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·         1. Pixlr

For a free image editor that lives within your browser (no software download needed), Pixlr is the best free dupe of Adobe Photoshop out there.

Pixlr has many of the same functions as Photoshop, and the layout is on-point, complete with a customizable user interface with resizeable and moveable menus. Pixlr even has the same keyboard shortcuts as Photoshop.

However, while many of the tools are similar to those in Photoshop, Pixlr's still pale in comparison in terms of capabilities. For instance, be careful not to overdo and layer too many effects -- the result can look really fake really fast.

Nevertheless, Pixlr is overall a great image editor as close to Photoshop you're going to get, without paying a cent. You can upload images from your hard drive to edit, open images via URL or even open images from online libraries like your Facebook account.

Image: Pixlr.

·         2. Sumopaint

Sumopaint is available online and can be downloaded as an app, as well. You'll find free and pro versions; the former has basic tools enough for simple image editing.

Sumopaint is somewhat modeled like Photoshop, but the tools that come with the free version are not as capable as those of the latter. The Symmetry tool creates kaleidoscope-like patterns with ease, and the various Polygon tools make interesting star patterns. While these tools are fun, they may not contribute much to image editing.

But Sumopaint still has a load of other features, including basic image editing tools to mimic a watered-down version of Photoshop with mid- to high-performing capabilities.

Image: Sumopaint.

·         3. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a web app good for fun photo editing with Instagram-like filters. Similar to other online image editors, PicMonkey offers free and pro versions. Because a lot of basics, such as the curves and burn tools, are not completely available in the free version, PicMonkey is not the greatest editor for in-depth photo editing.

PicMonkey has some interesting blemish-fixing tools, including airbrushing, wrinkle-removers and even "mascara" and lip tints. However, as expected, be wary of overuse; the result can easily appear fake and edited.

Additionally, PicMonkey has loads of sticker overlays, like mustaches and party hats, as well as a host of borders and textures to easily add flair to your photos.
Image: PicMonkey.

·         4. Splashup

Splashup (formerly Fauxto) is a simple online image editor good for beginners. You can import photos from third-party libraries like Flickr, Facebook, Picasa or even Photobucket, or upload from your desktop.

The Splashup setup is similar to a simplified layout of Photoshop, but with fewer tools. Splashup has basic utilities, but even so, tools like curves, levels, hue and vibrancy are absent.

Splashup is good for simple cropping, smudging and otherwise very basic tools for fast and easy touchups on the pixel level. One complaint is that Splashup does not have keyboard shortcuts.

Image: Splashup.

·         5. Picfull

Picfull prides itself in one-click photo editing. If you want to quickly throw an easy filter onto your photo, Picfull offers many simple options.

Within the online image editor, you can change the levels and other settings of each filter. With 21 filters to choose from, filters range from color- to level- to saturation-based filters. The image window is small compared to other editors, but since Picfull's only feature is filters, this should not be a huge problem.

Image: Picfull.

·         6. Fotor

Fotor is an online image editor that shares similar functions with PicMonkey. Fotor hosts a wide selection of filters -- seven filters under the black-and-white category alone -- plus a cool tilt-shift tool. With sticker-like overlays, easily add hearts and bow ties to your pictures as you wish.

Fotor also has a Chrome extension for deeper browser integration. However, Fotor can be buggy sometimes, and the levels may not move as smoothly as expected.

Image: Fotor.

·         7. GIMP

GIMP, GNU Image Manipulation Program, is an open-source software almost as old as Photoshop itself, still going strong 17 years after its initial release.

The current version has improved drastically upon older versions, but GIMP still has a slow bootup time and many of the tools require several seconds before application.

However, GIMP is stocked with customizable editing tools and effects for close editing. You can cartoonify your photo or render fog or lens flare. While usability is not very smooth with GIMP, the program does offer a variety of tools, making it a worthwhile free image editor.

Image: GIMP.

·         8. Seashore

An open-source image editor for OS X, Seashore uses the same native file format as GIMP but uses a Cocoa UI for easy Mac workflow. Additionally, Seashore is a much simpler image editor with basic tools.

While some of the tools are customizable, it lacks filters and other special effects in more advanced image editors. Nevertheless, Seashore is a user-friendly free image editing software of OS X.

Image: Seashore.

·         9. Image Tricks

Chock-full of filters, overlays and effects, Image Tricks for Mac comes in lite and pro versions. While the latter provides even more effects, the former already has a great selection to choose from. For example, convert your photo into ASCII art or a blue print with stylized filters. There are borders as well as generators and customizable overlays.

Image: Image Tricks.

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer is one of the best free online photo editors for quite a few reasons, but my favorite feature is just how easy it is to use. Nearly every tool is just one click away, and every button is easy to understand and use.

FotoFlexer allows you to select photos for editing from a variety of locations, such as your hard drive, or social networking sites, such as Flickr, MySpace, and Facebook.

Another fun feature of FotoFlexer is that all editing changes occur in real time, making it easy to keep or "undo" your changes. Then, just save the photo with the changes, and you're done.

Phixr

With the Phixr online photo editor, you'll find an interface that will remind you of Microsoft Paint. It may look a little confusing versus a few of the other editors listed here, but, once you get used to the interface, you'll find it's pretty easy to use. As you make changes to your photos, you can see what the change will look like and then choose whether to save the change or discard it.

If you don't sign up with a free account, you'll be limited in how long you can use Phixr.

Google

To make use of Google's free photo editor, you'll need to have a Google account. Any photos you then upload to the Google cloud will be available to be edited. Any photos you upload will count toward your total storage limit.

With the Google photo editor, you can edit the light, color, or vignette of the photo. You also can add a color filter, crop the image, or tilt the image. With the color filter, you'll have a better opportunity to manage the colors in the photo.

Google purchased the Picnik free online photo editor in 2010, which it closed down in 2013, leaving the Google Photos online editing site as your only option from google.

Picture2Life

The Picture2Life online photo editor includes basic editing features, but it specializes in creating interesting collages and GIF animations using your photos, either uploaded from your hard drive or from social networking sites. This makes Picture2Life one of the more interesting options you'll have for a free online photo editor, as it has many features that simply aren't found with other free editing sites.

You will have to sign up for a free account to use Picture2Life.

Pixlr

With the Pixlr online photo editing service, you have access to two different levels of editing.

  • Pixlr Editor includes all of the advanced photo editing features you'll want.

  • Pixlr Express allows you to make quick, simple editing changes to photos from your hard drive or from a Web address.

You'll see the editing changes as you make them, and you can save the new photos to your hard drive.

Paint.NET

With layers, filters and plug-ins, Paint.NET has all the essentials to make your photos shine

Sometimes it pays not to be overloaded with bells and whistles. Paint.NET's simplicity is one of its key features; it leaves it a fast, easy to operate free photo editor that's perfect for those little tasks that don't need the sheer power of GIMP.

Don't be fooled by the name, though. This isn't just a clone of Microsoft's ultra-basic Paint – though it was originally intended to replace it. It's a proper photo editor, just one that lands on the basic side of the curve.

Interface-wise it's reminiscent of its namesake, but as it's grown Paint.NET has added essential editing tools like layers, an undo history, a raft of filters, numerous community-created plugins, and a 3D rotate/zoom function that's useful for recomposing images.

Yes, it's lacking in certain areas, but if your machine is lacking in power or RAM we can't think of a better choice.

Download here: Paint.NET

Photo Pos Pro

Well designed and easy to use, Photo Pos Pro is a superb photo editor with just a few limitations

Photo Pos Pro isn't as well known as Paint.net and GIMP, but it's another top-quality free photo editor that's packed with advanced image-enhancing tools. 

Its interface is smarter and more accessible than GIMP's array of menus and toolbars, with everything arranged in a logical and consistent way. If it's still too intimidating, there's also an optional 'novice' layout that resembles Fotor's filter-based approach. The choice is yours.

The expert layout offers both layers and layer masks for sophisticated editing.  as well as tools for adjusting curves and levels manually. You can still access the one-click filters via the main menu, but the focus is much more on fine editing.

Photo Pos Pro also includes a clone brush for erasing unwanted blemishes, and there's extra support for batch-editing and scripts to help you save time when refining a whole folder of photos.

The free edition of Photo Pos Pro only has one drawback: files can only be saved at a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 2,014 pixels, which might be too small if you're planning to have them printed professionally. If you want to remove this restriction, Photo Pos Pro Premium is available for a license free of £17.67, US$19.90, AU$29.78.

Download here: Photo Pos Pro

Pixlr Editor

The best free photo editor for your web browser, with layers, masks and much more

Most browser-based free photo editors are simple Instagram-style affairs that give you a set of filters and little else. Pixlr Editor is different. Provided you have a reliable internet connection and don't mind the lack of plugins, this free web app is almost as powerful as the best free desktop photo editors.

Load up a photo and you'll have access to layers, masks, clone stamps, selection tools, and everything else you'd expect from a top-notch image editor. There's no batch-editing unfortunately, but you can open several images at once and edit them individually.

Because Pixlr Editor is a web app, there's no software to install and you can use it in any browser that supports Flash. Unfortunately this rules out most mobile devices, and since its developer is currently working on HTML5 versions of other other software, it might give Editor the chop before too long.

For the time being, however, Pixlr Editor is easily the best free photo editor for your web browser.

Try it online: Pixlr Editor

PhotoScape

Its interface is unusual, but persevere and you'll find a brilliant, diverse set of photo-editing tools

PhotoScape is, ostensibly, a rather simple free photo editor. But one glance at its main menu reveals a wealth of features: RAW conversion, photo splitting and merging, animated GIF creation, and even a rather odd (but useful) function with which you can print lined, graph or sheet music paper.

The meat, of course, is in the photo editing. PhotoScape's interface is among the most esoteric of all the apps we've looked at here, with tools grouped into pages in odd configurations. It certainly doesn't attempt to ape Photoshop, and includes fewer features.

We'd definitely point this towards the beginner, but that doesn't mean you can't get some solid results. PhotoScape's filters are functional and not at all beginner-like, so it's if good choice if you need to quickly level, sharpen or add mild filtering to pictures in a snap.

Steer clear of the rest of the tools, though: you'll find better elsewhere.

Download here: PhotoScape

Google Nik Collection

A professional-level selection of filters that work as Photoshop plugins or standalone apps

Google's unending determination to corner just about every market sometimes pays dividends for the pincher of pennies. Take its purchase of German developer Nik in 2012, for example - its Nik Collection photo editor plugin range retailed for US$500 at the time, and in early 2016 Google decided to do away with the price tag and release the powerful collection for free.

We suspect support and updates might be somewhat limited going forward, but this does enable you to bag seven quality photo-editing tools as-is: lens and film emulator Analog Efex; colour corrector Color Efex; monochrome converter Silver Efex; noise reducer Dfine; selective colour tweaker Viveza; and Sharpener and HDR Efex, which speak for themselves.

These are perfect free plugins if you're already using Photoshop, and you can add them to compatible host applications when you install them, but they can also be run as standalone photo editors if you hunt down their executable files. They won't appear in your list of Windows apps - you need to look in C:\\Program Files\Google\Nik Collection. To edit a photo, drag it onto the EXE file of your chosen editor. It's a strange system, but it works!

Download here: Google Nik Collection

Fotor

A terrific selection of filters for one-click enhancement, plus manual curve and level controls

Fotor is a photo enhancer first and foremost, more than it is a photo editor; if there's specific area of retouching you need doing with, say, the clone brush or healing tool, you're out of luck. But it includes a stack of high-end filters that really do shine.

There's a foolproof tilt-shift tool, for example, and a raft of vintage and vibrant colour tweaks, all easily accessed through Fotor's clever menu system. You can manually alter your own curves and levels, too, but without the complexity of high-end tools.

Fotor's most brilliant function, and one that's sorely lacking in many photo editing packages, is its batch processing tool – feed it a pile of pics and it'll filter the lot of them in one go, perfect if you have a memory card full of holiday snaps and need to cover up the results of a dodgy camera or shaky hand.

Download here: Fotor

On1 Effects 10.5 Free

A free photo editor that lets you apply filters to selected areas to make elements pop

The 'free' suffix offers some indication of what you're getting here: On1 Effects 10.5 Free is a cut-down version of On1 Effects 10 proper, pulling out just a limited selection of its filters. But we're still happy to recommend it, mainly because of its methodology.

Instead of being forced to apply an effect to a full image, you can use On1's Perfect Brush tool to smear that effect on the areas you're interested in enhancing, which is a great way to create a unique look. Its quick mask and refine brush tools also make masking off areas of your image particularly easy, so you can make elements pop.

Essentially this is an taster for the full version, but its diminished filter range – HDR, vignette, vintage, glow etc – is still useful and worth trying if you're after vibrant effects; you'll have to try another program for sharpening, blurring and noise reduction, so On1 Effects Free isn't great if you want to preserve the honesty of your photos.

Download here: On1 Effects 10.5 Free

XnRetro

Fully adjustable old-school filters, though the lack of custom profiles is disappointing

As its name suggests, XnRetro is designed to make your snaps look fashionably old-fashioned. You can apply a filter with a single click and call it a day, or tweak the color balance, contrast, exposure and saturation using a neat array of sliders. Some filters also offer a vignette option for added vintage style.

You can crop your photo to a square to mimic the look of medium-format film, and rotate it in 90-degree increments if you took it with your phone at a strange angle.

If you change your mind, you can easily reset the sliders back to their default values. It's just a shame there's no way to store your custom settings as a new profile for future use, as you can in Google Nik Collection. 

Download here: XnRetro

Adobe Photoshop Express

The simplest free photo editor in our roundup, but with the quality you'd expect from Adobe

Photoshop Express is a very different beast to the full version of Adobe’s mighty industry-standard image editor, but it’s useful for giving well-composed pictures the boost they need to become stunning.

There are no advanced editing tools here, so you won’t be able to paint out blemishes, adjust lighting, or even crop your images. Instead, you’re given a selection of good-looking Instagram-style filters and a quick link so you can send the results directly to Facebook, or save them to your PC.

Adobe Photoshop Express is very simple, but the filters are excellent, and more are available as in-app purchases if you want more choice. 

Download here: Adobe Photoshop Express

Photoshop

Adobe offers a free, online version of Photoshop with scaled down features that include those needed for basic photo editing. You can crop and re-size, apply basic touch ups, work with color, or edit the photo by adjusting the sharpness, focus and more.

Phoenix (from Aviary)

Aviary provides a suite of related tools, including an image editor named Phoenix. Phoenix includes basic and advanced editing tools and features. The interface is easy to use and resembles that of a stripped down version of Photoshop.

FotoFlexer

With FotoFlexer you can get photos directly from your Flickr, Photobucket or Facebook account. It allows you to re-touch photos, create various effects, work with shapes and text, and more, including some advanced features.

Pixlr

Pixlr offers Pixlr express for basic editing like cropping and re-sizing, adjustments, and photo effects. The full version includes a lot more functionality that allows you to create an item from scratch or edit an existing photo. The full version works similar to Photoshop or GIMP with a lot of different tools that can be used.

Pixenate

Get started with Pixenate by uploading a photo, entering a URL, or get one from your favorite photo sharing website. It includes basic editing features like cropping and re-sizing, brightness adjustments, and drawing lines on photos.

Picture2Life

With Picture2Life you can perform basic edits, create collages, and share your photos. The editing features are very limited.

Lunapic

Lunapic is a feature-rich online image editor. You can work with existing photos or create new images. There are tons of effects to choose from, and many adjustments that can be made, plus drawing tools, anitmation, and more.

Free Online Photo Editor

Get started by uploading a photo or entering the URL of a photo. Free Online Photo Editor includes basic functionality like cropping, re-sizing, brightness/contrast adjustments, working with text, and a number of effects.

PiZap

PiZap helps you to have some fun with your photos by adding speech bubbles, cutout faces, effects and more.

Pho.to

With Pho.to you will upload a photo from your computer or enter a URL for the photo. It offers options like cropping and re-sizing, color enhancement, and several artistic effects. You can also automatically create a caricature from a photo.

OnlinePhotoTool.com

With Online Photo Tool you can do basic editing, and images can be saved if you register. Functionality includes re-size, crop, add text, sharpen, rotate, flip, colour balance, saturation, levels, and more.

MyImager

MyImager allows you to work with an existing photo via upload or a URL. Additionally, you can create a new image and work with the tools that are available, including a number of adjustments and effects, drawing tools, and more.

Foto fun editor

Flower frames online free Photo frame, photo effects - category: Floral, nature. 3 new photo frames in a large collection of templates for photo editing for free.

pizap

piZap Online Photo Editor lets you edit photos, add text, apply filters, add stickers and more. Come try the best online photo editor!

Maybe you want to be on a magazine cover, want your own personalized dollar or maybe just want to change your expression? Now you can do it with just few mouse clicks and in just few seconds.

We’ve collected all of the best free photo editing services, which will keep you busy for quite a while and you will receive amazing results – maybe funny, maybe silly – but you’ll get the original photos and few more reasons to smile.

FunPhotoBox

The FunPhotoBox site is a place where you can create funny pictures from your photos. FunPhotoBox is a free photo editing online service. FunPhotoBox allows you to add special effects to your photos.

PicArtia

Create photo mosaic Online and Free! A powerful photo collage maker in 3 easy steps. Get your photo montage in less than 2 minutes!

Photo 505

Huge collection of photo templates, which will keep you busy for quite a while.

Loonapix

In a few words – Loonapix is going to beautify your life. A lot more photo templates.

Funny Photo

Even more photo templates – just upload your images and choose one of the funny effects available!

Dumpr

While not all of templates are free, still, there are enough to choose from.

WriteOnIt

Here you can easily create your fake pictures, captions and fake magazines (Wired, Playboy, Playgirl, Glamour, Time) and other funny jokes for you and your friends.

MagMyPic

There are 30 different magazines to choose from for now. You can select any of them and make an impressive, unique and custom fake magazine with ease and your own picture – it’s simple as that!

BigHugeLabs Flickr

Have fun with your photos. A lot of photo editing tools available here. You don’t need any knowledge of professional photo editing programs.

FaceInHole

With FACEinHOLE.com you can easily and in a matter of seconds create a totally “new look” for you and your friends. You just have to select a scenario, upload and adjust a photo (or use your webcam) and there you have it; a great FACEinHOLE that you can send to your friends, post in your blog or make available to the world.

Personalized Money

Create your own personalized money bill with Your own picture with just a click of a mouse button.

Fake Magazine Cover

Here you can personalize magazine covers online (no software applications to install, just use your web browser) by uploading digital photos you have on your computer.

My Heritage Face Recognition

MyHeritage.com is one of the world’s first services to apply advanced face recognition technology to personal photos and family history, and it’s free!

 

Poladroid – The easiest and funiest polaroid maker

Easy way how to create high resolution – polaroid like images.

FotoTrix – Image Generator

Upload a digital photo to add fun effects and novelty layouts. FotoTrix has over 2,500 templates for your digital photographs! Make it look like you had your photograph taken with a celebrity or add some goofy props to spice up your photos.

Picnik

Picnik makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. Tweak to your heart’s content, then get creative with oodles of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames. It’s fast, easy, and fun.

JpgFun

Jpgfun is an easy-to-use free online service to edit your photos! You can improve your photo with different interesting and funny effects or put the desired image on a magazine cover. Did I mention that it is ABSOLUTELY FREE? And easy as one, two, three! One more photo template resource.

Dynamic Einstein picture

You can change the text on this image to whatever you like. Change the text in the form below, then click on “preview image”. The text in the image will change accordingly. You can align the text with spaces and enters.

Photovisi

Choose from 18 photo templates and create collages from your photos as wallpapers and more.

PixiSnap

Pixisnap allows you to create your own pixisnap photos in 3 easy steps: choose a mosaic type, upload your photo and customize your mosaic art.

Fotocrib

Fotocrib is a web based photo editing service. Fotocrib currently allows users to create montages, add 3D effects, encrypt photos, create rounded corners, convert between jpeg, png, gif, pdf and postscript formats, and send photos to email recipients and lots more.

Create Your Own Wired Cover

Ever wanted to be on Wired magazine cover? This is your chance! You can customize cover headlines, borders, color palette, background – fully customizable!

Pizap

Pizap is a fun free photo editor that lets people easily create wacky images with their digital pictures. PiZap was created as a tool primarily for social networking users who want to post their images to their favorite social networking sites

28.Blingee

Add Glitter, Graphics, and Comments to personalize your images, then share with your friends!

PhotoFunia

PhotoFunia is an online photo editing tool that gives you a fun filled experience. You upload any photo and just wait to see the magic. The proprietary technology automatically identifies the face in the photo and let’s you add cool photo effects and create funny face photo montages.

PhotoFunia is free and very easy to use. Just select an effect you like from over 100 different effects, upload your photo, and PhotoFunia will handle the rest for you.

Picjoke

In Picjoke you can choose from many cool effects to apply. Just choose picture from your computer and it will do the rest.

Cardgame

Create your own personalized playing cards at the click of a mouse button.

Condenent

Design your own Wired magazine cover.

Blibs

Here you can find lots of effects including animation, adjustments and even kaleidoscoper.

Imagechef

In imagechef you can easily create anything from word mosaics to football shirts. With over 100 templates it’s a great place to have fun with your photos. After you have created your photo you can share it social networks.

Anymaking

Anymaking is a great place to edit your photos online. Here you can find all the necessary tools for picture editing. Cropping, rounded corners, shadows, frames – it’s all here. There are also some cool effects to have fun with like wanted poster.

Frontpage

In 3 easy steps, you can create a unique and fully personalized magazine cover for yourself or someone special. Use the magazine covers on your Facebook, MySpace profiles or on your own web site for free. You can even send the cover images to all your friends and family easily and quickly with the email options provided.

Maronface

Moronize your photo.

flauntR

flauntR is a flash based online photo editor, where you can quickly edit your photos, add some effects, blend photos and create social network photos.

Tiltshift maker

Tilt-shift miniature style photos are pictures of real-life scenes that are manipulated to look like model photographs.

Effmypic

Choose from over 30 cool effects to your picture

Avatar.pho.to

Upload your photo and create a cool avatar from it.

Seenow

In seenow you can find a lots of good quality effects and later share your outcomes.

Funnywow

Choose from over 40 cool effects to apply to your photos in good quality.

Wishafriend

Create photo effects, photo frames, name acronyms, fake magazine covers and much more.

PhotoFunia

One of the hottest site with tons of creative backgrounds to play around with. Now comes in 9 different languages.

Fun Photo Box

If you don’t get what you want from PhotoFunia, you reallly need to check out this site.

Picartia

Create a photo mosaic of your choice for free online.

Hairmixer

Choose a photo for the left and right side and start mixing their hairs up.

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