There are so many things to keep in mind while using any photo editor. There is the trouble of going through the amount of tools and learning their usage. You would not know which tool to use while editing a photo, and there is a whole lot of time put in testing the different tools for their functionality.
Have you ever been at work and thought you needed a Photoshop? Thanks to Pixlr, the answer is no longer yes. As a designer who loves taking screenshots I have used this website almost everyday at work. Below you will find photoshop alternatives but if you are a fan of photoshop like myself, you are also at the right place!
Photopea
For pretending you’re using Photoshop
Launching Photopea for the first time can give you an odd sense of déjà vu—specifically of the Photoshop variety. Photopea mimics the look and feel of Photoshop to an uncanny degree with an almost identical toolbar and nested controls and tools that generate similar menus.
Like Pixlr, it accepts native Photoshop PSD files, opening images with the exact layers contained in the original picture. It also works with native GIMP and Sketch files. Unlike Pixlr, it can also export to PSD format, which is convenient if you routinely handle Photoshop files.
Photopea isn’t designed as a quick novelty or social networking app, but as a genuine alternative to Photoshop, with adjustment layers, layer styles, masks, text, and smart objects. That means it has fewer Instagram-style filters and effects than rival photo editors. Save your selfies for a different app.
Photopea can run on any device, but a big screen and precise pointing device will give you the best experience. Photopea runs locally—there’s no server or internet upload—so you can even disconnect from the internet and keep using the app offline.
Photopea pricing: Free; 30-day licenses are $5 for a single user, $15 for a 5-person team, and $50 for a 20-person team. 90-day licenses are $12 for a single user, $40 for a 5-person team, and $120 for a 20-person team.
Polarr
For supporting raw formats
The first time you use Polarr, it walks you through the major features with a sample image before setting you loose on your own photos.
You can choose a preset from the huge variety of built-in filters, which include unique options like Modern Film and Art Film. You can also tune up the image with a utility that’s reminiscent of Apple Photos to fix brightness, contrast, highlights, haze, cropping, aspect ratio, and color tint and temperature. The free version also offers tools for hue, saturation, and luminance adjustments, as well as lens distortion, a spot removal healing brush, and the ability to fix facial imperfections for portraits.
Polarr supports raw formats, which is unusual for online image editors: just drag and drop your raw image into the web interface. When you’re done with your image, you can save it in JPEG, PNG, or TIFF. You can even batch save with a choice of three quality settings and crops that include a range of precise output dimensions for LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
As you work, the free version gives you access to the Pro version’s radial, gradient, color, text, liquify, and brush mask effects, which you can try but not save.
Polarr pricing: Free; premium subscriptions for $20 (one-time fee, includes any upgrades)
Adobe Photoshop Express
Best free online photo and image editor for mobile.
Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard in image editing. So good that the name is used as a verb to describe image enhancement. Alongside their premium product, Adobe also offers a free smartphone image editor called Adobe Photoshop Express for editing on the go.
It’s free to download, and you can access the tool with a Google or Facebook account. The
Adobe Photoshop Express app lets you quickly improve your images using filters it calls ‘looks’. Plus, you can also add text, correct image faults like red-eye, and use textures to add that finishing touch.
A premium subscription package is available, which has more advanced tools like cloning and RAW image editing.
Features include:
- Stich photos together to create a collage.
- Artistically blur parts of your photo.
- Straighten images with perspective correction.
- Blend your photos with creative textures.
- Remove haze and fog using an easy slider.
- Add captions to create meme style images.
Link: iOS devices Android devices
piZap
Best online image editor for novice users.
piZap is a browser-based free online photo editor. Free online photo editors like PiZap are easy to use and have four quick start icons at the top of the editor. You can work on an image uploaded from your computer, Facebook, or Dropbox. But if you don’t have the image you need, you can select from an extensive range of free stock images.
Once your image loads, you can apply filters, edit the colours, and add text and other overlays.
piZap is free to use for seven days, so you can utilise the tool’s full functionality after a quick registration process. If you want to keep on using the tool, it’s reasonably priced at $2.99 per month.
Features include:
- Themed borders.
- Cut-out tool for removing an image background.
- Templates sized for popular social media platforms.
- Also works on iPad and smartphone.
- Apply text with special effects like glitter.
- Meme editor with a choice of popular templates.
Link: piZap
Instasize
One of the best free online image editors for influencers.
Instasize is the free online photo editor app for working with images before uploading them on social media. While the name hints it’s for Instagram, you can upload your edited image to any social platform.
There is a range of filters to improve your images instantly, and you can use layers to add backgrounds to your photos. What’s more, you can also add text, vintage overlays, and even edit short videos all on your smartphone.
If you don’t have the image you need, there is also a library of stock images to work from. The premium version includes 100+ filters not available in the free app and advanced beauty tools to fix blemishes, remove redness, and whiten teeth.
Features include:
- Over 130 filters grouped by colour and type.
- Apply vintage overlays.
- Add a text layer to photo and video.
- Resize narrow images automatically.
- Hundreds of backgrounds.
- One-click presets to resize your image for different social platforms.
Link: iOS app Android app
Sumopaint
For showing off artistic painting effects
Sumopaint is yet another app with a Photoshop-style look and feel. As an online service, Sumopaint’s features are more limited than Photoshop’s, but the main players—an assortment of selection, paint, and text tools; gradients, shapes, curves, blurs, smudges, foreground and background colors; cropping and magnifying—are all pretty familiar. The app’s elegant interface highlights each tool as you choose it while a context-sensitive top menu shows only the controls related to that tool.
A series of Photoshop-inspired docked panels lets you zoom in and out and otherwise navigate your picture, choose colors, add layers, and apply numerous filters like 3D Effects, Blur, Distort, Sharpen, Stylize, and more. It also has a large collection of brushes that offer adjustable sizes, rotations, orientation, scattering, and other artistic painting effects.
You can use the Lite version for free, but the Pro version is ad-free and allows you to download the app for offline use; import images from URLs; send images via email; and get tons of additional presets, special effects, and brushes, along with perspective mapping, a sphere designer, and more.
Sumopaint pricing: Free; premium subscriptions for $2/day (~$30/month), $5/week (~$20/month), $9/month, or $48/year ($4/month), along with other pricing schemes
BeFunky
For editing photos with special effects
BeFunky is known for its special effects, as evidenced by the Layer Manager feature at the top of the main toolbar.
A pulldown menu, accessible from each major section—Edit, Touch Up, Effect, Artsy, Frames, Graphics, Overlay, Text, and Textures—lets you toggle between the photo editor, designer, and collage maker, which all have free and premium elements that you can refine with slider adjustments. The free version has a huge roster of elements and styles in addition to a mind-boggling array of stickers, fonts, and backgrounds. And the Paint mode lets you lay in effects with the paint brush rather than having to apply it uniformly through the entire shot.
You can do a lot with the free version of BeFunky, but if you like what you see, upgrade to access the editor’s enhanced effects: HDR DLX, Sharpen DLX, Vibrant Colors DLX, and DeNoise DLX are easy-to-use tools that set it apart from other online editors by using updated algorithms to enhance the precision and photo realism of the chosen effect or function. The Touch Up feature gives you basic controls for free, but the majority of its corrections are available only the with premium version. The Artsy section is also part of the premium version, but you can try out all of the effects first to determine if it’s worth it for you. Upgrading also removes the ads and can output high resolution 4000 x 4000 pixel images.
BeFunky pricing: Free; premium subscriptions for $4.95/month or $34.95/year ($2.91/month)
Conclusion
We all take hundreds of photos, but the sheer number of them make it impossible to use all of them. Thats why you always need to enhance your photos with filters and effects. Sometimes the final results are great, othertimes you’ll wonder why did I took that photo in the first place. With features like layers, layer masks, text tools, etc., the problem is where do you find a good editor. Here I’m offering you my choice of online editors that might help you in your final editing stages. The list includes simple editors like Pixlr for advanced photoshopping needs using Gimp . Enjoy!