Review of Top 5 Free Picture Editing Software for 2018

Almost everyone takes a lot of pictures – pictures of birthday parties, food delicacies, different occasions, weddings, nature, animals, sky, selfies, groupies etc. This is why the need for picture editing software programs these days is greater than ever before. These software programs are used to edit pictures, make them more attractive and flawless.

Duplicate pictures are bound to cause issues, and they will creep up into your system, make no mistake about that! They will cause unnecessary clutter, occupy hard disk space for no good and give you a headache when you’re out to search for a specific file. So equip yourself with an efficient and effective duplicate cleaning software like PictureEcho.

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In the market, there are many free picture editing software available but it is important to choose the best one so that it’s easy to get the job done. In this article, we will be looking at the top 5 photo editing software programs so that users can choose the best one for themselves.

 

Photo Pos Pro

Photo Pos Pro is a freeware software and its interface and features both are advanced and user-friendly. This picture editing software is pixel based, and some of the advanced tools it offers are edit, erase, filters, brightness adjustment, and management. Although the software promises to provide a great experience there are some flaws present in this software.

  • Users feel that there are many features offered by the software, but the features are not perfectly managed, which is why it becomes a little tricky to use this software at times.
  • Another problem that occurs while using this software is that FrmStartup automatically runs in the background.
  • Few other drawbacks are that it doesn’t offer any shortcut keys and does not provide burn and dodge tools.
  • However, it does provide customized brushes and many filters.
  • The duplicate cleanup option is also not available in this software and users have to use the copy paste option.
  • If we talk about text designing, then there are very limited options available in Photo Pos Pro.

 

Pixlr

Pixlr is one of the best free picture editing software programs out there. It is available as a web-based application and also as a smartphone app. This software helps the user edit their photos like a professional.

  • To be able to make the optimum use of this software, a strong Internet connection is highly important.
  • This software is extremely user-friendly and it offers all the features that users need to edit the pictures.
  • Users state that it is the best software for editing, cropping and for making a collection and is very easy-to-use.
  • However, its drawback is that the pictures that are edited and saved in Pixlr are not very good in quality as well as it also doesn’t allow its users to draw over the pictures.
  • The software works smoothly. Its tools like double exposure, heal, blur, auto fix, brighten, darken, pixelate, doodle, effects, overlay, stylize, borders and stickers are brilliant but this software needs some more features for better user experience.
  • The software must add features like more text designing options, more variety of stickers etc.

 

GIMP

GIMP is one of the oldest yet one of the top-rated picture editing software used for editing pictures. This software is developed by the GIMP Development Team, and is often used as a substitute for Adobe Photoshop.

  • The biggest plus point is that the software is compatible with many operating systems such as Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris, and BDS.
  • Users find it as ‘a replacement for Photoshop’ where this software makes the whole process of editing a fun task.
  • The factor which attracts a lot of users towards this software is that it allows users to sketch the drawing with tools like cloning, pencil, and airbrush.
  • While using it, one can discover that the software can be easily expandable and also offers tutorials for every feature.
  • The software isn’t much useful for professional image editing as much as Adobe Photoshop, but all the features it provides get the work done nevertheless.
  • One of the advanced features of GIMP is the Layers feature which allows the users to draw an image under an existing image!
  • Overall, GIMP is the best available option amongst all picture editing software solutions.

 

Canva

Canva is another free-for software program that provides multiple editing features, making the whole process of editing very creative. This software is also available as an app for smartphone users.

  • This software can be used for making logos, cards, infographics, Instagram/ Facebook/ Twitter posts, quotes, book covers, business cards, posters, flyers, invitations, banners, CD covers, announcements, collage, bookmarks, brochure, calendar design, appointment card, birthday card, greeting cards, certificate, schedule, coupon, wallpaper and what not.
  • The best part is that it doesn’t put its watermark on the images and edits the picture according to the exact size for what it has been edited for. For example, if the user edits a picture for a poster than Canva edits the picture according to the size of a poster.
  • However, sometimes the pictures that are edited in this software are blurred and aren’t in good condition.
  • The software is also quite complex to use. It offers more than 60,000 templates but it doesn’t show them all. Users have to input some expression related to the template they want to use.
  • Canva is easy-to-use and liked by many people because of the vast options it presents to the users.
  • The software works amazingly on PC, laptop, and Android, but it’s a different story altogether when one tries it out on an iPhone.

 

PicsArt

PicsArt concludes our top 5 today. It is used for editing, creating and sharing pictures with great ease, and can be tried out on a computer as well a smartphone.

  • PicsArt has been downloaded more than an astounding 100,000,000 times! This single fact is enough to establish it’s utility.
  • The photo remixing option enables the user to merge two photos together.
  • Live effects can be applied to newly snapped images. It also provides a sticker maker option, free clipart, and stickers.
  • It organizes fun picture editing competitions for its users.
  • One of the best features it provides is that multiple users can collaborate on a single picture in real-time and edit it.
  • PicsArt sometimes crashes and is often slow to respond to user’s commands. Also, pictures edited in PicsArt cannot be shared on most social media sites.

PicsArt is free of cost generally but it has recently rolled out PicsArt Gold which offers more advanced features to the users for a premium.

Raza Ali Kazmi

Raza Ali Kazmi works as an editor and technology content writer at Sorcim Technologies (Pvt) Ltd. He loves to pen down articles on a wide array of technology related topics and has also been diligently testing software solutions on Windows & Mac platforms.