Adobe Creative Cloud is one of the best multimedia design suites that we can find on the net. This offers us programs for all kinds of tasks, from editing images, audio and video, to 2D animation and creating web pages. Creative Cloud is capable of meeting the needs of any user, especially within the business environment. However, it has a very important drawback for home users and fans, and that is that it is paid. And not exactly cheap.
Adobe offers its programs within a subscription plan. In other words, in order to use the Adobe software, it is necessary to pay an amount of money every month that varies according to the programs we are going to use.
For example, if we are going to use Photoshop and Lightroom for photo retouching we will have to pay 12 euros a month. If we want to use any other individual program (such as Premiere, to edit videos), the price varies between 12 and 24 euros per month. And, if we need a little of everything, we can have all the Adobe programs for a payment of 60.50 euros per month.
The subscription models have a window and a drawback. The advantage is that if we only need the program for a short period of time, we will save money. In addition, we can always use the latest version without having to buy or renew licenses. The downside is that the software never becomes ours. And if we use it for a long time, the money invested in it is outrageous.
Additionally, Adobe does not allow us to purchase its software, it only offers us Creative Cloud subscription models.
Although at a professional level it can be difficult to replace Adobe applications with others, especially at the level of connectivity and compatibility between them, at the user level it is possible to do the same as we do with them but without having to pay. Below we will see the best alternatives for each of the Adobe Creative Cloud programs.
Free programs to edit PDF without Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most widely used free PDF file viewer. Since the PDF format was designed by Adobe, this is one of the best viewers, but not the only one. View PDF and perform basic operations with them is free. However, to edit any PDF it is necessary to resort to Adobe Acrobat , and this program is already paid.
Editing a PDF document implies being able to make any changes to it, its pages and its content. We can add or remove pages, remove part of the content, add new blocks or edit the content that already exists. We must also be able to digitally sign our documents so that we can demonstrate our authorship and that it has not been altered by others.
Some of the best free PDF editing alternatives are:
- Sejda PDF Editor , a PDF editor that we can use from the browser, without installing anything.
- Inkscape , since, although it is a program to create and edit vector graphics, it supports this format.
- LibreOffice Draw , the free office suite drawing tool, can also open and edit PDF files easily without paying.
Alternatives to Photoshop without paying to edit images
Photoshop is the quintessential image editing program. This program is probably the best known and used by Adobe users. With it we can make all kinds of modifications to the bitmap of any image, useful for making photomontages, retouching photos or, why not, drawing from scratch if we have a tablet or a very good mouse click.
A large number of tools and functions, which are complemented by plugins and the possibility of creating and installing our own brushes, make Photoshop a complicated program to replace. But not impossible.
Unless we have very special needs, especially in companies, it is possible to use free programs to do the same as we do with GIMP. And save money on it.
- GIMP , without a doubt the best free and open source alternative to Photoshop. We can do pretty much everything with it, so we won’t miss Adobe software.
- paint.net , another simpler alternative to Photoshop. It is not as complete and powerful as the Adobe software, but it has the main features (such as the support of layers), along with a large number of tools, so as not to miss anything.
- Photopea , ideal to have it always at hand. This tool, in addition to being compatible with projects created in Photoshop, can be run from the browser. It is free and does not require installing anything to use it.
Your photos like never before with the best free alternatives to Lightroom
Lightroom is also one of the best Adobe programs, especially for those who are dedicated to photography. For many it is considered a program to use it together with Photoshop. Even Adobe offers it within its photography plan.
This program is not intended to edit photos or images, but to retouch them. With it we can apply a series of improvements and corrections to give a professional touch to our photos in minutes. We can use the AI to automatically improve them, or manually modify each of the photo’s values, such as brightness, contrast or balance. Very useful for retouching RAW images without loss of quality.
Luckily, if we don’t want to pay for Lightroom, it’s possible to use free alternatives like the following:
- RawTherapee , one of the most complete and faithful alternatives to Adobe Lightroom. This software is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, and will allow us to give a professional finish to our photos without having to go through the Adobe ring.
- Darktable , another free and open source alternative that allows us both to organize our photo library and to retouch and improve the photos that we have on our computer, even in RAW format, to give them a professional finish.
Best alternatives to Adobe Premiere for video editing
Editing video doesn’t have to be complicated. Although doing it professionally yes it is. Adobe has one of the most powerful programs for video editing: Adobe Premiere. This non-linear video editing software allows us to do almost everything with our videos. It is even capable of connecting with other Adobe programs to apply effects or touch up the audio of the video.
Within the industry, we may need software as powerful and packed with features, effects, and features as Premiere. But at a household level, we certainly don’t need many of the functions. And all they do is further complicate the editing task.
Luckily, there are free and open source alternatives that will allow us to save a spike when editing our videos:
- Shotcut , one of the most complete free and open source video editors we can find. This editor is compatible with practically any video format and has all the tools that any average user may need. Without advertising or limited functionality, it is, without a doubt, one of the most popular.
- OpenShot , another of the most powerful free and open source video editors we can find. Broadly speaking, it offers the same functions as Shotcut, but changes some elements to improve the editing task.
- DaVinci Resolve Pro , a free, but professional video editor that will offer us everything that any average user may need to edit their videos. Its interface is simple to master and offers the basic and essential tools that any user may need.
- Hitfilm Express allows us to simultaneously replace Adobe Premiere and After Effects. This free video editor is intended to allow users to edit and create their own videos, while creating and applying their own VFX effects from the same program.
Free alternatives to Adobe Audition to trim and edit audio
Audition is the renewed version of the legendary Cool Edit. This program is also one of the most complete and professional that we can find to edit audio. This software can be used both to improve or cut our MP3s and to improve the sound quality of any professionally recorded video. We can also use it to edit the voices of any recording, improve our podcasts and much more.
Audition is packed with features and functions. However, many of the functions included in this software may not be needed.
Therefore, we can save money by resorting to free alternatives such as:
- Audacity , one of the best known free and open source audio editors we can find. This editor has nothing to envy in functions and features to Audition, so, if we do not want to pay, we can use it to take our audios to a new level.
- Sodaphonic , although it is a much simpler alternative than the previous one, is very useful for those users who do not need advanced functions or features. This program does not need to be installed, since we can easily use it from any web browser.
- Ocenaudio , another free alternative that we can use to edit all kinds of audio files. This program is mainly characterized by being free and very easy to use, offering most users everything they need without complications.
Effects everywhere with these free alternatives to After Effects
After Effects is to Adobe Premiere what Lightroom is to Photoshop. This software is in charge of creating and designing all kinds of VFX effects with a large number of advanced functions and features.
Unfortunately, there are not many free alternatives that allow us to replace this program, although some of the main ones are:
- Natron , open source software to create all kinds of motion and VFX effects. It is completely free for all users and cross-platform, so we can use it in any operating system together with any other video editor.
- Hitfilm Express, we already talked about it as an alternative to Adobe Premiere. An all-in-one for video editing and effects.
Alternatives to Illustrator for working with vector graphics
Adobe Illustrator is Adobe software for editing vector graphics. This is one of the most used tools by graphic designers, since it is one of the most powerful, that makes it easier to work and that has a greater number of tools.
If we want to work with vector graphics, and we don’t want to pay the high Adobe fee, we can resort to one of these free alternatives:
- Inkscape is , without a doubt, the most popular program for editing vector graphics. This program has all kinds of tools to allow users to create all kinds of vector images without difficulty.
- Vectr , for those users who need an online vector graphics editor, to be able to go to it from anywhere without having to install any software.
Free alternatives to Adobe InDesign for all kinds of designs
InDesign is the quintessential software for creating all kinds of compositions. This program has a large number of possibilities to lay out magazines, newspapers, books and practically any type of content that we want to give a professional finish, both for printing and for distribution over the Internet.
As with other Adobe programs, it is quite expensive. For this reason, many prefer to resort to free alternatives that, although they are not as professional, allow us to do the same more easily, such as:
- Scribus , open source software to lay out and prepare all kinds of publications. This program has a large number of tools that allow us to give our composition the professional finish we need.
- Canva , another free alternative (although with some limited functions) that will allow us to create all kinds of compositions, this time from the browser.
Alternatives to Adobe Animate, the successor to Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash has been one of the most powerful programs to create all kinds of 2D animation. This program has had a great weight especially on the web. However, to this day, Flash and all its animations are destined to disappear. Adobe has an alternative for 2D animation, Animate, which is positioned as the spiritual successor to Flash. This program allows us to draw and animate with relative ease to breathe new life into our ideas.
Animate is also a paid software. And for this reason, many users prefer to resort to free alternatives for 2D animation, such as:
- Pencil2d , one of the most similar programs to Animation. This program helps us easily animate all kinds of drawings, even handmade ones. Also, it is much easier to use than Adobe software.
- OpenToonz , open source alternative to animate all kinds of 2D images. It is a very powerful and complete software, used even in various professional studios.
- Synfig Studios , a powerful 2D animation program, also open source and available for Windows, macOS and Linux. This is one of the most complete alternatives, even more than Adobe software.
Alternatives to Dreamweaver to create free websites
Adobe opted for the easy creation of web pages with Dreamweaver. This is one of the most complete programs to easily create and design all kinds of web pages, even without knowing programming. Web pages are usually not very SEO-friendly due to the large amount of junk code they introduce, but for those who don’t want to mess around, it’s a great tool. Although very expensive for what it offers.
Luckily, there are free programs that allow us to forget about Dreamweaver to easily create all kinds of web pages:
- Notapad ++ , one of the most popular open source plaintext editors we can find. This software will allow us to program websites directly in HTML, CSS and other programming languages, since it does not have a dedicated interface.
- Aptana Studio, a programming IDE to create much more complete web pages. This program is completely free and open source, offering us an environment full of tools to create web pages.
