Eli Aloisi and his special photoshop skillz got me thinking about what people should be using who can’t afford Photoshop. Also, with Photoshop getting so complex and requiring yearly training seminars to even begin to understand the changes, maybe there are some programs that are a bit better for marketers. Why should you care? Because one of the best ways to differentiate your campaign on Facebook, PoF and other platforms is making unique creative. Creative design will often lead to better click-throughs, better results.
1.   GIMP
Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, AmigaOS
The GNU Image Manipulation program is made specifically for photo retouching, image composition and authoring. It’s probably the most popular Photoshop alternative and used by much of the Unix-geeks.
2.   PhotoPos Pro
Windows
This is a rich photo editor that supports most picture file types. The pro version used to be $59.90, but now is freeware. It’s particularly great if you have a crush on someone and want to express it with 3D Text.
3.   Aviary
Online only
This is a great photo editing service that is useful for just editing and cropping a photo. Need to fit a photo into a specific size for PoF? Here’s a simple way to do it.
4.   Paint.Net
Online Only
This is the famous Microsoft Paint application on steroids. If you don’t know Microsoft Paint, you’ve never lived. One of the great things about it is that it does have a huge support community to answer all your questions.
