It’s a good idea to use stock images from Shutterstock, which has become a main source for professional photo editors. If you don’t have money for this service, then look through our list of free online photo editor with cool effects and find your free photo editing software.
Why settle for the same old image editing tools? With so many online image editors at our finger tips, we decided to come up with a guide on the best free online photo editors with cool effects. Take a look and see which one you like. We’re sure you’ll find one that you love!
Multi-Platform Photo Editors
GIMP
When it comes to free photo editors, GIMP is king. Short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP is the closest you can get to Photoshop without paying a dime. It comes equipped with an impressive number of professional-quality functions, a completely configurable interface, allows fine-tuning of images, and contains a fully-integrated toolset that allows the creation of professional quality original artwork.
If you can do it in Photoshop, you can almost certainly do it in GIMP. If you want even more options, you can also use Photoshop plugins, which provide you with unmatched flexibility 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 should you desire.
If you are experienced in image editing software you should get the hang of GIMP relatively quickly, but those not well versed in image editing software may find the interface cluttered or non-intuitive. A fair compromise for the sheer editing power you get at no cost!
Best for: Experienced users and those wanting powerful processing and art tools for a zero dollar price tag.
Photoscape X
For a free program, Photoscape is actually quite impressive—it’s fantastic for editing and managing your personal photo archive. While Photoscape is a bit lacking in the interface department (it can be somewhat confusing), it contains an image viewer, batch processing, a screen-capture tool, and a great selection of filters and effects to take your photographs to the next level.
The photo editing portion of this app is where it truly shines, and even new users will be able to produce exceptional, professional-looking shots in moments. Photoscape even has some handy little functions to make your photographs look like analog shots, a decent cut-out feature, image transformation capability; it also gives access to over 240 figures, frames and borders, and more than 1000 patterns to use in your creatives.
Best for: Batch processing and experimentation projects.
Canva
Canva is one of the most popular graphic design tools on the market. The tool is very easy to use, convenient, and intuitive. This photo editing software acts as an all-in-one platform for everything graphic design. As a graphic design software, it lets you create brochures, posters, social media graphics, calendars, video, presentations, logos, watermarks, labels, menus, resumes, letterheads, wallpaper, t-shirt designs, and more. This free online image editor can be used by anyone, with or without any experience in graphic design, which makes it an absolute no experience photo editor. The vast amount of templates means you can create something in a matter of seconds. While the free subscription already contains a lot of great features, you will need to get the Premium subscription to unlock specific features, templates, and tools. With the paid subscription, you will also be able to access the millions of stock photos, videos, and design elements in their library.
Another great thing about Canva is being able to use their design tool on the go. You can download their app on your Apple, Mac, Android, iOS, or desktop. You can easily use it on a browser as well. However, the only downside is that you will need to be connected to the Internet.
Best for: Anyone with or without graphic design experience
Adobe Photoshop Express Editor
Best Photo Editing Software Overall
Although Photoshop can be a bit intimidating, its sister product Adobe Photoshop Express Editor is an altogether different animal. All the tools are readily accessible and easy to use.
Adobe Photoshop Express Editor is a free photo editor. It is jam-packed with features that will allow you to make your images pop. You will be able to remove red-eye, resize images, make color corrections, and more.
It works right from your browser or mobile app. Editing photos is a snap with tools to balance color, resize, crop, change lighting, rotate, and more. The interface is appealing yet user-friendly. Our only gripes are that it was designed in Flash and not HTML5, and image formats can be somewhat limited.
👆 Special Features:
- Crop
- Rotate
- Remove Red and pet-eye
- Auto-Fix
- Text Tool
- Blemish Removal
- Corrections
- Customization
- Perspective Correction
- Pop-Color Tool
- Image Resize
- Watermark Images
- JPEG Quality Output
- Looks
- Borders
✅ PROS:
- Simple and complex customization
- Easy to use
- Compatible with other Adobe Products
- Gives you the edits you need to improve photos significantly
⛔️ CONS:
- Some features require creative cloud membership that has a fee
- The photo organizer tool is a separate app
FotoFlexer
FotoFlexer is a neatly designed, and easy to use on-line photo editor. It enables users to dabble in everything from the usual cropping, and effects, to more fun things such as adding shapes to your photos, doodling on them and using various fonts in several colours to brighten your photo. FotoFlexer has an easy to use interface, with clear options and controls, making FotoFlexer a great choice for quick edits. You can even distort photos, warping them to create various hilarious effects.
Lunapic
Lunapic is a simple site, with the upload box for your image or video right there on the home screen, taking you right to the action. The tools are all ready and waiting for you down the left-hand side of the screen. This makes Lunapic fast and easy to access. It enables you to paste images, create slide shows, use reflective imagery and retro colour your photos. It also has a feature enabling you to vote on pictures, and has over 200 effects that you can use on your photos. It also enables you to open photos from a web URL which is handy.
Conclusions
It’s not quite Photoshop, though it might make you go wow. But it doesn’t take much time to retouch photos online and add cool effects with this free online photo editor. The saved results can be uploaded to Flickr, Facebook or Twitter immediately.