A web tool that helps you easily transform your photographs into works of art. There are no rules, no particular instructions to follow. You can choose from a variety of pre-designed online photo editor effects and make changes to them by simply clicking on the image and modifying the original image.
This article is about the most useful online picture editors.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Best for: Mobile photo editing
For the longest time, people tried to find a free version of Photoshop, preferably online. Until one day, Adobe finally heard their prayers and launched Adobe Photoshop Express, a trimmed-down online and mobile version of the industry’s leading software.
Unlike its paid counterpart, Adobe Photoshop Express is not aimed at professional photographers and media creators, but to beginners or those looking for high-quality software for quick edits. This can be easily noted on the features offered and their accessibility.
With Adobe Photoshop Express you’ll be able to access basic image editing actions, such as contrast, perspective, saturation, exposure, and spot removal, as well as selecting preset dynamic effects. While there are not nearly as many tools as in the professional version, they are polished to perfection and offer a great user experience. The Express version of Adobe’s photo editing software also includes a “decorate” category, which allows users to add text and easily create fully customizable collages.
You can edit images that are saved on your device or share them directly from Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Facebook, or Google Photos. All edits made on Adobe Photoshop Express are non-destructive, meaning you can go back to the original photo at any time.
The + : Advanced filters, minimalist interface, professional results
The – : Only output format available is JPG, runs on Flash, limited tools
Platforms: Web and mobile (iOS, Android, Windows)
Paid version: Adobe Photography, which includes Photoshop and Lightroom, starts at $9.99/month
Photoshop Express
1Photoshop Express is good for simple edits. To use this Flash-based service (not to be confused with Photoshop Elements), sign up for a free account or test drive the service first. Then you can upload a photo (must be a JPG) from your computer.
The layout is simple and grey, and you can edit fullscreen. Basic edits (crop, rotate, resize, auto correct, exposure, red eye, touch-up, saturation), advanced edits (white balance, highlight, dodge, burn, sharpen, soft focus), effects (crystallize, pixelate, hue, tint and others) and graphics (text, bubbles, frames and others) are available. Sharing to Facebook, Picasa, Flickr and others is easy.
Photoshop Express apps exist for Android and Apple, too. Free.
Good for:
- Basic editing
- Beginners
Positives:
- Allows you to view the original as you edit
Downsides:
- Small font selection for adding text
- Requires you to sign up and provide your birthday
Pixlr
Pixlr is a more advanced, Flash-based editor, which offers most of the basic Photoshop functionality at no cost. You can even layer images on top of one another or use other effects to transform your photos. To use this tool, choose the express version or the advanced one. Both have fullscreen options.
The basic editing tool, Pixlr Express, is simple and easy to use, with big buttons that allow you to make changes with one click. Make adjustments (crop, resize, auto fix, color splash, vibrance, white teeth, touch-up, airbrush and others), add effects (only a few), overlays (space, smoke, vignette and others), borders, stickers and text (only seven font options).
The advanced editor, Pixlr Editor, is quite similar to Photoshop in layout, with areas including navigation, layers and history. Make adjustments (hue, levels, curves, exposure and others), add filters (sharpen, noise, halftone, tilt shift, blur and others) and create layers. A wand tool and a lasso tool are included, as well as a clone stamp tool, red eye reduction and others. Can save in a variety of formats: JPG, PNG, BMB, TIFF and PXD.
Pixlr also offers apps for Android and Apple. Free.
Good for:
- Basic to advanced editing
- People looking for cheaper programs similar to Photoshop
- Creating collages (with Pixlr Express)
- Touching up and correcting imperfections in photos of people
Positives:
- Keeps high-res photos the same quality after editing
- Tutorials are available if you’d like to learn more about using Pixlr
- No log-in required to use
- The Pixlr Grabber for Firefox and Chrome allows you to choose online pictures or screenshots for editing using Pixlr Editor
Downsides:
- Pixlr Editor requires editing knowledge or time to learn how to use it
- Pixlr Express doesn’t have the ability to share to social networks after editing your image (the advanced editor does, though)
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AirBrush
Price: Free / $3.99 per month / $19.99 per year
AirBrush is an excellent option for editing photos of people. It features a lot of people-focused features such as pimple removal, skin smoothing, red eye removal, and a teeth and eye brightener function. There is also a bokeh mode to turn any photo into one with a blurry background. In addition, the app comes with a separate camera function that lets you edit the photo before you take it. Thus, you can get your selfie framed up in the camera and then apply edits before taking the final product. There is a subscription for some of the more advanced features, but you do get a 7-day free trial to try it before you spend anything.DOWNLOAD ON GOOGLE PLAY!
Joe Hindy / Android Authority
Fotor Photo Editor
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Fotor is a long time member of this list and there are many blogs and lists that list Fotor as a must have option. We agree. It’s has a lot more actual editing tools than most and includes the ability to enhance photos with a one-tap tool for your convenience. Some of the other tools include crop, rotate, brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure, vignetting, shadow, highlights, temperature, tint, RGB, and, if those aren’t working, there are over 100 filters for you to choose from. It’s definitely worth a shot. The only downside is that the app makes you log in to use it and it’s one of the more expensive photo editor apps.
Adobe apps
Price: Free / Up to $52.99 per month
Adobe has released a plethora of editing tools over the last couple of years. Included are some of the best photo editor apps available. Some of the options include Adobe Photoshop Express, Adobe Photoshop Mix, and Adobe Lightroom. Each one has a variety of features to help you do things. You’ll be able to do simple stuff like removing red eye to editing RAW files taken by your smartphone or DSLR camera. Adobe Lightroom especially gets updated rather frequently with new features. The only potential caveat is that some of them require an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription in order to use all of the features. Those who already use Adobe CC should definitely just get these since they’re included with a CC subscription anyway.
Pixlr-o-matic
Pixlr-o-matic is made by the same company as Pixlr and allows you to add filters (a la Instagram), overlays and borders. Images are saved as JPG. This Flash-based service is also has apps for Android and Apple and an Facebook app. And it can be installed as a Chrome Web app. Free.
Good for:
- Adding filters, like retro and vintage
- Adding creative borders
Positives:
- Easy to use, although the buttons are not named
Downsides:
- Doesn’t have a fullscreen option
- Doesn’t offer simple editing, like cropping and resizing
- Can only save to your computer
Splashup
Splashup is an advanced Flash-based editor that allows you to open an image from your computer, Facebook, Flickr and others. Its layout is similar to Photoshop, with layers and filters (but not as many options as Pixlr). The interface is grey, with moveable boxes. Free.
Good for:
- Basic to advanced editing
- People looking for cheaper programs similar to Photoshop
- Multiple saving options: save as a JPG or PNG and choose photo quality. Also shows you photo size.
Positives:
- Allows you to edit multiple photos at once
- Can edit a webcam image
Downsides:
- Navigation is not as easy as other tools
- Opens a new window for editing
FotoFlexer
FotoFlexer is an editor with basic and advanced options. It can edit fullscreen. Offers basic edits (auto fix, fix red eye, resize, flip and others), effects, decorations (text, draw and others), animations, beautify (fix blemishes, smooth wrinkles) and layers, with a layout that is easy to use, yet different than layers in Photoshop. Edit photos from Facebook, Picasa, your computer and other places, and share to a variety of social-networking sites and email when you’re done. Saves images as JPG or PNG. Free.
Good for:
- Basic to advanced image editing
- Creating collages
- Touching up and correcting imperfections in photos of people
Positives:
- Can upload any size photo
- Has a low-bandwidth interface
- Has a white background (most other tools have boring grey ones)
- Has a large selection of font options
Downsides:
- Takes a minute to save the photo
- Not as easy to use as other tools
Ribbet
Ribbet is a Flash-based editor built on the same platform as Picnik, which used to be a top online editing tool before it shut down. Most of the options are free, with some only available in Ribbet Premium. Currently, the premium version is free, but it will cost money in the future. Once you upload an image, the layout of interface is very simple and clean, with rounded buttons and colorful pictures.
Allows for basic edits (crop, rotate, exposure and others), a large variety of effects, touchups (blemish fix, airbrush, sunless tan, mascara, lip color, cloning and others) and creative frames. Can edit images from websites using a Chrome bookmarklet. And saving to your computer, Flickr and Facebook is possible. Save images as PNG or JPG.
Good for:
- Touching up and correcting imperfections in photos of people
- Creating collages
Positives:
- Has a more-pleasing layout with a white background
- Has a large number of fonts for adding text to images
Downsides:
- May charge money for certain features in the future.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a well-designed image editor, with beautiful graphics and a clean layout. Some former Picnik engineers decided to create this tool, which is Flash based and offers basic edits (rotate, crop, sharpen, resize), effects (some good ones like the HDR one), touch-ups (blemish fix, teeth whiten, lip tint and other ones in the paid edition), text (with many font options), overlays, frames and textures. Many features are free, but for $4.99 a month, users get ad-free editing, 40 percent more effects, double the touch-up tools and more.
Good for:
- Basic to advanced editing
- Touching up and correcting imperfections in photos of people
- Creating collages and cards
Positives:
- Beautiful layout
- Simple to use
- Can easily share to social-networking sites, including Pinterest, or save as JPG or PNG
Downsides:
- Advanced features and extra effects cost money
- Free version has ads
GIMP
Best for: Advanced users
GIMP is widely considered the best free photo editor available on the market. The software includes a wide range of tools, ranging from basic actions to professional-quality features. Beginners will highly benefit from its selection and montage tools, cropping, color adjustment, and automatic image enhancement tools. On the other hand, advanced users will find a number of tools catered to them, such as content-aware resizing, face swap, animated GIFss, layer masks, curves, and personalizable brushes.
All of these features make GIMP an amazing free Photoshop alternative for those who already know Adobe’s flagship software. On top of that, its interface is fully customizable and there are numerous plugins that can be added for free.
GIMP is an open source software with a large active community behind it. This means the platform is constantly updated and improved, all while users can continue to use it for free.
This photo editing software can be installed on desktop devices running on any operating system, or downloaded as a portable version that can be added into a USB key for usage flexibility.
If you want to give this advanced photo editor a try, but are not familiar with the discipline’s jargon, you might want to start by taking a look at this glossary of photography terms.
The + : Professional tools and features, open source program, developer support
The – : Steep learning curve, no mobile version, cluttered interface
Platforms: Desktop only (Linux, OS X, Windows)
Paid version: No
Conclusion
If you love creating photo editing work with your photos, try Pixlr editor web. It’s a simple and free tool yet powerful and has a very intuitive interface. I’ve had fun like little child experimenting all the different effects and filters of this online tool. For those who want to create an unique photo altering experience, I really think Pixlr can help you achieve your goal.