图片：Michael Crider/IDG

亲爱的Chromebooks：我想爱你。我真的很喜欢。我和y相处得很好我们的兄弟公司，Windows上的Chrome和我手机上的Android。我们可以和排除任何问题。我看到并尊重你在过去几年里对自己所做的工作。自我护理做得很好。

但有一件事一直在我们之间，一件事让每次我试着换成你的“贱女孩”对手时，（主要）开源操作系统和价格合理的硬件。不是你，Chromebook，是Photoshop。

A st失败的投掷圈

自从谷歌的桌面操作系统推出以来，我一直在使用它 我似乎总是至少有一台Chrome笔记本电脑或平板电脑保持新鲜感。在这段时间里，我一直渴望以某种方式在上面使用Photoshop，shape、 作为一名科技记者和评论家，我需要一个强大的图像编辑器作为我日常工作的一部分flow，或者用于快速生成标题图像（如本文顶部所示）或者用来清理一堆评论照片。

我应该指出，这是一个非常具体的Photoshop我渴望的不仅仅是一个称职的图片编辑。我一直在使用土砖的可视化工具自从高中上桌面出版课以来，我已经20多年了，而且我速度很快，效率很高特别是Photoshop的一套编辑工具。记住一套复杂钥匙的人董事会快捷键，却发现它们都在一个竞争项目中移动，知道我不是四处走动。

基于Web的漫游

至于在ChromeOS上获得它，这种需求已经体现在几个方面ys。如果被放在角落里，最容易也是我倾向于依赖的一个是发送克隆。Th有几个基于网络的图像编辑器试图将Photoshop的功能模仿得更大r范围较小，并且在Chromebook上作为网络应用程序运行良好。我的首选是Photopea，不是shy对其成为一个基于网络的Photoshop的渴望。

不要给我写信ong，Photopea已经尽其所能了。虽然它缺少一些Photoshop更强大的功能， CPU和GPU密集型工具，这些对我的工作来说并不是真正必要的。我很乐意推荐它适用于任何偶尔需要一些调整的人，在几乎任何平台上——它甚至可能会起作用 如果你绝望的话，可以在平板电脑上。这些广告很大，很烦人，但你可以把它们去掉 比订阅Creative Suite要便宜得多。

但基于网络，它仍然需要我上传将广告照片放在笨重的文件资源管理器中，而不是直接从桌面上或（甚至 更好）将它们复制并粘贴到画布上，以获得即时的满足感。因为它也在e Chrome浏览器，我心爱的键盘快捷键必须在浏览器和图像编辑之间共享或功能，导致更多的头痛。我搜索。

仿真挫败感

其他选项之一 我试过在模拟器中运行Photoshop Windows程序。这可能不是som的选项e Chromebook，特别是预算机型和基于ARM硬件的机型，但任何震撼公司的东西re i3处理器或类似处理器至少应该能够尝试使用Chrome的Linux p运行Windows应用程序Powers和WINE或基于Android的交叉。

如果你想要一个基本的文本编辑器或太空学员弹珠的旧复制品。但Photoshop是一个野兽般的桌面程序，即使它在运行天生的。当你尝试这种变通方法时，头痛会立即开始。我的Photoshop version是Creative Suite 6，现在已经有十多年的历史了。我使用这种尘封已久的软件是因为 它仍然有我需要的所有功能，还有一些。2）我太便宜了，每个月都买不起 创意云。

但是让CS6在CrossOver中运行，如果你能原谅密集的技术冲击的话关于我的职业，一个混蛋。我已经在Chromebook上试过好几次了，应该不会太多o任务和某些事情似乎总是让它绊倒。在极少数情况下，我可以通过Adobe在故意错综复杂的许可证验证过程中，该应用程序崩溃了。

我有一个更旧版本的Photoshop，用于紧急情况，Creative套房2。（由于Adobe不再为该软件操作许可服务器，你可以得到完整、真实的itan副本，即使你忘了把yo放在哪里，也可以在没有验证的情况下运行它您的收据。）CS2确实在Chromebook上的WINE中运行……但这个近20年的软件假设在CRT显示器上使用它的分辨率与Apple Watch差不多。结果e接口太小了，即使我没有被几十年的视频毁了眼睛，我也无法使用它游戏。

我甚至尝试了一个不那么传统的替代方案：安卓系统。全新 Chromebook从Google Play运行Android应用程序 Store and there are plenty of Photoshop apps for Android. Except, well, Photoshop. WhileiPads get access to a sort-of full version of Photoshop(mainly meant for use with an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil),Adobe gave uptrying to make a full version of its image editor for Android years ago and hasn’t come back. Now all the apps named “Photoshop” in the Play Store are fiddly little nothings, more interested in filtering selfies than actually editing anything.

The fact that Adobe makes Photoshop for a tablet, ostensibly a media consumption device, and not a full desktop operating system with more users than MacOS, makes me angry. Defeated again, I tried less savory options.

Land of the Linux hippies

If you make the mistake of letting an avid Linux user corner you, you’ll discover that there are a wide variety of powerful image editors available outside the world of Windows and Mac. If you’ve ever searched fora Photoshop alternative that’s less expensive than the average car payment, you might have even heard of them. GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is the go-to option and the Linux version can run on Chrome OS natively.

Unfortunately, I found that GIMP’s interface is as cumbersome as its name is distasteful. And that’s saying something, given that Photoshop’s interface isn’t exactly user-friendly after 35 years of active development. There are options for making GIMP more accessible to long-time Photoshop junkies, but that’s adding more and more steps between me and just being able to use a Chromebook as my main work machine.

Alas, every other Linux alternative I found ran into similar problems. Some were far too basic, being passion projects for Linux developers and fans more than true alternatives to commercial software. Some were too focused on photography, lacking the nitty-gritty raster editing I needed for fast header images. And some were just annoying, lacking specific tools that I’d come to rely on or the option to adjust those oh-so-important keyboard shortcuts.

At this point, I must confess, I’m being fussy. If I really buckled down and broke my reliance on Photoshop, something that both I and Adobe desperately deserve, I’d be in a much better position for it. I’d be able to try out a host of free and cheap software, and I wouldn’t find myself tied to both Photoshop and Windows hardware just to get through my average workday.

But I can’t, so here I am, cutting myself off from a wonderful slice of the laptop market and coming back to Lenovo for a new Thinkpad every few years. Dammit.

Hope on the horizon

There’s some hope on the horizon. While still maddeningly refusing to make a version of full version of Photoshop for either the Play Store (Android) or the Chrome Web Store, Adobe has made one that can run in the browser.The web-based Photoshopis still in beta a year and a half after being introduced and it’s still locked behind an expensive monthly Creative Cloud subscription.

Yes, I’ve tried the web version of Photoshop on Chromebooks. It runs into some of the same problems that Photopea does. It wants you to load images via Adobe’s maddeningly slow online library system instead of simply grabbing them from a local file. And, while it’s better than a basic free image editor, it’s still missing some of the basic editor tools that even Photopea has nailed down by now.

There are rumblings of Adobe making this web-based version of Photoshop free for everyone. Those rumblings are going on a year old at this point, so I’ve stopped holding my breath. I get the feeling that someone at Adobe got terrified of simply making something that millions of people want and can easily use, and retreated back into their comfy pillow fort made out of giant stacks of cash.

I suppose I could always wait for Google to make a Photoshop alternative, which would be an excellent addition to its Google Docs suite and run great on ChromeOS… but then I’d just bewaiting for it to land in the Google Graveyard. It’s a cliche for a reason, after all.

So, I’m sorry, ChromeOS. You’ve got a lovely, streamlined interface and some wonderful hardware (like that new Framwork Chromebook) that can last for a full workday without breaking a sweat. But for this one failing—much more mine and Adobe’s than yours—I’m sure we’d make a great team. In the meantime, Iwonder what the latest ThinkPads look like…

Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer