Are there viable and cheaper alternatives to Photoshop? Is there any software like Photoshop that can also open .PSD files? I don't need an enterprise / extremely feature laden editor, but I do wish to have the following required features at a price point less than a Photoshop license:


Able to crop
JPG compression optimization
Work with layers
Able to open PSD format files
Save in PDF format
I think you'll find Pixelmator a good substitute for Adobe Photoshop. It will do everything on your list and it costs $14.99.