8 Simple Free Photoshop Alternatives that are under 2 MB
There are hundreds of free image editors out there for your computer, many of which are known as “bloatware” since they are bloated with unecessary features. Sometimes you just want a light, simple program that doesn’t take forever to load and will let you do a few simple tasks. Well, here is a list of 8 simple free Photoshop alternatives under 2MB that will save you time and headache.
So enter Free Photoshop alternatives
Fotografix (616KB)
Fotografix is an image editor that can be used to enhance, adjust and add filters to images as well as retouching photos. Fotografix does allow you to use layers so that you can even create basic graphic designs and transparent backgrounds. Since the file size is so small and doesn’t require installation, Fotografix can be run from a USB drive. There is support for a large range of different image formats. Fotografix also allows you to use scripts which automate frequently repeated tasks.
Splashup Light (93.5KB)
Splashup Light is the lighter version of the more advanced, full version of Splashup. It is an Adobe AIR application that allows you to edit and add effects to photos with numerous creative tools. With Splashup light you can open a file on your computer or take a picture straight from your webcam to edit. There is also a great pan tool that lets you move your image around for the best view. Along with being able to add shapes and text to images, you can resize, crop, rotate and flip.
i.Mage (850KB)
i.Mage is a unique small yet fast graphics editor that lets you do easy and precise pixel editing. It’s not weighed down with a lot of plugins so the program actually starts in under a second. i.Mage is definitely the right tool for the quick and simple tasks. You can either start a new project from scratch or from the contents of your clipboard. There is a two-pane view so that you can see the full image on one side and the pixilated image on the other. i.Mage might be small and simple but it’s loaded with great tools and features.
Paint.net (1.6MB)
Paint.NET is actually a personal favorite of mine that I’ve been using for a few years now and is a GIMP competitor. Even though it’s lightweight, it allows you to do a lot of advanced enhancements and adjustments. Paint.net also supports layers and even has an unlimited undo feature. If you are looking for more adjustments, effects and/or enhancements, there are quite a few plugins that you can install to do just what you’re looking for.
IrfanView (1.28MB)
IrfanView is another great tool that lets you view, convert and optimize images. You can do more advanced things like creating slideshows, batch processing, and playing sounds and movies. You can view just about any file format with IrfanView. Plus, it also supports plugins and even has different toolbar skins so that you can change the look of your toolbar. Though IrfanView has less emphasis on image editing and more on image viewing, it’s still one of the best in its league.
Easy Photo Editor (1.25MB)
When you download Easy Photo Editor you will have the trial version which has a 6 images limit per process; the full version is $29.95. The title definitely fits the program, as it’s very limited in features. Easy Photo Editor lets you view, edit, and enhance your photos to a certain extent. It supports the major graphic formats like BMP, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and multipage TIFF. You can also convert, resize, rotate, and stamp text or graphics onto your photos in batch mode. Lastly, Easy Photo Editor makes it easy for you to email your edited images via the Internet.
Free Image Editor (1.39MB)
Free Image Editor is a another simple bitmap image editor that lets you retouch photos or create original graphics. You have the choice of starting a new project from scratch, opening a file, capturing the current window, scanning an image from your scanner, or using the contents of your clipboard. What I really like about Free Image Editor is the built in capturing tool for taking screenshots. You can capture the desktop, a selection, the active window or an object in a window. Free Image Editor also provides a rich set of graphics tools that can be used for digital photography such as raster and paint tools.
PhotoFiltre (1.6MB)
PhotoFiltre is great for retouching and adjusting images as well as applying filters. There are numerous filters that you can use such as soften, sharpen, noise, relief, color, artistic, and much more. There are also numerous adjustment options as well. PhotoFiltre also uses two types of selection tools one which uses automatic shapes and the other which is a lasso and polygon tool. These tools allow for great customized drawing and even lets you save each selection as a separate file.
Is there a certain image editor that you like better? Which is your favorite? Please let us know in the comments.
(By)
i personally like gimp (of course) and inkscape, which is a scalable vector graphics program similar to adobe illustrate… these are bigger programs though
Inkscape is a great app but it doesn’t have all the tools photoshop has at first glance, of course it’s not meant to be an alternative to photoshop – it’s an accessory to compliment it. Since inkscape is more about vectors and doesn’t really provide you with the tools to airbrush photos – at least not as easily as photoshop does.
Inkscape is a vector-graphics editor like Illustrator etc. It is not really suited for working with photographs.
IrfanView is more of a viewer than an editor. So imho it can’t be considered as a replacement for Photoshop.
Agreed – it’s not a substitute for Photoshop. That said, since around version 4.10 it has had the ‘IrfanPaint’ plug-in which gives it several useful painting tools. In all, I find it as powerful as most of the other tools mentioned on the page, and for batch conversions, scanning etc, it is the best!
Artweaver anyone?? I found it is simple to use, yet quite powerful. I’ve tried Paint.Net, but it is not as intuitive as Artweaver, imo. IrfanView is just too simple.
I also use Photofiltre, it is quite good actually.
And I’ll try the others.
nice info, btw.
I’ve used IrfanView as my viewer for ages. It’s also good for simple editing.
GIMP forever!
I believe XnView should be mentioned here as well.
I second that. XNView is more or less identical to IrfanView in features, but looks better. Personally, I prefer IrfanView as it is faster, and I find it easier, but others may prefer XNView.
there’s also a very nice webapp, photoshop in your browser: pixlr.com.
That’s really nice one !
Have a look also at Lightbox Free from http://www.lightboxeditor.com/index.html
I simply love Irfan View. It is amazing for all those minor tweaks to the Photos. Need to Try Paint.net now.
Not sure download size matters much anymore. My vote is for GIMP, but I’m guessing it was disqualified as it’s a 15mb download.
Either way, good article, thanks!
Wow that is amazing. Excellent tools dude!
R
Twww.privacy-web.net.tc
How about MS Paint in Win 7, it’s been overhauled with the office ribbon and has many new features.
photoscape is better than all of these!
Would be nice if this list included both Mac and PC alternatives.
‘Both’. As if there were two choices? Perhaps back in 2000 yea, but Linux is actually an option these days.
A nice list of programs but it says at the link provided for Fotografix that it is “Fotografix Beta 2″ and that the size is 310kb not 616kb.
Do I have the right program?
I’ve been using IrfanView for a few years now, and it really does open just about any image file format. It’s a pretty quick app too, and works like a charm with slide shows. File conversion is also very handy.
pixlr dot com slash editor imo is really great, opens up in a web browser and no need to download
An off-the-wall alternative is Grid Magic free edition (GMfree). I’m the author of this award-winning educational image-processing art package which we give away to home users. It makes wild and wacky art work for those with limited drawing skills and is geared very much towards practical make-and-do projects like background tiles, bookmarks, t-shirt prints, greetings cards, page borders etc. It works for kids from 5 upwards – it even works for adults. If you’re interested you can get it from http://www.GridMagic.com. There are absolutely no ads, catches, tricks or registration requirements whatsoever.
oh my… I’m sorry for not thoroughly reading the title and the article. Artweaver is way above 2MB. But really, it is worth a look as a photoshop alternative. Anyway, photoshop is just too big (in size and features) to be rivaled by these alternative programs.
I use another free and great viewer FastStone Image Viewer 3.0. It has convenient interface (including full-screen mode with 4 pop-up control panels) with simple navigation and supports many file formats. It also provides slideshow mode with transitional effects and EXIF information viewing. Other features: resizing, rotating, cropping, color adjustments, red-eye removing, sharpening, blurring, converting to different graphic formats and many-many other. FS Image Viewer has several drawing tools. Its download package has 3.25 Mb. Now available version 3.8.
Thanks for reminding me about this one.
Just one more useful fact is that it also comes in a portable version!
How in the world can you not list GIMP?
Seriously.
My apologies. I followed a linked copy that did not include the “under 2 MB” phrase in the title. It seems like an arbitrary limit to me, but it explains why GIMP isn’t listed.
I think that GIMP is THE alternative to Photoshop, and this list should be called “8 simple GIMP alternatives that are under 2 MB”.
Anyway, thanks for the tips!
Do any of these programs support cmyk? I’m a big fan of photoshop elements, but the fact that it doesn’t support cmyk, is starting to be a limitation for me.
I know that the pricy normal photoshop does, but it isn’t in my budget at this time.
are any of these mac-friendly?
My old standby has been imageN.
http://www.pixoid.com/
Intuitive, quick, clean, well-chosen features.
http://www.getpaint.net/index.html maybe?
What about no install required. (well just flash)
I believe that none of those tools (incl. GIMP) cannot be actually considered as Photoshop replacement because of lack of serious ICC color management. For me, the full color management ability is the primary feature of Photoshop…
Some of these programs are too weak, but there are nice programs here too.
GIMP is not here, but it’s nice. The pity is: it doesn’t run smoothly in Windows like it does in Linux, at least in my computers.
Anyway, it’s VERY hard to find professional artistic effects in a free software. Usually you can just get “the same” simple effects. Even GIMP lacks that, because it has just a few professional effects.
I have found here a lot of free professional Computer Graphics effects: http://www.picturetopeople.org. Some effects here I have never found in any other software.
Fotographix v.1.1 Officially out of Beta and a New Homepage too. Enjoy…
http://lmadhavan.com/
You can also give a try to FXfoto… It has a free version that can help resize, frame, add text, convert colors, add graphics etc., thats easy to use and size is less than 15 MB… Hope you enjoy working with it…
If you are looking for some good, free alternatives for image editing or graphics creation then check out this list. These are NOT web-based though they represent real alternatives to Photoshop for offline graphics work from novice to advanced user. Read more here:
http://ninjarabbits.blogspot.com/2009/11/free-adobe-photoshop-alternatives-to.html
Great photoshop alternatives I really like GIMP and aivry I think has some photo editing program as well online.