Your friend had created a cool logo and sent you a PSD file, but unfortunately, you are out of town without your work computer. And you want to open a PSD file without Photoshop, maybe even edit the image a little bit. So, what is the best way to do that?
But first, what exactly is a PSD file?
.art Extension - List of programs that can open.art files In the following table, you can find a list of programs that can open files with.art extension.This list is created by collecting extension information reported by users through the 'send report' option of FileTypesMan utility. Solution: Open the model in an older version of ArtCAM, between 2013.SP2 and 2015 R2.SP3, and re-save the model. However this is time consuming if there are multiple files re-save, so a Toolbox add-in for ArtCAM 2015 R2 was created to batch convert legacy ArtCAM Model files (.art) to ensure their compatibility with the Autodesk ArtCAM product range.
When you save an image in Photoshop, the default format is PSD (short for Photoshop document). This PSD file contains all your images, layers, functions like color correction, etc store in original quality. Just like WMA is the propriety of Microsoft, but you can play a WMA audio file with most music players, similarly, PSD is owned by Adobe, but other programs can also open (and sometimes edit) a PSD file. So, let’s check them out.
Open PSD files without Photoshop
1. Google Drive
Google Drive is a beautiful and easy option if you just want to view the image inside the PSD file. Simply, open Google Drive, then after that drag the PSD file to your Google Drive. Now as soon as the upload will complete, you have a variety of options. Right-click on the archive and select Preview to watch the image. You can print the photograph or convert it using cloud convert. Google Drive doesn’t allow you to view layers of the PSD files.
Support for Layers – No, only gives you a preview of the PSD
Availability – Google Drive can be accessed on any web browser.
Visit Google Drive
2. Photopea
Photopia may seem new to you, but it’s an excellent online website to open PSD files. It is an online version of PhotoShop. You can open a PSD directly from your computer or from a link. It can access your webcam and take a picture directly. Photopia is available in eight different languages and you can customize the Photopia at any time.
Even though it’s a web app, it opens heavy PSD files without any problem.
Support for Layers – It shows all the layers of a PSD file. You can also edit your layer with basic features like adjustments, transform the image, and is capable of applying various filters.
Availability – It’s a web tool, which means you can access it from any platform whether it’s Windows, macOS, Linux, Chromebook, etc. We also tried it on Android and iPad and surprisingly it worked on mobile devices as well.
Visit Photopea
3. IrfanView
IrfanView is for those who want more, not just displaying a PSD file. It can do a lot more things like conversion, optimization, scan, and printing and create slide shows. It can also play audio/video but you need to install appropriate plugins. There are a lot of options to save a PSD file and common are jpg, BMP, Raw, and PDF.
Read: Best Photo Viewer for Windows 10
Support for Layers – There is no option to watch layers of PSD files in Irfan View.
Available- IrfanView is available only for Windows.
Download IrfanView
4. Artweaver
Artweaver is a fantastic tool to open PSD files without any hassle. You can easily watch the layers, create a new layer, and make basic changes to an image. Artweaver free version has filters like blur, distort, sharpen, and some other necessary filters. You can make adjustments such as increasing Hue/Saturation, Brightness, and change Levels of an image. And you can save PSD files to jpeg, TARGA, bitmap, tiff, and gif.
Support for layers – Yes, you can create a new layer and make basic changes to the existing ones.
Available- Artweaver is free to use at home, but its commercial version is also available. Its file size is only 11.94 MB and available for Windows 7/8 and 10.
Download Artweaver
5. Quick Look
If you want to open a PSD file on Mac OS, then you are in luck. Unlike Windows, macOS has a built-in program to open PSD files. All you have to do is select the PSD file and hit the space button and it will show you the top layer of your PSD file. Or you can also open the PSD file with Preview if you want to customize it a bit like — rotate, color, change the size, annotate, etc.
Also Read: Top 5 Free Online Image Editor Like Photoshop
Support for Layers – No.
Availability- Quick Look is exclusively available for macOS.
6. Art Master
Art Master is a simple image viewer that can open multiple file-formats including PSD. You can simply drag and drop files to the app interface to load the image. The app not only opens multiple formats like PSD, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP, etc but it can also convert your PSDs to other formats like JPEG, PNG, etc.
Support for Layers – Art Master does not support layers.
Available: Art Master is available for macOS on the Mac App Store.
Download Art Master
7. Gimp
Gimp is the closest open-source alternative to Photoshop. The app looks quite similar to Photoshop in terms of layout. With Gimp, you can not only open a PSD file but also do basic edit just like you would do with Photoshop. The setup of Gimp is a bit heavy compared to all the other apps in this list.
Of course, Gimp can never be as powerful as Photoshop but when it comes to basic image editing this is the best you can get for free.
Support for Layers – Yes, you can also edit your layer with basic functions like resize, crop, blur, etc.
Available: Gimp is a cross-platform desktop tool available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
Download Gimp
8. Testify PSD
Testify is a different app than others in this list. It doesn’t open the PSD files on your iPhone but fetches the image directly from Photoshop running on your computer. The app streams a live feed straight from the Photoshop software to the app where you can view the changes in real-time. The devices should be on the same network though. It works with Photoshop on Mac and Windows. If you’re going to use it with Windows, make sure iTunes is installed on the system.
You can capture a screenshot, zoom in/out, create a new file with iPhone resolution, and add quick commands to the floating toolkit. It is a decent app if you want to check the real-time progress of Photoshop images on your iPhone.
Support for Layers- It transmits real-time footage from the computer and you can see all the layers and transitions.
Availability- Testify PSD is only available for iOS on the App Store.
Install Testify PSD
9. File Viewer for Android
A simple file viewer that supports more than 100 file types including PSD. Along with all the popular file types, it also supports raw photos, archives, email files, etc. You can browse through the device storage to navigate to the folder and tap a file to open up a preview. It lets you invert colors and rotate the photoshop but unfortunately, you can’t view separate layers. The app is free and has ads.
Support for Layers- It doesn’t support layers.
Availability- The app is available for Android on the Play Store
Art File Type
Install File Viewer for Android
10. Go2Convert
Open .art Gerber Files
With all the previous apps, you can either view the image directly with image viewers that support PSD files or you can further edit them with editors that support PSD files. But you cannot just share a PSD file for everyone to view nor installing editors and exporting them as images is still a hectic task. There comes’ converter apps. Go2Convert is a web app where you can just upload and convert from 200+ image types including PSD.
Just open the Go2Convert website, upload the PSD file that you want to convert. Select the quality you want from compressed to the best quality and click on convert now. On the next page, scroll down and click on the Download Now option. This will download the Zip file that has the JPEG image you need.
Support for Layers- No, it doesn’t support layers.
Availability- Available on all the platforms that support web-browser from Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook, Android, and iOS.
Open Go2Convert
Open PSD without Photoshop
While all the above methods work fine, but if you are in a hurry or just want to see the picture from a PSD file, then Google Drive and Photopea is the best option available. If you can take out some time and install the desktop software, then Gimp is a great option. Testify PSD streams the Photoshop window to your iPhone and is great if you’re editing for mobile screen size. So what are you waiting for? Select the best option which suits you and don’t forget to tell us your choice.
Related: Detect if the Image is Photoshop Fake or not
When our customers begin the process of submitting designs for printing, we often find that there is confusion regarding the type of art files that we need to receive from them. The confusion seems to center around Vector graphics files. Most people who are not professional graphic designers do not know what Vector art is. Indeed, there are even some people working as graphic designers that do not know what vector graphics are.
We hope, in the following section, to help bridge this information gap.
What Is Vector Art?
Vector art is created using vector illustration software programs, such as Adobe Illustrator orCorel Draw. These programs use mathematic equations and geometric primitives (points, lines, and shapes) to create art that is clean, camera ready, and can be scaled infinitely, without any loss of quality or fidelity.
Scalability is one of the main reasons that Vector art files are so valuable to printers. The same art file can be used to reproduce your design on something as small as a business card, or something as large as a billboard, without any loss of quality.
In the following graphic, we will show the difference in appearance between Vector art and the other, more common type of computer graphic, Raster art:
You’ll notice how, in the Raster art example, the edges of the art become distorted when the picture is enlarged. You’ll also notice how there are hundreds of shades of green in the Raster file, but only one shade of green in the Vector file.
Raster Graphics can bephotographs, or graphics files created in Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and other Raster editing programs. In some instances, they can be used for some screen-printing applications, such as printing one-color “pen and ink” drawings. But in most cases, especially with art such as logos, we will need Vector art to achieve the proper print.
How can you tell if your art is Vector Art? One way is by the file type. Modern vector art is usually created in Adobe Illustrator, and is commonly saved with certain file extensions. The four most common Vector file extensions are .ai, .pdf, .eps and .svg.
However, just because a file is saved in one of these formats, does not mean that it is truly vector art. Sometimes, people open raster files in Adobe Illustrator, and re-save the file in a vector format, without recreating the art using the vector editing tools. Only art originally created in a vector editing program, such as Adobe Illustrator, is truly vector art.
So, how do you really know if your art file is a vector art file? The only way to know for sure is to open the file, and check to make sure that it was created as vector art. If you have a vector editing program, open your art file, and use the selection tool on an area within the art. You might see something like this:
See the nodes surrounding the letterform? Those are vector editing nodes. If you see those, congratulations! You have vector art.
Easy enough, if you have the proper software. But most people do not own a copy of a vector editing program. In which case, you will need to find someone who does, and get them to check the file for you.
The file that you have might not be the only one out there. If you had a professional designer create your art, chances are they created your design as vector art, but could have neglected to provide you with the vector files. Contact your designer, and ask for the vector files. If you work in a large company, contact your company’s marketing department or design department. They will probably have the files that you need.
If, after all of this, you discover that you have a non-vector art file, and you need vector art, there’s only one thing to do: Hire a graphic designer to re-create your design as vector art.
When hiring a designer, make sure that they will provide the art in both vector and raster formats. If they are unable to do so, hire a designer that can.
We hope that we have demystified vector art a little bit. If you have any questions, or would like a free art consultation, please feel free to call us at 828-253-9420, contact us using the form below, or drop by the shop in person. We’re always happy to help.