Photoshop is one of the best software ever made – if I may use the superlatives. However, the only problem with photoshop is that Its Too Expensive.

However, for those who are not able to lay their hands on Photoshop, here is a list of some Great and Free Photoshop alternatives . These softwares are almost as good as photoshop and for some functionalities – even better.

1. Gimp : Everybody seems to know about Gimp as a Free alternative to Photoshop. Hence I would not write much about it except that it works on any platform and is a terrific software to use with a number of free plugins available and a good number of tutorials.

2. Paint.net : For windows users, it is cool replacement for MSPaint.It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools.An active and growing online community provides friendly help, tutorials, and plugins. With a light size of 1.6mb, it is available in 8 languages besides English and can be downloaded here

3. Artweaver : Artweaver comes very close to Photoshop and includes layer management, pen tablet support, image cloning, transparency and a number of other filters that we find in Photoshop. It may not be as slick as Photohshop for viewing but its feature set is quite similar to that of Photoshop.Its free to download for windows users and has plugins available for at least 15 languages but a few tutorials here and here.

4. Pixia : Originally designed in Japanese, this software is a powerful image editor . There are, however, some tutorials available in English as well as some video tutorials.The software was originally created for editing Anime/Manga, but it is quite a capable image editor in itself.

5. Inkscape : Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.It supports many advanced SVG features  like markers, clones, alpha blending etc. It may not exactly replace Photoshop, but if you are looking for a drawing programme which uses SVG file format, then Inkscape is a good option.Checkout for tutorials here.

6. Cinepaint : An open source application, it is one of the best image retouching tools available which supports high fidelity color upto 32-bits.Compare this with 8-bits of Gimp and it surely stands out above Gimp. Besides , it has many other features like Gallery quality printing, Color Management System, High Dynamic Range etc which make it useful. Check for Download , Plugins and tutorials.

7. Picnik : Picnik provides a web based photo editing tool which provides various options to manipulate your pictures online like resizing, removing red eyes, editing colour saturation etc. Since no download or even registration is required, it is quite easy and fast to start with . However, the options to edit the images are not as large as in softwares like Photoshop , Gimp etc  – which is to be expected since limited editing can be done online. You can make use of various tools available with Picnik.

8. Fotoflexer : Is another cool web based image editor. It can help you to remove blemishes,change skin or hair color, morph photos etc.You can drag and drop photos behind each other thus actually creating layer like effects.For a quick idea, see the demo here. You can edit sample photos also provided on the site to have a feel of the tool before you actually start using your own photographs.

9. Photoshop  Express : It is a free software from Adobe with many functionalities that you will find in Photoshop – though logically enough you will not find all the advanced features like layers, filters etc. But for a basic user, it is quite useful to edit the photos online and use the Free 2GB space provided by Adobe. However, you need a decent internet connection to use the software as the going is little slow.

10. Aviary’s Phoenix : This is a very powerful web based image editing programme which you can use by just signing up free. The interface has a great resemblance to that of Photoshop and unlike most other online web editors, you can edit using Layers, Brushes, Filters and lots more. The tool is based on Adobe Flash and hence is reasonably fast even on slow internet connection.

11. Photofiltre : A French product, but available in English also, it enables application of large number of filters and allows simple to advanced enhancements /editing of the images.Check out the tutorials for some quick lessons.

12. Magic Extreme : MAGIX Xtreme Photo Designer is a powerful yet easy to use application that allows you to edit your photos quickly and precisely.It enables you to retouch blemishes, scratches or tears on old photos, and use the cloning tool, magix wand, and other pro tools to create impressive collages.In addition to this, you also can select background and objects in a picture  by simply right-clicking on them and add impressive perspective effects. And at 1.43 Mb it is a small software to install

13. Photo Pos Lite : Photo Pos Lite is a free lite version of the award-wining photo editor Photo Pos Pro(which costs USD 49/-). Photo Pos Lite contains many of Photo Pos Pro’s tools and features. The software provides support for scanners and digital cameras, Various of Image Enhancing and editing tools and functions, Paint Brush Tool, Shapes Tool, Clone Brush Tool, Rich Text Tools, Special Effects, Selection Tools, Simple Gradients and more.

14. Dr Pic :  A simple web based image editor which just enables you to edit your images by simply uploading and applying the 15 + editing tools that are provided on right panel. This tool is suitable for those who want to quick edit images on the fly.

15. Pixenate : Pixenate is another web based image editing tool which is simple and easy to use. Compared to some other web based tools mentioned above, it has more options to play around with your images and apply fun effects .

16.  Phixr : Yet another web based image editor. Allows you to create temporary account without signup and edit your images with over 20 tools to edit the images.Not much different from Pixenate or Dr Pic tools mentioned above.

17. Evans Image Editor : Evan’s Image Editor (EIE) is a free image editor that allows for editing and creation of animated or still images. It has several advanced features eg having multiple panel layouts – which allow you to see multiple views of your image while working on it .EIE allows you to select multiple layers/frames at once and perform batch modifications . Allows you to edit frames of a video also.See tutorials.

18. Photobie : Photobie is image editing software that combines features amateurs can use with advanced tools professionals will appreciate. Photobie is free for personal use with no Pro upgrade to pay for — all features are free. Was initially started by the developer (Cheng) for editing the images of his daughter and since then has developed into a full fledged image editing tool.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

1.PSDtuts

PSDTUTS is a blog/Photoshop site made to house and showcase some of the best Photoshop tutorials around.  gives you very detailed illustrations with a large number of pictures.The tutorials are very long , but perhaps because they go in so much of minute details and the graphics are complex.The collection is quite good and I use them often.

2.Photoshop Website

An aggregator ,this site has a great collection of photoshop tutorials and hundreds of photoshop brushes to download. Supposed to be created by a housewife (!) , the best thing I like about this
site is that it has created collections of tutorials under one post .Eg 42 Tutorials On Hair or
35 Best Eye Tutorials On Photoshop

3.PS hero

PS Hero is a site by a young designer who ,after getting fed up of his corporate life , became a freelancer and started this site to showcase his talent.The site is neatly divided into sections ‘Graphic Design’,'Text Effects’,'Photo Effects’,'Custom Shapes’ etc and makes it easy to search and use the simply illustrated and great tutorials on the site.Most of the users find it fun to follow his tutorials.

4.You Suck at Photoshop

You Suck at Photoshop is great for those who want to learn photoshop design with each step clearly illustrated. The  video tutorials on the site capture the screen as the design is being made and comprehensively cover the tutorial .Do remember to use the Full Screen mode to see the videos clearly.

5.PSD Learning

Ross Aitken, the owner and main editor of PSD learning studies design in Glasgow and writes tutorials alongwith.Though not a very large collection( site is less than a year old) ,the tutorials are quite easy to follow .The number of images in one post in huge .However, I do miss screenshots of Photoshop in the tutorials.

6.Photoshop Tutorials

Here at Photoshop Tutorials you will find in-depth Adobe Photoshop tutorials, Adobe Photoshop Elements Tutorials, Photography tutorials. Their tutorials are created using Adobe Photoshop CS3 and CS4 but most can be followed using older versions such as Photoshop CS.The tutorials are lengthy and some of them spread over 8-10 pages.But it goes to show how much effort has been put in creating them.  User ratings further help to evaluate the tutorials.

7.Photoshop Essentials

This is again a cool site for detailed photoshop tutorials. The good thing about this site is that the tutorials are very detailed with each and every step clearly identified so that even if you are a novice at photoshop, you can follow all the steps easily.

8.Tutorial 9

This site has photoshop tutorials ,photography tutorials,Blogging tutorials and freebies. However, the photoshop tutorial section is quite big and a large number of minutely detailed tutorials are given. The site is worth every moment spent on it.

9.Abduzeedo
Run by a famous designer, this site always has something unique and new . The tutorials are quite striking and lengthy. The inspirations are also very interesting and thought provoking for the photoshop community. A site worth visiting.

10.10 Steps

This site has got it all – whether its links to collection of tutorials from other sites, own tutorials in Flash and Photoshop, articles  on Photography or a large collection of Inspiration photographs. The site has seen some good growth in the first year of its inception – since last year.

11.Smashing Magazine

Smashing magazine has links to tons of tutorials on various topics – photoshop being one of them.Though they themselves don’t provide the tutorials, they make a collection of some great tutorials from the web and post them . The site is worth visiting.

12.Adobe Tutorialz

Their presentation style of tutorials is simple and easy to follow.Each step is nicely explained with images. The collection of tutorials is also good.

13.Layers Magazine

Photoshop tutorials is one of the sections on this site but has a good collection of Video Tutorials . Many tutorials are from Photoshop guys themselves and quite useful.

14.Tutvid 

And if you are looking for some high resolution video tutorials on Photoshop, then use this site. The tutorials are impressive and the quality of videos very good.