1-HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE?
If you are here, it is probably because you are looking for a free photo editing software that will allow you to have top results without encountering too many difficulties. Whether you are a web editor, educational engineer, Digital Learning Manager, journalist, or marketer, you must regularly need to retouch images to carry out most of your missions.
In 2021, a multitude of free photo editing software is available to you but which one to choose? These free photo editing tools are fighting a real battle to gain market share held by Photoshop.
By observing all the possibilities available to you, choosing the right software is not that simple.
First of all, you should know that nowadays, more and more software offers a free version. So it’s not the most complicated thing to find. On the other hand, before choosing your free photo editing software, you should definitely ask yourself this question: « what is the most suitable free photo editing software for my situation and my need? »
1-1-YOUR SITUATION
Before opting for photo editing software, you must take stock with yourself:
- Are you comfortable getting started with new software?
- Are you used to retouching a large amount of photographs or not at all?
By answering these two questions, you did 50% of the work. You will be much better able to select the free photo editing software that suits you best. For beginners, it is important to be guided during the first uses of photo editing software in order to « tame the beast » that you have in your hands. Otherwise, you can learn very well as self-taught and discover at your own pace by accumulating successes and failures. In both cases, know that thousands of videos, articles or tutorials are available on the internet to familiarize you with the tool you choose from our TOP 5.
1-2-YOUR NEED
When you first identify the features you need to retouch your photo, you’ve done 80% of the work. All you have to do is choose the free photo editing software that suits you best. In order to correctly identify your need, ask yourself two things:
- What features do you really need?
- Do you want to make quick and easy image edits or rather photo edits with more advanced modifications and creative effects?
Some software allows more things than others, that’s a fact. But do you really need these extra features? Will you use them? More complete software is difficult to handle, even more so if you are not used to editing photos. So choose the tool most suitable for your use and not the most complete on the market because otherwise, you risk biting your fingers.
Did you know?
When you want to modify a photo, it is essential to distinguish 2 major actions:
- « The development of a photo » consists in adjusting the basic settings of an image (colors, filters, dimensions, brightness, contrast, sharpness …).
- « Retouching a photo » consists of modifying part of the image. Indeed, it allows to delete or correct details present on the image. In some cases, photo editing allows you to add elements that were not in the image at the beginning.
By correctly distinguishing these two actions, you will more easily identify the most suitable software for your needs.
2-OUR TOP 5 BEST FREE PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE
You will find in this article a comparison of the 5 best free photo editing software on the market. Don’t forget! Who says complete and powerful software necessarily says difficulties of use. Other software that is easier to use is still among our top 5. It’s up to you to make your choice according to your situation (beginner, initiated, professional) and your needs (simple, fast, complex, pushed).
You do not want to retouch photos but rather create attractive visuals in a few clicks on an ultra-intuitive software? start your design.
1-PHOTOSCAPE X
The famous Korean photo editing software Free Photoscape X is logically part of our TOP 5. Photoscape is one of the easiest to use free photo editing software. It includes the most essential features while giving you an easy-to-use interface. Available for download for both Windows and Mac users, this tool allows you to quickly adopt relatively simple and common changes to your photographs such as:
- changing colors
- cropping
- cutting / gluing
- overlays
- printing
The very concept of Photoscape is to be a simple and fun software, allowing its users to easily edit photos taken from a digital camera or a mobile phone. Although it is user-friendly, powerful and accessible to all, it is still an amateur photo editing software. In short, it will be perfect for amateurs who are looking for both free and effective software while remaining simple and without headaches.
The small + of Photoscape X: Photoscape highlights on its software the GIF animation that allows you to transform several images into animated GIF image.
The little – of Photoscape X: it is an amateur photo editing software that does not include the most technical and advanced features
2-PIXLR EDITOR
Another tool of our TOP 5, the photo editing software Pixlr, aka the darling of amateurs. But why? First of all, because the software is free and does not require any installation. To use this tool, simply go to the Pixlr website and off you go, you can start editing your photos! It is possible to upload your own photos to Pixlr or to use royalty-free images (link > Aurélie article) offered directly on the site.
The interface is quite intuitive and easy to use. It includes almost all the basic features (color adjustment, cropping, cutting / pasting, overlays, etc …). Careful! There are still many similarities with the famous Photoshop software, which can be a problem when you start completely in photo editing.
In summary, Pixlr is a beautiful tool that allows you to create beautiful designs for free directly from your browser. However, it may be slightly complicated to handle if you start photo editing.
Pixlr’s little plus: in order to better meet the needs of its users, Pixlr offers two different free photo editors:
- Pixlr X: an editor for quick and easy graphic designs
- Pixlr E: an editor for more advanced graphic designs
The little – from Pixlr: It is a photo editing software whose interface is inspired by Photoshop. It may be slightly complicated to handle if you start photo editing.
3-PHOTOSHOP EXPRESS
Another very special free photo editing software that is in our TOP 5: Photoshop Express. It is an extremely basic version of Photoshop which is of course totally free. But what is special about it?
Photoshop express (adobe suite tool) is a free mobile app available on tablets, IOS smartphones and Android. It allows its users to quickly, efficiently and easily edit photos directly on their mobile. Photoshop Express has the principle of maintaining an intuitive interface for its users. The changes that can be made on the tool are therefore rather simple. For more advanced creative designs, it will be necessary to switch to a computer and use other more powerful photo editing software.
However, Photoshop Express remains the mobile photo editing app to download. In addition to its many totally free features, the application is very easy to learn, even for the most novice users. All these elements make Photoshop Express one of the best photo editing software, but unfortunately only available on mobile.
The little plus of Photoshop Express: beyond being a mobile application, which is already quite new, here are some essential features available on Photoshop Express:
- correcting the perspective of a photo
- removal of imperfections / retouching of red eyes
- Looks (instant filters offered by Photoshop Express, you can also create and save your custom looks)
The little – from Photoshop Express: it is a photo editing software available only on mobile.
4-PAINT.NET
Obviously, photo editing software Paint.net joined our TOP 5. Have you ever heard his brother’s name « Microsoft Paint »? Regardless, just know that Paint.net is the next generation. This tool is a much improved version of Microsoft Paint. It offers many photo editing options that are usually only accessible on paid software. Unfortunately, not everyone can benefit from it… Paint.net is a free software but only available on Windows.
Be careful all the same to the most novices who rub their hands to be on Windows, this software has been designed for users who already have a good experience of photo editing. If necessary, you will find a good number of tutorials Paint.net in French on the internet. But remember, the most important thing is to choose the tool that best suits your situation and need.
The small plus of Paint.net: the interface remains quite simple for users already introduced to photo editing software. Indeed, the retouching icons are easily recognizable. Paint.net is one of the most advanced free photo editing software. In addition, a huge amount of plug-ins and filters created by the Paint.net community are available for download.
The small – of Paint.net: it is a software only available on Windows.
5-GIMP
Not surprisingly, Gimp photo editing software is in our TOP 5. Available on Windows, MacOS and Linux, the Gimp tool is a must. It’s probably the most complete free photo editing software of all. Gimp is the tool that comes closest to a professional photo editing software.
Since 1995, the interface has been constantly evolving to resemble as much as possible that of Photoshop. By offering such a complete tool, Gimp aimed to recover all experienced users who worked on Photoshop. Retouching is still more limited on Gimp than on Photoshop.
Careful! Gimp is probably the most complete free tool in return, it is not the easiest to use. Who says complete and powerful software necessarily says difficulties of use for beginners. The interface requires a little time to get started. This is not really a problem because around this software there is an extremely active community. It is possible to find without difficulty a very large number of tutorials in French and for free. You still have to have time!
Gimp’s little plus: to sum up, Gimp is a very powerful, extremely rich free photo editing software, almost worthy of a professional software.
The small – of Gimp: beware of the most novices, the handling of the tool may be difficult without tutorials.
6-BONUS: K.PIXEL, THE IMAGE EDITOR BY KUMULLUS
Are you a creator of educational content? Are you tired of going through dozens of tools to carry out your missions? During the creation of your training modules, do you need to quickly perform basic photo editing? Then this bonus is for you!
Kumullus, the #1 video learning platform, now offers an image editor called K.Pixel that allows users to edit their images directly on the platform. No need to get out of the authoring tool to retouch an image on a complicated software, then re-download it, then import it again… It’s energy intensive! With K.Pixel, you can develop and edit your photos in a very simple way directly in the authoring tool. No more wasting time!
In this new image editor, users will be able to develop their photos by adjusting the brightness and contrast, changing their dimensions or applying filters. In addition, on K.Pixel, it is possible to retouch your images in a simple way by adding text or vector shapes for example, by drawing with the pen, or by applying a rotation.
Obviously, other prestigious new features have come to enrich the author tool at the end of 2021. Besides, you want to retouch photos but do you know where to find the best images and royalty-free photos on the Internet? Because YES, there are some nugget sites to know! Our selection of the best royalty-free image banks could be useful to you.
The 1st BIG + of K.Pixel: K.Pixel is an image editor integrated directly into the author tool K.Air. There is therefore no need to leave the authoring tool to retouch his images.
The 2nd BIG + of K.Pixel (yes yes it’s Christmas before the hour): once you arrive in K.Pixel, you will not feel like you are in an airplane cockpit where you do not know which button to choose. The features offered are simple and intuitive, which makes the tool comfortable and easy to use.
If this bonus has made you want to know more, do not hesitate to test Kumullus for free for 7 days, or book a demo of the tool to be better accompanied when it is used.
This article first appeared on kumullus.
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