On Thursday, April 6, 2023 at 11:57:04 PM UTC+2, Andy Burnelli wrote:

The goal is a free cross-platform PhotoShop replacement for what YOU do.

In a recent thread, a Windows user was thrilled to find that the free Paint.NET Windows software beat the payware PhotoShop for his needs. *Results of paint.net app* <https://groups.google.com/g/rec.photo.digital/c/2abPbCbWw-8>

Knowing that he's also on Linux, I am of the impression Pinta is the cross platform macOS, Windows, Linux PhotoShop replacement for Paint.NET.

However... I use Paint.NET for anything PhotoShop can do, and as such,
I haven't personally looked at Pinta (or at PhotoShop) in many years...

Maybe people on this newsgroup have used mac/Linux/Win Pinta recently?

A possible advantage of Pinta, is it works on macOS & Linux along
with Windows and BSD (so it's a cross platform Photoshop replacement).

NOTE: It's a fact that it's a cross platform app; it's an assessment
that it's a Photoshop replacement. The iKooks can't figure that out.

Has anyone on this newsgroup looked at Pinta recently, perhaps??? <https://snapcraft.io/pinta>
<https://www.pinta-project.com/releases/> <https://www.techspot.com/downloads/5501-pinta.html> <https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/pinta.html>

If so, would you kindly inform the rest of us how your tests worked out?
The goal is a free cross-platform PhotoShop replacement for what YOU do.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information which, in this case, is to try to learn more about the free Pinta editor.

I think photopea.com is the most obvious free alternative for photoshop, because it is both cross-platform (running in the browser on ios, android, windows, mac, linux, etc..) and convenient (no need to install any software).
It is also powerful, since it supports advanced editing (like using layer masks, which paint.net doesn't seem to support).

https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/120062-layer-masks/

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On Friday, April 7, 2023 at 8:56:49 PM UTC+2, Andy Burnelli wrote:

sobriquet wrote:

I think photopea.com is the most obvious free alternative
for photoshop, because it is both cross-platform (running in the
browser on ios, android, windows, mac, linux, etc..) and convenient
(no need to install any software).
It is also powerful, since it supports advanced editing
(like using layer masks, which paint.net doesn't seem to support).

https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/120062-layer-masks/

Hi sobriquet,

Thanks for the suggestion of photopea.com as we all work together, for decaes, helping each other find the best software for photo editing.

Given that suggestion, I, for one, try to test every viable free image-editing app ever suggested on the photo, windows, and freeware newsgroups (the freeware 3D editors being tested separately from the cad newsgroups), and I looked & don't see that in my archives. <https://i.postimg.cc/HLfTjC63/picture-editors.jpg> New & old pic archives

First, since you provided the link, I will look at it, where I went to: <https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/120062-layer-masks/>
*Posted May 27, 2022 by Brittw*
"Paint.net is great and, with many plug-ins, I can do just about
anything that I could do in Photoshop. One feature that is lacking
however, which would be of tremendous benefit to users, would be
the addition of Layer Masks. This would, for example, enable users
to blend bracketed photos simply. It is a feature found in many
photo editors (e.g. GIMP)."

*Posted May 27, 2022 by TrevorOutlaw*
"Use Alpha Mask Import Plugin 2.0"
MODERATORS NOTE: This Alpha Mask effect may have issues with
newer versions of Paint.NET. An alternative plugin, called
Paste Alpha, is available here. <https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/1854-alpha-mask-import-plugin-20/> Alternatively, BoltBait's PasteAlpha does the same thing. <https://forums.getpaint.net/topic/113220-boltbaits-plugin-pack-for-pdn-v4212-and-beyond-updated-july-16-2020/>
"Gimp and Photoshop's layer mask are non-destructive while Paint.NET's masking approach is destructive. Whenever using either Alpha Mask
or Paste Alpha, make sure to duplicate the original object."

*Posted May 28, 2022 by Ego Eram Reputo*
"I asked Rick about this quite a while ago. At the time Rick explained
that adding layer masks would break existing PDN files (not something
he was willing to entertain)."

*Posted May 28, 2022 by Rick Brewster*
"Layer masks require extending the .PDN file format. That's not on
the table until PDN v5, along with several other features.
Doesn't mean alpha masks are coming in v5, just means it
becomes possible to start talking about it at that time."

I don't really know what this feature does, nor whether the plugins
do what sobriquet is asking for, but I should note those threads
are old but they probably are still accurate even as my Paint.NET
version is 5.03 (so it's likely layer-mask capable).

Moving forward on sobriquet's purposefully helpful suggestion, <https://www.photopea.com/>
Photopea: Advanced photo editor supporting
PSD, XCF, Sketch, XD and CDR formats.
(Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Sketch App, Adobe XD & CorelDRAW)
Create a new image or open existing files from your computer.
Save your work as PSD (File > Save as PSD) or as JPG/PNG/SVG
using File > Export. Suggest new features at our GitHub site. <https://github.com/photopea/photopea/issues>
Where one of the issues is "Too many ads" as shown here: <https://github.com/photopea/photopea/issues/5510>

It's a GREAT IDEA for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is that it requires no installation, and therefore anyone can use it on any platform.

My first test failed miserably, but I'm sure that's just data dependent.
a. I read in this exact file... <https://i.postimg.cc/QN6rbSQD/browser05.jpg> All 3 Microsoft browsers
b. And this is what showed up... <https://i.postimg.cc/Sx1zCsdp/photopea01.jpg> My 1st photopea edit
c. But that could be due to my browser settings...
Can you test out that exact file to see if it's the file please?

I tend to use chrome and firefox mostly, but the file seems to work fine
in edge as far as I can tell. Note that photopea doesn't like adblockers, so it's best
to turn it off for that site.

https://i.imgur.com/WNWu68m.png

https://i.imgur.com/puwqFYd.png

No big deal if you don't, as the value inherent in your suggestion is that there is a documented supported reasonably powerful photo editor that is available online using a web browser on any platform - which is really
nice.

Thanks for that wonderful suggestion.
I likely won't use it but it is great to know that it exists as others
may use it so we can help many people who don't want to install editors.
--
Posted out of the goodness of my heart to disseminate useful information which, in this case, is to faithfully try to help the original poster.

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