Last Updated on 13.09.2022
It might seem, why do we need online photo editors if there are wonderful programs that can be installed on a computer? Are they really capable of doing something else or can they do something with better quality?
Yes and no. Simultaneously. Because there is simply no single answer to these questions.
It can only be said with certainty that online systems of any kind are very convenient if you are traveling or lead a mobile lifestyle, and photo editors are no exception. For use in low-performance, low-memory laptops, these systems are simply unmatched.
We distinguish 3 types of online photo editors.
- The first is photo editors as such, without additional features. They are usually available for free, but require registration with any cloud service. However, there are free photo editors that are associated with sites focused on monetization by displaying ads. On such sites, registration may not be required.
- The second is photo editors that are part of a service focused on solving practical problems in the interest of marketing, work on social networks, promotions and advertising of goods and services. Typically, these services include a photo editor, a collage editor, and an editor for creating standard materials: postcards, banners, fliers, covers, etc.
- The third is photo editors with limited specialization, which, on the one hand, makes it unnecessary and pointless to use usual installable programs, on the other hand, allows you to solve specific tasks very quickly, cheaply and obtain a high-quality result.
And then there are completely unexpected configuration services, like Appy Pie.
Appy Pie
This service is intended to develop mobile applications using a constructor, without programming in any language. Of course, this is quite a complex system that includes all the necessary components.
One of the components of the system is designed to process photographs. It is completely free to use, only registration is required.
The creators of the service, as usual, claim that their photo editor can replace Adobe Photoshop.
It’s hard to agree with this, as the developer, like all his colleagues and competitors, is prone to exaggeration, but he can definitely compete with Adobe Photoshop Express.
All basic operations, as well as advanced ones like background removal, are successfully performed by this photo editor.
Adobe Spark
It is the simplest, lightest and least overloaded application of Adobe tools.
The app works on all common social media-oriented formats, but you can also set the size of a page to print or specify a custom size.
The app is capable of performing all the basic photo editing functions itself, applying effects and filters to the entire image, adding captions, and creating various informational and promotional materials based on templates.
At the time this article was written, there are 37,099 templates in the collection, both free and available for a fee.
At its core, it’s a hybrid of a primitive photo editor and an image design app.
You can download the result to your computer in JPG, PNG and PDF formats.
To use the app, you must have an Adobe ID, Apple ID, or Facebook account.
Adobe Express
This Adobe app is indeed a real photo editor. There is nothing superfluous in it, just edit photos.
And it’s also free.
We think that the word Photoshop in its name only highlights its functionality.
Neither in the interface, nor in the set of tools, nor in the process itself, in general, there is not much similarity with the “great Photoshop”.
Unless the set of artistic effects and all the settings have familiar names and give very predictable results.
But the app works very, very well.
This is what it does:
- touch up flaws with a single touch,
- crop the image according to standard templates with specified proportions or in a custom way,
- “straighten” the image with simultaneous automatic cropping,
- change the linear dimensions of the image,
- apply styles, filters and effects, including those with manual settings,
- apply artistic effects.
You can download the result in JPG and PNG formats.
Befunky
It’s a combo service that includes the classic triad: a photo editor, a collage maker, and a template-based combo image editor. This is all very well done and works well.
But a photo editor that uses artificial intelligence deserves a separate mention. It is really very good for its class, it is a real example of combining ease of use with sophisticated technologies that give excellent results.
Basic operations from the basic set (crop, adjust sharpness, brightness, color) and advanced operations (remove background and objects, complex retouch, adjust skin tone, blur, sharpen, add lighting effects, change the shape and proportions of objects) the application performs them very well.
Very high quality filters and effects, especially artistic effects.
The application supports batch file processing.
In its basic version, the photo editor is available for free. Full access to system capabilities is provided with a paid subscription.
Clipping Magic
Specialized photo editor.
It is focused on transforming ordinary photographs of objects into very beautiful images of isolated objects on a white background that we see in the windows of online stores.
Before we got acquainted with this application, we did not even suspect how many subtleties and details the process of selecting an object hides in order to obtain a product photo in the way that the buyer is used to seeing it.
In our age of ubiquitous online trading, the value of such an app cannot be overestimated.
The app allows you to adjust various parameters and can batch process photos (or they can be hand-drawn graphics, the app works with those too). After batch processing, you can use hand tools to fix the blemishes if you can find them.
It really works much more efficiently than any conventional photo editor or image editor, and the time and effort savings are simply immense. Any specialist who has encountered this type of work knows how long it takes to manually process one image after another.
The application website contains instructions and informational material on the use of the application, photo processing and shooting techniques for various types of objects, for example clothing and jewelry, as well as recommendations on the choice of shooting equipment.
The application is accessed by subscription.
EditorPhoto
Free photo editor, online version – the predecessor of modern PhotoLab mobile applications.
The app contains all the necessary tools for basic editing, color enhancement, sharpening and blur control, large libraries of stickers, frames and overlay textures.
The interface is simple, everything is clear without explanation, convenient and predictable.
You can download the finished image in JPG and PNG formats.
The service’s site also contains advanced portrait retouching tools, a huge library of effects and apps for creating animated avatars and fun animation effects.
FotoFlexer
Another free photo editor with features to add and customize short texts and simple objects. Simply a modern and completely free photo editor, without registration.
The application interface is very concise and intuitive, reactions to user actions are fast, the result of operations is immediately visible.
The app supports basic operations like cropping, rotating and resizing, applying various filters, texts, stickers and geometric shapes.
All added objects form separate layers for which you can set the color and texture of the fill, transparency, stroke, and shadow. Also, there is a collection of frames that can be applied to the entire image.
The app contains hundreds of fonts, grouped in the usual way, and hundreds of monochrome stickers, combined into themed collections.
For the colors of objects and their backgrounds, you can adjust the color in RGB space as well as in the alpha channel.
You can download the finished image in JPG, PNG and JSON formats.
FotoJet
A multipurpose service that includes an online photo editor, collage editor, layout app, and video editor. All components are of good quality and work well.
The photo editor makes a very good impression. This is quite a powerful application that allows you to thoroughly process your photos.
The interface is well done, it is simple, direct and carefully structured. The editing menu contains all the basic functions and an excellent set of advanced functions (sharpness control, defog, vignettes, noise control, local sharpening, local color correction, and a set of filters with convenient control over selection of the work area).
The advanced editing feature set is perhaps the strongest aspect of this app.
The collections of effects, decorative overlays, frames, and text styles are also worth checking out. There are no stickers.
Overall this is a very interesting product in its class.
Access to the service is by subscription. The basic functions can be used for free. All tools, disk space, and advanced collections of all objects for editing and design are available for a fee.
The paid plan includes a free trial period.
Fotor
Another service that includes photo editor, collage editor and layout app.
In this review, as for all similar services, we are only considering photo editors.
What is immediately striking is the focus on working with the cloud. Actually, all systems of this type in one way or another work with the cloud, but in this system special emphasis is placed on this.
The photo editor is very similar to other apps in this class and has a simple interface that is easy to master. It should be noted that for channel color correction the application has a way of working with curves that is quite rare in this class. Operations using HDR technology are also available.
The application contains a large number of artistic effects and also a whole set of tools under the general name “Beauty”. This block has everything you need for manual touch-ups and general beauty adjustments.
There are large and well-organized collections of frames, texts, and stickers. But there are no decorative overlays.
The service requires registration and is available by subscription. The free plan gives you access to basic photo editing tools, while the two paid plans give you access to advanced editing capabilities and a large collection of design materials.
Fotoramio
A very interesting free service.
It is interesting both for being free and for its wide range of functions. And it is also due to the fact that the application is made in the form of an adaptive web solution, which is quite convenient both when working on a regular computer and when using a mobile phone.
The service does not have a readily visible connection to commercial designs or image design for social networks. His specialty is photo editing, creating collages and various artistic effects for artistic photography.
Basically, all of these features together match the functionality of commercial online photo editors.
And for free use you will have to process photos while being surrounded by advertising banners.
The service is available without registration.
InPaint
Specialized photo editor. It is intended only to remove any objects, inscriptions or faces from the image, in general, everything that needs to be removed.
The app has a very simple interface and comes with many tutorials with examples.
It can be successfully used to edit complex images with a large number of objects, retouch portraits, and restore old photos.
The application itself works without payment, you can fully master and test its capabilities and decide whether to work with it. In order to download the result in high resolution, you need to register and pay for the service according to the number of downloaded photos.
The service processes image files up to 10 MB in size.
You can also download and install versions for Windows and MacOS.
It has an online companion app: PhotoScissor, which is used to remove backgrounds.
Lunapic
Completely free photo editor with no registration required.
Outdated interface and not very comfortable to use: toolbars move as the edited image scrolls along with the entire content of the browser window.
But, it has an incredible number of tools!
Not all of them work perfectly, but in the vast majority of cases, the result is exactly what it should be.
In the right hands, this photo editor can do it all. Well, almost everything.
It has so many image editing and adjustment tools that not all installable commercial photo editors have.
There are many photo filters and effects. Also, there are great art filters! And the possibilities of creating animated images.
Well, and frames, of course. Text and drawing tools. And a large number of formats to save the finished work.
We got a lot of impressions from this photo editor, mostly positive ones. An excellent technical and creative tool.
Movavi Picverse Online
A very simple, or rather minimalist, photo editor from a well-known company that develops programs for creating and editing videos and images.
Contains only the most basic functions, works quickly and reliably. There are few filters, but they give a quality result. There are no extra features, but no restrictions either.
No registration required, the app is completely free.
Photo Editor
Free photo editor. The title is simple but promising.
The app contains standard and advanced tools and features. Most likely, artificial intelligence will not be used in any way. Menus, dialogs, windows, settings – everything looks quite conservative and, you might say, classic.
You can save the result in JPG, PNG, GIF and PDF files.
There is no need to register for the service, you can open the page and start editing immediately.
In addition to the photo editor itself, the page contains links to various online applications for working with images. Their purpose and capabilities fully correspond to the names, and all these tools are also free, their developer is Zygomatic.
In principle, using all the listed applications, you can solve all photo processing tasks online for free. But using separate applications means downloading the result when you finish working with each one and loading it from a local disk to start working with the next application.
Considering the fact that working in a browser window is not as fast as when using a normal photo editor, this multi-step process will certainly be slow and not very convenient. However, if necessary, the service can be very useful, especially if you are traveling and have a low-power laptop or netbook.
Photo EditorPhoto FiltersPhoto EnlargerPhoto Collage
Photomania
Unlike many online photo editors, it is a completely “non-classic” app. There are no basic photo editing tools, no lists of filters and effects with the familiar names that have been found in every photo editor for many years.
But there are so many styles, plot designs, and art filters, from pure romance to Halloween horror. And nothing more!
The result can be immediately posted to Facebook, sent to a printer, or downloaded to your local drive. The service leaves its watermarks in the lower right corner.
The app is also available as a Chrome browser extension.
PicMonkey
A combined service that includes a photo editor, image retouching app, collage editor, and template maker app.
The photo editor contains a complete set of classic features to edit and sharpen photos, remove background, work with layers and use many customizable effects.
The retouch app is designed to work with portraits. In addition to the usual local retouching and color and light adjustment tools for the most cost-effective portrait presentation, the app has virtual make-up and eye and hair color adjustment tools.
By its structure, it is a typical cloud service with subscription access. Depending on the tariff plan, you will be provided with advanced functions of all service components, access to template collections, media collections and tools for teamwork.
The service provides a free trial period, to use it, you need to register for the service.
Pixlr
The service provides access to two versions of its main application.
Pixlr E version is a full-featured universal image editor, and we considered it in a separate review dedicated to this class of programs.
The Pixlr X version (which we’ll talk about later) has a simpler interface and is more suited to photo processing and not complex image work. But this version also has many possibilities.
As befits a serious program, Pixlr X separates concepts like the canvas and the image itself. In particular, they can be dimensioned individually.
This matches the layering technology supported by the app, and you have the ability to set the blending, opacity, and various other operations of each layer separately.
The application performs all basic editing operations, you can remove the background and individual objects.
The toolkit for adjusting colors and light gives full control over image properties, configurable filter sets and styles allow you to quickly give a photo the desired mood.
There are also tools for retouching, adding labels, overlays, stickers, frames, and objects.
The result of the work can be saved in JPG, PNG, WEBP and PXD formats.
The app is available by subscription. You can use the basic features for free (there are a lot of them), all the tools and huge clipart collections are available for a fee. The higher fee provides legal guarantees for the commercial use of the results.
Pixomatic
A set of applications for a complete photo processing cycle.
The meme generator that complements it seems more like a homage to fashion or an additional element to draw attention to the service, since the latter is very rich in features and tools and is valuable in itself.
The main application, Photo Editor, works with all image formats for social networks and with images of any format. Collections of stock photos are available.
Basic and advanced editing operations are supported, there is an operation block for processing images with faces separately.
Editing is done in layers with adjustable blend mode and transparency, and the ability to overlay a tinted overlay directly in the layer settings.
The application has tools for retouching, local blurring and image restoration. A fairly large set of filters and effects, tools for working with text, double exposure, geometric distortion correction and much more.
An application with many functions.
The application allows you to save the current session to postpone the work to a later date. You can download the result of work in PNG format.
The service is available by subscription with monthly or annual payment. There is also a free tariff plan with restrictions on the composition of the available tools. There is only one paid plan, you can try it for free for 7 days.
piZap
Another set of applications for working with photos online. It includes photo editor, collage editor, layout app and retouch app.
In addition, the site has a large number of specialized applications for the processing and design of various types of materials, which simply does not make sense to list.
The editor has a very user-friendly and intuitive interface, it features all the basic and advanced editing features.
There are facial retouching tools, a large collection of stickers, useful tools for adding texts, cropping objects and removing backgrounds, a large collection of frames, meme templates and a simple drawing way to add elements by hand.
The Pro version removes banners from the interface (in the free version they are placed in such a way that they practically do not interfere), removes restrictions on the resolution of finished works, unlocks advanced filters and retouching tools, as well as collections of fonts and fonts. stock illustrations.
The service is available by subscription with a monthly or annual payment, there is a free trial period.
Polarr
It is just a photo editor. Simply a good online photo editor that has installable versions for computers and mobile devices.
The list of capabilities and tools of this app is very impressive. We won’t name them all, it just has it all.
Separately, we highlight support for LUT technology, noise removal, advanced work with various masks, the ability to create your own filters, the large number of tools and settings for working by layers, and support for the use of functions macOS and iOS add-ons.
The service is available for free in a basic configuration. By purchasing a tariff plan, not only access to the online version is unlocked, but it is also possible to activate the mobile and desktop versions of the application – up to 5 users simultaneously.
Editorial opinion
The applications in this group are surprising in their variety, but upon closer examination, of course, you can find many tools and capabilities of the same type, even going by the same name. However, when you start working with online photo editors, it turns out that this impression is largely misleading.
They are very diverse.
In our opinion, this is related to the fact that the developer has its own algorithm, and the variety of means of software development, and the wide spectrum of requirements for the format, final purpose and speed of photo processing.
And, of course, the choice of the means of monetization of the service.
Also, unlike desktop and mobile applications, online services are designed and developed to be used on any type of device with any screen size or aspect ratio.
For a type of processed data such as photographic images, this approach simply cannot not cause certain difficulties and several ways to solve them.
In order not to confuse the situation even more than the developers confuse it, we have divided online photo editors into 4 categories.
Free online photo editors
Of course, free photo editors, like everything free, is something of a myth, but sometimes it seems a lot like the truth. However, someone always pays for everything.
In the simplest case, the advertiser is the one who pays, and the common users are the ones who support both the advertiser and the developer with their patience. This is how EditorPhoTo, Fotoramio, Lunapic, PhotoEditor and Photomania</a >.
There are photo editors that can be used for free as part of or as a satellite of the service that is fully available for a fee. These are Appy Pie and Adobe Photoshop Express .
And of course there are free photo editors that are designed to attract new users to any program and service. These are FotoFlexer and Movavi Picverse.
Paid online photo editors
We include photo editors in this group that, when paid, provide more options than the apps in the previous free photo editor group.
Adobe Spark provides Adobe cloud users with the ability to quickly perform routine operations. If you are not that type of user, it is unlikely that the application will be useful to you; there are simpler ways to obtain similar or greater capacities.
Befunky, FotoJet, Fotor and piZap are photo editors integrated into bundled services and available via subscription.
In the free version, they are in no way superior to completely free photo editors from the previous category, but in the paid versions they give access not only to advanced photo editing tools, but also to additional applications – collage editors and programs. of design.
Specialized online photo editors
Clipping Magic and InPaint are products of the e-commerce industry. Selling a wide variety of products over the Internet has long been a routine, and this segment is growing rapidly. Buyers want detailed product descriptions with good illustrations.
Online stores require hundreds and thousands of illustrations, which should only represent the product without anything superfluous. The ideal is to isolate the image of the product on a white or transparent background so that it fits into the design of any web page.
Such photo editors are meant to get such illustrations. It really is possible to do this job online, quickly and efficiently.
Online photo editors for professional photographers
We did not immediately dare to give this group of photo editors such a strong name.
It would seem that online systems still can’t compete in their capabilities with high-end ones, let alone with professional photo editors for desktop systems… That’s how it really is.
However, there are online systems that already surpass even the advanced paid versions of online photo editors from the previous category reviewed in their capabilities in the field of photo processing.
PicMonkey doesn’t quite fit into the big picture, because this combined system simply has a photo editor that is noticeably superior in its capabilities to photo editors of competing systems.
It’s just that it’s made and exists as part of a larger system designed for professional collaboration. It is reasonably more expensive than other analogs for the number of systems combined.
Pixlr was originally designed for professional work to solve business problems. Hence the presence in the higher rate plan of the amount of guaranteed coverage of commercial risks. And the technical level of this system’s photo editor is commensurate with its seriousness.
Pixomatic and Polarr are simply photo editors that far exceed the needs of the average user in its capabilities.
If for some reason a professional photographer or advanced enthusiast cannot use a regular desktop system, this is a fully functional alternative with sufficient capabilities.
