You don’t need the industry standard to do a stellar job. Here are some alternatives for you to try.
Photo editing is one of the most important aspects of running a show. Even if it’s a podcast or vlog. We’d all like to believe people don’t judge books by their covers, but they do. And the same goes for podcasts and vlogs – people won’t even click on your show if the cover isn’t nice looking enough. There has to be some level of attentiveness to the visual art space to represent the time you take on the actual project.
The main trend these days seems to be having a bold, background color with the host’s/hostess’s face over it, along with some other props that have something to do with that episode. Other times it’s often just a prop and some clear writing.
This isn’t anything complicated to do. All you need is a camera, basic photo editor, and a choice of props.
Advantages of the Adobe Suite
Without a doubt, the Adobe Suite of apps has long been the industry standard in photo and video editing, illustration, and design. For those who use it, it brings many advantages. Namely the workflow integration between apps and team members.
Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects and the rest are all powerful tools. Adobe is constantly updating these tools with new trend-setting improvements. In the past years, there has been somewhat of a growing discontent regarding the pricing model (a model which unfortunately is increasingly copied through industries).
So other companies have popped up to take advantage of this mini-exodus. Some have been chugging along just fine, even while Adobe was more popular, focused only one the niche of social media, while others have been making bigger and bigger splashes in the artistic community with their marketing geared towards being “anti-subscription” (Affinity).
At the end of the day, your choice is still largely determined by the other members of your team, as cross-platform compatibility I’ve found is more a label on a box than a reality. When loading in assets designed in other file formats, you still have to go through a lot of adjustments when you import them. So, who you’re working with should always be considered.
Free/low-cost options for photo editing
There are, luckily, an abundance of options to the more expensive Adobe suite. From full product competitors like Corel or Affinity, to smaller more niche market editors that focus on social media image production. They’ve all got something interesting to offer depending on your demands.
Corel
Website: https://www.corel.com/en
Corel has probably been one of the biggest competitors to Adobe for a long time (and I’m old enough to remember when Adobe was actually Corel’s biggest competitor). They were the original titan of the industry, and have maintained their powerful graphics engine. I personally find their workflow a lot easier to wrap my head around than Adobe’s.
Corel’s graphics programs are divided up into CorelDRAW and Corel PaintShop Pro, the two being obvious which ones they compete against in the Adobe market (Illustrate, InDesign, and Photoshop). CorelDRAW focuses on vector illustrations and PaintShop Pro is about AI-assisted photo processing paired with a high-quality design engine.
Corel is available on Windows and Mac and excels in the same cross-platform synergy that Adobe is famous for.
Corel comes with both an annual plan and a One-Time Purchase.
Affinity
Website: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/
Affinity went all out in their marketing to be the “Photoshop without subscription”. I myself use their products extensively. They divided the competencies and workflows of their three editing programs a bit differently to Adobe’s suite, and to get a proper replacement I’d recommend just getting the whole package. They’re currently offering a deal for the whole suite for 119 euros, which is really hard to beat considering how powerful the programs are.
There are three programs in the package: Designer 2, Photo 2, and Publisher 2. Though at face value, one might associate Designer with Illustrator, Photo with Photoshop, and Publisher with InDesign, they still aren’t quite directly compatible. Since in my work I find myself using a lot of artboards in Photoshop, Designer is actually the one with better compatibility (Designer has artboards, and Photo doesn’t). Getting the whole suite lets you mix and match your needs, however.
Each program is currently being offered for 48.99 euros (84.99 euros regularly), and for a bundle at 119.99 euros (199 euros regularly).
Pixlr
Website: https://pixlr.com/
Pixlr is entirely geared to social media asset creation, especially their Photomash product. To specialized profile image creators and YouTube thumbnails, to product showcase and food snap templates, they leave no subject unturned. It’s very easy to use, and has a variety of free functions as well as paid-for availability. The templates are very much based on what’s trendy today. But it’s hard to tell if it’s trendy because Pixlr made a template or did they make the template after the trend?
Their roots are in Pixlr E and Pixlr X, which also makes social media asset creation super easy. With sizes laid out for you to choose like clothes on a toddler’s bed, you can take what you need and easily edit from there. They also offer a lot of animated assets for Stories and the like.
There are also a couple of free, handy tools like the background remover, Remove BG, and Batch Editor, too.
Their paid account gets you access to even more templates, ad removal, and more effects in picture and video editing. Plans start at $4.90 a month for individuals for an annual plan.
Canva
Website: https://www.canva.com/
Like Pixlr, Canva’s main focus is on ad creation. Unlike Pixlr, this stems out from social media templates and goes on to include all kinds of templates for both print and digital ads, logos, and more. And speaking of print, they even offer printing services that deliver your products to your door.
The paid level of Canva allows for extended templates, as well as a “social media planner” that allows you to publish your posts straight to Instagram and Facebook.
Colorcinch
Website: https://www.cartoonize.net/
Starting as Cartoonizer, Colorcinch used to be just a fun app to play with on your phone. They eventually migrated to being web-based app, with a powerful “cartoonizing” algorithm, and then further expanded their features, including the ability to remove backgrounds quickly, text masking, crop and resize, and so on. They also have an extensive pool of stock photos to pull from. Like Pixlr or Canva, it really has everything you need for most of your social media needs.
They have a few fun freebies on offer as well, including an Avatar Maker
You can get an Annual Plan for $59.88 or a Monthly Plan for $8.99.
