photoshop on linux/ubuntu

Does anyone know if this is possible e.g via WINE or similar? Trying to work out whether I should start investing in an alternative software that isn't going to demand windows in future.

I would have a look at darktable as an alternative to Lightroom if you are using Linux:

http://www.darktable.org/

Last time I tried, I couldn't get photoshop to work with WINE. It obviously works in a windows/OSX VM via virtualbox or similar, so that's what I use when I need photoshop when running Ubuntu. GIMP can be OK for some things. Unfortunately linux does lack some professional software.

I've always found wine to be an 'almost there, but not quite made it' application. Some Windows programs will run reasonable happily under it, other are... well, flaky. And the more complex the program, the flakier it tends to be.

GIMP is the nearest direct equivalent that I've found so if you have a working Linux system, start playing with that. The concepts are similar, the GUI somewhat less so.

Alternatives.

RawTherapee + GIMP was my alternative to LightRoom + PS a few years back. I hadn't really played with DarkTable - I think I was put off by lack of layers support but I don't know if that's present now. If not a DarkTable + GIMP combo should be at least as good as the RT + GIMP was.

GIMP just isn't Photoshop - given they have a Mac OS version of Photoshop, I can't imagine it'd take much work to have a Linux build of it. They just don't seem interested in doing it. It's probably one of the major stumbling blocks for going native Linux, especially now Valve are pushing Linux for gaming.

I use Darktable/Gimp, but these are worth looking at:

Krita - It's primarily aimed at digital painting, but it's also got decent photo editing credentials.

Pinta is an open source clone of paint.net. Ideal for quick and simple jobs.

Pixeluvo is a paid product. You can buy it direct but it's also on Steam and ends up in Steam sales