Photoshop for Linux), The GIMP is an amazing, full-featured image editor aimed to do the things that Photoshop can also do.

But wait! Is Photoshop better? In a word, yes.

Adobe Photoshop is the bastion of pro image editing used by any firm or company using Windows. However, this site is more dedicated to the home user. If you really want the best, that's fine! Hop in your car and go to Office Depot, go to the software section and pick yourself up a copy. "Hey!" exclaims Mr./Ms./Mrs. Wants-the-very-best. "My box is empty. Oh, well. It must be to keep shoplifters from taking it. I'll just walk back over here to the space that I picked it up and..."

You set the box down after glancing at the price tag and walk out of the store.

Yeah. What you just saw was a $700 expense. That's the full version. The upgrade alone is $400. Even if you have Adobe Photoshop on your computer (assuming that you bought it on your PC preinstalled), you're gonna hafta upgrade sometime.

That's okay, though. The GIMP - which, despite the funny name that means GNU Image Manipulation Program, can do almost anything that Photoshop can do - is FREE!

There's more: The GIMP can be a harsh learning curve for folks switching over from Photoshop. That can be discouraging. However, there's a light at the end of the rainbow on the other side of the greener grass.
GIMPShop is a version of The GIMP set up to look and feel a lot more like its rediculously expensive rival.
There also happens to be a myriad of tutorials and how-to's to get you started in the right direction.

So if you're an artist, a graphic designer, or just someone that wants to blackmail your boss by imposing his head in a gay porn scene, this just might be the money-saving solution you were looking for.

To download The GIMP for Windows, click here.
To download GIMPShop, click here.

Just to give you an idea of something that The GIMP can do that Photoshop doesn't - it has a portable version, too! Load it onto a USB key, go to a friend's house and spread the image editing love.

To download The GIMP Portable, click here.