There are plenty of high quality free photo editors available online if you know where to look. We've rounded up some of the best choices here.
Are you trying to enhance your images but don't know which online photo editor to use? We've put together a helpful guide to help you decide which one is right for you.
No matter what degree of talent you have as a photographer or how perfect a image is pre-editing, there are almost always elements that can be changed or reworked in some way.That's where photo editing apps come in — quality things, and you shouldn't have to break the bank to get the degree of polish you want for your job.
When it comes to photo editing software, Lightroom is undeniably the best tool to choose from thanks to its unrivaled strength and usability Your success as a photographer depends on high-quality photos, an eye-catching portfolio to highlight your work, and the right equipment to shoot with — all that can add up.When all is said and done, a tight budget could make it hard to spend more on paid photo editors, particularly when there's a lot of free programs out there.
Multi-Platform Photo Editors
GIMP
GIMP is the king when it comes to free picture editors. Short for the GNU Image Manipulation Programme, GIMP is the nearest you can come to Photoshop without spending a dime.It comes with an amazing range of professional-quality features, a completely configurable gui, allows the fine-tuning of images, and includes a fully integrated tool set that allows the production of original artwork of professional quality.
When you can do it in Photoshop, you can almost definitely do that in GIMP. When you want even more choices, you can even use Photoshop plugins that give you unparalleled versatility compared to any other free photo editor. GIMP is also open-source , which means that if you have the know-how, you'll be able to add your own filters and features if you want to.
Unless you are experienced in image editing software, you can get GIMP hanged fairly quickly, but those not well versed in image editing software can consider the interface cluttered or intuitive. A fair compromise on the sheer force of editing that you get at no cost!
Best for: novice consumers and those searching for efficient imaging and art resources for a zero dollar price tag.
Photoscape X
Photoscape is really very impressive for a free program — it's perfect for editing and managing your personal photo library. Although Photoscape is a little lacking in the design department (it can be a little confusing), it provides an image viewer, batch processing, a screen-capture feature, and a large range of filters and effects to take your photos to the next stage.
The photo editing section of this app is where it really shines, and even novice users will be able to create amazing, professional-looking shots in moments.
Photoscape also has some handy little features to make your photos look like analog pictures, a good cut-out feature, an image transformation capability; it also gives you access to over 240 images, frames and borders, and more than 1000 patterns to use in your creative work.
Best for: batch processing and checking.
Online Photo Editors
Pixlr
Are you trying to make fast adjustments to your images with very few headaches? While you need to sign up before you can use the various features of Pixlr, the extra few minutes of setup are worth the effort.
This online photo editor is available through your browser, iPhone and Android platforms, and provides a range of fast, one-click features and a fairly robust tool set. Perhaps the best feature of this app is just how simple it is to use: it includes guides to direct you through the more difficult aspects, and it can be learned very easily once you get a hold of stuff.If you're familiar with photo editing software, this is a perfect choice for you.
In addition to this fantastic little software , the company also offers Vector (a free vector graphics editor), some free graphics that you can use in your creative work, and a nice range of free stock images if needed.
A tiny caveat: while this software is free to use, the best features are hidden behind a paywall. You 're going to need to go Pro if you're going to take advantage of more advanced features. Even so, it remains one of the world's most successful iPhone photo editors.
Best for: beginners; fast and easy image processing;
Instasize Photo Editor + Video
Accessible on both iOS and Android, Instasize is optimized for mobile editing. The sleek style is user-friendly and does not cut corners on features and equipment. Cropping and resizing are the bread and butter stuff, but when it comes to editing the picture, the software lets you get into the nitty-gritty:Manipulating intensity and visibility, darkness and fire, shadows and highlights, contrast, sharpness and saturation.
Not everybody has the time to do so, but Instase also has over 130 professional-grade, photographer-inspired filters for you to choose from. You’re bound to find a filter that fits the aesthetic you’re looking for.
Certain useful features include robust makeup devices, special borders, collage builder and text editor. With Instasize, anyone at any level of expertise can add a personal and professional touch to the photos they share online. Your imagination is the only limit!
Best of all for: Web editing and influencers.
Fotor
Free Photo Editor Fotor (for Windows or Web browsers) is an excellent tool with an incredibly easy-to-understand Interface that makes it simple to use. Given how slow some browser-based programs can be, Fotor's performance is excellent and won't hog machine resources — which can cause the computer to start bugging along like a faulty locomotive and waste precious time.
Fotor offers a wonderful collection of Smart Filters and Effects, as well as an elegant photo collage tool, and can handle RAW files without much trouble. Fotor also allows minimal design features in the form of business cards, social media photos, posters , banners, documents and invitations, which will be of interest to bloggers and digital marketers.
Although Fotor lacks any specific art features, such as a paintbrush, and is not suitable for very high-end effects like other apps in this list, it does what it does really well and is perfect for general photo editing for those who do not need advanced features.
Best for: sports and beginners, social media influencers and digital marketers.
Befunky
Befunky is easy, intuitive, and one of the best performance choices on this list. It offers a range of cool features to improve your picture quality as well as a fun and simple collage app. Like Fotor above, Befunky also contains several design features that enable you to make beautiful postcards, brochures , posters, slides for PowerPoint presentations and invitations with only a few simple steps.
If your target is social networking, printable properties, or company presentation, then Befunky is a good choice for you. Although it might lack features as wide-ranging as other choices on this list, you will be hard pressed to find a simpler and more effective way to churn out basic creatives within a fair timeframe.
Best for: Bloggers and people looking to create social media assets.
PicMonkey
The best quality of PicMonkey is its ease of use compared to more advanced options on our list. It's easy and the UI is friendly and intuitive (so much so that my eight-year-old can navigate it in a few short moments), logically and without clutter. Featuring a great collage creator that exudes most of the other basic photo editors, PicMonkey is open to all.
It also has all kinds of very useful templates that help speed up the workflow and make it easier to create headers and banners for forums, websites and marketing materials. Although PicMonkey can only process one file at a time, it's still a great choice for an online photo editing app.
As with some other entries in this series, PicMonkey has additional features concealed behind a paywall. You can still run a 7-day free trial to access the enhanced features, but you need to choose a billing method to do so.
Most of all for: web designers and bloggers.
Google Photos
Previously replaced by Picasa, Google Photos is incredibly quick and intuitive and helps you to edit your images with no hassle. You can quickly access your photo archive and arrange your work without headaches. It has a small feature set for actual photo editing, but does have the main functions you 'd expect (crop, redeye, auto contrast, color correction, etc.).
That's not to say that you can't do something fancy — with Google Images, you can make animations, photo booth-style photo layouts, holiday-themed effects, interactive stories, and add frames and filters to your pictures.
Google Images can be viewed literally anywhere on the Internet through your Google Account.With one-click sharing options for Google+, Twitter , and YouTube, and integrated sharing with Facebook, Flickr, and other social networks, you have a lot of versatility at your fingertips.
Best for: Hobbyists.
Photoshop Express
An excellent web browser-based photo editor, Photoshop Express is incredibly well-designed (which should be hoped to come from Adobe) and comes with all the features you'd expect from the image editing app.
Everything is instantly available, regardless of your previous experience. Another bonus: no plugins are needed as long as you have Flash enabled, so you can simply drag and drop your photos to start working.
The downside: Photoshop Express currently only supports JPG files and does not include any social media networking functionality. This may be a debilitating weakness for some now that PNG is a far more widely used extension.
Best for: On-the-fly editing by any browser; JPG fans.
iPiccy
With one of the easiest-to-use interfaces of any editor on this list, iPiccy is a good option for anyone looking for a free photo editor without learning a complicated interface. With a lot of one-click tools and a fantastic zoom feature, you 're sure to be able to create compelling final photographs with minimal time spent.
You'll also have access to more advanced features; with curve changes, clone software, background erasers, and other options, there's more than enough here to please pros and novices alike. Note: Flash will be needed to use the iPiccy browser.
Although iPiccy has restricted options for saving your files (JPG and PNG only) and restricts sharing to Facebook only (sorry Twitter and Tumblr users), the ability to upload several files simultaneously and the WYSIWYG gui will keep your productivity strong.
Best for: Novices and intermediates looking for robust features.
Ribbet
The biggest strength of Ribbet is how easy it is to use. Even the most unskilled beginner will master Ribbet easily thanks to a fantastic Interface and excellent user experience. Like other options on this list, it includes a collage feature as well as a number of different tools that allow you to add more than 70 different fonts, make stickers, and more.
Featuring fantastic sharing opportunities as well as free cloud storage to help you save and organize your images so they're always open, you just can't go wrong with Ribbet. It's a good kit that's fun to look at and can only get better as time passes.
One aspect that is important to note: using Ribbet's more advanced features would entail updates to the Premium edition. Notwithstanding this, you have access to most of the functionality of the software with a free option and it's a great place to make the most of your pictures. Available for iPhone and iPad, and running Android soon, you can take it wherever you go.
Best for: Casual and professional users.
iPhone Photo Editor
This free iPhone photo editor is widely praised for its range of photo editing tools and effects, a clean interface, and a wealth of sharing options that make it easy to share your shots online. Aviary's Photo Editor provides more correction and improvement resources than almost any other mobile-based competitor on the market.Similar to Instagram, innovative filters are available to enhance more gloomy pictures.
It's important to remember that it's only available on iOS, so if you want it on your Mac, Linux box, or Android phone, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Best for: Mobile photographers using iPhones.
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Which Photo Editor is Right For You?
There are a multitude of choices open to anyone with a smartphone, and you're going to want to play with a few of them before you decide on the right photo editing software for your reason.If you're a power user looking to batch a thousand images that you've had on backlog for a year, or a complete neophyte looking to cut their teeth in the blogosphere, there's a resource on this list that will do exactly what you need.
Photo Editor by Aviary