How to Get Adobe Photoshop for Free? Is it Possible?

The short answer is NO. It is not possible to get Adobe Photoshop for free. At least not legally.

Did you know that until recently, Adobe actually allowed you to download an older version of Photoshop, the Photoshop CS2 version? This was the only legal way to get Photoshop for free. However, this was intended for existing license holders and is no longer available. Adobe clarified that it was not meant to be free for anyone who did not already have a license.

So what are some options that can come close to getting Photoshop for free? Here they are:

Free Trial:
- Adobe offers a 7-day free trial of Photoshop. This trial gives you access to the full version of the software, allowing you to test all its features before deciding to purchase.
Adobe Creative Cloud Discounts:
- Adobe often offers discounts on their Creative Cloud subscriptions. Students and teachers can get substantial discounts on Adobe products.
Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark):
- Adobe Express is a free tool offered by Adobe for basic graphic design tasks. While it’s not as powerful as Photoshop, it provides a range of design functionalities and is suitable for simple edits.
Photoshop Express Mobile App:
- Adobe offers a free version of Photoshop for mobile devices (Photoshop Express). It has limited functionality compared to the desktop version but is still quite powerful for basic editing. Our course called Lightroom Mobile and Photoshop Express teaches you how to use it.
Adobe Education Exchange:
- Adobe sometimes provides free or discounted software through its education exchange program. Check if your school or institution participates in this program.
Special Promotions:
- Keep an eye out for special promotions or bundles offered by Adobe, which might include free or discounted access to Photoshop for a limited time.
Open Source Alternatives:
- While not Photoshop, there are several open-source alternatives like GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) that are free and offer many similar features. Also, check out this article where we show you some more free alternatives to Photoshop.

For full access to Adobe Photoshop, a subscription is typically required. Taking advantage of Adobe’s free trial or student discounts can be a great way to use the software legally without paying the full price upfront.

So what is the closest thing out there that comes to getting Adobe Photoshop for free?

The closest thing to getting Photoshop for free has to be GIMP. GIMP is a free and open-source software that is very similar to Photoshop. Even though it doesn’t look as slick as Photoshop, it is still as deep as Photoshop and can pretty much do anything that Photoshop can do.

Don’t believe us? Check out our article on comparison of GIMP and Photoshop.

Trust us, once you download and install GIMP, and then forgive GIMP for not looking as cool as Photoshop, you’ll eventually start to love it because it is truly an amazing image editing software that has stood the test of time (released in 1997), despite always being in the shadow of Photoshop.

If you want to learn how to use GIMP, then check out our GIMP Photo Editing Course for Beginners, which has 33 videos and 3.5 hours of content. It’s available via Udemy.com. Check out the promo video below to get an idea of what’s inside this course: