Best Photo Editing App For Pc, Android, iOS, macOS; Freely improve the quality of your images.
Using a free photo editor to touch up your images is simple, whether you want to remove some unsightly imperfections or change the colour of your image.
While Adobe Photoshop is the obvious choice for anyone looking to spend money on a photo editing tool, there are also excellent free options available. GIMP is the best free picture editor available right now. It’s as near to Adobe’s services as you can get, is open source, and has more capabilities than even some premium apps, including support for layers, plugins, and masks, as well as the ability to work on Photoshop’s PSD file.
However, for many people, that may be too much, especially if all they need to do is straighten or crop a photo. We’ve gathered the best tools for your needs, no matter your experience or work at hand, whether you’re using your laptop for photography or just trying to repair a picture before putting it online.
If you need more pictures for your projects, instead, look through our list of the top free stock photos.
What to look for in a free photo editor?
The first thing to consider when selecting a free photo editor is your degree of confidence and experience. If you only need to make a few changes (such as erasing imperfections and improving colours), a simple web tool may be ideal, as it will perform the job well without overloading you with alternatives.
If you want to do more advanced editing, though, you’ll want to look into desktop software that includes features like layers and masks, giving you complete control over the process.
If you have a lot of images to edit, desktop software is a smart option, and some free photo editors can even edit photos in batches, which can save you a lot of time.
Below is the Best Photo Editing App for windows Pc, MacOS, Android & iOS.
1. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer
Automatic photo optimization features make photo editing a breeze.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: Windows
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
- BMP
- TIF
Pros
- One-click optimization
- Fine manual controls
- Clean interface
Cons
- Auto optimization is hit-and-miss
If you have a large number of images to edit quickly, Ashampoo Photo Optimizer could be the application for you. Its UI is simple and uncluttered, with no advertisements (but you will need to provide an email address before you can use it).
Importing photos is simple, and once they’re in the pool, you can select multiples to rotate or mirror at once, saving you time. You may also use the software’s one-click optimization feature to enhance specific photographs. This performed particularly well on landscapes in our experiments, but not usually for other themes.
There are a half-dozen sliders that help you make manual colour and exposure corrections. It’s a shame you can’t apply the same colour adjustments to a whole group of photos at once, but this is a fantastic free photo editor for quick fixes.
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7 – the premium edition of the software with expanded optimization tools – is recommended for more extensive editing.
2. Canva
In-browser photo editing and templates at a professional level.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux (in browser)
- Android
- iOS
- iPadOS (mobile app)
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
Pros
- Great selection of templates
- Includes free cloud storage
- Mobile app available
Cons
- No fine manual editing tools
Canva is a web-based photo editor that lets you turn your best photos into greeting cards, posters, invites, and social media posts. If you want to keep your online presence looking professional, this is the tool for you.
Canva offers two levels of service: free and premium, but the free option is ideal for home users. Simply provide your email address to receive 1GB of free cloud storage for your photos and designs, as well as 8,000 editable templates and two folders to keep your work organized.
Advanced tools like clone brushes and smart selections aren’t available here, but there are several useful sliders for tinting, vignette effects, sharpening, altering brightness, saturation, contrast, and much more. The text editing tools are simple to use, and there’s a large selection of backgrounds and other graphics to help you finish your projects.
3. Adobe Photoshop Express Editor
It’s a quick and easy solution to fix lighting and exposure issues.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux (in browser)
Layers: No
Export formats: JPG only
Pros
- Advanced filters
- Stylish design
Cons
- Requires Flash
- Only supports JPG format
Adobe Photoshop Express Editor is, as the name implies, a trimmed-down, browser-based version of the company’s industry-leading picture editing program. It has a more extensive toolbox than the downloadable Photoshop Express software, however, it only handles JPG photos with a file size of less than 16MB.
Although this is a Flash-based utility, Adobe has mobile apps for all platforms, so you won’t be left out whether you use a smartphone or tablet.
Although it doesn’t have as many options as some of its competitors, this free online photo editor has all the panache you’d expect from Adobe, and everything that is there is polished to perfection. The Adobe Photoshop Express Editor is a joy to work with. The only negatives are the file size and type limitations, as well as the lack of functionality for layers.
4. GIMP
best free photo editor for complex image editing.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux
Layers: Yes
Export formats: 40+
Pros
- Advanced editing tools
- Cross-platform support
- No ads
Cons
- Steep learning curve
The finest free photo editor is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It’s jam-packed with the kind of image-enhancing capabilities you’d find in high-end software, and new ones are released daily.
Layers, masks, curves, and levels are all included in the picture editing toolbox. With the outstanding clone stamp and healing tools, you can simply remove faults, create custom brushes, apply perspective modifications, and apply changes to isolated areas.
GIMP is a free open-source picture editor with a large community of users and developers that have produced a large number of plugins to expand its functionality. Many are pre-installed, and more can be downloaded from the official vocabulary. You can even install Photoshop extensions if that isn’t enough.
5. Paint.NET
Although it appears to be a little out of date, it is still a reliable all-rounder.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: Windows
Layers: Yes
Export formats: 10+
Pros
- Layers and filters
- Plugin support
Cons
- Fewer options than GIMP
- For Windows only
More isn’t always better, believe it or not. One of Paint. primary NET’s selling point is its simplicity; it’s a quick, easy-to-use free picture editor that’s great for simple tasks that don’t require the strength of tools like GIMP.
But don’t be fooled by the name. Even though it was designed to replace Microsoft’s ultra-basic Paint, this isn’t just a cheap duplicate of it. It’s a true photo editor, but it’s on the more basic end of the spectrum.
The design of Paint.NET is similar to that of its namesake, but they’ve added advanced editing features like layers, an undo history, a slew of filters, a slew of community-created plugins, and a great 3D rotate/zoom capability that’s useful for recomposing photographs over the years.
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6. Fotor
Enhancements that can be applied to your images in a matter of seconds with just one click.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux (in browser)
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
Pros
- Premium level filters
- Batch image processing
- High-res export options
Cons
- No plugin supports
Fotor is a free photo editor that’s great for instantly improving your photos. You’re out of luck if you need to use the clone brush or the healing tool for a specific area of retouching. Its stack of high-end filters, on the other hand, really shines if your demands are straightforward.
For example, Fotor’s ingenious menu layout makes it easy to access a foolproof tilt-shift tool as well as a slew of antique and colourful colour changes. You can adjust your curves and levels manually as well but without the complexity of high-end tools.
Fotor’s highlight feature, and one that’s severely lacking in many free photo editors, is its batch processing tool: feed it a bunch of photos and it’ll filter them all at once, ideal if you have a memory card full of vacation photos and need to hide the effects of a shaky camera or shaky hand.
7. PhotoScape
Batch processing, raw picture conversion, and more.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: Windows
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
- TIF
- BMP
- GIF
Pros
- Raw file conversion
- Great selection of filters
Cons
- Unusual interface
- Bundled with the Google Drive app
PhotoScape may appear to be a basic free picture editor, but its main menu contains a plethora of options, including raw conversion, photo splitting and merging, animated GIF generation, and even a strange (but useful) tool that allows you to print lined, graph, or sheet music paper.
Of course, the meat is in the photo manipulation. PhotoScape’s user interface is one of the most esoteric of all the apps we’ve looked at so far, with tools organized into oddly arranged pages. It does not attempt to imitate Photoshop and has fewer features.
We’d recommend this to a beginner, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get some good results with it. The filters in PhotoScape are quite advanced, so it’s a fantastic option if you need to rapidly level, sharpen, or add mild filtering to your photos.
8. PiZap
A fun photo editor for getting ready to share your photos on social networking.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux (in browser)
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
Pros
- Provides stock images
- Templates for social media
Cons
- Some tools behind a paywall
- Max resolution 1,310 x 737 pixels
PiZap, a free online picture editor, is accessible in HTML5 and Flash versions, so it can be used on any device. You can use a photo from your hard drive, Facebook, Google Photos, Google Drive, Google Search, or a stock image library. This is a great option, albeit some of the stock photographs are only available to paying customers, and if you use a photo from Google Images, you’ll need to be careful about copyright issues.
PiZap’s editing interface is dark and sleek, with a lot of sliders for quick edits — a method that works far better on a touchscreen tablet than complicated icons and drop-down menus.
You may share your masterpiece on all of the major social media networks, as well as piZap’s servers, Dropbox, and Google Drive once you’re finished. You can also store it on your computer, send it by email, or use an embed code. You can only export your work in high quality if you pay for the premium editor, but that’s unlikely to be a problem for foolish social sharing.
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9. Photo Pos Pro
Advanced photo editing features in a user-friendly interface.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform: Windows
Layers: Yes
Export formats: 15+
Pros
- Smart interface
- Beginner and advanced modes
Cons
- Limited file export resolution
- Not cross-platform
Photo Pos Pro isn’t as well-known as Paint.net or GIMP, but it’s a great free photo editor with a lot of advanced image-editing features.
The interface of this free photo editor is smarter and easier to use than GIMP’s labyrinth of menus and toolbars, with everything organized logically and consistently. If it’s still too much for you, there’s also a ‘novice’ layout that looks similar to Fotor’s filter-based approach. It’s up to you to make a decision.
Layers and layer masks, as well as tools for manually altering curves and levels, are available in the ‘expert’ layout for advanced editing. The one-click filters are still available from the main menu, but the emphasis has shifted to fine editing.
It’s a pity that Photo Pos Pro’s free edition only lets you export images with a resolution of 1,024 × 1,024 pixels. This may not be a problem if you’re producing photographs for online sharing, but it does limit the software’s utility if you want to print your work.
10. Pixlr X
For quick results, a comprehensive browser-based photo editor is available.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform:
- Windows
- macOS
- Linux (in browser)
Layers: No
Export formats:
- JPG
- PNG
Pros
- Uses HTML5 rather than Flash
- Stylish design
Cons
- Less powerful than Pixlr Editor
- Max image size 3,840 pixels
Pixlr X is the successor to Pixlr Editor, which was for a long time one of our favourite free online photo editors.
The Pixlr X improves on its predecessor in several ways. For starters, it’s built using HTML5, not Flash, so it’ll work in any modern browser. It’s also snappy and well-designed, with a Photoshop-like interface and dark or light colour palettes to choose from.
Colours and saturation can be fine-tuned, images can be sharpened and blurred, vignette effects and frames can be applied, and multiple images can be combined with Pixlr X. There’s also layer support, which you won’t find in many other free online photo editors, as well as a variety of painting and drawing tools. Even for complicated work, this is a fantastic option.
What are some other free picture editors?
Free Ashampoo Photo Commander This free software, which is similar to Adobe Lightroom, allows you to edit and organize your photos with one-click filters for bulk correction.
Irfan View, another potential Lightroom successor, is a basic yet powerful program for bulk editing, labelling, and organizing photographs.
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