Picking out a photo editing app can be difficult and time consuming, especially if you’re looking for a free tool to edit photos. There are many options out there and not all of them are worth your time. So, to make your life easier, here are the 10 best free photo editing software you can use on your PC or Mac.
1. Pixlr X and Pixlr E
One of the best free software for editing photos comes in the form of Pixlr — the online photo editing app. There are two versions on offer here: Pixlr X is the simple version aimed at people who just want to retouch photos, or maybe add some filters without going into the nitty gritty of photo editing.
If you’re looking for a tool similar to Photoshop for free, then you should try Pixlr E, which offers advanced photo editing and creativity features, including tools like lasso, clone stamp, and more.
Since Pixlr is browser based, it can run on pretty much every platform that has browser support. However, if you’re looking for photo editing apps for iPhone, or Android photo editors, we have dedicated articles for those as well.
Pros Cons Flexibility of choosing between a simple to use software and a fully featured option Shows ads in the free tier Supports the most commonly used file types for images
Availability: Online
2. GIMP
GIMP is pretty much the FOSS equivalent of Adobe Photoshop. That means, you get almost all the Photoshop features here, but in a free photo editing software. GIMP offers tools like Photoshop, along with features such as blending styles, filters, and more. Plus, you can customise the interface, and utilise multiple GIMP plugins to get an even more versatile tool at your disposal. For example, there’s now a plugin to add Stable Diffusion to GIMP, allowing you to use AI for editing photos and creating designs.
Also notable is the fact that you can even create GIFs with GIMP, and you can export your photos or creative designs to multiple formats.
GIMP doesn’t have the best looking UI out there, but as far as the features are concerned, it’s nearly unmatched.
Pros Cons Fully featured image editing software just like Photoshop User interface can be off-putting Supports a plethora of file formats Not the best fit for casual and/or basic editing needs Can be used for making animated GIFs FOSS
Availability: Windows, macOS, Linux
3. Fotor
Fotor is another browser based image editing software that I recommend to anyone who wants to edit photos, or create designs with more features than something like Pixlr X, but less complexity than something like GIMP. It’s basically a middle-ground and offers useful features such as adding effects (filters), elements such as text and frames, and even things like beauty filters to remove blemishes, add blush, and more.
Notably, Fotor also has AI based image editing features. However, while you can use these features in the free version, you will have to pay to be able to remove the watermark and remove limitations. AI features in Fotor include things like 1-tap enhance, face unblur, background removal, old photo restorer, and more.
Pros Cons Easy to use AI features aren’t available in the free version AI features No tools like brush, eraser, etc. Good feature-set for basic retouching of photos
Availability: Online
4. Pinta
Pinta is a free and open-source photo editing software that’s based on a fork of the Paint.NET source code, and it offers a feature-packed experience. Alongside basic functionality such as drawing tools, over 35 effects and adjustments, and multi-language support, Pinta also offers a slew of advanced editing features. You get a full history feature, so you can easily undo as much as you want to. The software also supports layers for more versatile editing, and you can fully customise the workspace to meet your needs.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free and open-source | Can throw random bugs sometimes |
| Feature-rich |
Availability:Linux, macOS, Windows
5. Paint.NET
Paint.NET is another solid free photo editing software for times when the built-in Paint app on your Windows PC just doesn’t cut it. It offers most of the features you’ll need for editing images, and it comes in at a tiny installation size — weighing only a few megabytes. You get support for layers, built-in effects and filters, and unlimited history.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free | Not suitable for more advanced photo editing techniques |
| Small size makes it perfect for low configuration systems | |
| Feature-rich |
Availability: Windows
6. PhotoScape X
If you’re looking for a photo editing software that brings an amazing set of features with a minimal user interface, look no further than PhotoScape X. This image editor brings useful features such as photo cut-out, collage, batch editing, RAW image support and more. It also brings effects, including a film effect and light leak effect to give your images an analogue, nostalgic look.
PhotoScape’s editing features also include support for batch conversion, resizing, and renaming of images. You also get stickers, frames, and macro support to perform multiple tasks with a simple command. Moreover, PhotoScape X can also double up as a photo viewer, which is just a cherry on top.
Pros Cons Useful batch editing and conversion features Background removal isn’t very accurate RAW image support
Availability: Windows and macOS
7. Canva
Canva is a really versatile online photo editing software that goes above and beyond as far as features are concerned. It offers all the basic photo editing features such as filters — which are customisable. Plus you can use it to adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your photos as well. Further, Canva also lets you resize and crop photos easily without too much of a hassle.
However, where Canva really shines is in the designing aspect, so if you’re looking for a photo editor that can also let you design posters, flyers, digital campaigns and more, Canva is definitely something you should check out.
Pros Cons Easy to use Not the most feature packed for advanced image editing Offers basic photo editing features
Availability: Online
8. BeFunky
BeFunky is another great online photo editing software that you can use for free. It comes with a full-set of photo editing features including the ability to resize and crop images, cutout parts of an image, sharpen images, touch up tools, effects, and more.
You can also use BeFunky to add cool overlays to your photos, or add text and textures to images to make them stand out. The software comes with an easy to use interface which makes photo editing a breeze.
Pros Cons Feature rich Editing text in images can be slow sometimes Good user interface Free version can seem a tad limited
Availability: Online
9. SumoPaint
If you’re looking for a software that’s basically an online version of Photoshop, SumoPaint is a great option for you to consider. Unlike most online photo editing software, SumoPaint brings a user interfact that’s almost identical to Photoshop’s. You get tools like the brush tool, lasso tool, magic wand, bucket fill, and more. Plus, obviously, there’s layer support to give you an even more versatile editing experience.
SumoPaint is available to use for free, but it does offer a Pro version ($4 per month) that unlocks more features.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Powerful photo editing experience | Text management isn’t perfect |
| Loads quickly | Pro version can seem expensive |
Availability: Online (pro version offers offline use as well)
10. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer
If one-click photo editing and batch photo editing are the kind of features you’re looking for in a good free photo editing software, this is the one for you. Not only does Ashampoo Photo Optimizer offer support for batch editing photos (mirroring, resizing, and more), it also brings a useful one-click auto optimisation feature that can make your photo editing experience a lot faster.
Plus, if you want to fine tune the settings, you can manually adjust things like the contrast, brightness, and more.
Pros Cons One click photo editing Granular controls are lacking Batch photo editing
Availability: Windows
Check out Ashampoo Photo Optimizer
Comments
8
Sagnik Das Gupta
Sagnik Das Gupta
Anshuman Jain
Anshuman Jain
Anshuman Jain
Sagnik Das Gupta
Anshuman Jain
This article was very informative.
I use the Gimp. But for less complex editor I usually use PaintNET.
I have a XPPen Deco Fun drawing tablet, Using a pen so much more intuitive than using a mouse. I feel like using a mouse to edit is like trying to use a brick to draw instead of a pencil.
I’m on the fence about this, while more customization is good, I have a feeling this is a “in-progress” update, it just feels incomplete and half-way there.
We use badge layout for apps on design approvals (visual projects), so the image being displayed is important. Old layout “feels like” it had larger images,
maybe because the images were cropped more loosely so it’s easier to tell which project it was at quick glance. Now the image is cropped closer, making it
Harder to scan thru at quick glance. I find myself needing to click into the project more often than usual. Which makes the whole user experience less
efficient.
I have a couple suggestions that might make it work better:
1. Increase the height of the window the cover image is being displayed.
2. Let us to choose which image to be displayed as “cover” (like how Pinterest handles cover images of each board, was hoping for this for a long time)
3. Let us adjust which part of the image to show and how tight or loose the crop is (with a fixed window, let us move the image around and maybe enlarge or
shrink it to control what shows thru the window. Pinterest does a limited form of this, which is very useful in making the cover image relevant)
4. Allow Cover Image to be ordered in different hierarchy (currently every element can be ordered differently except the Cover Image, it seems to be stuck
in the 2nd spot, would like the option to set it on another spot in the layout. This one seems like an easy fix, since you guys allow that for every other element already)
Can anyone tell me which is offline softwares plz????
You gave us lots of information, along with examples that are very helpful for me. Thank you so much for sharing.
My favourite by far is FastStone Image viewer. It is free (though you can pay) not a huge file, and very capable.
Me too; and surprised not to see it here
I’m using PhotoViewerPro it’s a great tool for viewing and editing photos.
KrojamSoft PhotoViewerPro is great to view all images within a folder . You can organize and view/edit images. View images on a calendar etc.Try it out.