Professional photo-editing programs like Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom are behemoths in the photography industry for good reason. Their robust capabilities and constant evolution have solidified their place in nearly every professional photographer’s workflow.
That being said, these are bulky programs that can hardly be accessed from anywhere. And more importantly for many amateur photographers, they’re cost prohibitive for many for whom photography is just a weekend hobby.
As daily computer use has become more and more enveloped by what we do online, web browsers have become increasingly sophisticated. Unsurprisingly, there now exist a wide array of online photo-editing tools available instantly to anyone with an internet connection.
But like any internet trend, there’s a lot of mediocre products to sort through to find the really useful gems. While they won’t replace professional editing software, here are a few free, web-based photo-editing options great for when you’re away from your desk.
Polarr Photo Editor 3
I’ll go ahead and say, this is my favorite of the bunch. Most web-based photo editors shouldn’t be used for much more than cropping, resizing or brightening/darkening. Polarr, on the other hand, offers a lot more nuanced use for post-production.
Having launched its first iteration in February 2015, Polarr was one of the first to offer RAW image editing in a web photo editor, which in itself shows how quickly the industry is evolving. The company also gained recognition for successfully adapting its web coding to iOS, and it’s available no matter what kind of device you’re on.
Polarr distinguishes itself both with the breadth of its photo editing tools and their quality. Using the saturation or brighten tools in many of the photo apps are a recipe for disaster. Polarr offers much more control here.
The main drawback I find while using Polarr is the limited ability to modify specific aspects of the photo. You won’t find a dodge or burn tool, and you certainly won’t find a wand tool to select certain parts of the photo. You can create radial and gradient layers, but their application can be time consuming and limited.
There are many apps that provide far more tools than Polarr, but the tools it does provide have unmatched quality.
Before Polarr
After Polarr
BeFunky Photo Editor
Where BeFunky lacks in the finesse of its light and color adjustments, it more than makes up in the huge array of effects available. And while many of its more abstract filters and effects require the purchase of its Pro version, it still offers a great deal of tools and sillier add-ons.
While much of BeFunky’s capabilities cater more to fun, amateur tinkering than putting the final touches on a professional photo, anyone will find utility in the broad array of features it offers.
A few of my favorites are the “Artsy” effect filters:
Before BeFunky
After BeFunky
Pixlr
Pixlr in many ways pioneered web-based photo editors. It has been a popular choice for many since launching in more than seven years ago. Its long timeline has allowed it to develop one of the most comprehensive editors available.
Pixlr, out of the four editors mentioned here, has the interface most similar to traditional editors. Although Pixlr won’t win any awards for its processing speed or site design, it has a huge amount of tools at your disposal. It’s one of the few free web editors with a wand tool, for example, although this particular wand’s effectiveness leaves something to be desired. It also has just about every tool offered on today’s MS Paint, which is seldom useful from a photo-editing standpoint, but hey.
Before Pixlr
After Pixlr
Flickr Aviary
While this is only really a useful option if you’re uploading to Flickr, the photo-sharing site offers one of the fastest, simplest web options out there. Don’t expect much from functionality–all the adjustments are simplified as much as humanly possible–but if you’re out away from your desk and want to get something online in a hurry, Flickr allows you to touch up a photo in a moment’s notice. Just upload the photo, then click on the “Edit photo” option.
One problem I noticed when testing Aviary, however, is that whenever I attempted to save a new copy of the edited photo, rather than overwrite the original photo, it would give me an error message. While you likely won’t want both copies uploaded to your Flickr anyway, just make sure the original file is preserved somewhere.
Final Thoughts
None of these apps–especially not the free versions–will be able to replace your paid desktop editor, especially if you’re using one of the pros like Photoshop. However, their handiness in a jam shouldn’t be doubted, and for amateur photographers scared to make the investment in Photoshop, these photo editors could be a good way to get your feet wet and learn some basic editing skills before emptying your wallet on Adobe Creative Suite.
Finally, for those curious about my personal preference, when I’m working away from my desktop on my Chromebook, I use Polarr for serious touchups or resize something quickly, or BeFunky if I want to do something goofy with a photo. If anyone has a web editor not mentioned here that they use regularly, comment below and tell us about it.
