Professional designers require professional tools. Clients and employers have a reasonable expectation that the work you do you will be in commonly used formats, such as those defaults provided by Adobe Creative Cloud software. Fifty bucks a month or so is a small price to pay to use the tools of your trade.
However, there are times when you may not have access to Creative Cloud and need to work to make a deadline, or you need to access an effect that only exists elsewhere.
The following free software alternatives have been used by me or another of your IMC professors to create professional grade work for clients. Some have a steep learning curve, while others have a familiar interface.
Enjoy.
darktable - the photo workflow software
Scroll to bottom left to download free version
Inkpad - Vector Graphic Design & Illustration for iPad
I use this on iPad
The entire collection of 20+ desktop creative apps at the time of this writing:
Photoshop Edit, composite, and create beautiful images, graphics, and art on desktop and iPad.
Lightroom Edit, organize, store, and share photos from anywhere.
Illustrator Vector graphics and illustration.
InDesign Page design and layout for print and digital publishing.
Adobe XD Design, prototype, and share user experiences.
Fresco Rediscover the joy of drawing and painting anywhere.
Premiere Rush Create and share online videos anywhere.
Premiere Pro Edit and craft polished films and video.
After Effects Cinematic visual effects and motion graphics.
Dimension Create photorealistic 3D images for branding, product shots, and package design
Acrobat Pro Create, edit, and sign PDF documents and forms.
Dreamweaver Design and develop modern, responsive websites.
Animate Interactive animations for multiple platforms (formerly Flash Professional).
Audition Audio recording, mixing, and restoration.
Lightroom Classic Desktop-focused photo editing.
Character Animator Animate your 2D characters in real time.
Spark Create graphics, web pages, and video stories in minutes.
Bridge Centralize your creative assets.
Media Encoder Quickly output video files for virtually any screen.
InCopy Collaborate with copywriters and editors.
Prelude Metadata ingest, logging, and rough cuts.
Substance The industry standard for 3D painting and texturing.
Fuse (Beta) Create custom 3D characters for Photoshop projects. Learn more