I was doing a search on free image editors, and that’s how I discovered that there are more in existence than I was aware of.
If you can afford programs like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Fireworks, then these free editors may not interest you. I’m always looking for ways to save a little money, though.
This post is about free image editors that you can use offline through an application download.
To see a list of free, online only image editors, go to this post.
Now let’s take a look at the contents of this post.
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)
- Description: “GIMP is an advanced image editor and image manipulation software that is often compared to Photoshop. It offers a ton of features, including advanced layer support, masks, filters, effects and many other features found in professional graphics programs. Beware however that the interface needs getting used to, and the program has a rather steep learning curve.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “MAGIX Photo Designer is an image editor that allows you to optimize, retouch and edit your photos. In addition to the common image tools, it offers 1Click image adjustments, brightening and clone brushes, scratch removal, image effects & filters and more. You can also use the program to create caricatures with help of the the easy to use morphing tools, or transform images into paintings or abstract art with the included FX tool.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description:”Paint.NET is image and photo manipulation software designed to be used on computers that run Windows XP or 2000. Paint.NET is jointly developed at Washington State University with additional help from Microsoft, and is meant to be a free replacement for the MS Paint software. The program offers a clean and easy to understand interface that includes all common editing tools, as well as clone stamp and various image effects. More advanced users will also appreciate the fact that Paint.NET supports layers with transparency and layer adjustments. Additional features include Red-Eye removal, image resizing, sharpening, multi-level Undo and more.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “PhotoScape is a complete photo editing suite that includes image browsing/viewing, photo editing, picture page printing, photo resizing and renaming, and even RAW conversion. The photo editor includes standard editing features as well as automatic and custom adjustment options for brightness, contrast, exposure, backlight corrections and more. It also offers a variety of image effect filters and a collection of image frames and masks that can be applied to enhance the presentation of your photos. Photoscape also includes extensive printing options that allow you to create print layouts to combine multiple photos on a single page according to their print size. You can also create image collages from different layout templates, that can be saved as new JPG files. Other features include batch editing, GIF animations, EXIF display, slideshow and more. A very complete package that will meet most of your digital image editing needs.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “Picasa is a powerful, yet easy to use and attractive tools suite to manage and organize your digital images and photos. It offers one simple place to organize, edit, and share your pictures. After installing, the software can automatically scan your drive(s) for images and intelligently sorts them into virtual photo albums, ready for you to customize and organize (your original images are not moved). Picasa offers several easy to use photo editing features that enable you to apply image adjustments, corrections and special effects that can be applied and undone without modifying your original photos. Other features include photo printing, photo email, image collages, slideshow and timeline view, image tags and much more. Picasa also supports facial recognition, a cool feature that can automatically categorize your photos based on the person appearing in it.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “Photobie is an image editor that offers all the standard editing and paint tools, as well as image layers and support for Photoshop (.8bf) plug-ins and several other features that are usually not found in free image editors. The program also includes screen capture tools, an image browser, a GIF animation tool and a Flash player, as well as photo frames, channel adjustments and more. The documentation is somewhat lacking but an active support forum can help you along if you run into problems.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “PhotoFiltre is a complete image editing and effects package, that will not only amaze you with features but also the fact that it is free (for personal use). It comes with many features that rival some commercial packages, as well as additional add-on that can be downloaded from the web site. PhotoFiltre offers all the standard editing features (selection, clone brush, paint brush etc.) as well as a large selection of image effects, photo masks, image adjustments, thumbnail browser and much more. The program also supports batch processing to apply filters, sizing, adjustments and transformations to a large number of images at once. Photo Filtre comes with modern, well designed interface and is well suited for everything from simple resizing to advanced photo editing. No installation required.” -from Snapfiles.com
- Description: “Some features: Import and edit common image file formats; Straighten photos and crop to common print sizes; Repair old and damaged photos; Remove red eye, smooth skin, whiten teeth and more; Remove unwanted objects from pictures; Adjust levels, curves, brightness, contrast and more; Paint and blend with artistic brushes” -from Serif.com
Photo Pos Pro (not for newbies)
- Description: “Reading the detailed tutorial is almost a must, as this photo editor has many features too advanced and specific for a novice. For example, when working with a complicated tool such as Layers Properties, the program generates a separate window, and you must click to expand it. As its name implies, Photo Pos Pro is a good tool for professional image editors in terms of both features and interface.” -from CNET
- Description: “PixBuilder Studio is an image editor that offers a full set of photo editing and color management functions, including color balance, levels and curves adjustments, color fill and more. Unlike most free editors, the program even offers support for layers and .8BF Photoshop filters. It also comes with a full range of drawing tools (brush, pen, pain fill etc.), as well as transparency masks, magic wand, lasso tools, gradient color transition effect, a healing brush for touch-up work, built-in shapes, image effects, multi-step Undo and much more.” -from Snapfiles.com
These are just ten of the free, downloadable image editors I found. I’ll be doing later posts with others, so stay tuned.
Happy editing!
Did you find this information helpful? If so, please consider a small donation.
