Best free photo editing software:

12 top image editors

you should try

By Mike Williams and Jim Glass

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 for

Photoshop CS 5($700), and

there's no doubt it's a great

program.

Much less but extremely good is

Photoshop Elements 11($69 on

Amazon) [I use PSE 9.] Also

Corel PaintshopProX is excellent

($49.95 on Amazon)

But if your finances won't stretch that,

We've found 12 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 (www.gimp.org)

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 colors, 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.

1. Gimp

(www.gimp.org)

2. Paint.NET (www.getpaint.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, GetPaint.NET's clear and

straightforward interface means it's very easy to use, even if

you're a complete graphics novice.

2. Paint.NET

(www.getpaint.net)

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,

customizing 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.

3. PhoXo

(WWW.PHOXO.COM)

3. PhoXo (WWW.PHOXO.COM)

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.

4. Funny Photo Maker

(http://www.funny-photo-maker.com/)

4. Funny Photo Maker

http://www.funny-photo-maker.com/

Its tiny toolbars and dated interface mean Photo Pos

Pro doesn't look 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.

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.

5. Photo Pos Pro

(http://www.photopos.com/)

5. Photo Pos Pro

(http://www.photopos.com/)

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 customized further.

6. PhotoScape

www.photoscape.org

6. PhotoScape

www.photoscape.org

As its name suggests, IrfanView is mostly about viewing

images, but the program also includes more plenty of

editing power.

You can rotate and resize an image, for instance; tweak

its colors, brightness and contrast; add text captions or

watermarks; sharpen your photo, remove red-eye, and

apply a range of special effects. Excellent for batch

processing: renaming, resizing, etc.

If that's not enough, though, IrfanView can be extended

via its support for 8Bf (Photoshop), AltaLux, Filter

Factory and Filters Unlimited plugins. And all in a

compact free tool which requires less than 2MB of disk

space.

7. IrfanView

(http://www.irfanview.com/)

7. IrfanView:

(www.irfranview.com)

8. PhotoFiltre

(http://photofiltre.en.softonic.com/)

While it's more an image retouching tool than a

conventional editor (and it's only free for personal use),

PhotoFiltre has plenty of editing features and it's capable

of some spectacular results.

The PhotoMask tool alone, for instance, applies stylish

contour and transparency effects to your image for an

impressively artistic effect (check the program website

for some great examples).

Elsewhere there are plenty of paint tools, colour

corrections and filters, and overall the program is a great

choice when you need more artistic editing options.

8. PhotoFiltre

(http://photofiltre.en.softonic.com/)

9. PixBuilder Studio

(http://www.wnsoft.com/pixbuilder/)

PixBuilder Studio is a useful mid-range photo editor

with a strong focus on solid, practical features. So

instead of cartoon clipart and arty effects you get

sensible features like crop, resize and rotate

options, plenty of color correction tools, sharpness

and blur filters and some capable print tools.

There's not a lot of fun here, then, but PixBuilder

Studio is great it you just want to make your photos

a little better (and 8BF filter support means the

program can be extended if necessary).

9. PixBuilder Studio

(http://www.wnsoft.com/pixbuilder/)

10. Chasys Draw IES

(www.jpchacha.com/chasysdraw/)

Look past its odd name and Chasys Draw IES proves to

be a very capable photo editor with a stack of essential

features: extensive paint and drawing tools, strong layer

support, lots of smart special effects, plenty of colour

and lighting adjustments, Photoshop plugin support,

and more.

These are just some of the program's capabilities,

though. You can also use it to create animations, CD or

DVD labels, icons and cursors, or even capture videos of

desktop activity.

With a RAW file processor, image viewer and converter

also included, Chasys Draw IES really is an amazingly

versatile package.

10. Chasys Draw IES

(www.jpchacha.com/chasysdraw/)

11. PICASA 3.9

(www.picasa.google.com)

This is my favorite free photo editing and

photo index software.

It is very versatile in that you can easily

choose what files you wants it to scan and

index. You can set it to scan once, always or

never.

It also has easy editing tools. One of the best

straightening tools, a collage maker, slide

show producer and slide movies. It allows you

to overlay your favorite music to a slide show

or movie. Plus an easy way to upload your

pics to Google web album, Google plus,

Geotag, FaceBook, Twitter, Snapfish, Walmart,

etc.

11. PICASA 3.9

(www.picasa.google.com)

12. Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center is part

of the Windows Operating

system and it is a very simple

and basic photo editor.

12. Windows Media Center

When all

else fails,