Free alternatives to Photoshop
It's hard to justify paying for photo-editing software (like Adobe Photoshop) if you're not a professional photographer, designer, or artist. Fortunately, there are a ton of capable, free alternatives. The list includes age-old standbys like GIMP along with relative newcomers like PicMonkey and Autodesk's Pixlr.
Keep in mind that what we look for in a photo editor might well be different from your personal requirements. A dad photographing his kids might just want basic exposure adjustment and rudimentary red-eye removal. An artist might need extensive control over individual layers of an image. Needs vary and something as basic as Paint might be all that's required for a simple project where more complicated tools would just get in the way.
Paint
Microsoft Paint has been included in every single version of Windows and it's useful for dumping the contents of your clipboard, cropping an image, and for some people: drawing unbelievably realistic renditions of Santa Claus. But try to adjust contrast or sharpness and you'll find Paint severely lacking. There's also the noticeable absence of any sort of layer system.
Simple, clean, and easy to use. Not very useful for advanced tasks.
Despite the lackluster feature set, Paint is fast and works well for very basic tasks. The ribbon-based interface should be immediately familiar to Windows users, and the obvious tools—pencil, paint bucket, text, erase, etc.—are a cinch to manipulate.
Final Word: Paint works well for what it is. If all you need is a simple way to crop, rotate, resize, and annotate images, this should work just fine.
GIMP
GIMP is the Audacity of photo editors. It's been around forever and it's one of the most feature-rich free photo editors available today. Unlike Paint, it's got full layer support, a packed toolbox—with staples like the Clone Tool, Healing Tool, and a magic-wand style Fuzzy Select Tool—along with a vast library of additional plugins.
GIMP looks complicated because it is.
If anything, the sheer power of GIMP is it's greatest downfall. As much as GIMP mimics the tried-and-true interface of Photoshop, it's a program with a massive barrier to entry. Photoshop veterans might feel at home, but unaware users will need to spend time exploring the program to decipher icons—i.e., an X-Acto knife for the Crop Tool—and menu options.
The sheer number of file formats supported by GIMP is a huge boon. The compatible extensions include basics like PNG files and JPEGs as well as Photoshop's own .psd extension.
Final Word: GIMP is a definite front-runner with its incredible feature set and huge user base. If you can get past the sometimes confusing interface, GIMP is a great alternative to Photoshop.
Paint.net
Paint.net began as a student project in 2004 at Washington State University. It has since evolved into an editor that can go toe-to-toe with GIMP and quite possibly Photoshop itself. It has full layer support and offers many of the same features that both GIMP and Photoshop users consider essential—the Clone Tool, a rudimentary Magic Wand, and all of the basics.
Yup, that's a history window. Paint.net has all of the features that most editors would consider essential in a clean interface.
Where it begins to set itself apart is its user interface. At first glance, it meshes well with the modern aesthetic of Windows 8. Individual toolbars and property windows are easily distinguishable and are relegated to distinct portions of the screen. Each is clearly labeled and only essential items are displayed onscreen by default.
The application's only real shortcoming is that it's got fewer features than GIMP. Paint.net's streamlined interface comes at the cost of quite a few features that haven't yet been implemented.
Final Word: If you value ease of use and aesthetics over raw power, Paint.net is an amazing alternative to Photoshop. It may not be as expansive as GIMP, but it's a huge leap over Microsoft Paint.
Click through to the next page to see what we thought about Pixlr Editor, Picasa, Photoshop Express Editor, and PicMonkey.
Pixlr Editor
Autodesk's entry in the space is Pixlr. It's available for free as a web app with native apps avilable for a wide variety of platforms. We took a look at the online-only incarnation, Pixlr Editor, for this roundup since it's a bit more fully featured.
It looks a bit like an older version of Linux, but it's a capable editor.
Unlike both Paint.net and GIMP, Pixlr Editor exists entirely online. We're not fans of this setup, but we were pleasantly surprised by the editor itself. The interface isn't as clean or modern as Paint.net, but it's got all of the options on display—the Navigator window is a particularly nice touch.
Pixlr Editor has full support for layers and includes many of the options shared by GIMP, Paint.net, and Photoshop. In fact, the differences between Pixlr Editor and the rest are largely unimportant. It's mostly a question of whether you're comfortable using an online photo editor—although the lack of plugin support could be a deal breaker for some.
Final Word: Pixlr Editor is a surprise contender. It's capable, fast, free, and works without any sort of installation.
Picasa
Picasa's not exactly a photo editor as much as it as a photo management tool with rudimentary editing capabilities. Despite its dated interface and some general chunkiness, Google's Picasa works as a stopgap tool to quickly edit photos with fun effects like film grain and filters—Lomo-ish is one of our favorites.
Think of Picasa as a lightweight verison of Lightroom. It's got basic photo editing with a slew of photo-management options.
Even if it isn't a real photo editor, the photo-management aspect of the application makes it a great choice for touching up large collections of photos quickly. Adding images to a library within Picasa gives you access to quick and easy controls for photography basics like redeye removal, automatic contrast, and straightening.
Final Word: It doesn't stand up particularly well to programs like Paint.net or GIMP, but it should work just fine for people looking for a photo manager with some basic editing options built in.
Photoshop Express Editor
Here's an advance warning: Photoshop Express Editor is about as far from the real Photoshop experience as possible. Having established that, there are still good reasons that users would gravitate toward the official experience—even if it's gimped. It's clear that Adobe intends for Photoshop Express to be a gateway into purchasing the real thing because it exists entirely online—native versions are available, but they're more app than program—and can only manipulate a single image at a time.
Pixelizing an entire image isn't exactly the most useful effect, but it certainly makes for an interesting image.
The tools on offer include exposure control, a Crop & Rotate tool, some rudimentary resizing options, and a few adjustments and effects. Despite the fact that you can only have a single image open at a time, Photoshop Express does give users a chance to use some of Adobe's superior effects and adjustments—see the image above for a demonstration of the Pixelate effect.
Final Word: It's almost ridiculous to consider Photoshop Express Editor a worthy contender after considering the huge number of worthwhile alternatives. The fact that it exists as a pop-up on a page says more than we ever could—although some of the effects are genuinely entertaining.
PicMonkey
While GIMP does its best Photoshop impression, PicMonkey is content with being a bit of a novelty. Instead of offering users granular control over their images, PicMonkey lets editors add Overlays—clip art that ranges from arrows, stars, and hearts, to party hats, and sunglasses—text, and textures to images.
Adding cowboy hats to random images is a lot more fun than you'd think—especially with PicMonkey's space filter laid on top.
Of course, it's also got options to adjust exposure, rotate and crop, sharpen, resize, and add effects. Any self-serious editor will balk at the gaudy effect of PicMonkey's Cross Process setting, but we loved the casual experience of editing with PicMonkey. It's designed well and caters to beginners who aren't concerned with gaussian blurs or layered effects. An otherwise sterling experience is marred by an overabundance of premium—Royale—features that require a $4.99/month subscription.
Final Word: If all you're looking for is an easy way to spice up an otherwise boring photo, PicMonkey is probably your best bet. It has a huge catalog of fun effects and settings that puts Instagram to shame.
And the Winner is…
GIMP is our favorite free photo editor. It takes the cake over Paint.net because of the sheer number of features packed into its otherwise passable interface. It's not as pretty as Paint.net, or as simple—or as fun—as PicMonkey, but it comes within striking distance of Photoshop at a price that's hard to beat. There are no paid upgrades, ads, or other freeware annoyances. On the flip side, you get access to a huge library of plugins that can expand GIMP to meet your potentially specialized needs.
If all you're looking to do is add a filter and change the exposure of a single image, PicMonkey is a great choice. It's simple, easy, and pretty effective for a web-only editor. It's nothing like Photoshop, but that's a point in its favor in this case.
Did we miss anything? What's your favorite free photo editor? Let us know in the comments!
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