alternative to photoshop /illustrator

I use paint.net. It has similar functionality as photoshop and is free. I am still learning all of the bells and whistles but there are tons of tutorials on YouTube. Good luck!

will it read the layers of an existing eps file so I can modify text for example?

Hi Ari, 

There are two free alternatives I've recently seen for Illustrator; 

https://vectr.com/downloads/ 

https://gravit.io/

I saw them a few weeks ago, but didn't use them much. Hope they can help. 

You could try Inkscape and GIMP Ari.  I use Inkscape all the time for .ai files - it's easy to use. Gimp takes a little more effort to understand.

I also use PowerPoint for working with some .eps files.  You can view a short video on this here.

I recommend trying Photopea. It works in a browser, so you can try it right away.

It can load PSD files (from Adobe Photoshop) and Sketch files (from Sketch App) and save them back as a PSD.  There is even a lesson about creating and editing vector graphics inside PSD files. I used it to create logos and icons :)

Hi Ari, I reccomend Inkscape, it's super easy to learn and there are a lot of tutorials on youtube. Here's an article I wrote about how I use it to customize vectors: https://www.lilianacotoara.com/single-post/2017/04/21/How-to-easily-customize-graphics---a-cheat-sheet-for-non-designers 

Try loading them into PowerPoint. Many vector images are made up of lots of smaller sub-images, and in that case, you can often right-click the image in PowerPoint and choose Ungroup. That gives you easy access to tweaking (e.g., recoloring, repositioning, resizing, etc.) individual components. When you're done making changes, regroup, right-click, and choose Save as Picture. Use the format emf to save. Then insert the emf into Storyline.

Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer are great alternatives. They each cost $50 for Mac or Windows. You can also get them for iOS at $20 each.  No subscription for any versions.  

The iOS versions of Photo and Designer appear to have all the features of the desktop versions. I use them on my iPad.  Since i work for an academic institution that uses MS Office 365 i have OneDrive on my iPad and saving work is as seamless as if i was using a desktop.  It is actually a lot of fun using the Photo and Designer apps on the iPad with Pencil.  

I use GIMP as an alternative to Photoshop. It's open source (free to use, I always suggest to contribute to the project) and robust enough to be recommended.