They might not be as good as Photoshop, but their capabilities are good enough to satisfy most users. You can checkout our list of the 5 best free photo editing tools to choose the best one for you.
1. GIMP
When we step down from Photoshop, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the first alternative we look at. It is a free open-source photo editor that offers robust features, similar to Photoshop. It will let you customize image layout, add different effects, crop/resize, lasso, blur, sharp and many other editing tools perfect for both beginners and professionals.
It also has plugin support, so you can easily add new features even if it is not supported in the original client. Furthermore, its community is quite active as well and they will help you with questions and problems.
Compatibility: Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
2. Pixlr
One of the most famous online editing tool, Pixlr offers amazing editing features which are perfect for novice and professional users. It has comes as a free app, but has a paid membership, however, the free one is more than enough for most users. It offers hundreds of effects, overlays and frames to make your picture look astounding. You can also modify your photos with it, like crop, resize, white balance, auto-adjust, resolution, contrast, red-eye removal and whiten teeth.
Furthermore, it also has desktop and smartphone clients to edit your photos (offline) on your favorite device. Paying for the membership ($14.99/year) will unleash more control over images, with the ability to further customize most of the options available in the free version.
Compatibility: Windows, Mac OS X, Android, iOS and a web client
3. Paint.Net
Paint.Net is actually a beefed-up version of the (Microsoft) MS Paint that we don’t care much for anymore. It is a very simple free editing tool that offers tons of features, perfect for very basic editing tasks. It offers effects like, distortion, noise removal, blur, different effects, shapes, embossing, red-eye removal and 3D zoom. Along with its simplicity, it is also extremely light, with a size of just 6.3 MB. if you were comfortable with MS Paint, then you should definitely try out Paint.Net.
Compatibility: Windows
4. PhotoScape
If you like to have a photo editor that could edit your photos and also offer other handy photos related tools, then PhotoScape is for you. It is a freeware available for Windows and Linux operating systems.
Apart from basic viewing features, it offers editing features like, crop/resize, adjust color, white balance, effects, frames, draw and write on pictures, filters and red-eye removal. You can also edit multiple photos at the same time. Its other handy image related features include, converter, batch rename, splitter, face search, and GIF creator.
Compatibility: Windows and Linux
5. Picasa
Picasa is a photo organizer, but also an image editing tool by Google. When it comes to editing, it doesn’t offers any robust features like the above mentioned tools, but it organizes photos very well. So if you just need a simple yet quick basic editor that takes care of your pictures, then Picasa is waiting for you.
It will show all the available pictures on your PC or Google drive in the main interface, where you can easily access or edit them. Its editing features include, blur, different effects, crop/resize, change resolution and balance.
Compatibility: Windows and Mac OS X
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