How to retouch photos for free

The photos you took during your last trip out of town are far from perfect. Indeed, to be honest they are full of imperfections! Now you would like to try to "save" them using photo editing solutions, however, you would like to avoid buying expensive professional programs. Did I guess? Well then know that you are in the right place at the right time!

In the next paragraphs, in fact, I will show you how to retouch photos for free through online services that can be used directly from the browser, photo editing programs available for Windows, macOS and Linux and, if you need to act directly from your smartphone or tablet, through editing apps available on Android, iOS and Windows 10.

So, are you already in the "command posts", ready to start? Yup? Perfect! Make yourself comfortable, take your time to try the solutions listed below and find out which ones are best suited to your needs: I bet you won't struggle to find them. Happy reading and have fun!

Photoshop Express Editor (Online)

In a tutorial where you have to explain how to retouch photos for free one cannot fail to speak of Photoshop Express Editor, a sort of “online version” of Photoshop (the very famous paid editing program available for PC and Mac), which allows you to work only on images in JPG format.

This “powerful” web application developed by Adobe integrates numerous tools, thanks to which it is possible to retouch photos completely free of charge. To use the service it is not necessary to register, but you must download Adobe Flash Player and activate the plugin on the browser in use.

To retouch photos with Photoshop Express Editor, then connected to the main page of the service and first click on the link Start the Editor and then on the buttons Upload photo e Upload to select the photo you want to retouch. As soon as the image upload is completed, use the tools located in the bar on the left to modify the image.

Photoshop Express Editor tools are organized into three main areas: Basic, which houses the basic editing tools useful for cropping photos, rotating them, modifying their exposure, adjusting their saturation, correcting them automatically, etc .; Adjustment, to change its white balance, light, sharpness, etc. and Effects, to use the distortion effects of the image, change its tint, color and apply the pixelated effect.

If you wish, you can add to the photo as well testi, adhesives and other decorations by clicking on the item Decorate (located at the top left, next to the “Edit” item) and selecting the instruments present under the menu Graphics. After choosing one of the aforementioned tools, adjust its application level using the adjustment bars and the various options that appear at the top right and act on the photo following the instructions you see on the screen.

As soon as you are satisfied with your work, save the edited photo by clicking on the button first Done (located at the bottom right) and then on the button Save present in the menu that appears.

Pixlr Editor (Online)

Another free service you can use to retouch photos is Pixlr Editor (also available as an add-on for the Google Chrome browser and as an app for Android and iOS). Also in this case we find ourselves in the presence of a service that can be used without making any registration, but which requires the activation of the Adobe Flash Player plugin.

On the Pixlr website, in addition to the aforementioned Pixlr Editor (which I will talk about in detail shortly), there are also other useful tools, such as Pixlr Express e Pixlr o-matic, thanks to which it is possible to retouch photos by applying various effects (if you remember well, I have already told you about them in the tutorials in which I show how to mythicize a photo).

If you want to retouch photos using a bit more advanced editing tools, I suggest you try Pixlr Editor. To use it, connected to the Pixlr website, scroll down the displayed web page and click on the button Launch Web app located in the box Pixlr Editor.

On the new page that opens in your browser, choose whether create a new image, open an image from your computeris open an image from a URL or open an image from a Gallery (Eg. Galleria Pixlr, Facebook, etc.) by clicking on one of the buttons displayed on the screen.

After that, retouch the photo by selecting one of the tools placed in the left pane, act on the various levels from box located on the right and adjust the various parameters of the image or apply one of the filters available from the menu bar placed at the top. As soon as you have retouched the photo using the numerous tools made available by Pixlr, save the output photo on your computer by selecting the item Save ... from the menu Fillet which is located at the top left. Easier than that ?!

Photopea (Online)

Are you looking for a free online service that does not require the use of additional plugins? If so, try Photopea, a web application that can be used without having to register and which, more importantly, does not require the installation of additional plugins as it is based on HTML5 technology.

Before showing you in detail how to use Photopea, I would like to inform you of the possibility of subscribing to the Premium version of the service (which starts at $ 5 per month); subscription thanks to which it is possible to remove the advertising banners on the page and provide support for its future development.

All clear? Well, then let's proceed. To retouch a photo with Photopea, first connect to the home page of the service, click on (X) located at the top right to remove the welcome message and open the photo you want to retouch by selecting the item Open from the menu Fillet (top left). After that, use the tools placed in the box on the left to edit the photo: after selecting one, adjust the degree of application from the top menu and use it by acting directly on the photo with the mouse cursor.

If you wish, you can also act on the various levels using the box Layers present on the right and even check the history of various changes made to the image from the pane History.

As soon as you are satisfied with your work, select the item Export as from the menu Fillet (located at the top left) and select the format in which you want to export the image from the box that appears. Then click the button Save and the retouched photo will be downloaded to your computer.

GIMP (Windows / macOS / Linux)

Weren't you satisfied with the online services I mentioned earlier? In that case, I suggest you resort to a free software solution - one of the best you can turn to is GIMP, a popular free and open source photo editing program available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

To retouch photos with GIMP, first download the program on your computer by connecting to its website and first clicking on the button Download xxxx and then on the orange button Download GIMP xxxx directly located on the right.

Now, open the file you just downloaded from the GIMP website and complete the installation of the program: if you are using a PC Windowsclick on your button Yes and then OK, Install e end. I invented, I used a Mac, drag the GIMP icon into the folder Applications, right-click on the dragged icon and select the item apri from the menu that appears (this is an operation that must be performed only at the first start of the program, to "override" the restrictions of macOS against software from non-certified developers).

As soon as you have completed the installation of GIMP and started the program, click on the item Apri ... present in the menu Fillet (located at the top left) and import the photo you want to retouch. Then use the tools placed in the window located on the left to retouch the image and act on its various layers from the window located on the right.

You can get more information on how to use GIMP and how to edit photos with GIMP by reading the insights I have just linked to you. As soon as you are satisfied with the retouching applied to your photo, save your work by clicking on the item Save as ... from the menu Fillet.

Free photo retouching app

Since, more and more often, we take photos from smartphones and tablets, the need may arise to edit these directly from the devices with which they were made. Here, then, is a list of free photo retouching app which allows you to correct digital photos on both Android and iOS.

• Snapseed (Android / iOS) - the photo editing app developed by Google is one of the best on the market. Snapseed integrates numerous tools that allow you to act on all the main parameters of your photos and is completely free. If you want to deepen his knowledge, read the guide in which I talk about apps to retouch photos.
• Photoshop Lightroom (Android / iOS) - is another interesting app developed by Adobe, which allows you to take photos in the DNG format and edit images in the RAW format. However, to take advantage of this last feature, you need to subscribe to the Premium version of the app, which costs € 4,99 per month and have a latest generation smartphone (iPhone 6s / 6s Plus and later, Galaxy S8 / S8 + and later, Google Pixel / Pixel XL, etc.). If you want to have some more details about how Photoshop Lightroom works, read the article in which I talk about Photoshop apps.
• Pixlr (Android / iOS) - this application (developed by the creators of the homonymous online service I told you about a few lines above) provides numerous editing tools, thanks to which it is possible to manually act on the parameters of the photo and also integrates a useful function that allows you to create photo collages. For more details about the operation of Pixlr, please read the guide in which I talk about the apps to retouch photos.
• VSCO (Android / iOS) - if you are looking for an app that allows you to retouch photos in a few taps, this could be the solution for you. VSCO, in fact, allows you to act on the images using preset filters to be used when necessary. If you want to have more details on VSCO, please read my guide dedicated to photo editing apps.

How to retouch photos for free