Movavi Photo Editor
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13 Best Free Photo Editing Software in 2024
In this article, we’re running you through 13 candidates for the title of the best free photo editor for a PC. Some apps have a free trial, others are totally free or even open-source. We show you the features and functions so you can review and decide which is best for you.
- Movavi Photo Editor – best for making and editing creative collages on the go
- GIMP – customizable interface
- Colorcinch – AI effects such as cartoonizing, pAInting, sketching
- Canva – best for making simple edits to photos online
- Paint.NET – free special effects
- Fotor – photo editing on-the-go
- PhotoScape – included photo viewer and slideshow maker
- Photo Pos Pro – best free image editor for background removal
- Pixlr – browser-based Photoshop “clone”
- Ashampoo Photo Optimizer – photo “auto-optimizing”
- PiZap – basic graphic design
- Darktable – batch processing and RAW conversion
- BeFunky – fun overlays and textures
At Movavi, our primary goal is to provide you with only verified information. Here’s what we do to ensure this:
When selecting products to include in our reviews, we research both demand and popularity.
All the products in this article have been tested by Movavi Content Team.
We compare the key characteristics of every product, including photo scaling and cropping, object and background removal, image restoration, and other significant features.
We study user reviews from popular review platforms and make use of this information when writing our product reviews.
We collect feedback from our users and analyze their opinions of Movavi software as well as products from other companies.
Best free photo editors for a PC
Best for: Automatic effects
OS: Windows and Mac
Price: Free trial, HK$409 for a lifetime version
Probably one of the best free photo editors for Windows 10 a beginner can find on the Internet. Movavi will help you to understand all the basic editing tools and learn how to use them. Even if you’ve never cropped a single pic, don’t know what exposure means and have no clue how to remove an unwanted object version on the photo, you still can create a nice image with this app. The interface has in-built hints on almost every button, so you’ll soon find out how to make your photos more beautiful.
You can download the trial version of the editor for free. It will be enough to crop photos, straighten the horizon, and do a lot more. The app is available not only for Windows but also for Mac.
Key features:
- Lots of automatic effects that improve and enhance images using AI
- Light and color correction
- Easy to remove unwanted background images
- Supports high-quality RAW files
Pros:
Lots of the functions are easy for beginners
AI image enhancement
Simple interface
Cons:
Not totally free for the full version
GIMP
Best for: Customizable interface
OS: Windows, Linux, and Mac
Price: Free
G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5, 1,364 reviews
GIMP is an open-source software that started working on Unix platforms and now is available on all popular operating systems.
The editor is one of the best photo editing software for a PC with free download and provides an impressive range of features. You can easily find all the basic tools, like brushes, color adjustment, and cropping. Even if you’ve never edited a photo before, GIMP will make it easy. On the other hand, advanced users won’t be bored using this program either as it has a lot of tools catered to them – layer masks, curves, animated GIFs, and so on. The interface of the app is customizable. You can make it look like either an easy-to-use program that will help you to edit your pics in a couple of clicks or a more professional app for more complicated tasks.
Key features:
- Customizable interface lets you choose the layout that suits you
- Advanced features modeled on Photoshop®
- Great for those used to working with layer masks
- Available for most OS versions
Pros:
Suitable interfaces for beginners and pros
There is a lot of free info and tutorials for the software online
Lots of advanced features
Freeware
Cons:
Advanced layouts and features are not very beginner-friendly
Selection tool isn’t as accurate as some free picture editing software
Colorcinch
Best for: AI effects such as cartoonizing, painting, sketching
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free version; Plus version from $4.99/month
Colorcinch is a must-have tool for any creatives out there. It’s a feature-rich photo and text editor that houses an incredible collection of hand-picked creative assets and amazing AI-powered photo effects. You can turn any photo into a cartoon, painting, and sketch with just a single click.
You can crop and resize, remove and change the background of your photos, replace color, add vignettes, apply blend modes, and craft collages in a breeze. You can compress and convert your images to and from PNG, JPG, and PDF formats. With Colorcinch, you can add creative touches to your dull photos and make their colors pop.
Key features:
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Cloud-based image and project management
- AI-powered effects such as cartoonizer, sketcher, painting
- Incredible collection of vector graphics, stock photos, masks, and overlays
Pros:
Cloud storage – access your projects and resume editing from anywhere online and offline
Instant social sharing
Photo editing is made simple, intuitive, and productive
Cons:
Limited features for free users – you need to upgrade to its premium plan to access all its amazing features.
Doesn’t work on mobiles
Canva
Best for: Web-based editing
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free with paid upgrades
Capterra rating: 4.7 out of 5, 9,574 reviews
If you need to quickly make a nice picture with a quote or infographics for your Facebook or Instagram page and don’t have much time to learn how to use complicated tools, then Canva is probably the best choice for you. It’s a perfect web-based editing software for digital marketers as it has tons of unique templates made especially for different social networks. With Canva, you can also create blog post headers, book covers, and many other types of visual content. Once your image is ready, you can directly share it on any popular social media or download it on your PC.
Key features:
- Loads of fantastic graphic design templates
- User-friendly for beginners
- No need to download software
- Includes a lot of free stock images
Pros:
Beginners can make professional graphics easily
All editing is within your web browser
Simple layout
Cons:
Some paid upgrades including a PRO model
Not the best for editing high res images
Paint.NET
Best for: Free special effects
OS: Windows
Price: Free
TechRadar rating: 4 out of 5
At first, Paint.NET was created as a drawing program, like Microsoft Paint. But as it developed it has become multifunctional editing software.
Now it’s one of the best free photo editing software for Windows 10. This easy-to-use tool helps to create nice pictures with minimum effort. At first sight, its interface reminds professional software, like, say, Photoshop®. But once you start working with it, you see that it’s much more simple and user-friendly. Paint.NET has all the features a beginner or amateur may need, such as perspective change, moving pixels, duplicating objects, etc.
Key features:
- Lots of free effects, including 3D rotation, red-eye removal, sharpening, and blurring
- Simple layout for those used to Photoshop®
- Supports third-party plugins
- Keeps history so you can undo errors
Pros:
Lots of free special effects and even some added plugins
Totally free to use with no paid upgrades
Relatively simple to get started
Cons:
Only available on Windows
Advanced features can be difficult to get to grips with
Fotor
Best for: Photo editing on-the-go
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free with paid “Pro” upgrades
TechRadar rating: 4.5 out of 5
Another editor aimed to make a beginning photo creator’s life easier. Fotor includes all the basic tools and it also offers some of the more complicated features like wrinkle remover or teeth brightening. On top of that, there is a huge variety of effects that will come in handy when you need to quickly create an original picture for social media, such as frames, stickers, or titles.
The great thing about Fotor is that there are both an online version of it and a desktop program for PC. The mobile app is also available, so you can edit your pictures anytime and anywhere you want.
Key features:
- Presets for many photo editing styles and effects
- Free plan for limited features and to enable quick projects
- Fotor Cloud storage
- Mobile app as well as Mac and Windows editing
Pros:
Edit anywhere, using Cloud storage and the mobile application
Really simple interface with a lot of presets
Stock images and graphics included in the Pro plan
Cons:
You need to pay to get the full features
Not as good for some advanced photo editing
PhotoScape
Best for: Included photo viewer and slideshow maker
OS: Windows
Price: Free
TechRadar rating: 4.5 out of 5
How to edit a photo in just two clicks and make it look professional? Use PhotoScape, a program that provides you with dozens of filters, brushes, stickers, frames, and other tools and features that will help you to bring your ideas to life. For photo makers who are ready for some more time on creating pictures, there are many more options like collage, brushes, and merging. You can get this one of the best free photo editing apps for a PC for free.
Key features:
- Editing features, including cropping, filters, red-eye removal, blooming, paint brush, clone stamp, and effect brush
- Free upgrades
- Simple layout
- Includes a viewer, RAW converter, and slideshow maker
Pros:
Totally free photo editing software
One of the best free photo editors for Windows 10 as well as older versions
Cons:
Presets are limited so it is harder to get great results
Not as simple for beginners as some other options
Photo Pos Pro
Best for: Best free image editor for background removal
OS: Windows
Price: Free with a premium upgrade
TechRadar rating: 4 out of 5
This software will be useful for both beginners and advanced users. You can choose from two interfaces according to your needs. If you want to get a beautiful picture almost automatically, choose the one for novices. Here you’ll find all the basic editing tools and also some nice filters and other effects that will make your photo look better immediately. And if you’re ready to deal with all those gradients, textures, masks, layers, etc. then choose the interface for professionals.
Key features:
- Different layouts to suit pros and beginners
- Text effects, frames, and collage settings
- Lots of online support
- Included filters, layers, masks, curves, scripts, effects, and brushes can help you to tweak photos
Pros:
Easy to simplify the program so you can understand it
Good for those who are used to using masks and layers to edit photos and graphics
Excellent background removal
Cons:
Some effects aren’t as high quality as other best free photo editing apps for a PC
Some features are hidden behind a premium upgrade
Pixlr
Best for: Browser-based Photoshop® “clone”
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free with a monthly premium upgrade
G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5, 638 reviews
A free online editor that is quite similar to Adobe® Photoshop® by its functionality. This is a good tool for advanced users and those who want to develop their editing skills. Pixlr provides creators with a variety of features no other free software has. Among these, there are exposure, levels, automatic enhancement tools, etc. So if you want not only to make a nice pic but also to learn more about editing, you should definitely try Pixlr!
Key features:
- Collage maker
- Free graphic design and photo editing tools including Pixlr X and E
- Overlays, templates, and stickers
- A basic set of crop and other editing features
Pros:
Simple to use the included presets
Browser-based with no need for any downloads
Cons:
Expensive if you pay for the premium upgrade
Image resolution is limited on the free version
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer
Best for: Photo auto-optimizing
OS: Windows
Price: Free trial
TechRadar rating: 3.5 out of 5
This free image editing software may be limited when it comes to graphic design, and it doesn’t include any free templates, but its editing options make it a great choice for those who want to perfect their images.
Features and effects make it really easy to get rid of any imperfections, such as blemishes on the skin or on the image. It also allows you to straighten and fix lens or perspective distortion that can sometimes happen in photography.
Though it is only a free trial, this is a good option for budding photographers who want an affordable piece of software to help them edit.
Key features:
- Image auto-optimizing feature
- Straighten and fix perspective issues
- Simple and easy layout
- Easy color temperature adjustments
Pros:
Excellent for simple image editing
Lightweight yet effective software
Cons:
Not completely free but has a free trial
No real graphic design functions included
PiZap
Best for: Basic graphic design
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free with paid upgrades
TechRadar rating: 3.5 out of 5
PiZap has grown quickly and it is easy to see why. It has millions of downloads and users, as you can either log in and use it inside your browser, or you can download it to a mobile device.
PiZap has an inbuilt meme maker with lots of stickers, many excellent fonts, and effects within the software. It has lots of photo editing options including filters, which means it is good for people who want to edit their photos, but also use them to create other things such as posters or graphics.
Key features:
- Use in your browser or in a mobile app
- Includes thousands of fonts, stickers, and presets
- Easy to add text to your images
- Some simple retouching tools for photographers
Pros:
Simple interface on both the mobile app and web-based app
Easy to get to grips with the editing software
Make memes and graphics with a few simple clicks
Cons:
Resolution limited unless you pay for the pro upgrade
Not as many photo editing features as some options, such as layers and masks
Darktable
Best for: Batch processing and RAW conversion
OS: Windows and Mac
Price: Free
It is amazing the options we all have for downloading photo editing software free of charge, and Darktable is an example of powerful batch-processing without any cost attached.
This is not necessarily the best free image editor overall, but it is a powerful tool and can even be used for pre-processing your images. It is a RAW processor much like Lightroom, and it allows you to batch process lots of RAW files from your camera, making tweaks to things like the exposure. There are also a lot of features for tagging, such as geotagging.
If you’re able to code, you can even download and tweak the source code of this totally free software.
Key features:
- Batch processing
- Powerful image tagging
- RAW to JPG conversion
- Always retains high quality by using RAW files
Pros:
Keep all of your image quality without degrading the pictures
Label and organize your photos easily
Cons:
Not as beginner-friendly as some options
No templates
BeFunky
Best for: Fun overlays and textures
OS: Any (web-based)
Price: Free with a paid Plus plan
G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5, 71 reviews
BeFunky is another browser-based editor that has a surprising level of power, and though it has a lot of photo editing features (retouching, color correction) it is known for being a powerful graphics tool with lots of presets and inbuilt frames and filters.
BeFunky is not the most “pro” feeling but it is a lot of fun as you can add lots of fun graphics and overlays.
Though it has a free plan, the paid plan is needed to access some of the more advanced functions including an AI image editor and background remover.
Key features:
- Lots of fun frames, filters, and presets
- Works within your browser
- Includes touch-up features for portraits
- Collage presets included
- Extended font library even on the free version
Pros:
A lot of the great features are included, even on the free version
Fun to use as a creative tool with fun effects
Simple layout which you can get to grips with in no time
Cons:
Not the most “professional” feeling
No mobile app like some other browser-based editing software
Summary: How to choose free image editing software
You should now be equipped with numerous options, but finding the best free photo editor for PC is about getting something that suits your needs and making the correct decision for you. Consider the following when making your decision:
Features. Will the free picture editing software have all of the features you need to edit your photos or start to create graphics using your pictures?
Compatibility. Check that the app actually works with your version of Windows and whether there will be updates in the future.
Paid upgrades. Do you need to pay for an upgrade to the plan if you want to access the full features? Some free editing software is just available as a trial rather than being totally free.
Support. What support is out there? If you are looking for the best free photo editor for Windows you may be relying largely on forums for support rather than a live chat or email support system.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best photo editor that's free?
Here’s a list of the best editors:
Movavi Photo Editor
GIMP
Canva
Paint.NET
Fotor
PhotoScape
Photo Pos Pro
Pixlr
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer
PiZap
Darktable
BeFunky
What is the best free photo editing software for Windows 10?
These are our top five recommended options along with what they are best for:
Movavi Photo Editor – Best automatic effects
GIMP – Best customizable interface
Canva – Best web-based editing
Paint.NET – Best free special effects
Fotor – Best photo editing on-the-go
Does Windows 10 have photo editing software?
Windows 10 does include Microsoft Photos, which has basic editing and storing features, but we recommend Movavi Photo Editor for more advanced editing and photo organizing.
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