Are free online programs just as good as the original? Does anyone else use them? I have been looking online for quite some time for a free online graphic making program similar to PhotoShop. I've found things quite similar that work just fine for me. I'm sure it's quite different from the legendary photoshop but I'm not willing to pay that price.

I've done the same in the past. There are a few half decent free online versions of PhotoShop that I have used before purchasing actual PhotoShop.

I'm not going to lie, Photoshop is much better than any of the free online ones that I used. I would consider buying it if I were you. It's worth the money.

If you have a business on graphics and design then buying a Photoshop program is really worth it. If you are just trying to practice your drawing or art skills then going for GIMP is alright. I have tried both programs in school and both of them can do basic commands.

Personally, I could never get used to the Gimp interface. It did stumble on a hacked version of it called GIMPShop which I found much easier to use. Still, I ended up buying Photoshop as soon as I earned enough money for it.

For open source drawing programs, you may want to try Inkscape, which I found to be excellent alternative to Illustrator.

I think that sometimes they are and I have a difference of opinion between programs for Windows and Linux. I have yet to find anything freebie and decent with Linux, only b/c if its open source, its harder to keep updated to avoid issues (like cracks for one thing).