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Top Free Software Picks: Desktop Image Editors

Not everyone has the skills or cash to operate high-end imaging software like Photoshop. Luckily you don't need either to make great picture edits with these free programs.

Eric Griffith
 & Eric Griffith Senior Editor, Features

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We live in a photo-centric world. Every phone has a camera; every social network shares photos and memories, even if those memories took place just minutes before. It's been that way for a long time, and sites and services like Facebook-owned Instagram have 150 million active monthly users for a reason: people love to share photos.

But sometimes just slapping up that picture—even from compact cameras with Wi-Fi—isn't the right way to go. You want to edit the shot to get it just right. Maybe the corners need to be cropped, the colors adjusted, or maybe you just want to artsy it up a bit with a sepia filter. You may even need to do some manipulating for your job.

Years ago that would have meant paying big bucks for Adobe Photoshop, which remains the gold standard for image editing in the commercial world. Even turning to shareware meant ponying up a small fee to be able to edit—and that's not even taking into account the learning curve. Photoshop is still expensive—even with the Creative Cloud subscription plan it's $20 a month to start—but lower-end options like the latest Photoshop Elements 12 ($80) can be pretty fantastic in their own right.

Now free software that is not only powerful, but also simple to master can be found on every operating system, or just online for those who don't want to download and install anything. Look in the Windows 8 Store, the Mac App Store, even the Chrome Web Store and you'll find plenty of options. Or stop looking right now and consult our collection of the very best in free image editing tools.

As always, our emphasis with this series is on the desktop (and by extension the Web-based full-browser) options in the category, but we've marked those also available cross-platform, including many that stretch to the smartphone market.

Top Free Image Editors

Top Free Image Editors

gimp
GIMP
Windows | Mac | Linux
If you want Photoshop power at no cost, get GIMP, short for GNU Image Manipulation Program. GNU indicates it started as part of the GNU Project to create free, open-source software. Since its debut in 1996, GIMP has been continually updated, recently hitting version 2.8.6. Unlike in the past, GIMP now offers a full Mac OS installer that doesn't require add-ons to work. Version 2.8 added a nice change to a single-window interface so all the toolbars float inside the GIMP window.

Can GIMP do absolutely everything Photoshop can? Not quite, but almost. It's got the standard tools, brushes, layers, and special effects. The features options are extensive, probably too extensive for a novice; GIMP really is for experienced users. But if you're missing a feature, GIMP supports plug-ins so you can probably get it.

If you don't care for GIMP's interface, download Gimpshop for free, also for Windows, Mac or Linux. It offers the power of GIMP, but with a Photoshop-like interface.

paintnet

Paint.NET
Windows
When you can't afford or don't want to deal with high-end Photoshop, but still need more power than the typical Web-based image editor, perhaps the best alternative for the straight-up Windows user is Paint.NET. Not much has changed about the product since our last review (it's now up to version 3.5.11), but that's a good thing. Paint.NET's strength is its instant familiarity to anyone who's ever used an image editor, and how easy it is for novices to master.

The interface is actually very Photoshop-esque, with floating toolbars such as a color picker, layers, and image history (so you can undo or redo things as much as you like), plus a menu bar with the typical choices on top. You'll find just about every tool you could ever need to manipulate an image, plus plenty of cool effects to apply after the fact. Paint.NET isn't about image organization—it's pure-play image editing and drawing.

The .NET part of the name indicates Paint.NET requires the Microsoft .NET framework to run. All that means is you download a little something extra, assuming your Windows system isn't already running .NET. If you wish you could run Paint.NET on another system, there's software called Pinta with installers for Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS that closely mimics the Paint.NET interface.

picmonkey

PicMonkey
Web
PicMonkey's hallmark is the sheer ease of editing a photo on any desktop browser that supports Flash. It also brings a lot of fun to the process of image manipulation, providing excellent themed extras such as an entire suite of tools to help make your image look like a zombie or vampire—even the sparkly kind— for Halloween.

When it comes to the basic edits, PicMonkey has it all, and you don't even have to log in to the site to use them. Crop, rotate, resize, and sharpen; it's all there. The special effects have funky names in keeping with PicMonkey's personality, and there are templates for making collages of multiple photos.

PicMonkey makes money through ads (banners that run along the bottom) and a paid upgrade option to the Royale membership for $4.99 a month or $33 a year. With the upgrade you get effects extras, removal of the PicMonkey stamp included with some effects, and an ad-free editing experience. Still, you'll find more than enough uses for it without paying a dime. There's a PicMonkey Facebook app, and a special extension for the Google Chrome browser that makes it easy to grab images for editing.

pixlreditor

Pixlr
Web | iOS | Android
Autodesk has an entire suite of Pixlr apps for use on the Web and smartphones. The advanced interface is called Editor; like PicMonkey, it doesn't even require sign-in to get started. The interface will remind experienced users of Photoshop or even Paint.NET, only contained within your browser.

Autodesk calls the separate Pixlr Express the "efficient" editor because its simplified interface makes it easy to apply quick image adjustments and effects. You can add borders, stickers, and text. Express is also the name for the two mobile versions of Pixlr currently available for phones, with interfaces very similar to the desktop browser version. Pixlr Express Plus for iOS takes advantage of the chips in the new iPhone 5s to apply many fantastic edits.

The final option, Pixlr-o-matic, can't be taken seriously for any real editing, but its iPad and Android tablets options make a fun photo toy.

Other Free Image Editors

Other Free Image Editors

Adobe Photoshop Express
Windows 8 | iOS | Android
Adobe's the big name in photo editing, and it lends that Photoshop name to three versions of a free photo touch-up tool. (Don't confuse it with the moderately priced Photoshop Elements.) With Express, anyone with a smartphone or Windows 8 (desktop or Windows RT tablets) can take pics, make quick fixes, and share them via social networks and Adobe's own Revel service.

Clipping Magic
Web
Clipping Magic does one thing and does it amazingly, fantastically well—so well in fact, I don't understand why it's so hard in other tools: it removes the background from images. Drop your image on the site, and scribble green on the part you want or red on the background you want gone. The rest is magic.

Fatpaint
Web
Fatpaint is as much about commerce as image editing, giving you a Café Press-like retail site to sell your designs on products. The free image editor is comprehensive, despite not exactly being pro-grade.

Fotor
Web | Windows | Windows 8 | Mac | iOS | Android
Fotor is everywhere and offers a simplicity any image editing newbie will appreciate. The options for images are clearly spelled out (not just with esoteric toolbar buttons), it's easy to compare the before and after images, and the available effects are the usual fun. (There's even tilt-shift and collage building.) It's perfect for use on handhelds and tablets, as well as the desktop.

Photo Editor by Aviary
Windows 8 | iOS | Android
Aviary used to offer a suite of online-only image editing tools (among other things). Now it's become the power behind tools offered on services like Flickr, Photobucket, and Twitter—not to mention this free and very popular photo editor in the Windows Store, which has corresponding apps for smartphones.

Picasa
Windows | Mac
Google's offline photo management software is still pretty fantastic, even if your soul doesn't belong to Google. While it's ostensibly there to help you organize images, it's still got decent basic offline editing tools and some good photo effects to apply. Picasa could go Web-only in the future—for a while it featured a somewhat redundant online image editor called Creative Kit (the remnant of the once-great online editor Picnik, which Google shut down in April 2012)—or just become part of the ever-more photo-centric Google+ social network.

Ribbet
Web | Windows
Ribbet provides a slick online interface and a free Windows download for offline editing. It gives you direct access to your online photos at Facebook, Flickr, and Google+/Picasa Web Albums to begin editing or creating collages. Right now the "premium" version, which lets you upload 100 images at a time and drop the ads, is also free.

Skitch
Windows | Windows 8 | Mac | iOS | Android
Skitch isn't so much about editing a photo as it is annotating it. Skitch lets you caption, label, or mark up an image to your heart's content, using words, shapes, or little sketches. Because Skitch is made by Evernote, it's easy to store and sync annotated pics afterward, or share via social media and email.

Sumopaint
Web | Windows
Sumopaint has a lot to offer for a Web-based image editor and you don't even need to register to use it. You'll only get access to the basic editing tools gratis though; the good stuff costs $9 for Pro or $19 for Pro Plus, which includes a desktop app.

Further Reading

Photo & Design Reviews

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About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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