Is It Possible to Use Photoshop for Free?
As with most other paid apps, interested users can also download the latest Adobe Photoshop version and use it for free for a limited time. This free trial version of Photoshop comes complete with all of its features and the latest updates to allow users to experience and explore everything that the application has to offer. Photoshop’s free trial period lasts for seven days and converts into a paid version automatically unless the user cancels his free subscription prior to its expiry. Since 2013, Adobe Photoshop has switched from being a desktop application to an exclusively cloud-based subscription service.
How to Download Your Free Photoshop Version
To download and sample the latest Photoshop version, visit the Adobe website by typing www.adobe.com on your browser. Click on the arrow next to “Creativity & Design” on the menu at the top of the Adobe homepage to open the submenu. Look for “Photoshop” and click on its link to proceed to the official page of the app. At the top of the Photoshop page, click on “Free Trial.”
On the following pop-up page, select whether you are trying out Photoshop as an individual, business entity, student or teacher. You’ll be given the option of downloading Photoshop, Photography Plan or Creative Cloud All Apps ― each with a corresponding monthly subscription fee. Click on the blue “Start free trial” button to select your preferred plan.
The next page will be a checkout screen where you will have to provide an email address. If you don’t have an existing Adobe account yet, you have to go through a registration process using this same email address. A download should start after the checkout process.
After the download completes, open your download folder and look for the Photoshop_Installer.dmg file. Clicking on this file will start the download of the actual Photoshop program to your device as well as the Creative Cloud desktop app. You may need to create a new Creative Cloud membership to be able to complete the download process. You also need a Creative Cloud account if you plan to subscribe after the trial period.
After the download and installation process, you may begin using your free trial copy of Photoshop and the other apps if you chose the Photography Plan or the Creative Cloud All Apps plan. If you have no intention of subscribing after the trial period, make sure to cancel your free trial subscription and remove your Creative Cloud account before the trial ends.
Those who are planning to transition into the paid version after the trial period may want to opt for the Creative Cloud All Apps plan. Apart from being the lowest priced option in the Photoshop subscription plan tiers, it also comes with 100 gigabytes of cloud storage, a portfolio website and exclusive fonts. Apart from Photoshop, the All Apps option also includes other Adobe applications like Lightroom, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro and Adobe XD.
Adobe Photoshop System Requirements
Adobe Photoshop is easily the best and most preferred photo editing software in the world because of its power and robust features. To be able to enjoy all its power and functionalities, however, you need your system to have enough juice to run the application.
The latest version of Photoshop requires an AMD or Intel processor with 64-bit support and a minimum clock speed of 2 GHz. Your system should be running on a Windows 7 version or Mac version 10.13 High Sierra or later operating systems. While it can function properly on a system with 2GB of random access memory (RAM), Adobe recommends around 8GB or RAM. A graphics card will also help it run more efficiently. Your system storage should also have at least 3.1GB of free space.
Free Photo Editing Software Alternatives to Photoshop
If the monthly license subscription fees of Photoshop are beyond your budget, there are alternative free-to-use photo-editing applications that give you the same basic and advanced features. Among the top free Photoshop alternatives are GIMP, Photo.Net and Pixlr X.
Short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP offers some of the more familiar functionalities of Photoshop, including editing tools like layers, masks and curves. GIMP also has transformation tools, brushes and patterns and filter effects. Paint.Net also boasts of similar features to Photoshop, most notably its blending effects, which is one of the most used functions of Photoshop.
Many consider Pixlr X to be one of the best alternatives to Photoshop. This free-to-use software comes with photo effect filters, multiple-layer support with blending modes and a built-in text tool with stylish fonts. As with Photoshop, it will be a good idea to check the system requirements of these free photo editing applications to ensure that your device can run them properly before downloading and installing any of them.
