Camera lens filters are an essential accessories to achieve the best quality images, especially in outdoor conditions where the light can change quickly and isn’t easily controlled as in a studio environment.

Serious photographers invest in top-quality equipment to help ensure that their images are the best they can be. When it comes to building a lens collection, most photographers understand that it’s worth the expense to choose lenses that produce the sharpest images but may not realize the important role that camera lens filters play in achieving the creative results they want.

Although today’s image processing software is incredibly powerful, there are some things you can’t easily fix after the image is captured. That’s where using optical camera lens filters can make a dramatic difference in the success of your images.

The first thing to consider when selecting camera lens filters is that there’s a big range available in terms of the quality, from inexpensive filters that are sometimes included in camera kits, to high-end filters that meet the optical performance and durability standards that make them a wiser investment. If you place a low-quality filter in front of a professional-grade lens, you are essentially compromising the image quality of the lens. That’s why pro photographers recommend investing in premium camera lens filters.

Choose Camera Lens Filters That Will Last

The construction and materials used in camera lens filters affect their durability and ease of use. K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filters are made from the highest quality materials with precision manufacturing to produce a filter that’s exquisite in both performance and feel.

Pro-Grade Brass Frames

Camera lens filter mounting frames are commonly made from either aluminum or brass. While aluminum is the more economical choice, brass has practical advantages. Brass is a harder material, so it’s less likely to bend or be damaged by bumps in the field. It’s also less likely to bind and become difficult to remove than an aluminum frame. The thinner the frame—and thinner is better to avoid vignetting with wide angle lenses—the more the extra durability of brass can matter to help ensure the frames maintain their shape for years of reliable service.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filters feature high-quality solid brass frames that make them easy to attach and remove.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filters are made with durable, 100% brass frames—the same material used for high-end, luxury cameras such as Leica. The result is a filter that offers not only excellent optical quality, but a superior, refined experience in handling. These filters are self-lubricating for effortless installation and removal—an important consideration when you want to swap filters quickly in the field.

NANO-X Pro filters are also completely waterproof and scratch resistant—key features for extended outdoor use.

Industry-Leading Construction Quality

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filters are made to the highest quality standards of craftsmanship. Each filter takes approximately 8 hours to produce in a process that involves 40 unique operations. The optical glass is fitted to the brass frame with exceptionally precise accuracy of just 0.01mm. The superior rigidity of the brass frames allows them to be very slim, ensuring no vignetting when mounted to wide-angle lenses. The result is a filter of the highest quality that’s a pleasure to use.

Advanced Coating Technology

Each K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filter features 36 layers of coating to achieve 99.9% light transmission with no color shift. K&F CONCEPT’s exclusive coating technology is able to reduce reflectivity as low as 0.15%, effectively eliminating ghosting and glare. Each filter also undergoes 24 unique optical performance tests so you can be confident that the filter maintains the image quality and color fidelity of your lenses.

Extended Warranty For Peace Of Mind

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro filters are backed by a standard 10-year warranty for worry-free use. Plus, the warranty can be extended an additional 5 years simply by registering at kfconcept.com. That’s up to 15 years of protection.

NANO-X Pro Filters Available Now

Several popular camera lens filter types are available in the K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro line today. A custom case is included with each filter to protect it when not in use. The case features a clever design that ejects the filter with the pull of an integrated cord, allowing easier handling when removing the filter from the case. Each filter is also engraved with a unique signature code to help facilitate warranty service, should it be required.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro Circular Polarizer shown with included case

NANO-X Pro Circular Polarizer

Polarizer filters are a must-have for nature photographers. They allow you to control surface reflections to deepen color saturation and contrast and remove distracting glare—something that’s not easily fixed in post-processing.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro circular polarizers are currently offered in 72mm, 77mm and 82mm.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro ND1000

NANO-X Pro ND1000

Neutral density filters reduce the amount of light reaching your lens, which enables you to use slower shutter speeds in bright conditions for special effects such as blurring moving water. ND1000 filters reduce the light by 10 stops.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro ND1000 filters are currently offered in 67mm, 77mm and 82mm diameters.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro Variable ND2-32

NANO-X Pro Variable ND2-32

Variable ND filters are convenient as the allow you to adjust the amount of light transmission without needing to swap filters. A Variable ND2-32, for example, can be adjusted to provide 1 to 5 stops of light reduction.

The K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro VND2-32 is available in 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm diameters.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro UV

NANO-X Pro UV

UV filters are commonly used as an extra layer of protection for the front lens element and for filtering ultraviolet rays without affecting image quality or color balance.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro UV filters are offered in 67mm, 72mm, 77mm and 82mm diameters.

K&F CONCEPT NANO-X Pro Circular Polarizer & ND Combo

Coming Soon! Circular Polarizer & ND Combo

K&F CONCEPT is developing a 2-in-1 combination circular polarizer and ND NANO-X Pro filter that will provide the benefits of both filters in a single design. Visit kfconcept.com for future news on this exciting product.

Learn More About K&F CONCEPT’s Innovations

With over 150 patents, K&F CONCEPT creates a range of innovative photographic accessories, including filters, tripods, backpacks and lens adapters—with more to come—and has been recognized with international design awards including iF Design Award 2021 and RedDot Product Design 2021. With K&F CONCEPT, See the Unseen. For more information on K&F CONCEPT products and the X PRO Square Filter System, visit kfconcept.com.

The post Invest In Premium Camera Lens Filters appeared first on Outdoor Photographer.

Are you looking for the best free photo filter apps? You’ve come to the right place. Using the best photo filter app can transform your photos, improve the look and feel of your Instagram feed, and impress your friends and family.

With so many choices available, you may feel confused and overwhelmed. We’ve compiled a list of the 15 best free photo filter apps that will help you customize your pictures the way you want.

Let’s get started with the list.

1. Snapseed

Snapseed takes up little space on your smartphone or tablet.

This tool has a user-friendly interface and an extensive feature set. Snapseed has a fantastic selection of filters that can be combined and altered indefinitely. Users have access to over 29 different tools and filters to improve their pictures. Glamour Glow, grainy film, vintage, and black-and-white are special filter categories.

Snapseed is the most outstanding photo filter app to try if you want to make your photos beautiful. It is intended for detail-oriented photographers who want to recreate imposing photographs.

Pros

• Supports all tablets and smartphones 
• In-built sharing feature
• Easy-to-use interface
• Over 29 different filters

Cons

• No separate cloud storage to store your images.
• No desktop version of the software

Rating: 4.4/5

Download for: Android, iOS

2. VSCO

This software is integrated with VSCO Grid, a social network of photographers from all over the world.

They can see your photographs, and you can see theirs, which is a fantastic way to get inspired. VSCO (Visual Supply Firm) is the company behind the program.

VSCO is a well-known photo filter app that lets you adjust every filter. It offers “Presets” instead of the standard “Filters” section. And each free VSCO preset collection looks like a film effect.

There are several black-and-white and color filters that are organized into various groups in the presets section.

VSCO has a single slider for modifying the intensity of effects after applying a filter.

You can use it to either intensify or lessen the effect.

Plus, users can make additional modifications, such as setting vignettes, film grain, skin tone, sharpness, and more.

VSCO filters are ideal for small companies, Instagram influencers, and fashion photographers since they offer a lot of flexibility and new presets are always being introduced.

Pros

• Share pictures on Weibo, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter
• Share pictures with the VSCO Grid community

Cons

• The number of in-app purchases varies based on how many tools you desire.

Rating: 4.7/5

Download for: Android, iOS

3. Prisma Photo Editor

A wonderful option for making your pictures look like artist-created sketches or paintings. Intuitive. 

There are many filters available, and you can change the strength by sliding horizontally along the picture.

You can change the exposure, temperature, highlights, gamma, brightness, saturation, contrast, vibrance, sharpening, shadows, and tint by adjusting the filter strength on the picture.

When you’re finished changing a picture, you can send it via email or text message or save it directly to your smartphone. The photo filter app provides a feed full of gorgeous photos generated by its community.

The user interface is intuitive and simple. Its simple UI allows you to get hold of it conveniently. Once you open up the Prisma app, you can click the gallery to choose a picture or access the camera to take a photo.

Pros

• Each picture you take can be saved to your Camera Roll automatically
• You can use any filter on any picture

Cons

• Images are square only
• Low output resolution 
• You have no control over how the app reads and treats each picture

 Rating: 4.7/5

Download for: Android, iOS

4. Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express is a mobile application with lots of interesting filters. With the help of these filters, you can quickly create HDR looks, imitate black-and-white film pictures, and add pops of color to monochrome images.

Express includes imaging smarts, as well as a plethora of tools for image enhancement and correction. The program provides various rapid repairs and effects, some of which are referred to as Charms.

These increase or decrease contrast and give photos warm or cool tones. To use Adobe Photoshop Express, you must first register a free Adobe ID account. This can be done via the Adobe website.

When you finish editing your photo, you can either save it to your smartphone or share it with other social networking and marketing apps. Express allows you to tweak saturation, hue, exposure, color temperature, highlights, and shadows.

Pros

• Good social meme tools
• Clear interface

Cons

• Weak options for retouching 
• Several features need a Creative Cloud subscription

Rating: 4.8/5

Download for: Android, iOS

5. PicCollage

PicCollage is our favorite photo filter app for creating collages. This software has a very user-friendly interface that lets you choose which aspect ratio you want, then it generates dozens of alternative grids to use for your pictures. You can do a variety of things with your pictures in this tool for picture collages. The application has in-app filters to help you make your collage perfect.

You may allow the software to arrange your pictures for you and build a collage in frames, or you can customize it further and make your free-form collage.

The frames aren’t just basic rectangles and squares. Hearts, stars, and slanted forms are all options. This photo filter app gives you a lot of options when it comes to choosing the sizes of every photo in your collage. 

Pros

• Customize the placement and size of your images
• Create a shaped collage of your pictures

Cons

• There is no option to make a regularly shaped collage.
• Lots of full-screen ads

Rating: 4.8/5

Download for: Android,  iOS

6. Canva

Canva is comprehensive design software for anyone who isn’t a professional designer. With Canva, you can design flyers, websites, newsletters, blog banners, invites, business cards, planners, and more.

Canva is ideal for online entrepreneurs, small business owners, and marketers who need to create designs fast. This app has a library of customizable and adaptable templates.

You can browse Canva’s current templates, select one that fits your design aesthetic, and make personalized changes.

You can also use the program to create visuals for your Instagram stories. Canva offers a variety of photo enhancement effects. You can apply effects to images offered by Canva as well as pictures you upload.

Canva offers an Elements tab where you may find gradients, grids, charts, stickers, icons, and shapes. You may add them to your pictures and change their size, transparency, and color.

Pros

• Design multi-page documents
• Easy to use and user friendly
• Offers a wide array of templates

Cons

• Limited free version
• Limited export settings

Rating: 4.8/5

Download for: Android, iOS

7. Instagram

Instagram is a good choice for sharing your pictures to get folks to follow you online. Instagram offers over 30 filters that are free to use. Lo-fi, Clarendon, Juno, Ludwig, Lark, and Gingham are some of the most popular filters. The intensity of the filter can be adjusted with the help of sliders. Furthermore, Instagram allows users to adjust fade, sharpness, color, and exposure.

Instagram’s major activities include communicating with others, getting and sending direct messages, and sharing and liking posts. Its straightforward interface provides a quick path from snapping a video or photo via minor adjustments to posting simultaneously on numerous social networks.

In reality, your engagement rate, or the number of individuals who see and like your pictures, is the most vital metric.

Additionally, the Instagram app contains other tools that can help you attract more people to follow you.

You may interact with your followers more effectively by using Instagram Live or Instagram Stories.

Pros 

• Effective features
• Appealing interface

Cons

• Overwhelming ads

Rating: 4.7/5

Download for: Android, iOS

8. PicLab

PicLab is a photo filter app that provides you with several simple-to-use features.

You can do everything, including rotating, resizing, and changing the opacity of the pictures using this app’s built-in features.

These features allow it to support writing a text on photographs as well. You can apply photo effects and amazing filters and add patterns, borders, textures, light FX, and more to your images. 

Pros

• Use beautiful artwork in the app’s database or add your own.
• Easily work with multiple layers

Cons

• Missing some features
• Need more privacy

Rating: 4.6/5

Download for: Android, iOS

9. PiZap 

PiZap makes it simple to create unique graphic designs, make stunning collages, and create social media posts.

It includes lots of free stock pictures, filters, borders, stickers, and fonts. No registration is needed, and most content and services are free to use.

This photo filter app allows you to customize pictures by adding effects, filters, and text. It has an intuitive interface with loads of options for modifying various design and layout components.

Social media users and bloggers love working with this photo filter tool.

Pros

• Many fun options and filters
• Accessible, clear interface

Cons

• Expensive premium accounts

Rating: 4.7/5

Download for: Android, iOS

10. BeFunky 

With the help of this photo filter app, you can add an infinite number of filters and effects to your pictures.

It features more than 30 different effects, including Pop Art, HDR, Gritty, and Cyanotype. What’s more, users can upload pictures from a wide range of sources, such as Dropbox, Facebook, and Google Drive. 

And you can search and upload images to the software directly from the image stock. This photo filter app lets you search for photos in Unsplash and Pixabay. So, simply type in the photo you require and begin photo editing.

Pros

• No account
• You can upload multiple pictures simultaneously
• Simple interface that supports drag-and-drop feature

Cons

• Extra content of the mobile version needs buying
• Most functions are paid
• A lot of advertising

 Rating: 4.6/5

Download for: Android, iOS

11. Pixlr 

Pixlr is complex but simple to use, and it includes effective tools and a wide range of features. Users can carry out countless complex operations in this photo filter app, including using color correction tools to make their subject pop and superimposing shapes, text, and other elements onto their photo for attractive originality.

Pixlr is perfect for busy individuals because it offers many simple-to-understand tutorials if they run into anything that is holding them back.

Pixlr’s website serves people with similar interests like freelancers, graphic designers, and photographers. You can quickly upload your pictures onto the Pixlr website and begin modifying them the way you want.

The program enables you to customize images for specific social networks, such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. It comes with pre-made filters that can make your pictures look spectacular in a single click.

Here are some of the filters used in Pixlr.

Sharpen Filter -This filter simply sharpens your selection and picture. You can apply this filter many times to get the desired result. 

Diffuse filter – It makes your picture more diffuse. 

Blur filter- It simply blurs your selection or photograph. 

Pixelate filter, cross process filter, heat map filter, old photo filter, and engrave filter are some of the other filters used in Pixlr. 

Pros

• Easy to use
• Personalizable interface

Cons

• Doesn’t support high-quality and big photos
• Some Pixlr tools are buggy and slow 

Rating: 4.2/5

Download for: Android, iOS

12. Inkscape

Inkscape has certain tools and features that let you modify common images, even though it is designed to work with vector graphics. These include sharpening, background removal, and cropping.

Inkscape is great for intricate drawing. Users can make polygons, spirals, 3D boxes, circles, and more. Inkscape is free software that has a special format not natively found in other similar applications, such as Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Xara X, and Freehand. 

Inkscape employs Scalable Vector Graphics, which is considered an excellent format for designing and making logos, banners, and other vector-modified media. The reason is that the SVG format enables graphic designers to make graphics that can scale to just about any size without compromising their original quality.

This app’s features are presented through a stable and consistent interface. It is also cross-platform, meaning it can run on Linux architectures, Windows, and MAC OS X. This versatile tool offers you a variety of tooltips that include essential information.

Pros 

• Linux compatible
• Full-featured
• Intuitive design

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Interface visuals need improvement

Rating: 3.9/5

Download for: Mac, Windows

13. PhotoPea

With PhotoPea, you can resize or crop pictures, filters, effects, and edit images. This photo filter app supports adjustment layers, smart objects, and smart filters. Don’t overlook its filters, which you may use to blur or sharpen your picture, add noise, and produce effects that you’ll like if you’re looking for a certain result.

The best thing about this tool is that it is perfectly suitable for complicated tasks like making illustrations and web page designs and simpler ones like changing the photo size.

The majority of popular image formats, including JPG, PNG, SVG, PSD (Photoshop), RAW, and even Sketch, are supported by Photopea.

Everything is contained and runs locally on your device. Your pictures are never sent to a server to be processed.

Pros

• Open multiple file types
• An easy interface 
• Easy to access

Cons

• Just a few color channels
• No cloud storage
• Annoying adverts

Rating: 4.2/5

Download for: Web Apps, PC

14. Movavi 

This powerful photo filter app is easy to use. This program provides pro-level tools for beginners as well as professionals. It is safe if you download it from the official Movavi website. First, try out the trial version to see if the program is a good fit for your requirements. 

Cropping pictures, adjusting photo parameters, using color effects, and applying filters are all easy. You can also add a watermark, eliminate the effects of insufficient lighting during shooting, get rid of unnecessary objects, and remove red eyes.

Pros

• Built-in tutorials system
• Many retouching features
• Aimed at users of any level
• Smart auto enhancement

Cons

• Low performance with large pictures
• A manual touch-up is needed

Rating: 4.4/5

Download for:     Android, Mac, Windows 

15. PhotoScape

Photoscape is a fun photo filter app that is loaded with simple-to-use features. Interestingly, users can apply various effects and adjustments to their images.

The tools are excellent, and along with retouching features, users can create slideshows, create animated GIFs, and add filters to their photos using many free templates.

You can also spruce up your images with many unique frames. Photoscape can assist you in making your phone pictures suitable for sharing. It allows you to modify photographs captured from smartphones and digital cameras.

The application’s default languages are English and Korean, although you can access more languages via downloadable modules.

Pros

• Quality features
• Ease of navigation

Cons

• Restricted to working with just one document at a time

 Rating: 3.9/5
Download for: Windows

I hope this list of the best photo filter apps has helped you get creative with your photos. Why not check out this article on the best free photo editing apps.

If you want to retouch your photos for free, you will need to find the appropriate photo editing software for exactly what you want to achieve. There are many such software programs out there for both the Mac and Windows platforms. But many of them are not really that great in the free category.

To save you time and frustration, I will share the best free photo editing software programs that you can use to post-process your pictures. There are some real gems if you know where to look.

I have tried many free photo editing tools to retouch my images over the years. The number of features varies for each of these photo editing software. Let us look at the various pros and cons of these software based on my experience.

Let’s get started.

1. Pixlr

Rating: 9/10

I have been using the Pixlr photo editor for quite some time. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS.

Believe it or not free alternatives to Photoshop exist, and Pixlr is at the top of the list. Not only that it is made to function and appear like Photoshop, which will make Photoshop users happy.

You get layers, brushes, filters, the magic wand, transforms, effects, adjustments, texts, retouching, color replace, eraser, lasso, etc etc.

You will get all the basic retouching options along with overlays and filters in the basic version. However, the feature I really liked about this free photo editing software is the number of collage templates. You can get almost all types of collage templates in this photo editor.

This photo editor comes with a simple user interface which you will definitely enjoy. They have also provided lots of video tutorials with the editing software which is a helpful feature for those who dont like reading long manuals. I really love this feature. It is very useful for beginners.

You can get more photo editing features in the premium version of the software.

2. GIMP

Rating: 9/10

GIMP is a very useful tool for advanced retouching of images. It is my first photo editing tool. GIMP is the short form for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux operating systems.

One thing that I love about GIMP is its number of tools and features. You will really wonder how anyone can offer such a post-processing tool for free. Whether you are creating composites, retouching photos, restoring old photos, or creating original artwork, this software can do it all.

You can use this software to open and edit almost all types of image files. Moreover, they allow you to customize the user interface according to your editing workflow. I love this feature. It really helps to accelerate the editing speed. Thus, more pictures can be edited at the same time.

One thing that I do not like about the GIMP is its default user interface. It is a cluttered one. It can be a little confusing for beginners, but with more use you become better at it.

3. DarkTable

Rating: 8/10

DarkTable is considered one of the best free Lightroom alternatives. You can use it on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems.

The straightforward interface of DarkTable ensures that anyone can learn it easily. In addition, the RAW rendering capability of the DarkTable is really good. It is comparable with that of Adobe Lightroom.

They do offer all the basic photo retouching tools. Along with that, they also offer lens correction profiles, color grading and denoising options. You will also get the brush tool and gradient mask adjustments. Many photographers love to have these two tools in their photo editing software.

They don’t allow you to customize the interface. As a photo editor, I didn’t like it. Also, Darktable does not allow you to import subfolders. You can import only individual folders or pictures. Not a huge deal.

If you want to use DarkTable for photo edits, I strongly recommend referring to the user manual. You will be able to find lots of useful shortcuts in the manual. These shortcuts really helped me to accelerate my photo editing process.

4. RawTherapee

Rating: 7.5/10

RawTherapee is another great photo editing software that you can use for retouching. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems.

The tools and features offered by RawTherapee are almost similar to that of Adobe Lightroom. But, I found the user interface to be a little less user-friendly. But the fact that it is free and does not require any signup or registration makes it a popular choice.

I liked the color correction and the RAW processing ability of this software. You will also get the option to fix chromatic aberration. The tool does support batch processing of images. It is a wonderful feature to have when you have lots of images for editing.

If you are a complete beginner to photo editing, I would not recommend using the RawTherapee because of its slightly complex user interface. It can easily make you lose interest in photo editing. Also, if you compare the speed of the software with that of Lightroom, it is on the slower side.

5. PhotoDirector 365

Rating: 7.5/10

PhotoDirector is one of my favourite photo editing programs. It is available for both Mac and Windows OS. One thing that I like about this software is its user interface. Their UI is so flexible that anyone can easily start using it.

You can get most of the basic photo retouching tools in this photo editor. They also give you the option to color grade the image. This color grading feature helps me to make my images stand out on platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

This AI-powered software will make the whole editing process much easier for you. For example, it is easy to replace the sky and add a sunset to a landscape scene with the help of this photo editing software.

If you want to take your pictures to another level by converting them into animations, you will love this software. I use this feature to create animated pictures to bring more life to my images. You can get more tools and features from this program if you upgrade it to a premium version.

6. Fotor

Rating: 7.5/10

Fotor is a photo editing tool that comes with lots of smart filters and effects. You can get it for Mac as well as Windows versions. It is a free photo editing software.

I really love the user interface of this software. It is very simple and easy to use. Anyone can easily learn this software in a few minutes. So, it is a good photo editing tool for beginners.

Fotor supports almost all popular RAW file formats. You can process your RAW files using this software. Many of the features supported by Fotor can be found only in premium photo editing tools. I loved their One-click photo enhancement feature. It does a decent job.

There will be ads in the software. If you want to get rid of the ads, you need to upgrade to a premium version. You will get more tools and full HDR support in their premium version. You can also create collages of various sizes using this software.

When it comes to a number of features, it has fewer features when compared to GIMP. Also, if you are interested in creating artwork out of your image, Fotor will not be a good choice.

7. Movavi Picverse 

Rating: 7.5/10

Movavi Picverse photo editor is an AI-powered photo editing software you can get for free. It is available on both Mac and Windows platforms.

I found it easy to remove unwanted elements from the picture using this software. The software also does a decent job of removing the background in a photo. I loved the simple and easy-to-use interface of this software. The minimalist interface helps to simplify the photo editing process.

It is also easy to insert elements from one image to another. You will also get the basic tools like crop, level, rotate, etc. The tool does come with lots of filters. The image Enhance option under the AI adjust does a good job of enhancing the picture without overdoing it. Movavi also provides tools to retouch portrait images. You can easily smooth the skin, whiten teeth, reshape the body, and apply makeup to the portrait with the help of this tool.

This photo editor will be a good choice if you want to restore old images with creases and wrinkles. I have colorized many of my old black and white photos using this tool.

The performance of their erase and stamp tool is not up to mark. When I tried applying multiple edits to an image, the program froze at times.

8. Apple Photos

Rating: 7/10

Apple Photos is a free photo editing software that comes along with the Mac OS. So if you are a Mac user, you can use it for retouching your pictures.

It comes with all the basic photo retouching tools. It includes exposure correction, white balance adjustments, curves, noise removal, sharpening etc. Apple is constantly bringing new updates to the Apple Photos software. It supports the ProRaw format (photo format used by iPhones).

Apple Photos come with an easy-to-navigate interface. So, you can learn it fast. In addition, it is capable of handling popular RAW file formats. If you are interested in making a quick retouch, you can go for the Auto Enhance option.

One thing I felt missing from Apple photos is the option to fix chromatic aberration and geometry correction.

9. Picktorial

Rating: 6.5/10

Picktorial is a photo organizing and editing software. It is available only for Mac OS. It supports the editing of JPEG, RAW, and DNG files.

The free version of Picktorial does come with some limitations. You can only make two local adjustments per image in the free version. Dont you just love a numerical limit on features? Also, the batch processing feature is not available in the free version.

The Picktorial software follows a non-destructive photo editing workflow. I am pretty sure that the photographers would love this feature. I really liked their user interface. Also, their color correction tools have really impressed me. But unfortunately, they don’t support RAW photo editing in the free version.

I don’t recommend using Picktorial for complex photo retouching. It is only good for basic photo retouching but again, its free.

10. Photoscape X

Rating: 6.5/10

Photoscape X is another free photo editing software good for beginners in photography. It is available for both Mac and Windows OS. You can use it to adjust the white balance, crop pictures, exposure adjustments and color grading.

One really good feature of this software is its number of filters. Photoscape also supports different file formats. I also liked the screen capture feature. You can batch edit images using this software. Anyone can easily learn this software with the help of the simple interface. It is definitely a good photo editing tool for beginners.

The One-click auto level feature will be very useful for beginners. The software also allows you to create animated gifs with the help of multiple images. You can also use online help if you get stuck. This section has useful tutorial videos that will guide you using the tool.

There was some lag when I tried editing multiple images in this program. The limitations of free software 🙂

11. Photo Pos Pro

Rating: 6.5/10

Photo Pos Pro photo editing software is available for the Windows platform. This software comes with some powerful image editing tools.

I really loved the user interface of this free photo editor. It is more user-friendly than GIMP. They have also provided a novice layout option. You can switch to this layout if you find the default interface a little complex.

One thing that attracted me to this software is the layers and layer mask options. It allows me to do complex photo edits. Photo Pos Pro also comes with all the basic photo retouching tools.

One issue with the free version is that there is a resolution restriction on importing the final images. You can only export up to 1024 x 1024 pixel images. If you want to export higher resolution, you need to buy the premium one. Nevertheless, this software will be a good choice if you plan to edit pictures only for the web.

12. Ribbet

Rating: 6/10

Ribbet photo editing software comes with an intuitive user interface. It is available for both Mac and Windows operating systems.

It comes with all the basic photo retouching tools. It includes rotate, crop, exposure, color, sharpen, resize etc. So it is a good tool for basic image editing. Ribbet also allows you to create collages and postcards with your pictures.

They don’t provide any option for customization. Many photographers like me love to have this feature in the photo editing tool. The simple interface of Ribbet ensures that you can learn the tool in a few minutes.

If you are a beginner in photo editing, you will find the “Auto-Fix” tool really useful. The software will do auto adjustments on the image. However, from my experience, you still need to make a few more tweaks to complete your edit.

You can get more tools and features only if you upgrade to a premium version.

13. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer

Rating: 6/10

Ashampoo Photo Optimizer is a Windows-based photo editing software. It comes with a clean and simple user interface.

One thing that I liked about this free tool is that there are no ads. But you need to submit your email address. The tool comes with a powerful batch processing feature. You can choose multiple images and apply any effect to all the images in one click.

The one-click optimization feature will be really helpful to people who want a quick edit. One thing that I observed here is that this one-click optimization works best for nature and landscape shots. It is not that good for portrait shots. Also, there is no layers option in this tool. You can get more tools and features in the premium version.

14. Adobe Photoshop Express

Rating: 6/10

You can get the Adobe Photoshop Express free photo editing software if you are using a Windows system. It comes with a minimal interface. Don’t expect this tool to be as complex as Photoshop or Lightroom.

This photo editor is specifically built for mobile platforms. It comes with all the basic tools that are required for retouching an image. The thing that I didn’t like about this tool is that all the high-end retouching tools are only available for premium users. The tool follows a non-destructive workflow. Most photographers will love this feature.

If you are interested in using the premium features of this tool, you need to upgrade your subscription. Another drawback of this software is that it will only allow you to save the final image in JPG format. No other file formats are supported.

15. Canva

Rating: 6/10

You might already know about Canva, a popular web-based app for editing photos. You can get this software for Mac & Windows also.

I mainly use it to edit pictures for Instagram and Facebook. The main advantage of using this software is that it comes with a large database of free elements and designs. Thus, you can easily create any design of your choice with this photo editing tool.

Canva also allows you to do basic edits on your image. You can adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation. In addition, you can get lots of filters and overlays for your pictures from this software. It is one of the main reasons why I use Canva. Canva is also one of the best tools to add text to an image.

16. Inpixio Photo Studio

Rating: 6/10

Inpixio Photo Studio claims to be the world’s first one click photo editor and in terms of simplicity you can’t get much simpler. There is some fancy AI technology behind the scenes of this software which makes it appear so simple for the user yet so powerful in terms of the end result. It is available for PC and Mac.

From removing a background in a photo automatically by having AI determine where the background is, to removing and replacing a sky in photos automatically, to one click image correction, to using presets to create a specific look this program is a real time saver if you need one of these particular actions to be performed on your photos. It really makes a difference when you have hundreds of photos to edit and don’t have the time to do everything manually or using 10 steps for each photo.

And don’t worry, you can always fine tune your photo modifications. This software does not take creative control away from you just because it simplifies and speeds up the workflow.

I hope this article has helped you choose a free photo editor for your platform and for your needs.

Consider reading this article on the best photo editing apps for ios and android.