Free photo editing: The best solutions | Tips and Tricks

Some mistakenly believe that Photo editing both necessarily, synonymous with the use of Photoshop, but it is not. There are a large amount, not only of programs, but also of applications for smartphones and tablets to do this.

Furthermore, for those who need to carry out photo editing, without the obligation to install programs, there are powerful online services that we can use, full of professional tools to create effects of a certain quality.

In this article we will also see all the alternatives to edit your photos freely and often even without spending a cent.

The best photo editing sites online

You may not know it but some sites behave exactly like photo editing programs installed on your computer. These are services with really powerful tools that are often free. If you need to edit an image on the fly and don’t want to install a dedicated application on your computer, these sites might be for you.

Pixlr

This is probably the easiest retouching site to use. Pixlr offers several advanced filters, many features and support for ai levels. The use is simple and the web app not only works as a desktop browser but also from Android or iOS. In addition to Pixlr, the company also offers Vectr a handy free vector drawing editor. Some of the more advanced features are unlocked only upon payment of a fee.

Photopea

It is probably the most complete and advanced online editor, it is free with advertising and supports various formats jpg, png, raw. The Web application remembers Photoshop in its interface and tools (according to many it is a real clone), it has many functions and is well translated into Italian. If you want to do some serious online photo editing that goes beyond applying a few filters, this site can only be in your bookmarks.

iPiccy

It is a less known online editor but really interesting for its functions and interface. The service is supported through ads, filters are present, and many tools. Among those examined it is the only one that really manages to stand up to Photopea. To use it you need flash support: on Chrome just click on the “Allow” button. iPiccy saves the result of editing photos or images to file jpg or on format png.

Fotor

This is another quick and practical free photo editor. The app has a lot of tools, unfortunately the really interesting ones are only accessible with the Pro version. If you are looking for an immediate Web tool for editing your photo, Fotor is definitely for you.

Google photo

Google Photos offers not only many tools to edit your photos completely for free, but it is also an unlimited cloud service to keep them in high resolution. From the point of view of photo editing, Google allows you to edit each photo with just a few clicks, also thanks to the interesting (and often effective) automatic correction. In addition to the automatic correction there are many i filters available, practical and functional. If you want to know more, we invite you to consult our dedicated in-depth study.

Free Photo Editing Programs

For photo editing there is not only Photophop on PC / Mac but there are many alternative gratuite and sometimes even open source, suitable to satisfy many needs.

GIMP

The famous open source tool can not be part of this list, it is powerful and appreciated. They are online lots of tutorials very useful to learn all the tricks. The application offers powerful tools is open source and cross-platform. GIMP is regarded as the most popular “free” alternative to Photoshop.

Paint.NET

A very valid alternative to GIMP / Photoshop for less powerful Windows PCs. If you need to make minor changes Paint.NET is for you. It is a comfortable, fast, fast and powerful application. Paint.NET is also open source and cross-platform. The application, as the name suggests, was born as a modern version of Microsoft’s “Paint” and over the years has received the addition of such a number of functions as to make it a real photo editor worthy of note.

Photo Pos Pro

Unlike the two programs described above, this one is not open source but can be used completely in a free version with only one limitation: there is a resolution limit for saving images (to a maximum of 1024 x 2014 pixels). Photo Pos Pro has an interface reminiscent of the best known Photoshop and offers many powerful easy-to-use tools.

Surface

This is another interesting open source photo editor, compared to the previous ones it offers a smaller number of tools, but it is great for those who want a light program and practical to edit your photos. Pinta is available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

Best paid photo editing programs

We cannot fail to mention the best known and most important photo editing software in the world. A trial period is possible to test the features made available by these excellent paid professional tools for free.

Photoshop

The Adobe application could not be missing from our list: it is expensive but it is, and remains, one of the most popular professional software. Its tools are powerful and effective. Of course it may seem a bit difficult at first but there are thousands of tutorials online.

Affinity Photo

By popular acclaim it is the main paid alternative to Adobe’s software. It costs a lot less and you pay only once. Affinity Photo offers perfect compatibility with Photoshop files, excellent performance and full support for the latest generation hardware. It is a rather well-known application, so they are online many courses dedicated. The software is available on both Windows and macOS operating systems.

Pixel

It is one of the most viable alternatives to Photoshop. It is cheap but powerful and up-to-date software almost as much as Adobe’s. It is a reliable solution, supports a wide range of functionality advancesat: non-destructive editing, full support for RAW formats, advanced color correction tools, many filters to enhance the digital image and pressure sensitive drawing tools. The application is available for Windows and Linux.

Best photo editing apps

Even on mobile we have good solutions to edit your shots or images. Here are the ones we found best:

Google photo (Android, iOS)

We have already talked about the web version of this service but know that even the apps for Android and iOS are comfortable, effective and offer good photo editing tools. Whether you want to enhance the brightness of a photo, or make a face photo retouching in a selfie, having the App always at hand can help. If you want to know more, we invite you to consult our article dedicated to Google Photos.

Snapseed (Android, iOS)

This is a fantastic app to retouch your shots, create beautiful portraits, and add filters. The app is not only simple to use, but it is also free and has really powerful and effective tools. It also allows you to manage files raw and export them in jpg. A couple of taps are enough to enhance your photo, or make a selfie perfect. The app also being from Google integrates perfectly with Google Photos. If you also want to try Snapseed, you can find it on the Play Store and App Store.

Photoshop Express (Android, iOS)

This is the weakened version of the popular Adobe tool. The mobile version still allows you to crop photos, rotate them, correct them and use many filters. The app is free and available on the Play Store and App Store.

Of Adobe on the stores it is also worth mentioning the mobile version of Lightroom which is very powerful and is paid with a monthly subscription.

Fotor (Android, iOS)

We also talked about its web service above and Fotor’s Apps take the best of it, powerful filters and ease of use. Many sites consider this app a must have if you want to edit your photos effectively with a few simple touches and we find no reason to disagree Fotor. It’s free on the Play Store and App Store.