It is said that a photograph is a memory captured forever…that it is a man’s attempt to conserve all moments considered special in his life. Today, technology’s brought new advances when we talk of photography, although staunch photography experts don’t believe or accept using any editing software’ to enhance or re-touch their photographs, a lot of us usually believe in re-touching our digital photographs & editing them so we look slightly different & better! Editing a picture can be anything from re-sizing to adjusting color balance….maybe adding some special effects, etc.
When we say editing, manipulating or resizing of a picture/image, majority of us use a program called adobe Photoshop which we consider as the best photo editing software. However, today tons of new free download photo editing software have come into the market which allow people to edit & manipulate photographs of any kind. Purchasing a photo editing software isn’t easy or cheap by a long shot for people, therefore this article focuses on the best 12 & the most useful photo editing software that allow people to edit pictures without spending dollars!
1. Picnik
This software is amongst the best & most comprehensible options in so far as free software is concerned for editing photos. All one needs is a connection (Internet) and voila! A person can improve not just the image quality, but also use features like color adjustment, clarity, sharpness, etc. In addition, it’s got plenty of constantly updated features which help you several interesting things to the images before you share the image online!
It is compatible with: Windows, Linux & Mac.
2. Picasa
It is no surprise here that Google’s Picasa has made it to the list of top free picture editing software. The software, similar to all Google apps, is extremely simple to use & convenient for a new user. Picasa lets the user edit & manage all his/her pictures with efficient tools & interesting features which includes special effects, cropping, brightness adjustments, etc. After you have edited all photographs, these can be immediately loaded on an album online & shared with friends & family…this is the nicest bit about making use of Picasa!
It is compatible with: Windows, Linux & Mac.
3. GIMP 2.7.3
This happens to be the Image Manipulation (GNU) program. It’s a much admired open-source photograph editor that’s often also dubbed as ‘free Photoshop’. This software helps users with image composition, authoring & retouching. It also works on several operating systems & is accessible in several languages too. It’s designed to intensify with an extension or plug-in & the scripting interface (advanced) allows the most complex & the simplest procedures to easily be scripted.
It is compatible with: Linux, Mac, Amiga OS, Solaris, and Windows.
4. Ultimate Paint
This happens to be a very useful photo editing software that’s available in shareware & freeware formats both! It offers handy picture creation, display & manipulation. Ultimate paint’s a software that was designed especially to make process of photo editing easy as well as quick. There are detailed tutorials as well as FAQs which help eliminate any doubt you have regarding editing photographs.
It is compatible with: Windows
5. PhotoPlus X5
PhotoPlus X5 provides a very wide variety when it comes to features…that range from export optimizers to image slicing & image maps, smart shapes, selection tools, repair tools, editable text, tools for red-eye removals, 3rd-party plug-ins & support, photo enhancement tool, etc. You can now quickly edit photos as per your liking by using the countless features & share them in an instant!
It is compatible with: Windows
6. Photoscape 3.5
It seems as though it might take you a little longer to fully understand how to navigate this software, it’s still amongst the best & finest photo editing software for free. With a inimitable circular tool list of options, one can easily pick any option from the menu that he/she wishes to use & quickly fix their images.
It is compatible with: Windows
7. Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011
It’s the latest updated version from Windows Live Photo Gallery which comes with a face recognition tool as well as a tool for geo-tagging!!! Also, it enables one to remove any blemishes from an image & is extremely simple software to use. It comes with usual basic & a few new, improved tools for advanced editing.
It is compatible with: Windows
8. Paint.NET v3.5.10
This is yet another photo editing software that is free. It’s funded through donations done on their site. A very significant feature is the unlimited undo option on this software. It is basically meant for beginners & first timers, but can also be utilized by an experienced photographer to the full capacity. Plus, in case you plan on printing your pictures on waterproof or matte paper, then there couldn’t be any better software!
It is compatible with: Windows
9. Pixia
It’s the English adaptation of very popular Japanese editing software for photographs. This retouching & painting software provides a user with tips for custom brushing, multiple layers, bitmap & vector based tools for drawing, masking, color, tone & lighting adjustments, multiple undo & redo! The only drawback is that it doesn’t provide any support when saving a file in GIF format.
It is compatible with: Windows
10. FotoFlexer
It’s a very simple & convenient photo editing software for editing images online by using features such as color adjustment, resizing, sharpness, etc. together with many more interesting features.
11. Photo Pos
It’s extremely sophisticated software when we talk of digital photos & graphics editing. It’s packed with countless professional features meant for creating effects & advanced editing, although the software is free! This software also lets one create graphics & include numerous text styles in the images.
12. IrfanView
This happens to be a fast, compact, small & innovative FREEWARE graphic viewer (meant for a non-commercial usage) for ME, NT, Windows 9x, 2000, 2003, 2008, XP, Vista & Windows 7. It’s designed for first timers & beginners & is simple to use, yet a very powerful tool for a professional. It seeks to produce unique, interesting & new features.
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