Software Alternatives & Reviews

Acorn Reviews

Acorn is a photo editor built for the rest of us.

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on Reddit and HackerNews. They can help you see what people think about Acorn and what they use it for.
  • Plz Help Me Find A Simple Extension for Photos.
    See if Acorn fits your requirements https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/. - Source: Reddit / about 2 months ago
  • App to strip EXIF data from photos?
    If you are on the Mac, check Acorn https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/. - Source: Reddit / 2 months ago
  • I need a MS Paint alternative for combining images
    If you want something with more of a retro feel, I actually like Acorn. It actually reminds me of early versions of Photoshop before Adobe started bloating it into what it is today. - Source: Reddit / 3 months ago
  • Using: Has() as a CSS Parent Selector and much more
    MozJPEG is truly magical. My image editor of choice Acorn added it and I've been using it heavily ever since when I want to share a screenshot of reasonable fidelity but would rather it not be 3.8MB. https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ I would like to see a decent true successor to JPEG which does stuff like alpha channels, but the annoying extend-embrace-extinguish approach Google used with WebP has turned me off of... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Solo domain game hex map step 1
    If I didn't have the art assets that Thorfinn Tait released I would probably use HexKit or Tiled to create the map art and then bring that into Designer or Acorn and add the other necessary components. - Source: Reddit / 8 months ago
  • Tools for Graphic Design
    I'm a Mac guy. For really simple things, I use Preview. For more complicated things, I prefer Acorn from Flying Meat. It's a poor-man's Photoshop. These days, work provides me with Adobe Creative Suite, so I sometimes use Photoshop. - Source: Reddit / 9 months ago
  • Open source tools?
    I share your general hatred of Adobe products. I only use them on someone else's dime. And I prefer proprietary tools from smaller companies and open source tools when possible. For example, just yesterday, I needed to do a quick edit of an image, my go-to for that is Acorn from Flying Meat. I've been using it as a poor-man's Photoshop with a web-centric focus since Version 1 or 2. But, yesterday, I needed it on a... - Source: Reddit / 11 months ago
  • Mac Apps That You Have Been Using For Long Time
    Acorn- a lightweight and clean alternative to photoshop. Https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/. - Source: Reddit / 11 months ago
  • How to Draw Sub Cutaways in MS Paint
    My favourite application for simple graphics editing is Acorn. I feel like it’s the spiritual successor to PSP. It’s really really nice. https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ (PSP itself is still around, but it has turned to sh*t unfortunately.). - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • WebP has been Proposed to Become Default in WordPress 6.0. Whats your opinion on this?
    Sorry. Should have linked the app. https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/. - Source: Reddit / 12 months ago
  • Mac Power Users 630: Preview Deep Dive
    Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica review | Ars TechnicaRevert changes to PDFs and images in Preview on Mac - Apple SupportTitlebar Renaming (Screenshot)General Preference Pane (Screenshot)Pixelmator ProAcorn 7PDFpenPDF ViewerLiquidTextiOS 8 Screenshot Reveals New Healthbook, Preview and TextEdit Icons - MacRumors. - Source: Reddit / about 1 year ago
  • Photoshop Alternative for Mac?
    Gimp is free. Pixelmator and Acorn are good alternatives. - Source: Reddit / about 1 year ago
  • Photoshop?
    I use it on occasion. I prefer Acorn. For really simple things (crops, file conversions), I often use Preview. - Source: Reddit / about 1 year ago
  • Adobe tricks users into a 12 month contract
    Convenience link: https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/ I also loved this but from their FAQ:
      Does Acorn use a subscription?
    - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Does anyone else get frustrated by the little things after switching from Windows?
    If you want to get more out of your screenshots get Acorn (https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/) it can take screenshots where every screen element is on a separate layer with alpha channels. Acorn is also a fast, great image editor btw. - Source: Reddit / over 1 year ago
  • Photo editing software
    +1 The Photos app specifically supports all the mentioned tasks: denoising* (removing grain), filters, red eye removal. It pretty much supports all the things needed for photo enhancement. White balance, (de)vignetting, exposure/contrast/highlight/shadow manipulation, spot removal, selective color correction etc. Everything is non-destructive. What it does not support are compositing features. There are no... - Source: Reddit / over 1 year ago
  • App similar to the Windows paint app?
    There's Pinta (free), MyPaint (free), and Acorn ($40, right now 50% off). - Source: Reddit / over 1 year ago
  • What's a good inexpensive alternative to Photoshop for making occasional web graphics with fonts?
    After seeing "Acorn" in the App Store, I visited their website and there do provide a 14-day trial. Downloaded it and at first glance it looks like a very nice lightweight Photoshop substitute ... https://flyingmeat.com/acorn/. - Source: Reddit / almost 2 years ago

External sources with reviews and comparisons of Acorn

We tested 4 photo editing alternatives to Photoshop
Acorn is only available on Mac, so if you’re a Windows user who wants to use Acorn you’re either going to be £1000 lighter in the wallet department, or bang out of luck. Max found the interface outdated, resembling a OSX Tiger era UI, but CPU usage is managed brilliantly resulting in a smooth, responsive experience with no curser lag or rendering delays. 7/10
The 9 best alternatives to Photoshop
Image editing software Acorn debuted back in 2007 and has provided hobbyists and artists on a budget with a great, affordable alternative to Photoshop ever since. Features of the software include layer styles, non-destructive filters, curves and levels, blending modes and much more.

Do you know an article comparing Acorn to other products?
Suggest a link to a post with product alternatives.