Best free photo editing software: 7 top image editors you should try

IN DEPTH Fabulous free photo editors we recommend

Sumber: Nikelodian.net

By Mike Williams  March 5th

Chasys Draw IES Artist is a capable free image editor

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Modern cameras can make digital photography seem very easy, and even the most basic models will often produce crisp, clear photos.

You'll still have occasional issues with lighting, white balance, red-eye and more, though, so it's a good idea to keep a photo editor around to help resolve them: but which one?

The extremely demanding (or very wealthy) may still opt forPhotoshop, and there's no doubt it's a great program.

But if your finances won't stretch that, though, don't worry, there are some excellent free tools around.

We've found 10 of the very best free photo editing apps, and whether you're looking for comprehensive editing power, ease of use, arty effects or just a quick way to spice up a photo before posting it on Facebook, there's something for you here.

1. Gimp

GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) first appeared way back in 1996, and has been regularly updated ever since, so it's no surprise that the package is the most powerful free photo editor that you'll find anywhere.

There are tools to correct colours, enhance contrast, brightness and more; sharpen or blur an image, fix perspective problems, remove red-eye; add special lighting effects, turn a photo into an oil painting, and create an animation.

The paint tools alone are amazing, there's full layer support and lots of ways to extend the program.

All this power does mean GIMP takes a while to learn, but don't let that put you off - if you've any previous image editing experience then you'll be doing useful work within minutes.

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2. Paint.NET

It may not have anything like the power of GIMP, but there's still plenty to like about Paint.NET. It's strong on image editing basics, with options to resize and rotate your photos, a good range of selection and paint tools, and some excellent special effects.

Support for layers means you can apply your edits to part of an image only, and the program can be extended with plugins.

Best of all, though, Paint.NET's clear and straightforward interface means it's very easy to use, even if you're a complete graphics novice.

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3. PhoXo

PhoXo has been around for almost 10 years now, and it's grown into a very useful editor with something for everyone. Kids can play around with the clipart, customising images with cartoon cats; practical types will enjoy options like the ability to add a custom watermark to an entire folder of images; and everyone else will appreciate the drawing and paint tools, image transformations, effects and more.

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4. Funny Photo Maker

Funny Photo Maker has no layer support, no smart selection tools, no paint or drawing options. But that doesn't matter, because what it does have is an amazing range of effects which you can apply in seconds.

So you can add someone's face to a movie poster, magazine cover or a dollar bill; transform a still image into an animation; add rain or snow to a photo, apply some excellent frames, and turn your photos into a collage, amongst many other options.

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5. Photo Pos Pro

Its tiny toolbars and dated interface mean Photo Pos Prodoesn't look too promising, but begin to explore and you'll soon be impressed.

There are plenty of selection options, a wide range of paint tools, colour corrections and more

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You get reasonable support for layers and masks, lots of effects (all extremely configurable), and a scripting tool which helps you automate many editing tasks.

And the program offers some fun touches, too, like a set of "Magical" effects which help you add fireworks, bubbles, stardust or similar decorations to an image.

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6. PhotoScape

PhotoScape won't appeal to editing experts - there's no layer support, for instance - but if you're just looking to have some quick fun with a photo then it's a very different story.

There are hundreds of clipart images ready to paste into your picture, for instance. You can add custom speech bubbles to an image, apply some great special effects, even create animated GIFs.

Most of these options are surprisingly configurable too. So while other tools might just have a single "turn this photo into an oil painting", for instance, PhotoScape supports 11 artistic styles (Pastel, Pencil, Cartoon, more), each of which can then be customised further.

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