If you wanted to get your hands on the best photo editing software a decade ago, your best alternative was MS Paint. But now there are ten’s, if not hundreds of free programs available where you can both edit your photos and create graphics. So, which ones are the best? You will find it all in this article.
The reason this is going to be amazing is that Photoshop, Lightroom, and Affinity are paid programs. They are all great at what they do.
But the programs I have found are entirely free of cost and not just that. They are extremely powerful. Even in some cases, a couple of them rival Photoshop and these other programs.
So, if you are someone who wants to get photo editing software but doesn’t want to spend your money over it. Maybe you are saving for the festival ahead. Or you have got bills to pay. Whatever reasons it might be, then the good news is you can get these completely free.
#1 CANVA
This one is my personal favorite. Canva is a web application where you can make a ton of different graphics or edit your photos.
What I like about Canva is the fact that it has lots of pre-made templates available. Whether you are looking to create a YouTube banner, social media posts, a brochure, or a newsletter, I think it’s the perfect application for creating publication materials.
It is a very effortless program to use. You just need to drag and drop the required elements, position them, and apply the necessary colors.
What’s great about it is that it is completely web-based. They also have a mobile application available. So you can use it on your phone or tablet as well.
Apart from the templates, they have a wide variety of free graphics like images and icons within Canva.
As a result, you can prepare a bunch of publication material ready within minutes.
#2 GIMP ( GNU IMAGE MANIPULATION PROGRAM )
GIMP continues to be one of the best free photo editing software available, because of the number of features it has.
This app is incredibly powerful. You have to download it and it has a lot of functionality that the leading software programs have.
It is great for image editing, image manipulation, graphic design, artwork creation, and the list goes on.
A lot of review states that the interface isn’t much familiar interface. GIMP has a bit different layout to that of Photoshop and it can take a little bit of time to get used to it. You can get accustomed to it from the tutorials accessible on their website.
Since it is not a light-weighted software, you do require more processing power and a higher-end computer to be able to run it smoothly.
If you are looking for creative image edits like masking and color correction and want to learn only one application, then this learning curve is worth it.
#3 KRITA
Krita is a feature-packed photo editing software that has significantly improved in recent years.
The layout is very similar to Photoshop. If you are familiar with it, it is going to be a piece of cake for you. Lots of tools are there in the left-hand side panel and there is a layers panel.
What makes it different from the others is a huge collection and selection alternative of the brushes. Because of all these things like brushes, it has become very popular amongst people who make creative image design.
It has been ranked number one by TechRadar as a painting program in 2019.
There is a learn tab at the top on the creative website and you go into the tutorials and how-to tabs to find out exactly how to use this software.
It is available to download for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It is very distinctively made for artists. If you are one, what are you waiting for?
#4 PHOTOPEA
If you have a low-end PC and your computer lags whenever you try to operate Photoshop, or you cannot afford it, this is a great substitute for you.
Photopea is the clone version of Adobe Photoshop. In fact, at first glance, you may even mistake it for it.
It is completely web-based, and you can use it directly from your web browser. Whether it’s Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, or whatever, it works directly just from that.
The exceptional thing about it is that it supports most of the essential file formats required in graphic designing and photo editing like PSD, CXF, Sketch, XD, and CDR. You can open projects from your computer and work on it.
If you want to check out tutorials, just like above three, it is available on their website.
As per my experience, I would highly recommend Photopea.
#5 PAINT.NET
In at number 5 on the list is Paint.net. This is available for download from Windows 7 or newer version. It is really cool because it is a photo editor and completely open-source.
Paint.net will have all the functionality and tools accessible for you to do both photo and creative editing. It is pretty straight forward and easy to use.
The interface of the software is extremely basic. It will remind you of the time when you used to draw cartoons on MS Paint.
Since it is a light-weighted software, it is highly recommended for those who have a low functioning computer.
Summary
If you are a novice but want your works to look like a pro, these software programs won’t fail you. You just need to have a creative mind. Mold and collect your creative thoughts, use technology and you have an amazing professional work ready to amaze people on the internet. In this digital era, everyone can be an artist. Get ready to showcase your art!
Comment down below, which software do you think is best suitable for you?