GIMP 2.10.x can be run portably via PortableApps.com launcher. Supports layers, masks, and many PS plug-ins. No activation, no malware, totally legal.
(Limited)
He saved the PSD. Exported the finals. Sent the email. Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 19.1.0.38906 -x64- Portable --
A completely overhauled panel enabled users to organize brushes into nested folders and save tool attributes (like opacity and blending modes) directly into presets. Curvature Pen Tool:
Then he tried to close Photoshop.
It was 3:47 AM when the hard drive on Leo’s workstation finally gave up. A sound like gravel in a blender, then silence. The deadline for the Orion campaign was nine hours away. No backups. No time for a clean reinstall.
Photoshop opened. It was faster than the legit CC 2023 on his home machine. Filters applied in milliseconds. Actions ran before he finished clicking. He opened the Orion layers—120 of them, a labyrinth of adjustment layers, clipping masks, and smart objects that would have taken hours to parse. GIMP 2
Leo's blood went cold. He'd airbrushed all those things out years ago. But the original raw files were on a dead hard drive in a landfill. Or so he thought.