Even a novice photographer can sometimes take a beautiful shot from an ideal angle that requires minimal correction. Before showing the results of your creativity to friends, all you need to do is crop the edges and increase the brightness a little. All these functions are, of course, available in Adobe Photoshop. However, it is quite complex and paid. Free online photo editors come to the rescue, which have the same or similar functionality, but are much easier to use.
This article presents an overview of the best online editors, which are almost as good as the famous Photoshop. The rating we have built is quite conditional, since each of them includes a different set of tools. Of course, it is impossible to call any site 100% ideal. Having tested at least 5 of them, you will easily determine the one that will be most convenient for you to work with.
Pixlr Editor
Photo editor Pixlr easy to use and has a large set of functions inherent in professional programs, such as cloning objects and color replacement. Supports work with all known formats, including PSD, export to JPG, PNG, BMP, as well as to its own multi-layered PXD format.
At the same time, the application looks very attractive and includes various tools: brushes and filters that you won’t have to search for long. You will be surprised by the options for layers and masks, automatic or manual color adjustment.
The only annoying thing is the huge number of ads that take up a good half of the screen. But what else would you expect from a free version? If you need advanced options, try Pixlr Pro for $5.
The service is available online via any browser on a PC, as well as as an application for iPhone and Android. The undoubted advantage is detailed instructions that help quickly master the most complex nuances of the work. Even if you already have some experience in photo editing, do not rush to give up learning.
Polarr
On your first visit to the editor Polarr you will have the opportunity to get detailed information about each function, and a step-by-step guide will teach you how to adjust brightness, correct perspective, remove spots, retouch portraits. In addition, Polarr's own YouTube channel contains educational video tutorials for beginners.
There is a batch saving of images in three quality options, as well as resizing to a standard format for posting on Twitter, Pinterest and other social networks.
The basic version has limited functionality; to connect to advanced options, you need to pay for the premium version at a cost of $2.49 per month.
Photopea
Photopea — another online alternative to Photoshop, equipped with a number of advanced features and built on the HTML5 platform, so it runs without problems in any modern browser, without requiring the installation of additional plugins.
Users have access to several different brushes and filters, color change, layering, automatic or manual adjustment of brightness, hue, saturation, blur effects, sharpness. With the help of advanced text design tools, you can create original banners.
Allows you to save the results of processing in PSD format, supports most known extensions (JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP SVG, XCF, Sketch). Clear interface, variety of tools and the same hotkey combinations as in Photoshop.
Sumopaint
The next online graphic editor is Sumopaint, which has gained popularity among 30 million people. Although its range of capabilities is not as wide as that of professional programs, the toolbars with numerous filters and effects are identical to standard Photoshop.
Before using, do not forget to update Flash plugins to the latest current version. When working in free mode, in addition to native SUMO, PNG and JPG formats are supported, which is usually quite sufficient.
The results of the processing are stored in the cloud, which allows you to share photos with friends using automatically generated links. There is a Russian language.
Fotor
Despite the limited functionality, Fotor contains several interesting options that will be useful when editing single or group portraits. The available tools allow you to retouch spots, smooth out wrinkles, adjust face and figure shapes, add inscriptions, stickers, photo frames.
There is a distribution for installation on a PC (for Windows), but it works great online through any browser. The program has a nice interface and does not require much computing power. You will not have to make the computer puff like an overloaded locomotive and waste time waiting for the completion of this or that operation.
Fotor offers a good range of smart filters and effects, as well as the ability to create quirky photo collages and process several files simultaneously. With this service, it is easy to implement your design ideas for business cards, avatars for social networks, posters, banners and postcards.
Of course, Fotor does not have the usual Photoshop brushes or stamps, does not guarantee highly artistic effects, but it copes with the stated tasks one hundred percent. It is good for simple photo editing and will be useful for those of you who do not need advanced functions. There is a correction of portrait photos, batch processing of images. Edited pictures are uploaded to storage in the cloud.
BeFunky
BeFunky has a huge collection of colorful images, artistic fonts, raster vectors for free use. In addition, the site is interactive, that is, you can independently select the tools you need for work, pinning their icons to the taskbar.
The interface is intuitive, BeFunky has the highest performance among the services listed here and amazes with a variety of amazing tools for improving the quality of images. The collage function, design elements will allow you to turn an ordinary photo into a bright postcard, a colorful poster or a slide for Powerpoint presentations in a few steps.
If you are engaged in the development of advertising banners, create layouts for printed brochures or just like to share colorful pictures with friends, then you should definitely take a closer look at this online editor and try it out.
Lunapic
Lunapic — a completely free online editor that has an excellent collection of backgrounds, art, static and animation filters. The navigation menu with its modest appearance is not much different from the interface of many similar programs.
The results of some photo effects are simply mind-blowing, you will have to see them to understand how good they are. In addition to uploading images from your computer, you can paste the URL into the special line and upload an image from any site. GIF, JPG, BMP, PNG extensions are supported.
iPiccy
iPiccy offers basic and advanced graphics editing tools with convenient controls for adjusting color, brightness, and contrast. In addition to installing various filters and effects, you can retouch faces in photos: for example, smooth out wrinkles, hide spots or moles.
The best thing is that all functions in iPiccy are available absolutely free. The interface is extremely minimal, if you were looking for a good photo editor without any hassle, then consider that it is in front of you. You can easily correct photos by moving control points on a curve, cloning tools, background erasers, which is quite enough.
The service allows saving images only in JPG and PNG. It is possible to process several files simultaneously, and the WYSIWYG interface greatly simplifies the work.
PicMonkey
PicMonkey is great for designing layouts for flyers, logos, invitations, advertising posters, and greeting cards. The only disappointment is the lack of fixed-size templates, which are necessary when preparing images for social networks. Now you don’t have to have professional skills to create stunningly beautiful drawings.
Simplicity is attractive in comparison with more advanced editors. Even on your first visit, you will not encounter any difficulties. The friendly, logically built appearance will not allow either an adult or a child to get lost among the tools and filters. PicMonkey is a real expert in the field of collage creation, which overshadows most competitors.
Here you will find various stencils, backgrounds, frames, clip art, designed to facilitate the process of creating logos for websites. Yes, you will not be able to work with 2-3 files at once, but PicMonkey is still worthy of being considered almost the best online photo editor.
Like most other web services, PicMonkey has additional features that are not available with free use. You can get acquainted with the advanced set of tools during the seven-day trial period. And then, if you really need it, you will have to purchase a paid subscriptionThere is an extensive library of frames, backgrounds and templates, numbering more than one thousand elements, an excellent gallery of effects, filters and other decorations is available.
Ribbon
Main advantage Ribbon - simplicity and reliability. Thanks to the carefully thought-out design, even an amateur will easily understand all the nuances of editing.
There is a collage function, as well as a fairly solid set of useful tools, including more than 70 different fonts for decorating pictures with inscriptions, ability to create stickers, stickers and much more.
By registering, you will get access to free cloud storage, where it is convenient to place and sort photos, as well as share them with friends. Having paid attention to Ribbet, you will definitely not make a mistake with the choice. This is a very worthy project, which is pleasant to work with. With each update, it only gets better.
It is worth noting one important detail: to use more advanced functionality, you will need to purchase a premium package. However, the basic options are quite enough to effectively transform and improve the photos you take. The site is available from a computer, iPhone and iPad, and an Android version should appear soon.
Of course, Ribbet can't be considered a full-fledged alternative to Photoshop, but it has the most commonly used functions, which allows you to quickly retouch or decorate photos. For beginners, this is a great way to hone your skills.
Among other things, this photo editor can automatically optimize the parameters of photos for subsequent printing or posting on Twitter or YouTube. The application offers a variety of frames, stickers and backgrounds.