Hi everyone!
I’m new to Linux and looking for a solid alternative to Photoshop.
I used Photoshop on Windows mainly for photo editing and some light design work. Now that I’ve switched to Linux, I’ve realized Photoshop doesn’t run natively, and I’d rather avoid using Wine or a virtual machine if possible.
Are there any reliable, feature-rich alternatives you’d recommend?
Thanks in advance!

I like gimp since its the only one I have used. Some say inkscape is good as well but I cant vouch for it since I have never used it. There may others also that I am not aware of.

There isn't one. Gimp, Inkscape, Imagemagik, nothing does what Photoshop can do.

GIMP can do most of what photoshop does, but it does take time to learn how to use it, its not like switching from ms office to libre office or something where most stuff is obvious.

For a fancy drawing program (that can also do some less advanced photo editing) you should also check out krita. I believe inkscape is for vector graphics, not photos at all.

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I would also recommend GIMP.

I can also recommend Meet the GIMP as an excellent resource to learn about it. (Though as I write this, the website reports that it is currently in "maintenance mode.")

If you would prefer a book, The Book of BIMP is excellent. I have a copy on my bookshelf. A web search will easily turn it up.

If GIMP does not twist your cork, one of these 25 might
https://alternativeto.net/software/gimp/?platform=linux

darktable probably ?

Technically there are a bunch of tools you could, in theory, use...
But generally speaking the GIMP and to a lesser degree Krita will do most 'light editing work'.
Like denoising with wavelet decompose, or stylistic stuff like texturing and stuff with the GMIC plugins and co.

But you can go up to near hollywood VFX with packages like natron, blender, gaffer (from gafferhq not the blender plugin, but the lookdev/vfx suite), or even proprietary stuff like davinci resolve.

But those are node based compositors, which are an entirely different workflow than working on the image directly.

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Agreed. Inkscape is more like Illustrator. While GIMP is closer to Photoshop it is also, like PS, overkill for most of what you are looking to do. And like PS, the learning curve is steep. When my old photoshop in windows could know longer be patched for like windows 7 or 10 I did install GIMP on windows. STEEP, I repeat learning curve.

What I am actually using admittedly under WINE is Irfanview that is pretty easy to get running in either 32 or 64 bit variant and now includes paint tools too. I know you said you didn't want to use Wine but it is that or Krita.

See this webpage: //pixls.us/software

It lists everything mentioned in this thread and a lot more.

Quality is very variable - some of it is pretty good, some of it is really terrible - but hopefully you can find tools that work for you.

Gimp, Darktable.
I personally rarely have to go there. Gwenview (KDE) works great for 99.9% of my 'editing'... Ie. Crop/rotate/resize is all I mostly need/use.

GIMP has become a very good tool. As for Inkscape, I have oddly-enough encountered bugs in which a file seemed to accumulate problems. These issues seem to have been around for years.

It depends on what you are doing. I've never seen Photoshop, but those who have usually say that Gimp is comparable to Photoshop Elements, but not to the professional version of Photoshop. I use Gimp very occasionally and it's adequate for my needs. I've seen a book on it that shows it doing some very clever stuff, probably more than you sound as if you need. And if you were designing for published print, you'd probably be using a Mac rather than Windows!

I think that it goes without saying that, if you are involved in some professional production pipeline, then you use exactly the software, and version(!), and platform, that the pipeline has agreed upon. In order to fulfill your contract.

I have found that GIMP has "grown up to be" a very good "image manipulation program."

I also very much like Inkscape as an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) manipulation program, although I have observed odd problems cropping up with it as I continue to save my work. I can only describe them as ... "odd."

Thanks a lot for your help!
I’m going to try GIMP first since it seems to be the most recommended. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll check out the other options you mentioned.
You’ve really helped me out!