Best Free Pic Editing Software

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  • February 10, 2020
  • 32 min to read
  1. Free Easy Editing Program
  2. Best Picture Editing Software Free

Modern digital photography goes hand in hand with post-processing software. Although today the photo editing software market offers an unlimited number of options for photographers of all levels, most of the community sticks to tried-and-true Adobe Photoshop. It indeed is a universal app equipped with tools that a professional photographer would wish for, but it's time to make way for the new.

For the past decades, a lot of new and worthy photo editors entered the market bringing revolutionary technologies into the mundane editing process making even the most complex editing tasks doable for novices and streamlined for pros. Here we listed some of the best photo editing apps on the market including both old and new for photographers of different needs and skill levels.

Paint.NET is one of the best pieces of photo editing software for PC that's completely free. This photo editor was initially developed as an alternative to Microsoft Paint but has surpassed it in many ways. Paint.NET boasts a user-friendly interface that requires little time and effort to learn. Top 15 Best Free Photo Editor Software 2020 2019-01-26 Benj Choosing the best photo editor is something most people occasionally have to do because we live in a digitally and technologically advanced age where people are constantly sharing digital images and using them for other purposes such as blogging.

1. Luminar 4

Completely revamped Luminar 4 is finally here to shake up the world of photo-editing software. Improved to be even more intuitive, Luminar 4 also brings a ton of brand-new AI editing tools designed to speed up the photo editing workflow.

- AI Sky Replacement automatically changes the sky and relights and recolors the entire photo to match the new sky.

- AI Skin Enhancer & Portrait Enhancer do all the retouching for you with just one click.

- AI Enhance automatically enhances your photo by making numerous adjustments of different complexity.

- AI Structure brings details up or down depending on your needs.

- Sunrays adds realistic sun rays to your photo that you're free to tweak as you please.

- Smart Contrast was improved to produce a more detailed and textured image.

Luminar 4 can not only be used as a stand-alone app but also as a plug-in for Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom to make the best of your tools.

✅ Pros:

  • Non-destructive editing
  • Intuitive interface
  • Improved performance
  • In-depth customization
  • Available as a plug-in as well

✖️ Cons:

  • Mediocre library functions
  • Limited exporting options

2. Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom has been the app of choice for professional and amateur photographers alike for many years now. It offers a well-thought-out set of features for managing, organizing, processing, and exporting your photos. With the advanced library features, like labels, keywords, collections, and search filters, the app makes it easy for you to keep track of large numbers of photos. Lightroom comes with a good selection of RAW profiles to define colors in your photos for more precise editing. Tweak your photos to perfection with adjustment sliders, perspective and lens correction tools, retouching tools, filters, profiles, and presets to speed up your workflow.

Editing

✅ Pros:

  • Built-in file management system
  • Face detection and tagging
  • Color and luminosity masking
  • Plug-in support

✖️ Cons:

  • Not the best choice for beginners
  • A bit too taxing for Windows
  • No auto-tagging
  • Comparatively slow importing


What photo editing software do you use and why? Let us know in the comments, we'd be very interested to know!

Free Easy Editing Program

3. ACDSee PHOTO STUDIO ULTIMATE 2020

Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 is a one-stop photo management and post-processing tool for Windows. It comes with everything you need to handle your files, like categories, keywords, face detection, ratings, color labels, metadata, geolocation, and more. It's quite powerful when it comes to photo editing, too, offering a broad set of tools for a variety of different purposes. It allows you to process your RAW, JPEG and other types of files in a non-destructive way in Develop Mode and perfect them in Edit Mode by adjusting color and lighting, bringing out details, removing flaws, and adding final touches. The user interface is completely customizable to suit your preferences.

✅ Pros:

  • Excellent built-in file management system
  • Powerful post-processing features
  • Fully customizable interface

✖️ Cons:

  • Available only for Windows
  • Too overwhelming for beginners
  • Subscription-based online storage gallery

4. GIMP

GIMP is a free and open-source photo-editing tool that has been around for more than 20 years. It boasts a limitless number of state-of-the-art features that you wouldn't expect to see in a free photo-editing app. The interface has been recently updated to be easier to use, however it still can be quite confusing for novices. GIMP offers a broad set of tools suitable not only for basic but for advanced editing, too. Here you can enhance colors, adjust hue and saturation, fix composition, adjust sharpness, reduce graininess, remove unwanted objects, work with masks, layers, and more.

✅ Pros:

  • 100% free
  • Open access to the source code
  • Has a broad selection of tools for different purposes
  • Plug-in support
  • Available for the main operating systems

✖️ Cons:

  • Non-intuitive workflow
  • Difficult to get the hang of
  • Lack of HDR support

5. Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR is a powerful HDR tool that brings innovation and simplicity together. The most recent update introduced a new Quantum HDR engine with AI-powered tone mapping technology which allows for more intelligent photo merging to produce vivid yet natural-looking photos. Whether you're creating an HDR photo from bracketed shots or a single image, the app's neural network enhances the photo and makes sure that no halos or ghosting spoils the final result. The brand-new Smart HDR Structure feature boosts details and sharpness without creating undesired artifacts that can make a photo look unrealistic. With over 80 distinctive Looks, you can make your photo look stunning in just one click.

✅ Pros:

  • One of the best HDR photo editors
  • Swift performance
  • Corrects badly taken single shots
  • Doesn't create artifacts, halos, or noise
  • Available as a stand-alone app and plug-in
  • Plug-in support

✖️ Cons:

  • None worth mentioning

6. Adobe Photoshop Elements

Developed for beginner and hobbyist photographers, Photoshop Elements' functions are naturally more limited than Photoshop's but it has all the essentials for achieving astonishing results. It offers three editing modes:

The Quick mode includes the simplest tools for straightening and cropping photos, removing unwanted objects, enhancing portraits, and applying filters.

The Guided mode uses step-by-step wizards to take you through more complex edits like removing objects, replacing the background, merging multiple photos, creating double exposures, and more.

The Expert mode gives you access to more complex Photoshop-like features including layers, masks, and filters.

✅ Pros:

  • Excellent for entry-level photographers
  • Simple and straightforward interface
  • One-time purchase
  • A bunch of Photoshop-like features simplified for nonprofessionals
  • Dozens of clear guides

✖️ Cons:

  • Too limited functionality
Are you a Lightroom, Luminar, or Photoshop user? Then you'd probably want to see our collection of the best free and paid presets for them.


Exposure X5 looks like a refined version of Lightroom that inherited only the features that photographers liked and used the most. Some of the most hated features were eliminated or improved. Thus, there's no time-consuming import process in Exposure X5 - you can get straight to editing by adding a folder with your photos in a few clicks. The interface is very well-organized and can be customized to suit your editing purposes. Besides non-destructive layer-based editing and cutting-edge tools that are crucial for the professional photo-manipulating process, Exposure X5 offers a mind-blowing collection of over 500 presets that you can customize to your liking.

✅ Pros:

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Well-organized and customizable interface
  • No power-draining import process
  • Non-destructive layer-based editing
  • A broad selection of free presets
  • No subscription

✖️ Cons:

  • The interface design looks a bit outdated
  • Lack of panorama and HDR tools

8. Capture One Pro

Capture One Pro is a full-fledged pro photo editor created for experienced photographers and serious hobbyists. Originally designed for tethered shooting, Capture One Pro is the fastest and most flexible tethering tool for photographers of all genres. It also offers top-notch RAW photo-editing functionality, smart photo organization tools, layer support, powerful adjustment tools, and plenty of other features you're looking for in professional-grade photo software.

✅ Pros:

  • Exceptional rendering of RAW files
  • Numerous adjustment tools for different needs;
  • Layer-based editing
  • Industry-leading tethering features
  • Fast and smooth spot removal
  • Annotations feature

✖️ Cons:

  • Lack of third-party plug-in support;
  • Lack of panorama and HDR tools
  • Limited organization features;
  • Absence of history panel
Software

✅ Pros:

  • Built-in file management system
  • Face detection and tagging
  • Color and luminosity masking
  • Plug-in support

✖️ Cons:

  • Not the best choice for beginners
  • A bit too taxing for Windows
  • No auto-tagging
  • Comparatively slow importing


What photo editing software do you use and why? Let us know in the comments, we'd be very interested to know!

Free Easy Editing Program

3. ACDSee PHOTO STUDIO ULTIMATE 2020

Photo Studio Ultimate 2020 is a one-stop photo management and post-processing tool for Windows. It comes with everything you need to handle your files, like categories, keywords, face detection, ratings, color labels, metadata, geolocation, and more. It's quite powerful when it comes to photo editing, too, offering a broad set of tools for a variety of different purposes. It allows you to process your RAW, JPEG and other types of files in a non-destructive way in Develop Mode and perfect them in Edit Mode by adjusting color and lighting, bringing out details, removing flaws, and adding final touches. The user interface is completely customizable to suit your preferences.

✅ Pros:

  • Excellent built-in file management system
  • Powerful post-processing features
  • Fully customizable interface

✖️ Cons:

  • Available only for Windows
  • Too overwhelming for beginners
  • Subscription-based online storage gallery

4. GIMP

GIMP is a free and open-source photo-editing tool that has been around for more than 20 years. It boasts a limitless number of state-of-the-art features that you wouldn't expect to see in a free photo-editing app. The interface has been recently updated to be easier to use, however it still can be quite confusing for novices. GIMP offers a broad set of tools suitable not only for basic but for advanced editing, too. Here you can enhance colors, adjust hue and saturation, fix composition, adjust sharpness, reduce graininess, remove unwanted objects, work with masks, layers, and more.

✅ Pros:

  • 100% free
  • Open access to the source code
  • Has a broad selection of tools for different purposes
  • Plug-in support
  • Available for the main operating systems

✖️ Cons:

  • Non-intuitive workflow
  • Difficult to get the hang of
  • Lack of HDR support

5. Aurora HDR

Aurora HDR is a powerful HDR tool that brings innovation and simplicity together. The most recent update introduced a new Quantum HDR engine with AI-powered tone mapping technology which allows for more intelligent photo merging to produce vivid yet natural-looking photos. Whether you're creating an HDR photo from bracketed shots or a single image, the app's neural network enhances the photo and makes sure that no halos or ghosting spoils the final result. The brand-new Smart HDR Structure feature boosts details and sharpness without creating undesired artifacts that can make a photo look unrealistic. With over 80 distinctive Looks, you can make your photo look stunning in just one click.

✅ Pros:

  • One of the best HDR photo editors
  • Swift performance
  • Corrects badly taken single shots
  • Doesn't create artifacts, halos, or noise
  • Available as a stand-alone app and plug-in
  • Plug-in support

✖️ Cons:

  • None worth mentioning

6. Adobe Photoshop Elements

Developed for beginner and hobbyist photographers, Photoshop Elements' functions are naturally more limited than Photoshop's but it has all the essentials for achieving astonishing results. It offers three editing modes:

The Quick mode includes the simplest tools for straightening and cropping photos, removing unwanted objects, enhancing portraits, and applying filters.

The Guided mode uses step-by-step wizards to take you through more complex edits like removing objects, replacing the background, merging multiple photos, creating double exposures, and more.

The Expert mode gives you access to more complex Photoshop-like features including layers, masks, and filters.

✅ Pros:

  • Excellent for entry-level photographers
  • Simple and straightforward interface
  • One-time purchase
  • A bunch of Photoshop-like features simplified for nonprofessionals
  • Dozens of clear guides

✖️ Cons:

  • Too limited functionality
Are you a Lightroom, Luminar, or Photoshop user? Then you'd probably want to see our collection of the best free and paid presets for them.


Exposure X5 looks like a refined version of Lightroom that inherited only the features that photographers liked and used the most. Some of the most hated features were eliminated or improved. Thus, there's no time-consuming import process in Exposure X5 - you can get straight to editing by adding a folder with your photos in a few clicks. The interface is very well-organized and can be customized to suit your editing purposes. Besides non-destructive layer-based editing and cutting-edge tools that are crucial for the professional photo-manipulating process, Exposure X5 offers a mind-blowing collection of over 500 presets that you can customize to your liking.

✅ Pros:

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Well-organized and customizable interface
  • No power-draining import process
  • Non-destructive layer-based editing
  • A broad selection of free presets
  • No subscription

✖️ Cons:

  • The interface design looks a bit outdated
  • Lack of panorama and HDR tools

8. Capture One Pro

Capture One Pro is a full-fledged pro photo editor created for experienced photographers and serious hobbyists. Originally designed for tethered shooting, Capture One Pro is the fastest and most flexible tethering tool for photographers of all genres. It also offers top-notch RAW photo-editing functionality, smart photo organization tools, layer support, powerful adjustment tools, and plenty of other features you're looking for in professional-grade photo software.

✅ Pros:

  • Exceptional rendering of RAW files
  • Numerous adjustment tools for different needs;
  • Layer-based editing
  • Industry-leading tethering features
  • Fast and smooth spot removal
  • Annotations feature

✖️ Cons:

  • Lack of third-party plug-in support;
  • Lack of panorama and HDR tools
  • Limited organization features;
  • Absence of history panel

9. Affinity Photo

Even though Affinity Photo can't boast any organization or management tools, it's well-packed with all kinds of editing features for photographers of all levels. The workflow includes several Personas, or modes, focused on different editing stages. Develop Persona focuses on RAW file processing, Photo Persona is used for boosting your photos using layers, lighting and color adjustments, curves, LUTs, etc. Tone Mapping Persona is for HDR editing, Liquify Persona for bending photos, and Export Persona for exporting finished photos.

✅ Pros:

  • Layer-based editing
  • RAW editing tools
  • Panorama, HDR, and focus stack merging tools
  • No subscription

✖️ Cons:

  • No lens-based corrections
  • Lack of organization tools
  • No ability to save custom workspaces
  • Poor noise reduction

10. Pixlr

One of the most powerful online photo tools, Pixlr has become a popular choice when it comes to making quick photo corrections. Since it's a web app, it doesn't take up any room on your computer and is compatible with all operational systems. Pixlr features a clean and intuitive interface with many tools for cropping, selecting, transforming, removing objects, retouching and adjusting your photos using numerous sliders for brightness, contrast, vibrance, saturation, shadows, and more. It also offers a vast collection of filters and effects that will enhance your photos in a snap!

✅ Pros:

  • Beginner-friendly
  • Great for quick editing
  • Online
  • 100% free
  • Has a clean interface
  • Offers a nice collection of filters and effects
  • Mobile version available

✖️ Cons:

  • Limited functionality
  • Advertising can be annoying
  • Can be laggy sometimes

11. Paint.NET

Developed to replace the iconic Microsoft Paint, Paint.NET has grown into a full-featured yet simple photo-editing tool for WIndows. The app offers a user-friendly interface that's very easy to navigate. Paint.NET is packed with a nice set of tools for making your photos look beautiful in the most effortless way. Here you can play around with various adjustments, such as levels, curves, contrast, brightness, saturation, and more, selecting and removing objects, resize and crop your photos, and so much more!

✅ Pros:

  • 100% free
  • Unlimited history
  • Layer-based editing
  • Tons of creative filters and effects
  • Suitable for beginner and intermediate users
  • User-friendly interface
  • Plug-in support

✖️ Cons:

  • Only for Windows
  • Interface design looks a bit outdated
  • Limited functionality


Do you agree with our opinion in this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

FAQ:

Q: Which one is the best photo editing software?

A: Luminar 4 is the best photo editing software because it offers the most powerful collection of features and tools for different editing needs.

Q: What is the easiest free photo editing software?

A: Paint.NET is the easiest free photo editing software, however, it has a very limited number of features suitable only for basic editing.

Q: Which photo editing software is the best for HDR photo editing?

A: Aurora HDR is the best HDR photo editing software with a broad set of tools for creating and correcting HDR images.

Q: How can I edit pictures on my computer for free?

A: GIMP free photo editor is the best way to edit pictures on your computer for free. It's well-packed with features and is suitable for beginners and pros alike.

Q: Which photo editing software can be used as a plug-in for Photoshop/ Lightroom?

A: Luminar 4 is the best Photoshop/ Lightroom plug-in that allows you to use its unique features in your go-to photo editor.

Whether you take photos for fun or business, it's not an easy task to find a photo editing software that can best fit your photo editing needs with so many different options on the market. We believe that it's easier to find something when you know what you're looking for, so we came up with three criteria that you should take into account when looking for your one and only photo app. So, we recommend you to make your choice based on the features you want your app to have, the platform you're going to use it on, and the price that you're ready (or not) to pay for it. This will help you to filter out the irrelevant options and narrow your choices down to a few most suitable ones.

Features

We believe that all photo editing apps can be divided into several categories based on what they have to offer to users of different levels and needs. These categories are:

  1. Photo editing software for beginners. If you're just starting out in photography or need to apply quick corrections to your photos once in a while, you should opt for a beginner-friendly photo editor like Paint.NET or Pixlr. Such editors usually have a clean and straightforward interface without too many tabs and icons, and a decent set of tools for applying basic corrections.
  2. Professional photo editing apps are designed for professional photographers and advanced hobbyists and give more control over photo processing and editing. Their use requires more specialized knowledge of photography and high photo-editing skill. Pro-grade photo editors like Adobe Lightroom or Capture One Pro often come with an in-build photo management system, provide support for RAW files, tethered shooting, and presets.
  3. Software for creating and editing vector graphics. As you probably know, there are two types of graphics: raster and vector. Raster graphics represent images as a pixel grid, while vector graphics use lines and curves. Vector software can't change pixels and thus is ineffective for photo correction. However, you can use vector software to add graphics to your photo such as text, shapes, lines. Many raster photo editors include a handful of vector tools, like GIMP or Photoshop.
  4. AI photo software uses AI-based technology that allows reducing manual photo editing to a minimum - even the most complex editing tasks such as retouching or removing objects can be done with just a few clicks. Such apps are a popular choice among beginners and pros alike as they substantially speed up the editing process without affecting the quality. Luminar 4 is one of a few decent AI photo editing tools on the market.
  5. Open source photo editing apps are apps for which the source code can be viewed and changed by any user, like GIMP. It means that any user can interact with the program code to correct bugs, improve the exciting features and add new ones. Open-source software is usually completely free and for this reason much beloved by users of different levels of expertise.
Platform

There is another thing you should take into account when looking for your perfect photo-editing app - the platform you're going to use it on. If you're a Mac or Windows user, you've got a wider choice of options unlike, for example, Chrome OS users, who have a much more limited choice. Let's take a closer look at what we have here.

  • Windows is the most compatible with most of the photo software you're going to want to use. If you're a Windows user, you have a great number of options to choose from including most widely-used apps like GIMP, Luminar 4, Lightroom, Paint.NET, and more.
  • As Mac is the second most popular operating system, you won't have any troubles finding a photo app compatible with it. Here you still have a vast number of options including Lightroom, Aurora HDR, Luminar 4, etc. The popular GIMP, however, isn't compatible with Mac.
  • If you're a Chromebook user, your choice is limited to Google Play apps. Those, however, include a pretty good number of options, such as GIMP, Photoshop, Lightroom, and others. If you have strong programming skills, you could try installing external apps as well.

It doesn't matter what platform you're using if you choose to work in an online photo editor. It runs in a browser and doesn't need installing.

If you're looking for an app for your Android or iOS device, you should check what your app store has to offer. Some web and desktop apps, like Pixlr or Lightroom, however, have mobile versions.

Price

No matter how good the software is, its price can be a real dealbreaker. Luckily, not all photo editing software is paid for. There are such apps as GIMP and Paint.NET that are completely free. Paid options include subscription-based (Photo Studio Ultimate 2020, Lightroom) and one-time-fee (Luminar 4, Photoshop Elements, Affinity Photo) software. Some paid apps though have free trial versions, so you can test an app for free for several days to see if it's worth the money.

  • January 07, 2020
  • 30 min to read

It has become general truth that almost every Internet user who has an account on social networks edits their photos. For this reason, today we will be looking at Top 18 best photo editing software for PC that you will make good use of. Let's get it started!

(Shortlist) Top 10 Photo Editing Software for PC with a Free/ Trial Versions to Download

  1. Microsoft Windows 10 Photos
  2. Luminar
  3. GIMP
  4. Lightzone
  5. Paint.NET
  6. Aurora HDR
  7. Photos Pos Pro
  8. PhotoScape X
  9. Lightroom
  10. Photolemur

1. Microsoft Windows 10 Photos (Windows 10's Built-In App)

This app replaced its predecessor, Windows Photo Gallery. Although the software lost some of the features and tools, it still offers all the basic and essential means of editing your photographs and videos.

The first thing you notice when getting acquainted with Microsoft Windows 10 Photos is the minimalistic interface that is easy to interact with. The photostream is horizontal, which some users may find a bit unusual, but this feature actually contributes to the convenience of the app. You can rest assured that no extra icons will get in your way!

The key tools include Enhance, Contrast, Brightness, Shadow, Tint, Warmth and Filters. With videos, you will be able to add some music as a background, create clips and projects. The software is free so don't hesitate to give it a go!

Best Picture Editing Software Free

2. Luminar (7 days fully free)

A great solution for those who are ready to buy editing software and use it regularly, Luminar is also available for a 7-day free trial. It's considered one of the leading software of its category on the market.

Luminar can fix minor drawbacks in your pictures automatically, or you can take control over it and turn to the following tools: brushes, filters, Enhance, Curves and others. The software loses out on some up-to-date features like adding location or face recognition, but the stability and convenience balance up.

You can store your pictures in catalogs or easily import them to the PC files or elsewhere. Luminar supports numerous photo formats, including RAW. Edit your pictures with the help of filters or adjust the colors separately for the best result.

Another decent competitor is GIMP, a true pioneer of photo editing founded back in 2002 and developed to a great extent now. The design has undergone changes – all the tools you will now find in one window! In addition to that, you can choose the background color of the software that will suit your taste the most.

GIMP now operates GEGL, which enhanced its efficiency and work speed. You can process formats like PNG, TIF, JPG, RAW and some others. Take advantage of the split feature that enables you to compare the before and after of your picture and keep your eye on each detail.

Apart from the basic tools, GIMP now can boast with the variety of Transform Tool options, which allow you to work with the scale and perspective within one tool.

For a free photo editing software, Lightzone offers a vast range of great tools and ways to transform images at ease. The list includes sharpening, managing colors, getting rid of the noise, changing brightness, eliminating red eyes, adding glow to the skin and many more.

One of the best features of Lightzone is the ability to undo changes or track them, which enables you to choose what way you like your pictures more. Another quite appealing feature is the quick and smooth processing of RAW format files that allow you to work with the highest quality of your images.

Don't wait around and try this free photo editing software right now!

If you search for a free photo editor to process images on your PC, Paint.Net is a viable solution! The software interface is smartly designed, so you can easily navigate the program. Here you will find numerous tools, such as pen, crop tool, text adding and others. Even the newbies in the world of editing will learn how to handle the app in a split minute.

Another upside of Paint.NET is a rather fresh feature – translucent pallets that don't get in your way while you're editing. However, those of you who disapprove of this feature can just turn it off.

All the necessary means of editing an image you will find in the Adjustment section, where you will be able to work with the color and brightness. Removing red eyes is also one of the key elements of the section. Although Paint.NET hasn't provided some extra tools like adjustment layers, it is great for simple photo manipulations.

This software meets all the standards of an up-to-date editing app – Aurora HDR offers an impressive number of tools and features, including Curves, Enhance, Dodge & Burn, Color Adjustment and a lot of opportunities with the HDR effect.

Aurora HDR operation is based on AI and transforms your average pictures into highly detailed images with a variety of layers to them due to the emphasis on HDR. The results look clear and sharp, the key objects stay in the foreground.

Use creative filters for a change in the mood of the picture. The software has plug-in options with Apple Photos, Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom; the users can process RAW files and maintain the highest quality of their works. You can get Aurora HDR for a free trial.

Produced by Power of Software, Photos Pos Pro appears to be a powerful program for editing and retouch. It offers an abundance of features and useful tools, both basic and out-of-the-ordinary; the app also enables you to create collages and even web pages, so that you can show all your creativity and bring your ideas to life.

The strongest side of Photos Pos Pro is the convenience and simplicity of the interface; the navigation will be no problem even for kids. Professional photographers will take advantage of its compatibility with the RAW format. If this is the first time you work within Photo Pos Pro, don't hesitate and watch the step-by-step tutorials offered by developers.

All the outstanding features are only available in a paid version, although you can get a free trial.

Do you like to apply filters and presets instead of adjusting each detail separately? Then PhotoScape is a great option for you, since it offers numerous effects from film to bokeh, from HDR to Surrealistic effect. The list of filters makes PhotoScape stand out in the crowd of competitors.

Nevertheless, there are tools for photo processing that allow you to work on each aspect in depth. Change the size, brightness, contrast and other settings in a picture. Another upside of PhotoScare is that it enables you to create GIFs, a feature that many other photo editing software won't offer.

Windows 10 and macOS users can download PhotoScape for free; still, if you want to appreciate all the best tools PhotoScape has come up with, you can enjoy the paid version.

Most of us have heard of this photo editing giant – made by Adobe, Lightroom makes one of the most convenient and rich-in-tools software for editing and retouching.

Lightroom operates as cloud storage, which implies that you can keep your images within the app. Take control over all the basic settings: brightness, contrast, shadows, whites and blacks, color adjustment, clarity, sharpness and much more. Change the size and rotate the picture, add presets and frames. Also, be sure to try to create your own presets and share them with others! The variety of features will impress you.

Import images directly from your digital camera or SD card and get to work straight away. Save edited photos in any format you like.

This is one of the best photo editing software for PC with free a download option. Photolemur is rather new on the market compared to the above-mentioned apps. However, this software is not inferior, for it offers you a quick automatic edit with the help of the Enhance tool. You can also smoothen the skin with Enhance Face and make a portrait look more appealing.

Photolemur has a secret – it operates based on AI that conducts an analysis of a photo and creates a unique way to improve its quality.

The users can process many photos at once, which saves time and effort. Just use the Enhance tool and the work is done! The software is available for free download, but not without a watermark in your picture.

11. Pixlr (Web or Mobile Versions)

This photo editor runs in the browser, which has both its pros and cons. The good thing about it is that you don't depend on any device or OS, the bad one – the app won't operate without Flash and you'll have to get used to the advertisement.

You can import photos from your PC or from Facebook, which may save you some time if you're in a hurry. Another remarkable advantage of Pixlr is the customizability of the interface, which implies that the program will meet your unique demands and preferences in terms of design.

Pixlr can offer many advanced features for transforming your photos. For example, within Pixlr users can apply layers, use brushes, adjust light settings or manage colors. Quite a bargain for a free editor!

As you can see from the name of the software, its main goal is to process RAW files in the most efficient and sophisticated way, so that the photos could maintain their quality and look even better after editing.

RawTherapee is perfect if you want to modify the exposure, shadows, color settings, temperature, contrast and some other aspects. You can also manipulate the format and resize the photo.

Those of you who prefer to complete several tasks at once may be disappointed that RawTherapee allows you to process only one file at a time. Nonetheless, the well-thought design makes you enjoy the process and dive into it fully.

RawTherapee enables you to make presets and save the needed settings to apply them to another file. This is a nice free option if you don't feel like buying a photo editor program.

13. DarkTable

This software takes the leading position as far as the number of tools is concerned – here you will be able to crop, rotate, work with curves, adjust white balance and much more. In each separate section, the users will find the corresponding tools.

Process RAW files at ease – bring out new layers and angles in a picture. With DarkTable you can make the colors pop out or emphasize sharpness and natural beauty.

This is a decent opponent to Lightroom, although you don't have to pay in order to use DarkTable. It's powerful and simple at the same time, and that is a fact.

14. InPixio

Bring your pictures to a new level with InPixio – smartly designed and useful photo editor. You will be able to apply filters and designs, as well as create frames or just crop your images. Needless to say, such basic features as brightness, contrast and color managing are all here.

The app has numerous versions and updates, which lets you pick the best one with the most suitable interface and tools. The customers can choose between InPixio Photo Clip 8 and InPixio Photo Clip 8 Professional, the second offering 100+ effects, a handle of frames and text adding features.

One of the high points is the change of background – the software can automatically wipe it or you can paint it on your own. Bring the most important details into focus with the focus tool. Feel sure about InPixio? Don't wait and purchase it now.

Another famous photo editor for PC is definitely worth your attention – you will take advantage of the minimalistic design and all the necessary tools for better image processing. Create a masterpiece by working on clarity, white balance, saturation, curves and so on. For portrait photographers, Picktorial offers a variety of features to improve the skin or make it smooth.

Brushes and gradients make up a great basis for your adjustments and creative deeds. The interface may appear similar to the Lightroom's, but it is more of an advantage. Choose the visibility for each tool.

The most attention developers paid to color adjustments – you will make great use of the Color Mask tool and other opportunities to render this aspect of your picture.

Do you like your images out-of-the-ordinary and bizarre? Want to stand out on Instagram? Well, then Polarr is the best software you will find. It's popular for its impressive effects that have no equivalent on the market.

Creating your own filters and using editing tools for face makes the basis, while unusual effects like light leaks and flares spice up the software. Brushes, color masks, enhance, vignette, curves – all of them allow you to process your pictures the best way and get the needed results.

Users can customize the interface, change dark or white mode or create a new colorful design. There is only paid subscription available, although very affordable -- $2,49 a month for quality photo retouch and editing.

ON1 photo editing software aims at providing the best services for those who want to make a change with their photography. If you need time to make acquaintances with ON1 – take advantage of a 30-day free trial.

The app is great to manage RAW files, it adds depth and sharpness to a picture to an extent suitable for each user. You can organize photos the way you find it convenient and pick those that you would like to work with.

Mac and Windows users can purchase the software and enjoy the whole range of features and tools. Want to make the grass look greener? No problem! Irritated by those red eyes? There will be no more! Change the contrast, blur the background, manage colors and never stop creating with ON1.

18. Photopea (Online app)

We close our list with this advanced photo editing software that is in no way worse than all the previous options. The design resembles that of Photoshop and boasts with its simplicity and minimalism. Every tool is kept in its own place and can be reached easily, so you don't have to worry about losing the essential brushes or settings.

You can manage photos with the help of layers, brushes, filters, crop-and-rotate tools and many others. Save your settings to apply them as a preset later. Erase whatever you dislike in your image or add new elements or even text.

Photopea is a decent solution for those of you who need a cheaper alternative to Lightroom or Photoshop. Here it is, waiting for you to download it and get down to creating beautiful pictures!

We hope these variants of editing software will bring out your creativity and imagination!





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