The Best Photo Editors For Bloggers
The Best Photo Editors For Bloggers
There are so many different programs out there to use as a picture editor. If you are new to blogging, it can be overwhelming! I know it was for me, I didn’t know where to start.
Should I pay for an editing software or would I be able to use a free software that would work just as well? Personally, I don’t have any background in photography or picture editing. I need something that is well…. easy and dummy proof.
My Struggle
I know what I like but once I start editing then it starts to look forced and over edited. I try to go with less is more. If I like the picture, to begin with then I just do a little touching up and not overdo it.
However, if you have the eye for it and the knowledge then go for it! But even with the know-how and the eye you may still be lost on which one to use or which ones are even available. I did some research for you and this is what I found!
I found 22 different programs to use as a picture editor. 14 of them are free photo editor programs! I personally use two of them, but I have read other bloggers that recommend a few of the other ones so it is entirely your preference.
Some will just come easier to you and some may not be your style.
For example, I use both Canva and PicMonkey. I had the free version of them both for a while, but I did go ahead and invest in the paid version of PicMonkey and I will explain why in just a bit.
For now, I want to tell you the differences I see in them.
Canva vs PicMonkey
1. Canva
Canva is great for creating Pins for Pinterest and other social media images. Canva right away shows you different templates you can use for your photo.
Let’s say you are creating an image for Facebook it already has the template with the correct size that is best for Facebook.
Same for Pinterest, flyers, business cards, etc. It doesn’t however, in the free verse at least, let you do much actual editing to your photo itself.
You can upload an image and crop it, filter it, flip it, adjust the transparency, link it, and rearrange the content on your design. But again, you can’t do anything like photoshop work to it.
I do like that Canva shows what you have created on your profile. After you download your design it shows you all your past creations when you go to your profile.
You can also create a team to work on a project together, you can see what images others have shared with you, and what is really cool is you can set up your brand as well.
Within Canva you can:
Choose a layout
Within the layouts, it had many different options to choose from. These are nice because they are all done for you. You just have to add your touch and done!
Choose an Element
Within the elements tab, there are 9 choices. As you can see you can pick from Free Photos, Grids, Frames, Shapes, Lines, Illustrations, Icons, Chats, and I love Canva.
Free Photos
Canva gives you many beautiful free pictures to use and then they do offer some you can buy.
Grids
Grids are where you can add multiple photos to your image in a specific layout that you choose. It is just like a collage and you pick the design you want to use.
Frames
You can add a frame or a border to your image.
Shapes
This one is really great for making Pinterest images. You can add shapes to your image to really make a certain word or number stand out in your image. This is also great to break apart the text on your image.
Lines
Again, this is great to break apart the text on your image or to make a certain word or number stand out to the viewer. It also brings a little character to your image as well!
Illustrations
This is like Clipart for Canva. This is where you can choose from a variety of different illustrations to use for your image. If you are planning a 4thof July BBQ there is a red, white and blue popsicle illustration, or if you are planning a camping trip there are binoculars, a compass, and a lantern illustration you can use! So many options!
Text
The text section seems pretty obvious but Canva added a little twist. They have text templates already available for you to pick from.
Instead of just offering different fonts you can adjust yourself, Canva has the different fonts already put together for you to just change the words to your own.
For example, they have a baby announcement one that has all the same font, but they emphasized the “We are having a baby girl!” part by making it a larger font.
Then they have some that have one that invites you to an ice cream party and it uses multiple fonts and sizes. You just click on the template you like and drag it over to your creation!
Or start from scratch and create it yourself!
Background
Once again, choose from the many different free and paid for backgrounds that Canva has to offer. There are solid backgrounds, patterned backgrounds, or upload your own!
Upload your own!
I hope that helps walk you through what Canva has to offer for photo editing, now let’s dive into PicMonkey!
2. PicMonkey
PicMonkey has a lot more to offer. Canva and PicMonkey each have their own pros and cons and again it is each to their own. Some prefer Canva and some prefer PicMonkey.
You can see right away that you have more to choose from as to what you can do on PicMonkey. You can either edit a photo, touch up a photo, choose a design or template to use, or make a collage.
I used the free version of PicMonkey as my photo editor for a long time but then I went ahead and invested in the $7.99 a month to be able to do more editing to my pictures.
I have heard that photoshop is difficult to learn and is expensive so in my opinion, I would rather pay the $7.99 and have a very user-friendly photo editor program for me to use.
If you are already a photo editor wizard then this might be too simple for you. If you are like me and just need the basics to touch up an image than PicMonkey is amazing!
There are so many things you can do in PicMonkey. Here is a run through of the options available.
Basic Edits
Here you can crop, change the canvas Color, Rotate the image, change the exposure, change the color of the image, sharpen the image, and resize it. There is also the option at the top to auto adjust.
This feature makes life easier for me so I don’t overdo it with all the options below. I just hit auto adjust and move on to the next section.
Effects
Here is where you can change the effect of the image or the tint of it. These are preset that you can go through and click on to see which one fits the look you are going for.
Again, I have to paid version so I may have more available to choose from than the free version.
Touch Up
As far as editing your photos this is my favorite feature. I don’t necessarily have the most beautiful skin in the world. So, when I wanted to make a headshot profile picture I needed to do some touch-up work on certain areas.
This made it super easy! My husband took my picture with his new iPhone 8, not even with a fancy camera, and I went in and edited it to remove some blemishes, wrinkles, and scars and wah-lah!
You can give yourself a complete facelift if you wanted to! I am not all into that but removing some blemishes and wrinkles absolutely! You won’t have as many options in the free version but it will still help you clean up your image!
Text
You can add text to your photo and change the size and font but unlike Canva it doesn’t have text templates of fonts that go well together. Still is very easy to add and adjust the text to your photo though.
Overlays
This is similar to the shapes you can add in Canva but here you can add symbols, arrows, spirographs, as well as all the illustrations of different clipart type inserts. You can also add your own.
This is a great way to be able to overlap text and images through your design.
Frames
Here is the same where you can add a frame to your photo to give it a fun touch or a certain look.
Textures
This reminds me of the filters on SnapChat. You can add fun accents to your photo. If you want your photo to look like it is on an old piece of paper they have that texture you can add to your photo.
Or if you want it to look painted on or stitched on, they have that texture.
Themes
Themes are everything all rolled into one.
If you have a certain vibe you are going for but you don’t want to go through each category one by one to try and achieve that look, then go to the themes section and it has them all categorized together.
If you want it to look like an old newspaper clipping then you can click on the School U theme and under there it will list all the effects, overlays, text, textures, and frames that will most likely go with that look.
Under effects in the School U theme it says newspaper and then you just go from there! This can say you a bunch of time!
Templates
Here is where you can choose a template for your image. Just like Canva, you can make a Facebook image, business card, flyer, Pinterest image, etc. You will want to make this decision before you start any editing though.
So there you have it. The differences between Canva and PicMonkey.
I would like to say again that I do have the free version of Canva and the paid version of PicMonkey. You may be able to do more in the paid version of Canva that I don’t know about.
I do know that still with the free version of PicMonkey I felt you were able to do more and you could do actual photo editing.
Free Pinterest Image Course
Check out my FREE Pinterest Image Course where I walk you through how I make my Pinterest images.
I show you where I get my free stock images, how I edit them, how I make one image into multiple, and then how to use a bonus program you may already have on your computer to make beautiful Pinterest images!
Here is the complete list of the 22 programs you can use as a picture editor. Numbers 3-22 I have not personally used before. I did look into them though so here is more information on them!
- Canva – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
- PicMonkey – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
- Gimp – FREE
- PhotoScape – FREE
- Fotor – FREE TRIAL (upgrade to paid plan)
- Pixlr Editor – FREE
- Aviary – FREE
- On1 Perfect Effects – PAID
- Snappa – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
- PortraitPro – PAID
- Inkscape – FREE
- PhotoViewer Pro – PAID
- iPiccy – FREE
- BeFunky – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
- Picasa – FREE
- Serif PhotoPlus X8 -PAID
- Ribbet – FREE (upgrade available for more features)
- Adobe Lightroom – PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
- Photoshop CS2 – PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
- Photoshop Elements -PAID Adobe $9.99-19.99 a month
- Pixelmator – PAID
- Fotoflexr – FREE
3. Gimp
Gimp is a free online photo editor site. I have heard of other bloggers using this program and it reminds me of PicMonkey and Canva but just not quite as user-friendly.
4. PhotoScape
PhotoScape is a free download that you install onto your computer.
5. Fotor
Fotor offers a free trial to test it out but then it is either a monthly or yearly subscription after that.
6. Pixlr Editor
Pixlr is a free photo editing site that also offers an app!
7. Aviary
Aviary is free as well and they too offer an app for photo editing!
8. On1 Perfect Effects
On1 offers a free trial but then it is a paid program.
9. Snappa
Snappa offers three different plans to chose from. One is paid with fewer features and then the more you pay the more you get on the other two features.
10. PortraitPro
PortraitPro has a free trial but then becomes a paid program.
11. Inkscape
Inkscape is free to download.
12. Photo Viewer Pro
Photo ViewerPro can be download for a price. That price depends on which plan you choose. They offer three different plans. To find those prices go to the bottom and lick on FAQ and it has the answer there.
13. iPiccy
iPiccy is another free program for editing your photos. You just have to install it to run the program. It works for graphic design too!
14. BeFunky
BeFunky has a free basic plan to edit your photos and then they offer a paid plan as well that offers more features.
15. Picasa
Picasa seems to be still available to download but there is a statement saying that it is being discontinued. I didn’t try to download it because I didn’t want to actually download it but you can try to here. If you want to read more about why it is discounted and what it is now turning into you can read more about that right here!
16. Serif PhotoPlus X8
Serif PhotoPlus X8 is a paid program that you can purchase for $24.99
17. Ribbet
Ribbet is free to edit photos but it does offer upgrade features for a price. Again this one reminds me of Canva and PicMonkey.
The next three are Adobe programs that run $9.99 and up a month
18. Adobe Lightroom
19. Photoshop CS2
Photoshop CS2 – Adobe offers too many programs to list them all. I just listed the ones that I found to be the most popular.
20. Photoshop Elements
21. Pixelmator
Pixelmator can be downloaded from your Mac App Store for $59.99
22. Fotoflexr
Fotoflexr is another free program for photo editing.
Summary
Now that you have gone through all of them I hope you can see which ones may or may not work for you. Without actually downloading and trying each one it is hard for me to give them a proper review.
I would like to say that though you may be thinking some of those are a bit pricey, don’t forget that those are a one time fee and the others are a monthly fee.
Of course, you may not want to pay for any of them and decide to go with one of the free programs! I don’t blame you there!
If you are a photographer that needs in-depth photo editing than I suggest you get one that you have to buy. You get what you pay for and if your product is the images themselves you don’t want to cheap out there.
If you are like me and you are a blogger and you just need to make some quick edits and make pin images, then you can definitely go with a free program.
I lean more toward Canva and PicMonkey of course since I have used those two before.
If I could only pick one of those two I would go with PicMonkey.
Suzi from Start a Mom Blog has a great FREE course on PicMonkey that goes more in-depth on all its amazing features!
Good luck on your photo editing journey!
Vanessa
P.S.
Don’t forget to check out my FREE Pinterest Image Course!
