Adobe Photoshop prices are set to rise: here are some great alternatives

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Adobe is the latest in an increasingly long line of businesses that has announced it’ll be raising prices for its UK customers in response to the pound’s fluctuating value against the dollar.

The company behind popular, and for some essential, products such as Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, and Illustrator sent its customers an email stating that because of “recent changes in exchange rates” Creative Cloud subscriptions would be rising in price from March 6. 

Adobe’s official blog post on the subject is fairly scant when it comes to exactly how much the prices are rising, stating that Swedish and Brazilian customers will also see a rise and that “existing customers will receive information about their subscription pricing directly from Adobe.”

Price edit

It seems that the amount subscriptions are rising varies from user to user, with people taking to social media to express their annoyance that the price they’re paying is rising by anything from 10% all the way to 60%.

According to DigitalArtsOnline, students are being hit worst with their subscriptions rising by 60%.

Subscribers on annual plans won’t see their prices rise in March like monthly subscribers as their subscription has been paid, but after their annual term ends they’ll be subject to a price increase. 

We’ve reached out to Adobe to request the exact details of the price rises and we’ll update with their response.

Regardless of exactly how much costs are set to rise, Adobe’s creative software isn't exactly cheap to start with. For those who rely on its products for their studies or freelance work, any increase could hit hard. 

Some worthy alternatives

Outside of professional spheres, the most widely used piece of software that’ll be subject to a price rise is probably Photoshop so in light of that we’ve decided to flag up some free alternatives. 

They may not have all the features that make Photoshop the first choice for professionals but for everyone else they’re worthy alternatives. 

Our first suggestion is GIMP which is by far the best free Photoshop alternative. It has fully customizable masks, layers, advanced filters, color adjustments and transformations as well as a wealth of user-created plugins and scripts which replicate popular Photoshop tools. 

Even better, it comes with an excellent in-depth user manual to help you get started without a fuss.  

Photo Pos Pro is another excellent alternative which has interfaces to accommodate both beginners and advanced users, the latter of which closely resembles Photoshop. If you find GIMP’s endless lists and menus intimidating and/or exhausting Photo Pos Pro could be the option for you. 

Its main drawback is the limit on save file sizes (1,024 x 2,014 pixels), but if you decide you like the basic version and want to upgrade, Photo Pos Pro Premium is currently discounted to £17.67 which is a reasonable price for a stellar Photoshop alternative. 

• There are several other free alternatives that may appeal to you, the rest of which you can find here.

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