Free Digital Photography Editing Software

Editing is an important step that happens between taking the photo and ordering it as a print or other photo product. 

Nearly every professional photograph you see has been edited in some form. There are all kinds of photo editing tools that you can install on your computer and use to edit your photos. Some can cost hundreds of dollars so we have put together a list below of some  favorite editing tools for both Macs and PCs. Best of all they are FREE! Most of these programs allow you to purchase an upgraded version that includes more features but the free versions are a great way to get started with editing your photos.

Pixia Pixia is a simple and easy program made for people who want to do very basic touch up edits, or just have fun editing their images in general. This program saves images in original resolution. Download Pixia (PC and Mac)
Picasa Picasa is a tool from Google used mostly to organize your photos, through it also has some photo editing capability. It is easy to use and a popular tool to store and edit your photos in one place. Download Picasa (PC and Mac)
Windows 7/Vista Editor The new Windows photo editor that is built into Windows 7 and Vista operating systems is a great editing tool for PC users. It is fast and easy to use, and is already installed on your computer if you are running Windows 7 or Vista.
Photoscape Photoscape is both a photo viewer and editing tool. Both aspects are basic but easy to use. The program also saves files in their original resolution. All in all, this is a good tool for easily organizing your photos as well as performing basic edits and effects. Photoscape is an easy download and requires no registration. Download Photoscape (PC and Mac)
Your Online Account! Your online account has a photo editing interface that allows you to adjust certain elements of your photo as well as crop your photo to specific print sizes. No installation is required.
Photo Plus SE Photo Plus SE is a fun and easy program that looks almost exactly like Photoshop, so it is a good tool to use to get familiar with how Photoshop works (if you eventually want to purchase Photoshop). The program is easy to download and install. A nice advantage is that it saves files in their original resolution, which is great for uploading and ordering prints and other photo products of your edited photos.  Download Photo Plus SE (PC)
Gimp Gimp is an impressive program that is loaded with lots of ways to manipulate your images. Features range from basic adjustments to advanced tools, and the tool is generally easy to use. Download Gimp (PC) Download Gimp (Mac)
Paint.Net Paint.NET is an image and photo editing software tool for PCs only. The tool utilizes a wide variety of useful and powerful features, and looks a lot like Photoshop. The tool also includes an active online community that provides help, tutorials, and plug-ins.  Download Paint.Net (PC)
One Last Thing... One important thing to remember is that no matter which editing tool you use, the edited version of the photo that appears on your screen might look different than the print you order. This is because some monitors are not calibrated correctly, so certain colors or other editing elements will look different on your monitor than on the print. To resolve this issue, you can purchase a relatively inexpensive calibration system, such as Datacolor Spyder 3 Pro. You can view our other monitor calibration units here. Lastly, you should always print a small test print before you order a larger print to make sure the small "test" print looks good.