Are you using any of these Adobe alternatives? Or maybe one I didn't mention? 🤔👇🏻 Drop it here... Edit: Oh, and the thumbnail was made in Affinity Photo! 👌🏻🔥
Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher (for pdfs), Inkscape and Gimp, Pixelmator Pro, Motion. And of course, DaVinci Resolve. And Photopea if you don't want to download software and just want to use a web browser. TRYING to wrap my head around Blender. And TouchDesigner.
@LuVii03 TL,DR: you can't go wrong with jumping into Fusion (either the free version included inside Davinci Resolve, or the Studio version). If you're married to layer-based, HitFilm is basically the only other layer-based program on the planet. If you're looking for a 1:1 replacement for AE, the only one that _feels_ the same (that I'm aware of) is HitFilm Pro. It's like $13/month yearly or $20/month-to-month. I've tried the HitFilm stuff several times (going back to when they were FXHome and had their original VFX/compositing suite over a decade ago), and it's always been fine, but it's never been super responsive or polished. If you want the capabilities of AE and don't mind learning a new mindset/approach to the workflow, I can't recommend Davinci Resolve/Fusion enough. Fusion included in the free version of Resolve is incredibly powerful, but I personally think the $295 cost of the studio version (which includes both Resolve Studio and the standalone Fusion Studio, which adds more capability) is more than worth it. I haven't found anything I could do in AE that I can't do in Fusion (learning curve that comes with nodes aside -- Casey Faris's RU-vid channel is your friend for quickly making the adjustment to node-based compositing). Fusion is really solid for motion graphics and is becoming really capable in 3D work (they are introducing USD support, if that's important to you. If you're looking for free but don't want to go the free Resolve/Fusion route (you do you), there is Natron, which is basically a free clone of the Foundry's Nuke; it's not the most stable or responsive software, and it's no longer being updated (from what I know). Blender is also quite capable for compositing and graphics work now, if you're good with a primarily 3D environment. If you're a Mac user, there is Apple Motion (which comes bundled with Final Cut Pro X); I own it, but I've never spent the time to really test it. My understanding is it's decent for motion graphics, but it doesn't seem to hold up for VFX work. There's also a new program called Cavalry, paid monthly, but I don't know enough to really vouch for it one way or the other (I think it's more focused on 2D animation/motion graphics than anything else).
I clicked to watch the video as soon as I saw the title. Finally someone is talking about the elephant in the room. Adobe is more like a thief rather than a company. Thanks for great suggestions.
well, As long as there isnt a program that can open and then animate Photoshop files without issues… Adobe will still be ahead of all the others. And no, I dont like that. Its a pain.
I love playing with adobe products for my own personal use, but I can't justify the price. When it first started I thought 40 bucks a month was a little steap but I paid for it, next year the price doubled without notice for a few months... Um yah... NO! sad face.
For such an EXPENSIVE suite it is almost impossible to manage in a corporate environment, and Adobe corp support is pretty trash too Adobe has earned all the hate they get
I don't even hate monopolies, espeically if it means that everything is compatible with everything else. Like when the phone company was the phone company. Worked great.
I paid for Adobe CS6 - the last version before they changed to subscription. I've never updated since. It still works fine. Okay, I may be missing some fancy features that never existed back in CS6 days, but at least I'm not paying a subscription. And never will.
@@JimSonArtStudio A home built PC. It's working fine. I mostly use Photoshop, Lightroom and Premier, but dabble in some of the other programs occasionally.
Thank you! I've been using CS6 for years. Ever since Adobe started promoting their subscription base model, I said no! I always had a bad feeling about that.
Is this the CS6 version that requires a terminal script to tweak?, my first time was a scary sweaty mess, then after 6 installs it was smoothe sailing. I think it only runs on non silicone chipset Macs. I purposely brought an I7 PowerBook, not the M1 series. It was the same price for either. New M4 PBs are looking good lately.
It's probably already mentioned somewhere down below, but if you're really still looking for a PDF tool… you purchased it already. All three Affinity programs are fully capable of opening/importing PDFs, depending on what you want to do (I'm usually just using Designer). It will then save the PDF to its own native format, but you can just export a new PDF once again, giving you all the options like image resolution, rasterization of unsupported things, etc. Only downside, just like most other programs, they might fail reading the "encrypted" sub-formats (where they essentially changed the character encoding to swap letters around).
LOVE Affinity Photo! I haven't tried the other two yet, but I got into that six month free trial they ran a while ago so now's my chance. I mostly do book covers.
For those on a Mac, an overlooked feature of Preview is that you can do a lot of work with PDF files. There is a Markup Toolbar and a Form Filling Toolbar (which has a sign PDF feature). It can often replace the need for another application.
Especially if you have it team up with automater. Especially useful for compression and bitmap flattening (so there are no texts to copy and vector images to rip).
@@Blentux won't find one. Because Adobe stuff became the industry standard decades ago. And some of their things are too damn good - and too hard to replicate, at least without facing a cannonade of lawsuits.
I use Open Source Audio, Video, and Photo Editing Software my self. Gimp, Darktable, RawTherapee, Audacity, and OpenShot to name a few from time to time. All of these programs are available in Linux which I primarily use. These programs are also available for other Operating Systems as well.
My son is a motion graphics designer so when he learnt I went from editing my videos from HItfilm to Davinci Resolve, he was so proud! He said he was going to tell his friends.
Found GIMP in around 2003 and still finding features that i never used before, definately deep and customisable software, but light, simple and stable.
@@WoidAudio Gimp is really great only for non professional users. Nobody that actualy used to work with Photoshop on a daily basis could ever transition to Gimp. So many tried and failed (incuding me :-D, and I really tried, several times). You really miss a ton of very basic features for a professionnal and the ergonomy is not on the level as well. The transition is too hard. Affinity is for me the best alternative by far.
I like the adobe software, but I can't get behind any company that forces subscription only on principle. The fact that you can be paying forever to rent the usage and then lose access to all your work once you stop paying is enough of a reason to make me not use their products anymore
@@OnesUponaGame But say you are in financial struggles, you go to cancel the subscription and not only is there an early termination fee, but they will try to pull that subscription out each and every month, even though you paid them the early cancelation fee. Not the only one this is happening to and some are speaking to attorneys.
@nowondr: This concept of paying rent, actually it is "leasing" comes from the mainframe world years ago, when huge data centers were run by corporations. When the desktop computer came about, the concept of paying for software much like buying a car, you own it. Many software companies are trying this concept. But in the mainframe world there was no public domain software, this adds a whole new wrinkle to desktop computing.
he's not doing it to be cool. I believe he believes it helps to avoid monetization/strike issues. I;m not a youtuber so I don't know for sure but I've seen people doing weird cuts, adding borders and so on. With the AI power that google has today I really don't believe that adding an effect on top of an image/video will stop AI from finding you, but it might have been a working trick back in the day that people still uses.
Agree I had to stop watching as it made the video dirty for no reason and hard to watch. Too distractive. Not to mention the wobbling effect, even worst.
Inkscape is also a great free alternative to Adobe Illustrator! it's what I use to draw all of the artwork for my videos... although I still animate them on Adobe Animate 😅
I caved in and paid the subscription for the first month and it's INSANE how hard it was to be able to cancel it afterwards. I know they're trying to not lose subscribers but it just made me want to never subscribe to them again. I don't have the money for the subscriptions nor the brain energy to deal with their unsubscribe model.
Yeah, instead of focusing on keeping up with advancements, they are making it impossible to get rid of it and give people the runaround and lie to your face when you try to cancel. It is slimy, disgusting marketing and I will NEVER touch their products again - including their "free" PDF editor - it's ridiculous. Money guys are running company now, it seems.
I just got rid of Adobe entirely after using it for years. I am now learning DaVinci and I love it even more. Adobe feels like getting bent over with no lube.
This video and comments are so helpful, not only for the great insights, but also by making me feel less alone in this saga for solution. Thank you all!
I am a hobby photographer. Some 15 years ago, when I switched to digital photography, I bought a Lightroom license and used it for a few years. Then I switched to Raw Therapee and I also have been using Gimp only. With these perfectly viable open source solutions it is nice to be independent from Adobe like that.
@@davidpoo66 not really, they're perpetual licenses and yo have the power to chose IF you want to pay to upgrade for better features. With free General updates.
Perfect video. I'm tired of Totalitarian software. I don't mind paying, in fact companies like adobe would be doing better if they would sell their product for a reasonable price. That's exactly why it motivates so many people to use pirated copies. Sell your programs for 20$ to a billion users than asking for monthly subscriptions for software that has not had any significant improvements over 2 decades. The only additions came from companies they purchased. Another topic of its own is the cloud connection so they can even steal their user techniques and sell them as bundles to other companies.
Thing is, its not just software. Its becoming a standard for big corporations universally. Look at google buying up everything. Once its all connected, and there's no competition, it will own you one way or the other. Block all mergers. All of them.
From the PDF editors that I have tried, PDFgear stood out the most for me. I am not sure how "power user"-friendly it is, but it does everything I need it for.
Dude, you're a hero. And i know how difficult it is to fully avoid adobe apps. Especially when everyone else is using Adobe and you have to collab with them for projects.
Subscription business model is GREAT for businesses and terrible for consumers. Some things logically make sense to be a monthly bill - your cell phone bill, netflix, but software? You should be able to buy outright. Adobe is selling you the same product every freakin' month! I can't believe people didn't wake up to this when it first rolled out and vote with their wallets by not buying. But they all got suckered for the "oh it's only $30!" Sure. A month. For the rest of your life! Glad to see you pushing back. I use Final Cut Pro to edit video. It's not free, but it's AMAZING. And you only buy it once. I've been using the same version for 5+ years as a youtuber and as a professional editor in my day job.
Cars are doing that now. To 'activate' some stuff that is PHYSICALLY installed in the car, you need to keep paying them. There is a huge difference between that and a channel that gives you new movies every month--for that a subscription might be reasonable because they are generating new content. I am also bothered by companies who maintain your copies-in-process on their computer, besides privacy issues, they also have exclusive control over your workflow... if you end your subscription all that stuff becomes essentially unavailable. [my wife uses Photoshop, but she works a university, and they have blanket licensing... so fine. But this is no good for freelancers or small operations]
I like how your explaning 1 time purchase at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="290">4:50</a> like it's some ancient forgoten thing it's like how it's supposed to be! Didn't know about some of these alternatives so thank you
Guys, the first question you should ask is whether the industry you are trying to get in what sort of softwares they use, coz ofc you are not in an illusion that you will be working alone(except if you are a lone freelancer or a solo content creator). At least in India almost every media firm uses adobe suite. So just be cautious and have a thorough research of what you want to do first then decide. Never let price decide which software you want. Rather see to it, which one works really best for you as you want to create and not be bogged down just switching and relearning every now and then. Btw this is not to demean someone, sorry if anyone felt that. Have a good life😊
For PDF editing: If you already use Microsoft 365 you can open the pdf with word and edit it than. This is very fast and a big advantage compared to other solutions is, that automatic line breaks aren't damaged when you do it that way.
Holy cow just tried this - game changer!!! Thank you so much. I don't want to load more programs if I don't need to. I was able to open a PDF, take out some text and resave as a PDF and it worked seamlessly. Can't thank you enough for this comment!
Yes but then you're paying a subscription to MS, when you could be using the LibreOffice suite for free. (LibreOffice Draw will handle some PDF functions, but for PDFs I'm with the group up there ^^^ using PDFgear. It ain't perfect, but it works well, is being improved, and is 100-percent free.)
LIbreOffice can open PDF files for editing and then you can save them back again. PDF is an ugly file format for any post editing as it's focus is that the document will look the same everywhere so it prioritises layout over editability.
YOU need to stop with the dirty screen filter ..... Its giving me anxiety that my screen is dirty and every time i tried to clean i realized its not my screen, its in the video;😂
Da Vinci Resolves - one love, forever! Guess which camera I bought after using da Vinci for three years? That's right - black magic 6K Pro! And this is the best purchase of my life! And, of course, I set up a Studio! Thanks to the DaVinci developers!
It maintains SOME of the the text blocks. I find many instances when it doesn't. I'll open a doc and it will retain some and not others in the same doc. Really weird because the ones where it doesn't appear to be even less complex than others where it does retain text characters. So odd. I don't know of any alternative however that would be better.
Thanks for the thorough look through the Adobe alternatives. I am just getting started with digital photography and after spending too much on the camera, lenses, etc. my budget (and wife) will appreciate free and/or cheap editing software!
Open office is no longer supported so are you still having luck with it? LibreOffice is the replacement for it but I find that it does not open PDFs correctly as it is not a PDF reader but a designer like. It's called LibreOffice Draw.
@@oz0710 I use both these also, but I found the PDF functions could not replace my needs in Acrobat. I abandoned acrobat in 2016 and purchased another PDF program that also went to Subscription. Now I use PDF24 which is really clunky, but fills in for the time being.
UPDF is available for a one time payment, and that its the Adobe acrobat alternative I use. It edits, and compresses, and much more. Available across all devices as well. I have come to like it…. There may also be a free version too, but I found it cheap enough so bought it outright.
What gets me is, everyone was complaining of how they couldn't cancel their subscriptions. And they had to contact adobe to talk about cancelling. And still had problems doing it. This is my point of view... They don't have any power, we have the power. All they needed to do is cancel their credit card of payment. Then they can't charge you at all.
Yep, exactly what I did - but that's not how it is supposed to be (not only in the legal sense). And it complicates matters, if planning on downgrading (from full CC to photography bundle, for example).
@@c.augustin But Adobe probably does not comply to law either. Here in the EU, they may force you to complete a 1 year subscription, but then they automatically become monthly subscriptions. The only exception (here) is health care insurance, they always go by an entire year.
@@lovemadeinjapan The problem is not to fulfill the complete year and then being able to change plan - the problem is that you can't cancel on the website at all! Maybe they've changed it by now, but there was no way to say "end my subscription when the year is over" (other companies give this exact option) …
they should never have gone subscription only based to begin with, they have you paying the cost of the original program (you would own outright) for a 1 year subscription
Adobe is a massive corporation and the company has a exodus of creatives. It will eventually fall. That is why they are desperate now with the AI Tools they have launched. Adobes Software launches are bad not tested properly and just bad overall.
@@GaryB007 You couldn't be more right, and it's not just Adobe. We've become a throw-away society thanks to those greedy a-holes. From appliances to tools, nothing is made to last anymore.
I'm just a casual hobbyist. Sometimes, I'll need a piece of software like Substance Painter, but maybe only once in six months. Subscription just doesn't make sense for that kind of usage. I now use ArmorPaint instead.
I bought the Affinity suite during lockdown and got frustrated after expecting them to work just like their replacements, but persevered and I love Affinity apps now. I also hope they develop a Lightroom equivalent for Affinity Photo so I can organise and bulk edit in a similar way to Lightroom, which is the only one I miss.
What really holds me back is the cloud storage. I haven't found anything that will allow me to edit my photos from my family computer, and my office computer, and my phone, and that my wife can put on her phone so she can look at our pictures whenever she wants. There's just no alternative there yet, and the cloud storage is the only thing holding me back. I actually like how my images come out a lot better with Capture One than I do with Lightroom, and that is really saying something because I had used LR for years and I was brand new to CO and just learning. But again, no cloud.
I’ve left my firm after 10 years (I know, scary) and with that, my Adobe license is gone. This suggested list is exactly what I needed to see. Thank you!
Thanks. I keep thinking and saying that I'm going to get off the Adobe train, but I'm just panicked about the learning curve and switching tens of thousands of photos out of my Lightroom system into something else. But, you've motivated me. I'm going to switch.
Hai, exactly what's keeping me. The moment i stop with Lightroom (which is all yamming up now so really unworkable) - I do use XMP files, so i should be possible to 'reconstruct' the former work? GOOD luck with your brave switch - interested to learn how it worked out for you!
Hey. I recommend using a low key project as a test run. I completed it during the test run, realizing a project from stat to finish. Thats how I was able to feel secure enough for detaching from PS/Illustrator and transition to Affinity. Dunno if darktable and similar software have a trial period tho.
I remember using GIMP back in college, haha. It was so bare bones. For mac users, I've heard Sketch is a good Illustrator alternative (but I have a PC so can't use it). Adobe is one of the biggest fish in the entire subscription SaaS industry and they're raking in billions (evaluated at 250B). I mean, $60/month ($720/y) is steep for a normal person. I only still use Adobe CC because my company pays for it. Glad to see some other software options finally getting a slice of the multimedia editing software pie. Adobe should not be a monopoly.
Been there done that with the cancellation fee from Adobe. What you have to do is contact them and tell them you want to cancel your subscription and don't agree with the extra costs. They will try everything to get the money from you. But if you threaten to take legal steps against them, they will very quickly change their minds and cancel the subscription without further costs. Because at least where I live (that is in the Netherlands), what Adobe is doing, is illegal and they are not allowed to charge the cancellation fee. And they know that what they're doing is illegal as well, cause otherwise threatening to take legal actions against them wouldn't bother them at all.
You can always export your timeline as an XML(FCP7) from Resolve to Premier. Sure text , fusion and color grades wont transfer over but all your cuts and footage will be there
@@angelbear_og You can do quite some editing in Preview, especially in tandem with Automator. I made quite some usefull PDF edit scripts that batch edit whole folders.
I stopped using Adobe last month. My current replacements are as follows: Adobe Premiere Pro -> Apple Final Cut Pro (I'm not a professional video editor so I didn't really want to go through the learning curve of DaVinci Resolve) Adobe After Effects -> Apple Motion (I know it doesn't do EVERYTHING that AE does, but it does everything that I need and allows me to import my AE files) Adobe Photoshop -> Affinity Photo Adobe Illustrator -> Inkscape I tried using Affinity Designer as a replacement for Illustrator, but their export functionality is lacking. Anytime I tried to export as a PNG or JPEG, the images came out blurry or pixelated. I tried to look up a solution for this online and I tried many suggestions, but it appears this is a downside of Affinity Designer (based on what I found online with people complaining about this export issue). They just don't have the export functionality set up to export high-quality, clear PNG and JPEG files the way Illustrator/Inkscape does.
I have been a photo editor, repairer, and content creator since 2006. I completely agree with dropping photoshop, I began using Affinity just this last year and it was pretty easy to make the switch. Subscriptions can burn 🔥.
@@TopOfThePopsRedubbed No? It's a one time payment that will get updates until the next major version number. Though that could change in the future after being bought by Canva
tldr: nope, as today (August 2024) still a free trial and one off payment. just googled to double check they haven't massively changed things recently, and right there on the offical page for the Affinity Photo free trial it says in big letters "No subscription after trial" followed by "For a one-off payment, you can purchase Affinity Photo for macOS, Windows or iPad, or get the entire suite on all platforms with the Universal Licence. No monthly costs whatever you decide."
@@TopOfThePopsRedubbed No, it’s just a one time payment. I got the full pack of all three of their programs which gave me license to put all three programs on my mac, windows, and ipad. I really enjoy them.
what pisses me off from adobe is that they push updates that kind of force the user to update the hardware (specially in Mac) as if users were receiving hardware updates from Apple for free
I’ve been using Photoshop for over 20 years. I still have Photoshop 7 which does everything I could want the program to do. Just had to install it, along with Acrobat Professional, on my new HP Omen with Windows 11. No problem installing. No fees. No subscriptions. If you need to have the latest and greatest, you are going to have to settle for subscription costs. But, we do have a choice and can continue using the old versions of Adobe. They will work, even though they are old.
I did this years ago when Adobe made me go through a 40-minute phone call with them to decide if they would activate my Photoshop DVD licence or not. Like they were doing me a favour. As a consumer I don't want to be abused like that.
I ditched Adobe. and got Affinity Photo 2, Designer 2, and Publisher 2 for $82. ONE TIME payment. The apps open up on my MacBook Pro and my iPad 13. I Love Affinity. I have taken over communications and I am switching all my stuff to Affinity. Video for me has been Final Cut Pro all the way.
I too became resentful about Adobe's practices and decided to rid myself of them. That was not a simple task- they had burrowed deep into my machine. In fact, getting rid of them felt less like an "uninstall", than a full blown exorcism :).
GOOD FOR YOU! So did I, I'm so sick of the money making machine charging a subscription, I could care less if it's the newest version, I always did fine with less. 👍🏼
Wow there was a lot of great info in this thank you for this video, i was a graphic design student for almost 2 years and only knew adobe and lost access to my account when i left school. Glad i can now replace adobe with these one time payment alternatives 🙏
Currently I'm using PDF gear app. Its a great app. Entirely free. Can add images to pdf, Edit the Text if its OCR enabled yes Can change actual content of the pdf. Compress, Convert join pdf, Split. And even you get A Pdf summarize ai(although not very good) all in all for. Basically you acn do almost everything. Convert pdf to word to txt, xml, even webpages all for free
Looks great. What's the catch? I mean looks like it's a great tool and they invested a lot of efforts to make it so. Is there advertising inside or any other shortcomings that come with a free product? I just wonder why they give the tool for free.
@@IamShopping Major free solutions are from Asia. Foxit's from China, aforementioned PDF gear from Singapore. Now, for a few bucks that you're gonna save, you're allowing them to process your files through their "cloud base compression" and "immediately deleting them".
@@vladimird8541 BTW, Singapore very often means Russia or China. They both extensively use Singapore to hide their roots. Most probably to steal data or plant a spyware into your system. So, if it's from Singapore and it's free, there is like 99,99% chance that this is some spyware.
@@IamShopping Idk, I was Randomly trying to find a Really Good Pdf to word converter coz I have to copy assignment🤣 I found the website and Downloaded the App. It's great. Even tho I don't use PDF that much.
@@douglasdrumond Like me, but then you need no extra software for that, because you can do most things with Preview (or Automator) e.g. compress a PDF.
@@Zwiesel66 However, you can't really edit a PDF in Preview like in Acrobat. For example, you can't delete an element or a paragraph. For instance, sometimes I save a page as PDF and it comes with comments. I want to delete those comments from the PDF. I can do that in Acrobat, but not in Preview.
I am no professional, but as far as I have seen, gimp has all the features of photoshop. Including more advanced things like α-channels, RAW-converter, etc. In addition, with gimp you can also program digital filters, which I did not find in photoshop. My gimp-manual has nearly 1.000 pages.
With Blender you can do so much more than with Davinci, and it is completely free without drawbacks. Gimp with some plugins, e.g. GMIC and Synthesizer, adds a ton to this free software. Version 3.0 should also come soon.
I use Blender almost every day but Da-Vinci Resolve makes it look like a toy for video editing and colour grading. Suggesting that Blender is suitable as a professional video editing package is just like suggesting that a wax crayon is a good replacement for an artist's oil painting set.
I taught computer graphics since Deluxe Paint with animation, and Photoshop 1.0 for the Mac. Painfull transition, but i have groceries in my fridge. LOL. Do it. Do it now. LOL.
Stopped using photoshop when monthly subscriptions started as sometimes I don’t use the software for three months or more at a time. I now use Affinity Photo and once I adapted to it, never regretted and never went back. The image stacking and panorama stitching works very well in Affinity.
i've used gimp for decades (i also have affinity photo and pixelmator pro) and gimp is just a massively deep piece of software which it's clear joris hasn't had time to grasp yet. IMHO it's always been superior to photoshop and the extension library for it alone is just massive. while my workflow has predominantly switched to other apps, there are still a list of things i use gimp for exclusively because it's simply the only software in existence that will do those things or at least do them efficiently.
Thank you for saying: "slimey". EXACTLY what I felt when I looked for the Adobe subscription that would fit my needs as I got back into photography after a looong time this year. I even got pissed off when purchasing because I didn't know there was any good enough competitor. Until now. Thank you!
You're absolutely right: I, too, am still looking for a PDF editing tool that can really replace Acrobat Pro. Even if all I basically want from it is being able to reliably flight check production PDFs for print jobs (e.g. checking separations, ink coverage and overprinting). I think I've sort of searched high and low since switching to the Affinity apps years ago but I still haven't found a really proper replacement for Acrobat Pro, although I do think there are just so may (especially) graphic designers all over the world who'd wholeheartedly welcome program of that kind which would fit in this Adobe replacement scenario as to its features and pricepoint.
Our office uses Wondershare PDFelement, it was such an easy transition to considering we make a lot of pdf documents and forms. That program has a lifetime prepetual plan for 1 user of $139 1 time cost and I haven't found any difference between Acrobat and PDFelement and they have a free download version too to try.
@@christophersingleton4525 I've looked at what Wondershare says you can do with PDFelement but I cannot see that it actually offers the functions relavant for prepress checking which I actually need like being able to check colour separations and ink coverage. As many "post-Adobe-designers" seem to be looking for them it's quite strange that such elementary features, which Acrobat Pro has been offering for ages now and which are sort of essential for a prepress workflow are seemingly ignored by all these otherwise often quite powerful PDF apps. (Unless they are specializied - and expensive - prepress apps like PitStop). Maybe it's a licence thing? PDF is an Adobe developed technology after all, isn't it?
I like Adobe, its awesome! But it's so ridiculously expensive!!! I already had to pay, a lot, for just cancel a subscription. I think it's getting worse and worse, and we designers and artists should say no to all these plans.
1. GIMP, 2. Darktable, 3. Shotcut (or Kdenlive, Pitivi), Audacity (I haven't tried Natron yet). For PDFs, it depends: Inkscape for vector graphics, Scribus for desktop publishing, and LibreOffice. Krita is great for drawing and painting. However, it's important to note that you can't really compare these tools directly, as their workflows are different, and you can't expect a third party to replicate the same experience you are accustomed to.
DaVinci Resolve is, in my opinion, the best video editing program that you can get. Once my channel starts making some profit, I'll invest it to upgrade my free version of DaVinci Resolve to the paid version to unlock the rest of its awesome features.
Adobe is there to make money. As an ad company, as a usage tracking company, as a subscription sales company. And in the past with their Postscript font monopoly. Some cool tech, and also mediocre tech, but great marketing,
Why would they want to do that when their customer base has been increasing for years. Affinity Photo is good but it is several generations behind Photoshop and that gap keeps growing. It's Raw converter is not as good as Adobes either.
Thanks so much for this video! I’m a freelance illustrator, and you’ve finally given me the push to switch. I’ve been paying for Adobe for 10 years with full access to all apps, but mostly used just Photoshop, Illustrator, and occasionally Lightroom and InDesign. I was fine with the desktop apps, but the price is just too high, especially with Creative Cloud Synced Files being discontinued without any cost reduction. Plus, the iPad versions of Photoshop and Illustrator are terrible compared to cheaper alternatives. After a few tries, I managed to get Adobe to cancel my subscription without any extra fees, so now I have to switch in a week 😅. I’m excited but also a bit nervous about trying the alternatives. It feels like a fresh start, and it feels great to no longer be stuck with something I’m not really happy with! Thanks again!
For anyone reading this, here is how I managed to get rid of Adobe's early termination fee: It took me multiple chats with different representatives from Adobe's help desk. Each time, I emphasized how long I have been a paying subscriber (10 years!) and explained why the price just isn’t worth it anymore. I also stated that I wanted to cancel immediately, but due to the early termination fee, I would honor my contract; I just didn’t want it to auto-renew. When they said this wasn’t possible and that I had to wait until 30 days before the end of my contract, I expressed my frustration, saying that I find this entire process absurd, especially since it is technically possible for them to stop the auto-renewal. The fact that they are not helping me is a choice they are making. I made it clear that I do not want a new one-year contract, especially when they suggest I could get a few months free, only to later find out it actually means committing to a new contract. Whenever an agent was not helpful or closed the chat, I started a new chat. I made sure to stay polite but firm in my request (AI really helped me avoid responding in frustration 😉). I persisted, and they eventually waived the fees and ended my subscription immediately.
It's not a feature for feature replacement, sure. But try some of the plugins. Most people I know haven't bothered to install a single plugin when they decide it's not for them. Start with gmic.
I had no problem replacing Photoshop. The pluses more than outweigh the minuses for me. If Photoshop was free then it would probably have the edge. But there's no way it's worth $250 a year for what I need it for (eg website graphics and occasional image manipulation and some video game graphics).
@sammyfromsydney Thank you for mentioning this plugin. And I will try it out. A short video I just saw here on YT, that plugin seems powerpacked. There are other plugins also like the AI plugin for GIMP to generate all sort images that comes to mind, and with same AI plugin you use it to manipulate images, as you deem fits. Since, I began believing in the power of GIMP and what people are doing with it, and how the geeks and communities behind are giving it their all. My money will surely go to them and many them giving us free software with all powerpack functions in them. Again GIMP, is not just software one should look down on, as well as Krita and Inkscape. Again, thank you.
I've been waiting for a video like this one for a long time now. I'm going to list my own alternatives and see if they match up with the video, a small game of Bingo for myself. Premiere Pro 👉🏿 Davinci Resolve 18 Adobe Animate 👉🏿OpenToonz Photoshop 👉🏿 Krita / Google Drawings (Maya 3DS Max 👉🏿Blender3D) (Sound Design 👉🏿Bandlab Cakewalk) As you said it yourself, I shouldn't be paying those crazy prices for something not more than a simple hobby!
Glad you brought up Maya and Blender. An additional tip for anyone trying to transition from Maya to Blender: it's totally worth buying the "MayaConfig" Blender plug-in. It basically adjusts certain UI features, shortcut keys, and behaviors to match or approximate Maya. There are buttons to switch between Maya and Blender standards. I actually found it to be the fastest way to learn native Blender coming from Maya! On a related note, it wouldn't surprise me too much if Autodesk eventually takes a more Blender-like approach to their business model. Give away or drastically lower the price of a cut-back "base" version of Maya, and make the real money selling plug-ins to add more functionality.
Thank you so much for this video. Content creating is more of a hobby at this point since I work a full time job and do RU-vid when I can. I currently pay for the suite but only use (3) of the products. Premier Pro, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I miss the days before subscriptions when we could just, you know, buy what we wanted without feeling robbed each month.
EVERY single designer I know, slaves by choice to Adobe has nothing but complaints. Locked out of use, bad connections, etc, it's just one impediment after another that usually increases project duration by no less than 300% and way more most of the time. Open source software has been a Godsend. Thank YOU open source programmers for every charity you do the end user who's sick of abuse from MicroShaft, Adobe and all others that think they have a right to eternally dip into our pockets.
I’m a hobby photographer. I enjoyed LR until that last ToS update and decided it was time to jump. Luminar Neo and Apple photos (the editor isn’t half bad) on my Macbook Pro and ipad, but also Raw Therapee on my Linux gaming (yes lol) and photo desktop. Great video. I wish more content creators would address issues like this.
I've watch so many videos on adobe alternative so much that I'm confused😭but i like these alternatives, Ima save this video to media wallet so i could come back to it again ,, keep up the work bro 🤞
as an Adobe user I can't see myself using alternative apps for just one simple reason. Comfort. Using Adobe products for so many years I'm comfortable using the main apps and being productive and efficient with them. If you're an agency those are key in meeting the demands of our industry. I use to hate subscriptions but it made sense with the numerous updates and features
Hmm, so when they have you bent over, is it over a coffee table, or is it something larger, like a dining room table, or perhaps a conference room table? Maybe you've moved up in the company and now they're bending you over an executive credenza? I guess it beats a barrel. You'll know you made it once they're bending you over the boardroom table. That's status, right there.
Adobe took advantage. Prices were ridiculous for the average home user (did my research). Expenses include car payments, home payment/rent, light bills, water bills, cell phone bill, internet bill, ...list can go on..then subscription for services (music, Netflix, news, etc etc). Forget saving money for healthcare and god forbid a fall where you break something. This is the reality and facts of life. Thankfully we have these free alternatives to help us get by. Thank you for this content!
Brilliant. You inspired me to revisit my subscription plan with Adobe. I had the full suite and already using the Affinity Suite which I love... and really only using Adobe Express and Acrobat now. So basically switched to only Adobe Express (which includes Acrobat) and just saved 600 USD per year. Thanks man!!
![I Replaced ALL my ADOBE APPS with these [free or cheaper] Alternatives!](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
