GIMP can open PSDs, but the format is not fully compatible with GIMP. PSD is a proprietary Adobe file format. It's not GIMP's native file format. Here's a list of the issues, and a possible solution which will require some manual work. Text layers in PSDs won't be editable in GIMP. Any text layers you have will be rasterized when opening the PSD in GIMP.

• How To Open Xcf File

May 10, 2018 - Open your XCF file in GIMP and click File > Export. Choose 'Photoshop Image' (PSD) as the file format, and hit Export. In our own testing, this will keep the appropriate layers intact.

Only GIMP's native XCF format supports editable text layers in GIMP. Photoshop can't export XCFs. Adjustment layers aren't supported in GIMP at all So, the only real solution to your problem is to open the PSD in GIMP, and then create an XCF file using GIMP.

To prepare your PSD, in Photoshop you would need to merge down any layer adjustments so that you just have simple layers. When you open the PSD in GIMP, the text layers will be rasterized. But you could replace those text layers in GIMP with editable text layers. This would obviously mean retyping them or copy and pasting the text from Photoshop into GIMP, reformatting the font/font size/line spacing/kerning etc, and repositioning, then you could delete the rasterised text layers, and save the finished file as XCF. Other things to be aware of:.

Raster layer masks seem to work OK when opening a PSD in GIMP. Vector layer masks aren't supported. Vector shape layers aren't supported either - so these would need to be rasterized. GIMP's layer blending modes are different from Photoshop's. So, when opening the PSD in GIMP, if you have layer blending modes, you may need to experiment with GIMP's native blending modes to get the desired effect. GIMP doesn't support CMYK, so the image would need to be RGB, and GIMP only supports 8bit per channel images, although there are development versions of the software currently which support higher bit depths. If you have Windows or Mac, and want access to these development versions google 'Parthas place'.

Advertisement Photoshop definitely got it right with the PSD file format. It saves the complete state of a still-being-edited image so that you can close down and resume work later. When working with images, you should always keep a PSD copy around in case you need to make tweaks to the image later on. The problem is that PSD isn’t an open format. While PNGs, JPGs, and BMPs can be opened in nearly every image editor, PSDs can only be opened by certain apps that know the file format. Your best bet?

Or use one of the many free options below. Are they as good as Adobe Photoshop? In fact, most of the following apps can’t actually edit PSDs—they can only view PSDs as flattened images. That’s the cost of proprietary software.

But hey, if flattened image viewing is all you need anyway, then these options are well worth trying. GIMP GIMP should honestly be your first stop when trying to open and edit a PSD file for free. Not only is it, but it’s available across Windows, Mac, and Linux, so you can learn it once and use it on all of your systems. And if it wasn’t clear, yes, PSD support is built right into the app. No need to fiddle with third-party plugins or anything.

Go to File Open. Find and select the PSD file. Click Open.

The nice thing about GIMP is that it can actually process the individual layers of a PSD file. The downside is that some layers are unreadable to GIMP, or need to be rasterized so that GIMP can work with them. Saving over the PSD could ruin the file if you intend to open it back up in Photoshop later.

GIMP is, which comes with several benefits (like being able to peek at the source code whenever you want). Download: (Free) 2. I’ve always respected Paint.NET because it knows exactly what it wants to be: an without being as bloated or intimidating to learn as GIMP and Adobe Photoshop. It’s right smack in the middle. But if you want to make it more powerful, you can—by. And if you’re going to do that, there’s one plugin that you absolutely should use: the PSD plugin. Download the.

Extract the ZIP file’s contents. Copy the PhotoShop.dll file. Navigate to the Paint.NET installation folder (mine is located at C:/Program Files/paint.net). Paste the PhotoShop.dll file into the FileTypes subfolder.

Launch Paint.NET. With the plugin installed, you should be able to open PSD files without a hitch. Note that even though Paint.NET can usually handle PSD layers just fine, you’ll run into occasional issues because Paint.NET doesn’t support all of Photoshop’s features.

Download: (Free). Photopea Online Editor If you’ve never heard of Photopea before, you’re in for a treat.

This lesser-known web app is basically like an online version of Adobe Photoshop or GIMP. It’s obviously not as good—web apps rarely get close to their desktop counterparts—but it’s still useful. The layout is similar so you’ll feel right at home. Want to open a PSD file?.

Go to File Open. Find and select the PSD file. Click Open. And the cool thing is that Photopea can read individual layers, which is a level of feature that I’d never expect from a free web app. It’s great though, allowing you to edit your PSDs without charge no matter where you are.

How To Open Xcf File

Just hop on with any computer. Website:Photopea Online Editor 4. XnView XnView is a freeware image organizer that lets you browse and order your image collections in various ways, as well as process them using basic image editing tools like color palettes, filters, effects, rotations, etc. The great thing about this lesser-known app is that it can read over 500 formats and export to over 70 formats, so not only is it useful for viewing images, but also converting them. Go to File Open. Find and select the PSD file.

Click Open. When downloading, you can choose between three setup types: Minimal, Standard, and Extended. Minimal requires the least amount of disk space and is all you need to open PSDs. No need for add-ons, plugins, or anything like that. Download: (Free) 5. IrfanView IrfanView is similar to XnView in that its main use is as an image viewer and converter.

It may not support as many formats as XnView does, but it supports all of the important ones—and that’s all that really matters, right? While IrfanView can easily render flattened PSDs, it can’t edit or save them unless you first export to a different format. Go to File Open. Find and select the PSD file.

Click Open. We recommend keeping this app on your system. Use it as your primary image viewer and you’ll never be disappointed by it. The best part, at least for me, is that it’s extremely lightweight and fast. Plus you can further. Download: (Free) 6. Google Drive It may seem weird to use Google Drive as a file viewer, but you absolutely can — and it works rather well.

Check out to learn more about it, but the important thing to know is that PSDs are viewable through Google Drive on the web. Click My Drive and select Upload files. Find and select the PSD file. Click Open. Double-click the file to view.

There are several other methods you can use to, but this is the easiest if you just want to view one single file. When would you ever use Google Drive for this? Maybe when you aren’t on your own PC and can’t install any other software. Go2Convert This last option is not a way to view, open, or edit PSD files.

It’s simply a way to convert PSD files into other formats like PNG and JPG. If that’s the entire reason why you wanted to open PSDs in the first place, then you might as well skip the middle steps. Click Select File. Navigate and select your PSD file. Click Open. Click Upload Now. Once the upload is done, you can choose dozens of formats to convert to.

Optionally, you can even resize the image and pick what kind of compression to use (for certain formats). Simple and straightforward. Nothing more to it. Website: Why Not Use Adobe Photoshop? These solutions definitely work, so if you’re happy with them, go on and keep using them. But if you intend to do serious PSD editing in the future, you really ought to consider grabbing an.

You can certainly get by with GIMP, but again, it has its limitations and quirks. GIMP is okay for casual users, but Photoshop is objectively better. Check out Photoshop is the most popular image editing app out there and GIMP is the best free alternative to it.

Which should you use? For more details. Explore more about:,.