# Linux alternative for photo editing with layers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 21, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161 "2017-05-21T18:10:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/1 "2017-05-21T18:10:25Z")
Hey everyone. First, good to see you all, it’s been a while. Question: I’m working for an online newspaper now and my Windows box just died. I’m thinking of transitioning to a total Linux Mint system since most of our stuff is done on the Web, but I need photo editing software that will do the easy stuff like crop and save in different formats, but also will allow me to take a template of a certain size with our logo in the corner, drag a picture into the template, and then send the picture to the back bringing the logo to the front. Layering, I think you young people call it 😃 I’d also like a lightweight photo editor such as Irfanview for Linux that I could do some quick and dirty editing with. Is there such an animal? Now the caveat. I’m old. I’m cranky. Get off my lawn. And I can’t stand GIMP, so please don’t recommend that. I thank you in advance. And it’s nice to be back. Ric ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/2 "2017-05-21T19:25:17Z")
Well, the standard solution is… > [@](#): > > And I can’t stand GIMP, so please don’t recommend that. Oh. Never mind, then. It’s going to present a problem for you, though: Gimp is popular enough that there’s been very little push for a competitor for it. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/3 "2017-05-21T20:04:34Z")
Wikipedia is a great source of lists of links for “shopping around” for these sorts of things. The "[Operating System Support" list here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_raster_graphics_editors) would be a good start to see what your Linux-supporting choices are. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/4 "2017-05-21T20:09:34Z")
A website I like for answering that type of question - [alternativeto.net](http://alternativeto.net) [Alternatives to IrfanView for Linux with any license](http://alternativeto.net/software/irfanview/?platform=linux) [Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop for Linux with any license](http://alternativeto.net/software/adobe-photoshop/?platform=linux) My light linux usage doesn’t include photo editing so I can’t help there. It looks like there’s at least a couple options with layer support and less powerful options than GIMP might still meet all your needs. You might also look at what support there is under WINE for your current license of photoshop. Another option would be installing windows in a virtual environment for Photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/5 "2017-05-22T09:05:56Z")
If you won’t use Gimp, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Perhaps you tried an earlier version, and would be happy with it now (especially if you enable “Single Window Mode” in the options). There’s not really anything else on Linux that competes with Photoshop. Beyond that, I’d just recommend running Photoshop in Wine. I believe CS2 works (even if it feels like a huge step back from Gimp.) As for limited editors, I hear good stuff about Pinta. I’ve never tried any, though, as I find GIMP sufficient. I also know that Infranview runs rather well on Wine. For light editing, ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/6 "2017-05-23T02:43:16Z")
Thank you all. Very much. Maybe I am shooting myself in the foot, **Big T**. I’ll try GIMP once I get a box up and running and see if I can understand the way the new version works. I really appreciate the responses and any others will be welcomed. Ric ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/7 "2017-05-23T03:29:47Z")
Photoshop in WINE seems to be hit or miss: > **[WineHQ - Adobe Photoshop](https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?iId=17&sClass=application)** > > Open Source Software for running Windows applications on other operating systems. How about online ones? You could try [Online Photoshop - Free Photo Editing Tools | Pixlr](https://pixlr.com/editor/) And this is more a drawing program but if you just want to drag a logo around, add text, and use layers, it might do the job: > **[Krita](https://krita.org/en/)** > > Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone. But I’d suggest GIMP too just because what you’re doing is so simple that the 15-20 minutes it’d take to learn how to do it in GIMP would save you the hassle of trying other, less powerful programs. Last but not least (don’t want to start a flame war), have you considered a Mac? It’s got BSD underpinnings and great \*NIX interop, plus native Creative Cloud and a stellar Preview.app. It can also dual-boot Linux if you so desire, or you can run it in Parallels. I don’t own any Apple products, but developed on a Mac for two years and they’re really great for creatives doing web work as long as you don’t need the fastest machine (dollar per performance, they’re horrible) just because it’s basically Unix with a much nicer UI. And broad app support. There are amazing apps out there only for Macs and refined to a much nicer level to anything you’ll find on Linux. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linux-alternative-for-photo-editing-with-layers/787161/8 "2017-05-23T07:06:48Z")
Windows answer is [Paint.NET](http://Paint.NET), which is spectacular. Alternative.to suggests Pinta, Krita, or MyPaint. No experience with any of them but not a huge GIMP fan either so I’m starting from a particular place. Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk