Every day, people come across many different images: a picture, a photograph, or a scanned drawing that was used in an advertisement or on a product label. All these images were created from scratch by a person who used graphics programs (editors) for this:
What is a graphic editor?
Program " graphics editor" is software that provides the user with three main functions:
- creation;
- editing;
- view graphic files.
Digital images are divided into three types:
- raster;
- vector;
- three-dimensional.
Editors are also divided into groups depending on the type of graphics processing they are designed for:
- raster graphic editors;
- vector graphic editors;
- hybrid graphic editors.
Hybrid graphics editors, as you might guess, allow you to work with raster and vector images.
The difference between raster graphics and vector graphics is that a raster image is a set of pixels of various colors and shades, which forms a graphic image. A vector image is a set of objects that have appearance characteristics: shape, size, color, line thickness, fill color.
Popular graphic editors
There are a large number of programs for working with images, two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics, drawings, both for professionals and for ordinary users. Below are the most popular ones.
- The first graphic drawing program was Microsoft Paint. This is the simplest, but at the same time, a multifunctional software product for editing bitmap images, which is part of the Windows operating system:
It is suitable in cases where you need to quickly crop an image or combine one of several, or draw a simple drawing.
- The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). This package is more functional than the standard Paint, and is an alternative to Adobe Photoshop:
- Adobe Photoshop is the most popular raster graphics editor that has several tools for working with vector images:
- Autodesk 3ds Max is a professional program that focuses on working with three-dimensional graphics, namely the creation of 3D objects of various shapes and complexity, and giving them a realistic look. Having mastered the tools of this editor well, you can create images that are difficult to distinguish from a photograph. Also in the package you can work with animation, create characters for games and cartoons, simulate movements. This program is an excellent tool for interior designers. Below is an interior designed with 3ds Max:
- MyPaint is a program for artists who are starting to get acquainted with the craft of painting pictures and creating any other graphics on a computer. This package has a simple and user-friendly interface that is not cluttered with such types of functionality as: selection, filters, scaling. That is, there is a drawing-only set:
- Corel Painter is very popular among artists. Of course, this program can work with a graphics tablet, as it is designed to create digital painting and has over 200 different tools for this. The editor also has functionality for working with layers and masks. A huge plus of this product is the ability to create your own tools.
Programs for drawing
Expanding the topic of graphic editors, it is impossible not to mention drawing programs.
- Autodesk AutoCAD is a popular graphic drawing program. This editor supports two and three-dimensional design, has a large number of professional tools, supports working with cloud storage, Excel spreadsheets, and there is the possibility of collective design. The program is suitable for a wide range of users, as it has many add-ons and a user-friendly interface necessary to solve the tasks. The big disadvantage of this product is the high cost, which is justified by the quality. Therefore, AutoCAD is an indispensable tool in the field of design:
- KOMPAS is another well-known program for creating drawings, which uses a three-dimensional model of an object as a basis, and when it changes, the two-dimensional drawing also dynamically changes. The editor is an excellent competitor in terms of quality and toolset for AutoCAD, but has the same drawback - a high price. Also, both of these packages can "arrange stress" for the computer due to high performance requirements.
Graphic programs for Mac OS
All of the editors listed above, with the exception of Paint, 3ds Max, and Compass, have versions that are compatible with the Mac OS operating system. This is not a problem, since it will not take long to find similar graphics programs for Mac that are not inferior in functionality to the versions for Windows.
- PaintPad. Many users who decide to get acquainted with Mac OS are faced with the fact that after installing the operating system they do not find any graphic editor in it. There is a solution, and it's called Paint Pad - it's the same bitmap editor as Paint.
- Cinema 4D is a program similar in functionality to 3ds Max. It is worth clarifying that Cinema 4D also has a version for Windows. The program works with three-dimensional graphics and animation:
Most of us associate computer graphics in general and editing in particular with Adobe Photoshop, which by itself costs $700 and requires significant hardware resources. And this is natural, because it is the most powerful graphic editor to date, created for the needs of design professionals. "Non-designers" are more likely to use only a fraction of his resources for elementary image changes. Don't believe? Remember why you opened Photoshop the last 5 times. I guarantee that if you are not a professional designer, then you have resized some image, cropped it or resaved it in a different format. At the extreme, adjusted the brightness / contrast / color gamut. Agree, it is not at all necessary to keep Photoshop installed for this.
1 Photoscape
Photoscape is an amazing free photo editor. This program contains so many filters, tools and special effects that it's hard to believe that it's free.
Photoscape has just about everything you need to view, optimize, edit, print, and have fun with your photos. It's such a full-featured application that many consider it a free alternative to the Photoshop suite. Of course, the level of Photoshop is still higher, but the program is really a great alternative to the flagship Adobe and turns photo editing into a very exciting experience.
2 Pixia
Pixia is a free raster graphics editor developed by Isao Maruoka. Initially, the graphic editor was intended for creating anime / manga, but later it began to be used in other areas of art.
Pixia supports Wacom graphics tablets, 3D layers, transparency effects, can work with the most popular image file formats (.bmp, .jpeg, .tiff, .ico, .pict, .png), supports the Adobe Photoshop format - .psd, and also has its own - .pxa.
3 Colourpaint
Simple "painting" for KDE. The most elementary functionality such as a brush, eraser, pipette, primitive shapes. For editing - there is an autocrop, balance adjustment, resizing, colors. Designed for drawing diagrams and diagrams, as well as simple image editing. Another solution for those who are confused by the abundance of buttons and incomprehensible tools of more complex editors.
4 Paint.NET
Paint.NET is a free raster image and photo editor for Windows, developed on the .NET Framework. Paint.NET is an excellent replacement for the graphics editor that comes with the standard programs of Windows operating systems.
With many powerful features that are found only in expensive image editors, Paint.NET is completely free.
5 pints
Pinta is a lightweight open source cross-platform raster graphics editor inspired by the Paint.NET editor. The latter only runs on Windows, and Miguel de Icaza's attempt to port it directly to Linux/Mono environments was not very successful.
6 Seashore
Opensource image editor for the Mac OSX Cocoa framework. Knows what gradients, textures, smoothing are. Supports layers and alpha channel. Based on GIMP technology, and, accordingly, friendly with its native format.
7 Paint Star
Paint star is a graphic editor for high-quality editing, as well as creating drawings, digital photos and other images. This editor for Windows is great for basic user needs, and also allows you to work with layers, transparency, gradients, textures, scripts, patterns, paths, and more.
Paint star has a solid line of image editing and manipulation tools, similar to popular high-end business design programs. The basic functionality allows the average user to realize their idea without a special training course or video.
8 My Paint
A simple and fast open source application for digital artists for Windows and Linux. In essence, it's just a dimensionless canvas where you can display interface elements only when you need them. The rest of the time - draw for your pleasure, without being distracted by the menu and tools. Fully supports graphics tablets, has a simple minimalist design, allows you to create brushes and customize existing ones, supports layers.
95Dfly
A free Windows application for batch processing photos. In addition to the standard functions of a graphic editor, it can create slide shows for PowerPoint.
10 visual boxes
Free for non-commercial use application for creating web galleries. Available as a jQuery plugin or Prototype extension, there are versions for Windows and Mac. Flickr and Photobucket support, built-in ftp client, tons of themes, nice modern design.
11 Digicam
It is an OpenSource photo editor for Linux, Windows and Mac-OSX. Allows you to view, edit, enhance, catalog and tag your photos and do a lot of other cool stuff. However, you must be prepared to compile the application. For those who are new to this, the official website offers a detailed tutorial.
12 PEdit
A very simple free online photo editor. Contains all standard tools, even a child can use it. It requires the installation of the Silverlight 3 plugin.
13 Photopos
A multifunctional and at the same time understandable program that includes the functions of a photo editor, a graphics editor and applications for creating computer graphics. Provides many options for designing, processing and enhancing photos, editing images and more.
14 Irfan View
One of the most popular image viewers on Windows systems. Nimble, compact, free. Able to open all kinds of graphics, convert them to the desired format, optimize, create slideshows. There are plugins, skins and localizations. Often opposes itself to ACDSee. Although, to be honest, I replaced it at home with FastStone Image Viewer, which is also free for personal non-commercial use, but, in my opinion, is much more convenient and can work with NEF.
15 Crita
One of the finalists of the Packt Open Source Awards 2011, along with Blender and GIMP. This is another KDE editor for creating sketches and drawings, as well as for manipulating graphics. The main direction is illustration, concept art and other creative.
16 GIMP
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP for short) is a powerful and versatile graphics editor. With a wide range of functions, you can make your photos more vivid, remove unnecessary elements from photos, create collages and posters, prepare website designs and cut ready-made layouts, and much more. GIMP runs on the most popular operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux.
17 Artweaver
Artweaver is another graphics editor that claims to be a free analogue of Adobe Photoshop. The program can simulate oil painting, acrylic paint, brush, crayon, pencil, charcoal, pastel, airbrush, etc. There is also the presence of various filters, work with transparency and layers, export and import of files in various graphic formats, and much more.
18 Paint tool sai
Paint tool sai has both Free and paid versions. First of all, it is necessary to note the editor interface, which is implemented as conveniently as possible for users. All the necessary buttons fit compactly on the panel on the left, allowing you to quickly find the tool you need.
In addition, the interface allows you to keep several drawings open at once. The canvas itself with the image can be scaled and rotated using hotkeys and special buttons on the panel.
19 Hornil StylePix
Hornil StylePix is a powerful multi-functional free graphic editor in which programmers were able to combine such parameters as: compact size, user-friendly interface and a large number of functions. The program does not require mandatory installation, as it has a portable version that you can easily place on any flash drive and run the program directly from it. StylePix has a large number of features and capabilities and is a worthy competitor to Paint.NET and Photoshop programs.
The program will serve you as a great assistant in photo editing. With this editor, you can fix almost all the flaws in your photo. At the service of creative people StylePix provides a wide range of brushes, cloning, selection, fill tools, as well as many options for working with text.
There is also a paid version of Hornil StylePix. Has more features like quick mask, layer mask, brush image and layer styles for more advanced work than StylePix.
20 Photoshop Online and other online editors
There are many online photo editing services on the Internet without installing any programs. One of the main differences between online editors and installers is that the application requires the most minimal system requirements for a computer and just an installed browser to view web pages. 100% convenience from working in the online version of the editor of graphic files.
Most of us associate computer graphics in general and editing in particular with Adobe Photoshop, which by itself costs $700 and requires significant hardware resources. And this is natural, because it is the most powerful graphic editor to date, created for the needs of design professionals. "Non-designers" are more likely to use only a fraction of his resources for elementary image changes. Don't believe? Remember why you opened Photoshop the last 5 times. I guarantee that if you are not a professional designer, then you have resized some image, cropped it or resaved it in a different format. At the extreme, adjusted the brightness / contrast / color gamut. Agree, it is not at all necessary to keep Photoshop installed for this.
1 Photoscape
Photoscape is an amazing free photo editor. This program contains so many filters, tools and special effects that it's hard to believe that it's free.
Photoscape has just about everything you need to view, optimize, edit, print, and have fun with your photos. It's such a full-featured application that many consider it a free alternative to the Photoshop suite. Of course, the level of Photoshop is still higher, but the program is really a great alternative to the flagship Adobe and turns photo editing into a very exciting experience.
2 Pixia
Pixia is a free raster graphics editor developed by Isao Maruoka. Initially, the graphic editor was intended for creating anime / manga, but later it began to be used in other areas of art.
Pixia supports Wacom graphics tablets, 3D layers, transparency effects, can work with the most popular image file formats (.bmp, .jpeg, .tiff, .ico, .pict, .png), supports the Adobe Photoshop format - .psd, and also has its own - .pxa.
3 Colourpaint
Simple "painting" for KDE. The most elementary functionality such as a brush, eraser, pipette, primitive shapes. For editing - there is an autocrop, balance adjustment, resizing, colors. Designed for drawing diagrams and diagrams, as well as simple image editing. Another solution for those who are confused by the abundance of buttons and incomprehensible tools of more complex editors.
4 Paint.NET
Paint.NET is a free raster image and photo editor for Windows, developed on the .NET Framework. Paint.NET is an excellent replacement for the graphics editor that comes with the standard programs of Windows operating systems.
With many powerful features that are found only in expensive image editors, Paint.NET is completely free.
5 pints
Pinta is a lightweight, open source, cross-platform raster graphics editor inspired by the Paint.NET editor. The latter only runs on Windows, and Miguel de Icaza's attempt to port it directly to Linux/Mono environments was not very successful.
6 Seashore
Opensource image editor for the Mac OSX Cocoa framework. Knows what gradients, textures, smoothing are. Supports layers and alpha channel. Based on GIMP technology, and, accordingly, friendly with its native format.
7 Paint Star
Paint star is a graphic editor for high-quality editing, as well as creating drawings, digital photos and other images. This editor for Windows is great for basic user needs, and also allows you to work with layers, transparency, gradients, textures, scripts, patterns, paths, and more.
Paint star has a solid line of image editing and manipulation tools, similar to popular high-end business design programs. The basic functionality allows the average user to realize their idea without a special training course or video.
8 My Paint
A simple and fast open source application for digital artists for Windows and Linux. In essence, it's just a dimensionless canvas where you can display interface elements only when you need them. The rest of the time - draw for your pleasure, without being distracted by the menu and tools. Fully supports graphics tablets, has a simple minimalist design, allows you to create brushes and customize existing ones, supports layers.
95Dfly
A free Windows application for batch processing photos. In addition to the standard functions of a graphic editor, it can create slide shows for PowerPoint.
10 visual boxes
Free for non-commercial use application for creating web galleries. Available as a jQuery plugin or Prototype extension, there are versions for Windows and Mac. Flickr and Photobucket support, built-in ftp client, tons of themes, nice modern design.
11 Digicam
It is an OpenSource photo editor for Linux, Windows and Mac-OSX. Allows you to view, edit, enhance, catalog and tag your photos and do a lot of other cool stuff. However, you must be prepared to compile the application. For those who are new to this, the official website offers a detailed tutorial.
12 PEdit
A very simple free online photo editor. Contains all standard tools, even a child can use it. It requires the installation of the Silverlight 3 plugin.
13 Photopos
A multifunctional and at the same time understandable program that includes the functions of a photo editor, a graphics editor and applications for creating computer graphics. Provides many options for designing, processing and enhancing photos, editing images and more.
14 Irfan View
One of the most popular image viewers on Windows systems. Nimble, compact, free. Able to open all kinds of graphics, convert them to the desired format, optimize, create slideshows. There are plugins, skins and localizations. Often opposes itself to ACDSee. Although, to be honest, I replaced it at home with FastStone Image Viewer, which is also free for personal non-commercial use, but, in my opinion, is much more convenient and can work with NEF.
15 Crita
One of the finalists of the Packt Open Source Awards 2011, along with Blender and GIMP. This is another KDE editor for creating sketches and drawings, as well as for manipulating graphics. The main direction is illustration, concept art and other creative.
16 GIMP
The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP for short) is a powerful and versatile graphics editor. With a wide range of functions, you can make your photos more vivid, remove unnecessary elements from photos, create collages and posters, prepare website designs and cut ready-made layouts, and much more. GIMP runs on the most popular operating systems: Windows, Mac, Linux.
17 Artweaver
Artweaver is another graphics editor that claims to be a free analogue of Adobe Photoshop. The program can simulate oil painting, acrylic paint, brush, crayon, pencil, charcoal, pastel, airbrush, etc. There is also the presence of various filters, work with transparency and layers, export and import of files in various graphic formats, and much more.
18 Paint tool sai
Paint tool sai has both Free and paid versions. First of all, it is necessary to note the editor interface, which is implemented as conveniently as possible for users. All the necessary buttons fit compactly on the panel on the left, allowing you to quickly find the tool you need.
In addition, the interface allows you to keep several drawings open at once. The canvas itself with the image can be scaled and rotated using hotkeys and special buttons on the panel.
19 Hornil StylePix
Hornil StylePix is a powerful multifunctional free graphic editor in which programmers were able to combine such parameters as: compact size, user-friendly interface and a large number of functions. The program does not require mandatory installation, as it has a portable version that you can easily place on any flash drive and run the program directly from it. StylePix has a large number of features and capabilities and is a worthy competitor to Paint.NET and Photoshop programs.
The program will serve you as a great assistant in photo editing. With this editor, you can fix almost all the flaws in your photo. At the service of creative people StylePix provides a wide range of brushes, cloning, selection, fill tools, as well as many options for working with text.
There is also a paid version of Hornil StylePix. Has more features like quick mask, layer mask, brush image and layer styles for more advanced work than StylePix.
20 Photoshop Online and other online editors
There are many online photo editing services on the Internet without installing any programs. One of the main differences between online editors and installers is that the application requires the most minimal system requirements for a computer and just an installed browser to view web pages. 100% convenience from working in the online version of the editor of graphic files.
Download graphic photo editors to your computer for free.
Programs for editing photos and images in Russian.
Download free graphic editors for drawing on Windows XP, 7, 8,10.
The Gimp advanced graphics editor allows you to process and retouch photos, work with multiple layers, use drawing tools, and reduce file sizes.
Many designers and layout designers prefer to download GIMP as a free alternative to Photoshop. Its functionality is 70% able to replace the tools of the popular photo editor. The application is recommended to be used both for improving photos before publishing on social networks, and for professional tasks.
version: 4.2.1 from 06 June 2019Program for drawing on a virtual canvas "from scratch". The application contains tools for processing finished images, including photographs. 
The Krita graphics editor was created as a cross-platform application for drawing on a computer from scratch, then its functionality was supplemented with tools for editing ready-made images.
Free image editor with many built-in tools and effects. The application supports working with layers, importing photos from a scanner and adding plugins to increase functionality.
Here is a handy graphics editor created by Microsoft employees. In terms of its characteristics and appearance, Paint.Net is very similar to Photoshop and is its "lite" and free copy. Here you can work with layers, resize photos, apply effects and make photo corrections. Standard features can be increased by integrating additional plugins. By downloading the free Paint.net, you can import photos from a scanner and digital cameras to your computer.
version: 0.92.3 from 09 October 2018A free graphic editor for vector images that allows you to both edit existing ones and create your own. At the same time, the program provides the ability to save your creation in a large list of formats.
Inkscape is a graphics editor that is used to create high quality images for logos, posters or business cards. Until 2004, the developers released the Sodipodi program, which, in fact, is the prototype of Inkscape.
version: 0.9.23 from 03 September 2018Tux Paint is a simple graphic editor with a non-standard way of drawing, aimed at children. It features a simple interface and unusual sound accompaniment.
Tux Paint is perfect for the #1 application for the youngest users. It is very easy to draw various pictures with this picture editor, so parents often download it for children.
version: 3.0.15 from 23 April 2018Screenshot Joxy is a fairly popular application for taking screenshots and editing them instantly. Allows you to take a screenshot of the selected area, add text, arrows, lines to it, apply a blur effect and much more.
A small startup project from Russian developers was able to develop into a useful and convenient service. In addition to the Windows 7, 8, and XP version of Joxi that we'll cover, the authors also offer Mac and Linux versions of Joxi, as well as a plugin for Chromium-based browsers.
version: 4.2.8 from 20 November 2017PicPick is a program for capturing screenshots and editing them. Allows you to quickly process pictures and send them to another program, by e-mail or on social networks.
Why do you need a program to create screenshots, if there is a wonderful key "PrtScr", you ask? But what if the button doesn't work? And what if you need to capture not the entire screen, but select only part of it? And, as a rule, the screenshot needs to be processed before saving.
version: 3.7 from 11 September 2014Photoscape is a clone of Photoshop that has the same functionality and set of tools. But, unlike the famous older brother, you can download Photoscape for free.
The capabilities of this graphic editor allow you to fully process photos and pictures. In particular, you can crop images, change the background, make two layers, apply various filters and retouching, and use a rather big set of tools.
When it comes to image editing, Adobe Photoshop comes to mind first. However, the price of this tool bites for many, and in most cases such sophisticated functionality is not required in principle.
There are enough free high-quality analogues on the market for working with pictures, both for computers and for mobile devices. There are also great online solutions.
Various analogues of "Photoshop" come out quite often. Some become popular, others disappear unnoticed. In recent years, some really interesting solutions have appeared that continue to develop and require increased attention.
Krita - editor for artists
The free program, available on Windows, Mac and Linux, is able to surprise many with its simple yet effective features. Have you cropped and rotated the photo? Satisfied with the result? Fragment allows you to upload images to your Facebook profile in a couple of clicks. Love Gif-animation is also not a problem. The program supports PSD and HDRI formats and is undemanding to resources. There is also a portable version that you can carry with you on a flash drive.
Picture.st is the best online editor
The simplest and at the same time the best online graphics editor. If you only occasionally edit images, does it make sense to install a full-fledged application on your computer? For a long time, online editors were not very convenient and often unstable. They also lacked functionality. Picture.st has solved this problem and can safely be considered as an online image editing solution.
