I love digital photography. I also love when I capture one of those perfect pictures where the subject, composition, lighting, and color are just right. But let's face it, most of the time our photos need a little coaxing to get them to look like we want them. There is a proliferation of free image editing and photo correction tools floating around out there and trying to find just the right one can be a little daunting. After evaluating over 30+ programs, I narrowed it down to a handful. I broke these down into three sub-categories, basic, mid-level, and advanced.
The basic category is for those little gems that help you quickly and easily make small adjustments to the overall lighting, colors, and tones of your images without the clutter of a lot of advanced tool sets. These also offer such tools as cropping, sharpening, and red eye correction.
The mid-level category offers more advanced tools like layers, adding captions and shapes, the ability to select portions of the image and make adjustments to just those portions, etc. These will also offer filters for applying textures, artistic effects, edge enhancements, boarders and frames.
The advanced category will include tools that are comparable to professional programs like Photoshop, or Paint Shop Pro.
Discussion
Basic Editors
LightBox Image Editor is an excellent little utility that I fell in love with after just a couple of minutes of using it. It has an attractive user interface that is simple and straight forward, and offers intuitive slide-bar adjustments for your images. It also has split screen views to help you compare your images before and after the corrections have been made. It includes simple tools to correct red-eye, sharpen, crop, re-size, add borders, and print. I like LightBox so well I decided to upgrade to the Pro version which offers some very nice extras, but the free version is a gem that you will want to check out. This is my basic editor Top Pick!
Photo! Editor is a basic photo correction utility with a few professional quality tools. It has all of the basic enhancement tools to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and color cast, and some retouching or "make-up" tools that work similar to the coveted healing brush in Photoshop. Be sure to pay attention to the little down arrows next to the tool bar icons. Those will help you access the more powerful manual options.
Mid-Level Editors
PhotoFiltre is a nice basic to mid-level editor with a good feature set. Simple adjustments can be made fairly quickly using the tool bar buttons, or you can make more advanced adjustments by delving deeper into the menus. There is a nice set of tools for selecting parts of images, doing simple painting, and smudging, drawing basic shapes, and adding text. PhotoFiltre also has a good selection of filters to add effects to your images, and can do batch processing of images.
Paint.Net makes a very good mid-level photo retouching choice. It has a nice set of photo correction tools including curves, and levels. It has a very nice implementation of layers complete with blending modes, and adjustable opacity/transparency levels. It has a fairly full pallet of selection, painting, and shape drawing tools. It is completed with a selection of filters for adding special effects to your images. All in all, it offers a lot for a free image retouching software. Be aware it requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or newer to be installed.
Artweaver - If you don't want the .NET Framework, or simply would like another option other than Paint.Net you should have a look at this. Although it is more focused on being a painting program, it has a very good array of image adjustment tools. Artweaver also has a curves and levels tool that works a little better than Paint.Net, in my opinion. Other than that they are similar programs, with comparable functionality.
Advanced Editors
GIMP is currently the only freeware package I am aware of that can be called an advanced image editor. It has a steeper learning curve than the previously reviewed editors, but it is feature rich. It's multi-windowed interface makes it a little unusual for a windows program. If you are inexperienced at using image editing programs GIMP will likely be too overwhelming to start learning on, so I would suggest beginning with one of the basic, or mid-level editors above.
In A Class By Itself
Photoscape -This is really a different class product than the editors above in that it does things that are beyond the focus of the average editor, and is more of an image suite. I have had a number of users request that this product be included and have finally decided to oblige. Once you get used to its unusual interface you will find it is much more than a photo editor. It includes a batch function utility, a couple of collage creation tools, a gif animator, a batch renaming utility, a raw image converter, a screen capture utility, an image splitter, a photo layout and printing utility, and several other tools. The editor itself is quite robust. While it lacks many of the usual region selection, brush, and cloning style tools, it has a nice selection of manual and auto color correction tools. It also has the ability to run filters and add frames, add text, shapes, call-out boxes, and other objects that work similar to vector objects until jointed with the image or the image is saved. It also includes about 500 clip-art images that can be placed on your photos. While I would still prefer one of the other image editors above for my usual correction and retouching work, many users will probably find its tools are more than adequate and will have fun using its extended features. I think most will find it a worthy companion to their other image tools.
Other Free Digital Image Editors
Some of the other Free Digital Image Editors I reviewed are as follows. Some are not too bad others are worthless. You will just have to visit the websites if you what to know more. It is advised to run a virus scan on these if you download them.
A portable version of this product is available but not from the developer
Win All, Linux, OSX
Quick Selection Guide - In A Class By Itself
Photoscape
9
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Very robust suite type program that can be fun to use. Includes everything from enhancing your photos and adding shapes and clip-art, to creating collages and printing.
Lacks a few of the usual retouching tools, and has a slightly unusual menu system and user interface.
There is no portable version of this product available.
Win XP - 7
Editor
This software category is maintained by volunteer editor Ritho. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here.
Tags
edit digital image, edit digital photo, edit computer image, computer photo, best free image editor, top free image editor, computer image editor, best free photo editor, top free photo editor.
by Space Patroller (not verified) on 28. January 2012 - 10:29(87931)
Try IrfanView. It has a flood of image editing features including an "effects browser" It's resize also includes resample. The retouch, called "Auto Adjust is the second best auto-correct I've seen, second only to Microsoft Photo Editor
You get Edge-detect, Negative. Incres/Decrease color down to two: b/, Greyscale and the other usual suspects
The color correct is a thing of beauty. On one console you have the brightness, separate RGB color controls: tons better than the usual "Hue" selector, contrast, gamma contrast and saturation
The Effects Browser has blur, sharpen, and a host of other things including Metalize, Solarize, 3D button maker; about two dozen
The editing format is an intuitive WYSIWYG "console" with two images a befroe and after, a slider or sliders and an input textbox(es) so there is no learning curve to speak of
The prgram also does conversions, including .ico with transparency under "Save As"
You also get a multi-media player that does mp3 and flv
there are also some filters like 8F and ohters
The kit comes in two parts the image viewer and plug-ins which makes it do all those wonderful things. It appears to be open source since many of the plugins were created by others
There is a primitive paint component
For me it replaced 20/20 free (actually a trial version). LVIEWPRO and Microsoft Photo eiditor. The quick access and ease of use make it my defualt image editor
Crop is absurd! Just go to the image. left click and highlight as you would cut/copy in Paint, the area that you want to keep, go to Edit and select Crop! and you're done
It does panorama image fusions (have not tried, slideshows (I'm not crazy about that; I have a javascript app that does it a bit better) and screensavers
It plays, but does not make aniGif's. although Skiljan Irfan is looking to do that.
The prgram updates often and works in Windows 7. While it is freeware, he does appreciate a donation of 10 Euro to keep up the site and develop the program
I want to thank you for the review of Lightbox photo editor. Fantastic, easy to use, powerful, and free. I am a novice photo editor, and it is great. A family member is a professional photographer, and was very impressed with the free version as well.
This program is written by a pro photographer, from the ground up, and it shows in the simplicity of use, and the speed it runs.
I am one of those people that goes ahead and purchases programs that i use for a while and like. I have quite a few programs that i downloaded as a result of techsupportalert reviews, used for a period of time, and then purchased. I believe in supporting those who put out a good program, and continue to update and support it.
Anyway, thanks for the great site, great reviews, and great hot finds. Techsupportalert/Gizmo fan for life!!
[Moderator's note : Details of commercial version removed]
by Ishino (not verified) on 16. November 2011 - 21:42(83402)
I've already made my choice with Fastone image viewer.
It's simple, light, translated and I just use some functions like cut and resize, so it's perfect for me x')
by BruceD (not verified) on 29. September 2011 - 18:26(80575)
I am having problems with LightBox Free (running on a Windows 7 64-bit machine):
1) When I start the program, Windows asks if the program should be allowed to 'change my computer'.
2) When cropping an image, the initial cropped area (rectangle) cannot be resized. The mouse can move the rectangle, but not resize it. The 'Crop Dimensions' text boxes will not accept any input -- the textbox defaults to '1'.
I am sorry, but I have not experienced the problem you have described, but neither have I run LB on a 64bit system. What you describe definitely sounds like a bug, but it is very hard to say what would cause it. While you could try to contact the developer by email, I don't know if he will provide support for the free product. It can't hurt to try. The name of the product was changed in newer versions, and you can find contact information on the new site, http://www.sagelighteditor.com/contact2.html
I'm running windows7 64 bit, and have not experienced those problems, so it might not be a program bug, rather a conflict with this persons other software.
by Sputnik (not verified) on 25. July 2011 - 12:20(76206)
I have installed this software and I didn't have any of these problems. From my point of view this software is clean and by its features it would deserve a place of choice in the list above.
Photo Pros is ad supported, and does "offer" to change your homepage and install a tool bar. You must opt out. Never-the-less it is a decent image editor.
by Sputnik (not verified) on 23. July 2011 - 4:24(76073)
I have just installed PhotoScape and I had the bad surprise to see that Google Chrome was also installed at the same time without any warning and without any possibility to avoid its installation.
I am not very happy with this...
PhotoScape is a good software but I don't want to install something I don't want or need.
So I have just uninstalled Google Chrome and also PhotoScape by the way...
by Sputnik (not verified) on 23. July 2011 - 15:26(76109)
I have done another test and I have seen that there is the possibility for a "Custom" installation in which you are warned that Google Chrome will be installed and you have the possibility to indicate that you don't want Google Chrome to be installed.
PhotoScape should have put this warning also in the regular installation process.
Those who don't want Google Chrome will have been warned...
by pinewater6 (not verified) on 24. May 2011 - 17:52(72610)
i'm seeking a program that lets me sort a group of jpeg files like slides on a light table. i want to drag them and put them in order by hand. then i want to rename the images in the sorted order.
by Wilbur (not verified) on 28. March 2011 - 19:19(68707)
I downloaded LightBox Image Editor but when I opened it, the program covered my entire desktop, including the task bar. From then on every program I opened covered the entire desktop. I did a system restore to fix the problem -- but I can't use Lightbox. I wonder if anyone else has had the problem or knows how to fix it?
Same here. I clicked the resize icon in the upper right corner, grabbed the window and put it as high as i could, resized the window to where i wanted it, and when i quit the program and restarted, it was sized correctly. Hope that helps.
by Lee_B (not verified) on 5. March 2011 - 19:47(67481)
Photo! Editor is really easy to use for simple editing. My wife had no trouble correcting images.
It has one major flaw! There is no print function. I'll keep looking.
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Comments
Try IrfanView. It has a flood of image editing features including an "effects browser" It's resize also includes resample. The retouch, called "Auto Adjust is the second best auto-correct I've seen, second only to Microsoft Photo Editor
You get Edge-detect, Negative. Incres/Decrease color down to two: b/, Greyscale and the other usual suspects
The color correct is a thing of beauty. On one console you have the brightness, separate RGB color controls: tons better than the usual "Hue" selector, contrast, gamma contrast and saturation
The Effects Browser has blur, sharpen, and a host of other things including Metalize, Solarize, 3D button maker; about two dozen
The editing format is an intuitive WYSIWYG "console" with two images a befroe and after, a slider or sliders and an input textbox(es) so there is no learning curve to speak of
The prgram also does conversions, including .ico with transparency under "Save As"
You also get a multi-media player that does mp3 and flv
there are also some filters like 8F and ohters
The kit comes in two parts the image viewer and plug-ins which makes it do all those wonderful things. It appears to be open source since many of the plugins were created by others
There is a primitive paint component
For me it replaced 20/20 free (actually a trial version). LVIEWPRO and Microsoft Photo eiditor. The quick access and ease of use make it my defualt image editor
Crop is absurd! Just go to the image. left click and highlight as you would cut/copy in Paint, the area that you want to keep, go to Edit and select Crop! and you're done
It does panorama image fusions (have not tried, slideshows (I'm not crazy about that; I have a javascript app that does it a bit better) and screensavers
It plays, but does not make aniGif's. although Skiljan Irfan is looking to do that.
The prgram updates often and works in Windows 7. While it is freeware, he does appreciate a donation of 10 Euro to keep up the site and develop the program
Check out Photivo at www.photivo.org
It sounds excellent
Just to let you know, Photoscape does have a clone stamp.
Photoscape updated to 3.6
I want to thank you for the review of Lightbox photo editor. Fantastic, easy to use, powerful, and free. I am a novice photo editor, and it is great. A family member is a professional photographer, and was very impressed with the free version as well.
This program is written by a pro photographer, from the ground up, and it shows in the simplicity of use, and the speed it runs.
I am one of those people that goes ahead and purchases programs that i use for a while and like. I have quite a few programs that i downloaded as a result of techsupportalert reviews, used for a period of time, and then purchased. I believe in supporting those who put out a good program, and continue to update and support it.
Anyway, thanks for the great site, great reviews, and great hot finds. Techsupportalert/Gizmo fan for life!!
[Moderator's note : Details of commercial version removed]
Is there any free software I can use to insert date and time to my digital photo?
thanks
YO! It's me again.. the french guy x'D
Is there a Free Digital Image Basic Editor in multilingual/international version ? *O*
Because I like such LightBox Image Editor but it is only in English.. T_T
I'll maybe try Zoner Photo Studio Free, but it is classified as "Digital Photo Organizer"..!
PS : I repeat again.. Sorry for my english, i use Google Translate =/
Try this one http://photofiltre.free.fr/
I've already made my choice with Fastone image viewer.
It's simple, light, translated and I just use some functions like cut and resize, so it's perfect for me x')
But thank you for having responde. ^_-
"RawTherapee" appears to have gone open source now (or at least one 'branch'). It seems to come up often in the photography blogs (then and now).
I'm not sure what the criteria is for "Advanced Editors" is, but it might be a candidate.
http://rawtherapee.com/
*O* I had not seen x'D
It's really good and it's translated x') Thanks to you ^_-
I am having problems with LightBox Free (running on a Windows 7 64-bit machine):
1) When I start the program, Windows asks if the program should be allowed to 'change my computer'.
2) When cropping an image, the initial cropped area (rectangle) cannot be resized. The mouse can move the rectangle, but not resize it. The 'Crop Dimensions' text boxes will not accept any input -- the textbox defaults to '1'.
I am sorry, but I have not experienced the problem you have described, but neither have I run LB on a 64bit system. What you describe definitely sounds like a bug, but it is very hard to say what would cause it. While you could try to contact the developer by email, I don't know if he will provide support for the free product. It can't hurt to try. The name of the product was changed in newer versions, and you can find contact information on the new site, http://www.sagelighteditor.com/contact2.html
I should have added that the download page claims that the program "supports all versions of Windows, including Windows 7 and 64-bit versions."
I'm running windows7 64 bit, and have not experienced those problems, so it might not be a program bug, rather a conflict with this persons other software.
PixBuilder Studio which was earlier commercial has now been made free. Available here :
http://www.wnsoft.com/pixbuilder/
Thanks to deya, for alerting about this in the forum.
There is another good free software : Photo Pos Pro.
It used to be shareware (59.90$) but not anymore.
You can get it at this address :
http://www.photopos.com/Photo-Pos-Pro-Image-Editor.asp
Beware! Attempts to change your browser homepage and install an un-needed toolbar.
I have installed this software and I didn't have any of these problems. From my point of view this software is clean and by its features it would deserve a place of choice in the list above.
Photo Pros is ad supported, and does "offer" to change your homepage and install a tool bar. You must opt out. Never-the-less it is a decent image editor.
Ritho: Editor Gizmo's Freeware Team
I have just installed PhotoScape and I had the bad surprise to see that Google Chrome was also installed at the same time without any warning and without any possibility to avoid its installation.
I am not very happy with this...
PhotoScape is a good software but I don't want to install something I don't want or need.
So I have just uninstalled Google Chrome and also PhotoScape by the way...
It is not very fair attitude from PhotoScape.
I have done another test and I have seen that there is the possibility for a "Custom" installation in which you are warned that Google Chrome will be installed and you have the possibility to indicate that you don't want Google Chrome to be installed.
PhotoScape should have put this warning also in the regular installation process.
Those who don't want Google Chrome will have been warned...
i'm seeking a program that lets me sort a group of jpeg files like slides on a light table. i want to drag them and put them in order by hand. then i want to rename the images in the sorted order.
Please ask this for this in the freeware forum under "I want a program that... " http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum
How about this ?
http://www.ghacks.net/2011/05/16/hornil-stylepix-like-paint-net-without-...
No comments from ritho in a long time
I downloaded LightBox Image Editor but when I opened it, the program covered my entire desktop, including the task bar. From then on every program I opened covered the entire desktop. I did a system restore to fix the problem -- but I can't use Lightbox. I wonder if anyone else has had the problem or knows how to fix it?
Same here. I clicked the resize icon in the upper right corner, grabbed the window and put it as high as i could, resized the window to where i wanted it, and when i quit the program and restarted, it was sized correctly. Hope that helps.
Photo! Editor is really easy to use for simple editing. My wife had no trouble correcting images.
It has one major flaw! There is no print function. I'll keep looking.
Take a look at this
http://www.chachaslab.com/chasys_draw_ies.php
http://www.phoxo.com/en/
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