If you want to create some compelling graphics and images for package design, you are going to need graphics editing software. And when it comes to graphics editing, Adobe Photoshop is arguably the most famous and most frequently used.
However, that doesn’t mean that it is always the right tool for the job! Depending on the type of work you have to do, other alternatives might suit your needs better. Or, perhaps you are looking for something with similar capabilities as Photoshop, but within a more affordable price range.
Whatever the case, we’ve got you covered! Below are a selection of great Photoshop alternatives to fit your needs and budget.
An important distinction between different types of graphics editors is raster graphics vs. vector graphics. Which one you should use will depend on the type of graphics you are working on, and knowing this information will help you choose the perfect alternative software for your project.
In a nutshell, raster graphics editors deal with grids of individual pixels and are good at editing photographs. Each pixel has specific colour values for great detail. Vector graphics deal with lines and curves rather than individual pixels. Vector graphics editors are great for logos and text, and anything that will need to scale up or down to different dimensions. A vector image will be smooth and clear at any size, while raster images will become obviously “pixelated” when you try to increase the size.
- With that in mind, if you are designing logos or other artwork for your products that will need to scale smoothly to different size packages, then Adobe Illustrator is an excellent choice. This program specializes in designing vector-based illustrations.
- Do you have a lot of text to arrange? Then Adobe InDesign will be a better choice than Photoshop. The tools and capabilities of InDesign are tailored to arranging text, photos, and artwork for printed materials. InDesign is also great if you want to create templates for multiple versions of similarly formatted layouts.
Of course, there are options outside of the Adobe Creative Suite altogether!
- Working on a Mac computer? Looking for a program with similar capabilities as Photoshop? Then consider something like Pixelmator. Despite being much more affordable than Photoshop, Pixelmator still comes packing with many of the same features as Photoshop. It is fine-tuned to work with Mac OSX.
- Perhaps you are more of a Windows person? Don’t worry; there are Photoshop alternatives for your machine as well. Serif PhotoPlus matches a lot of the features of Photoshop, but at a lower price.
There are also some great open source Photoshop alternatives:
- GIMP, is one of the most famous and well-respected Photoshop alternatives, open source or otherwise. The name is an acronym, which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is available for Mac, Windows, as well as Linux and provides a wide range of tools for editing photos and other images.
In product packaging and marketing point of view, packaging using creative design plays a crucial role. A plain box cannot compete with a smart colourful box or a well designed box, even though the content of both the boxes are the same. Its Human nature to go for attractive.
Author Bio
Treesa May J is a dedicated homemaker and blogger who loves to share new, exciting and informative tips on interior designing. Recipes, crafting and home cleaning services are her favourite things to write about! You may follow her at Twitter .