Best 17 Free Photo Editing Software for PC 2021 Update In an era when everyone likes selfies and taking photos, in addition to free photo recovery, there comes another ravishing feature i.e., photo editing.Luckily, there are a number of free photo editing software for laptop and desktop users, which can optimize an ordinary picture into a breath-taking panorama, and help people out with more.
- Best Free Software For Editing Pictures
- Top 10 Best Free Photo Editing Software
- Best Downloadable Photo Editing Software
- Best Free Photo Editing Software For Windows
- February 10, 2020
- 32 min to read
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.
Best photo editing software for PC (Free Download) Microsoft Windows 10 Photos; Luminar; GIMP; Photolemur; LightZone; Paint.NET; Aurora HDR; Photo Pos Pro; PhotoScape X; Lightroom; Pixlr; RawTherapee; darktable; InPixio; Polarr; Photopea; 1. Microsoft Windows 10 Photos (free) Photos is a built-in photo editing app that comes with Windows 10. PhotoScape – Best Free All-in-One Photo Editing Software for Windows 10. Packed with advanced tools, PhotoScape is absolutely free and compatible with Windows 10. A beginner can easily use it to reform the images and feel the change. The filters incorporated in the app are outstanding. Using the best quality of photo editing tools makes your photos attractive and grabs everyone’s attention on your posts and the profile pictures. These days, various types of photo editing softwares are available for desktop and mobile users. Top 15 Free Photo Editor Software in 2018; Part 2. Top 10 Free Photo Editing Apps in 2018. Best Free Photo Editing Software For Windows 7, 8, 10, XP. There are plenty of applications that you can choose from to get the final touches to your photos. And we are here to let you pick the right photo editing software for you. So, let’s roll down the page and find out.
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.
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.
✅ 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
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What photo editing software do you use and why? Let us know in the comments, we’d be very interested to know!
What photo editing software do you use and why? Let us know in the comments, we’d be very interested to know!
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: Photo software for pc. Apple session key.
- 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.
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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
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Do you agree with our opinion in this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Do you agree with our opinion in this article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
FAQ:
![Free Free](https://images.wondershare.com/filmora/article-images/clipchamp-online-video-editor.jpg)
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Who does not want to restore the old images? Old photos are part of our lifetime memory. We want to keep them alive. The task is a bit easy to give life to old photos. A little touch up can give life and color to your damaged photos. If you want to restore the old photos, you will have to know about the editing software before you start. We are going to review the top 10 photo retouching software. If your old photos are extremely damaged, this software will work great for you.
How do you define photo restoration?
Before we get to know about the most used photo restoration software, we want to make your concept clear regarding photo restoration and its work process.
Your old photos can be destroyed extremely due to water, chemical, or disaster. But it is possible to give a completely new look at the damaged photos. The photo restoration process works to make photos look new like before. It enhances, correct, and upgrade the old photos.
You can think that photo restoration is the process of repairing the old photos only. But it is more than repairing. Giving an improved look to the photo is the process of photo restoration. The image restoration process is used for years after years to restock the old photos. With this technique, it is possible to give the old images a new and fresh look.
Several software programs have made it possible to restore the damaged and extremely damaged photos. This software comes with the essential set of tools that are needed to restore photos. With a little practice, it is possible to be an expert in photo restoration.
What is the best software to retouch old photos?
You will be surprised that you can save hundreds of old photos from your past. Digital technology has made it possible to store old memories. You can repair them for your lifetime. You can think that it is a hazardous task to retouch the old photos. But surprisingly, it is easier than you imagine. Using numerous photo retouching software has made it possible to restore photos with several simple steps. Most of the software is able to fulfill your needs for restoring images. We are going to make you know about the top software to retouch your old photos.
If you don’t have time to learn all these photo restoration software but would like realistic results asap, you may address professional photo restoration services that can restore your photos damaged by time/fire/water or even colorize them at an affordable price.
Old Photo Restoration Made Easy
SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher can automatically detect and remove common defects in old scanned photos and film negatives including cracks, scratches, dust and torn edges. The tool’s smart fill algorithms are employing artificial intelligence to patch imperfections with data interpolated from adjacent areas, effectively restoring missing parts of the image without a trace.
Easily Add Color to Your Black and White Photos
Bring new life to old photos by automatically colorizing them using the cutting-edge technology. It uses deep learning AI to create remarkably realistic results in just seconds with zero work on your part.
Apple laptop operating system. Touch Up Digital Images
SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher will help you remove unwanted objects from an otherwise perfect scenery shot, fix hanging wires, and delete annoying shadows. Content-aware smart fill algorithms will carefully reproduce the original background behind the objects being cut, producing a stunning, natural-looking image out of an ordinary capture.
Adobe Photoshop:
Which software works great to edit your old photos? Whether the purpose is to edit, Image retouching, or restore your photos, one software comes as the best one. Designers worldwide use Adobe Photoshop to make changes to take the look of the photos into a new level. This software comes with the exclusive tools and techniques that allow you to edit, retouch, and restore photos. There are a lot of tools and software available which can be used to restore photos. But no other software works like the Adobe Photoshop. The top and best quality software to restore old photos. You can make any sort of adjustment that you need to make in your photos. This software gives a new look to the old photos completely.
Retouch pilot:
The software Retouch pilot works to remove any sort of imperfections that appears in the photo. This software helps you to remove stains completely, scratches, and spots form your image. It is a great tool to restore damaged photos. But if your photos are extremely damaged, you need something that works for advanced editing. You have to use the software that allows for advanced editing. It will be a good choice if you want to restore your photos. You can remove any sort of elements that are making your photos look messy.
AKVIS retoucher:
If you want to get the software to retouch and restore your photos, you have to get the AKVIS retoucher. This software is an efficient software that can restore your old photos. You can remove any sort of dust, strain, and starches from your old photos. You can repair your photo that it will look like the new photos. This software has become a reliable tool for editing photos to a huge number of designers. It works like magic to make old photos smooth and look like the new ones. Because this software comes with the set of tools that are needed to restore the old photos.
PhotoScape:
Best Free Software For Editing Pictures
What and what more you need to restore your photos? Everything and every set of the tool will come with this software. This software offers a full set of tools that you need to edit and enhance your photos. You will find everything that you need in this software. You will be satisfied with the effects that the software offers. You will be fully satisfied with the changes that the software can bring. If you want to work on your PC with this software, you will not find any software like this. You can restore images the way you want to make it look like.
Image mender:
Image mender is the photo restoration software that offers any kind of adjustments that you can make to your old images. It comes with a hassle-free photo editing process. You can remove stains, scratches, and spots. You can remove unwanted elements from your picture. Every kind of adjustment you can do with this software. The work process is very easy. You just have to open the image which you have to restore and bring changes. The software allows repairing your images in a way that you can reserve it for the lifetime. You will be inspired more to work with it. Because it works very fast. Once you start to work with the Image mender, you will be surprised at the result.
GIMP:
Do you want a photo editing software that will be more than software? The GIMP will be the perfect software for you. Based on the quality of photo editing, designers find it like an alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It comes with a bunch of tools and features that are perfect for restoring old photos. GIMP is known as the top photo restoring software for designers around the world. All the high-quality functions and tools work more than an editing tool. You can restore your damaged photos in numerous ways. As it is a high-quality photo editing software, it offers any sort of editing for the old photos.
PicMonkey:
If you are seeking extraordinary software for your damaged photos, you have to use PicMonkey. It is a great quality photo restoring software. Designers find it as reliable software. You will like to work with it as it is a high-quality tool. This software comes with all the extraordinary editing tools and features that you need for photo restoration. It is powerful software yet, but it is easy to work with it at any level of complexity. All of the tools that you need to work for restoring your old images.
Fotor:
![Top 10 Best Free Photo Editing Software Top 10 Best Free Photo Editing Software](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Hw9Ddr44rDxVZ58GUTCreL-1200-80.jpg)
Fotor is the photo editing software that works great for the restoration of photos. It comes with all the necessary features for editing images. One of the strongest features of this software is the photos restoration. It features all the tools for restoring and retouching the old photos. You cannot compare the tools in Fotor with the other software. The faded photos can be turned into sharp and colorful photos. If you need to do complex tasks to restore your photos, you will get the essential tools in Fotor.
Fotophire editing toolkit:
Top 10 Best Free Photo Editing Software
Fotophire editing toolkit is the photo editing application that comes with basic photo restoration tools. This software offers not only the photo restoring tools but also the photo retouching tools. It enables you to apply several filters for making photos more attractive. You can crop the photos after you restore it. You add text, frames, and textures to your photos. Overall, you can give the desired look to your old photo with the Fotophire editing toolkit.
Inpaint:
Inpaint is the specialized photo restoring software. But it is considered as a basic photo editing tool. This software is basically designed to remove the unwanted parts and elements from images to make them look great. If you are completely new with the photo restoration tasks, you can use Inpaint. If you have not used any other software before or if you do not have any experience of using photo editing software, you can work with this software. It comes with the interesting features that have made photo restoration easier. If you do not know how to work with Inpaint, you can watch tutorials on YouTube to learn more.
Best Downloadable Photo Editing Software
If you like to use Adobe Photoshop, you get your task done with it. But if you want to use any other software, it is totally up to you. We have reviewed the top software for photo restoration. But you have to decide which one you will be using. But make sure that you use the software that results in your desired outcome.
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Best Free Photo Editing Software For Windows
Sayal rubel is a professional graphic designer who is an expert in clipping path and image retouching. He is working as the managing partner at The Image retouching lab.