GIMP
GIMP is a free open-source photo editor with photo editing tools such as highlighting, cropping, eraser, paint bucket, brush, and more. It customizes and enhances photos with advanced photo retouching techniques, even for the interface.
Pros:
- Advanced add-ons to enrich the program with flexible features.
- Support all photo formats as well as most popular RAW images.
- Developed a community for the program with frequent updates.
Cons:
- the free photo editor is not fully compatible with the latest version of Windows 11.
- Difficult for beginners, as documentation is often missing or outdated.
PhotoScape
PhotoScape is another free photo editor that includes many filters and tools for photos such as viewer, batch editor, page, merge, Animated GIFs, print, divider, screenshot, color selection, renaming, face search and more.
Pros:
- Provide different templates to print photos and create slideshow files.
- Work with animated GIF files as well as popular RAW formats.
- Stitch photos in different modes, such as panorama and photo collage.
Cons:
- basic photo editing functions with no additional options or settings.
- Getting a combined result must be a complicated process.
Photos
How about free photo editors for Mac? Photo and Preview should be your MacBook’s two default programs. It can process RAW images from popular digital cameras and live photos/ HEIC / JPEG / PNG / BMP.
Pros:
- Import images and automatically group photos into different albums by date.
- Support live photo editing with Live, Loop, Bounce and Long Exposure modes.
- Provide editing tools and improve auto-correct features.
Cons:
- limited photo filters and inability to adjust them to get satisfactory results.
- Unable to appropriately edit auto-created albums.
Google Photos
Google Photos can be thought of as a cloud service for storing photos and videos from iPhone, Dropbox, Flickr, OneDrive, etc. It’s also a great free photo editor with advanced features.
Pros:
- Artificial Intelligence image search technology for personal photos.
- Free unlimited cloud-based storage of photos within permission.
- Use AI to suggest photos to share with different contacts.
Cons:
- limited editing options that can be undone to edit or remove blemishes/red eyes.
- Photo categorization feature is useless unlike other photo editors.
Photo Pos Pro.
Photo Pos Pro is another free photo editor that offers many editing tools with layouts for beginners. If you need to remove unnecessary parts or fix bad photos, you can always find the right feature in the program.
Pros:
- Preset curve options and one-click adjustment tools to improve your images.
- Several filters, effects and even brushes with additional customizable parameters.
- Create stunning text effects, frames and collages with a variety of tools.
Cons:
- lack of layer effects for texts and file controls.
- Duplicating layers seems confusing, especially for beginners.
Paint.net.
Unlike other free photo editors, Paint.net uses a tabbed document interface. It can easily handle multiple images with tabs displaying live thumbnails instead of a text description of the photo.
Pros:
- Blur, sharpen, distort, emboss, and remove the pesky red-eye effect.
- Record every change you make in a list that you can easily undo and redo.
- Support for user-created plug-ins to add desired filters and features.
Cons:
- limited editing options, brushes, filters without burnout or lightening.
No text correction after other effects have been applied.
Pixia .
Pixia is one of the best free photo editors with multiple overlays, layers, masking, features and more. If you have a creative flair for comics, you can use this program to create fun images.
Pros:
- Full-color graphics with masking and layers for image manipulation.
- Create as many layers as your memory allows, with the maximum size of your graphics.
- Apply a small set of different filters to the frames you use.
Cons:
- Frequent problems with freezing when applying filters to photos.
- Complicated and outdated user interface, where it is difficult to find a function.
