Love playing around with images but don’t have a licensed copy of Adobe Photoshop or similar cool image editing tools? Wish to unleash your creativity by enhancing a few pictures from your latest travel trip but have very limited editing options in the tool you have? Monitoring the online space for a great tool that can help you easily bring out new shades in your pictures without having to pay too much?

Did you answer all those questions with a ‘Yes’? If so, your search should end at Photopea – the perfect free online image editor.

Photopea – Load, Edit, & Save Images easily

Photopea is a free online image editor that lets you load, edit, and save Adobe Photoshop (PSD) files, Gimp (XCF) files, and Sketch (Sketch App) files without using any plug-ins. And that’s what sets this tool apart from conventional photo editors.

Popular image editors like Picasa, Pixlr, Fotor, etc. can work with a wide variety of generic image formats like JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, etc. However, most of them fail to load and edit image files created with other photo editing tools like Adobe Photoshop, Gimp, or Sketch. So what should a user do if he wishes to edit an existing PSD / XCF / Sketch file downloaded from the Internet or one that is created by him with a version of Photoshop / Gimp / Sketch that has expired? Answer – use Photopea.

Photopea uniquely gives you the freedom to work on image files as you would using popular commercial photo editors like Photoshop. Since the tool is free to use, it is an extremely useful alternative to Photoshop or Sketch. So while professional users and organizations might want to stick to commercial tools for the features they offer, home users who cannot afford them can use Photopea to the same end. The tool doesn’t need you to download or install anything; you can use it directly from within your web browser.

Some of the coolest features of the tool include:

• It can work with both raster and vector graphics
• Enables dragging-and-dropping images into the browser to import for editing
• Allows saving work as PSD or as JPG / PNG
• It can work with layer styles, masks, smart objects, text layers and more
• Adjustments include Brightness, Contrast, Levels, Curves, Vibrance, Hue, Saturation
• It can run on any device (desktop, laptop, tablet, phone or any other computer)

Photopea can be used for tasks as simple as image resizing to complex work such as webpage design, photograph processing, creating illustrations, etc. The tool doesn’t have much of a learning curve attached so you can start playing around with it in no time.

How to use Photopea

Land up on the tool’s homepage (www.photopea.com) and you should see the editor open up in the window. Plus point one – no signup needed, it lets you get straight to the point. Since it is free of cost you might see some advertisements in the right hand panel of the screen; if they’re distracting to you, close them using the small x on the top-right.

To start editing images, you can start a new project by clicking on ‘New Project’ in the center of the screen or by going to File -> New. You’ll be asked to give your project an appropriate name, a preferred width and height, and choose a background color. Click on ‘Create’ to open up a white canvas for your first Photopea project. Alternatively, you can load an image from your computer by clicking on ‘Open From Computer’ or going to File -> Open. The third option is to load a demo PSD or Sketch file and start editing it.

Once the file opens up, editing it is pretty much the same as Photoshop. The tool’s interface too resembles Photoshop so that users can have a sense of familiarity. All editing options have clear Alt texts so if you don’t understand the symbol for any tool, just hover your mouse on it and you should see its name.

The tool is largely user-friendly except for a few glitches here and there. For example, it doesn’t let you modify any text on the image directly. To do so, you either need to hide the text layer or delete it and add a new text object on top. Similar minor restrictions should be expected at every point while using the tool.

One of the most useful editing options is the Move tool that lets you drag and position any part of the image to any place you want. This is because like Photoshop, Photopea regards an image to be composed of several layers with each layer hosting one image component. That’s the reason it gives you the kind of image editing flexibility it does.

To understand the tool’s working in detail, visit the ‘Learn’ section through its button on the top-right menu.

Pros VS Cons

Photopea scores some major plus points:

• Doesn’t require any download, install or plug-in to work
• Loads quickly and is very responsive
• Drag-and-drop support
• Very familiar to Photoshop
• Eliminates environment constraints that Photoshop or other editing tools have

There are a few drawbacks too:

• Users with no prior knowledge of Photoshop might get lost easily
• If only basic image editing options are what you’re looking for, this might be a very complex tool for you

• Load, edit, save PSD/XCF/Sketch file within your browser with @photopeacom photopea.com/ via @supermonitoring

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Verdict

True to the claims of it being a worthy alternative to Photoshop, Photopea is a very useful tool that gives users access to quite a few Photoshop features at absolutely no cost. However, it does have its limitations. It can easily get confusing for beginners or home users with no extensive image editing experience. It is ideal for users who are familiar with Photoshop, Sketch, or Gimp and who know their way around image editing terminologies.

Many artists today are taking the e-commerce road to market their talent. And that’s actually a great idea. Amazon, eBay and other popular online selling platforms play a pivotal role in making art reach the right customers. But what do you think attracts users most when monitoring art online. It’s true a low price is a crowd-puller, but to truly appeal the senses, an art-work needs to look absolutely stunning. The same logic applies to clothes, accessories, home décor, and pretty much everything that’s available for sale online. Something that’s low priced will never sell if its depiction or image on an e-commerce website isn’t attractive. However, an item that looks ravishing tends to sell despite a slightly steep price.

Bottom line – to sell something online, its depiction / image / photograph should be perfect. We know where you’re going – Photoshop? Nah, here’s something simpler and more reasonable – ClippingMagic.

ClippingMagic – give photos a makeover!

ClippingMagic is an online tool that lets you accomplish all the editing tasks you need to publish great images. With a few clicks, it lets you remove image background, make them transparent, adjust colors, add / drop shadows, as well as crop the images to create an eye-popping result. Of course it doesn’t have all the features of Photoshop but if editing photos to highlight your work / product online is what you’re looking for, ClippingMagic is the perfect choice.

The tool’s intuitive algorithms make complex tasks like removing image background seem like child’s play. All you have to do is mark the foreground with a green line and the background with a red line and a click later, you’ll have a great transparent image that you can post on Amazon and eBay to sell. And all that for a fraction of the hassle and cost – neat!

Here are some exciting features of ClippingMagic at a glance:

• Allows you to pan and zoom images to deep levels for inspecting details and making changes accordingly
• Auto-save and Undo-Redo options to help revert changes and save automatically
• Configurable brush size to adapt to your zoom level dynamically
• Scalpel to cut off uneven faint edges
• Tools like refine edges, dedicated hair tool, color control, color cast removal, etc give you the kind of control you want to have while editing images and making them look perfect
• Enables you to select preferred file format, DPI, color space, and JPEG quality
• Facilitates advanced lossless or lossy web optimization to minimize image file sizes
• Support for images up to 8 megapixels

With ClippingMagic you can quickly create a catalog of neat results by conveniently clipping a number if images simultaneously. The above mentioned features are just the tip of the iceberg. To find out about the complete spectrum of the tool’s features, visit its homepage (https://clippingmagic.com/).

This is how it works

To say that ClippingMagic doesn’t have a learning curve attached with it wouldn’t be wrong. Depending upon how you wish to enhance your images, you can select which feature of the tool to use and view its dedicated tutorial on the website. Each tutorial includes a series of easy to understand steps and following them really isn’t difficult.

To test how simple the tool actually is, we scrolled down the homepage to reach the link for Basics Tutorial. On clicking the link, we landed on a page where a sample image was edited to remove background. There was also an option to “Try Your Own Image”. We clicked on the button to experiment with the tool first-hand.

Here are steps we followed to remove the background from our sample photo:

1. Dragged the image into the box outline on the web-page (there are also options to browse-upload, copy-paste, or fetch from URL)
2. Once the image loaded in the tool, a number of editing options appeared in the file menu
3. We only needed to remove the background, so as mentioned on the homepage, we highlighted the foreground with green color and the background with red

The results were updated in the adjacent panel in real-time. We could see the affect of each mouse click and movement which was quite interesting. A convenient ‘undo’ button helped revert any changes we didn’t like in the result.

There was a variety of other editing options available including color changes (saturation, temperature, brightness, etc.), adding shadows, cropping, fine-tuning the edges, etc. Once all changes were done and we were satisfied, we tried downloading the image. That’s when we were required to sign-up. To download even a single edited image you’ll need to subscribe to one of the affordable plans.

Pros VS Cons

We actually found the tool to be quite useful. You can upload and edit any number of images in any way you like. But to save edited images to your system, you’ll need to subscribe. Fair enough!

As far as cons are concerned, we found only a single one. While marking image foreground and background you’ll have to be really careful. The wrong kind of marking can cut off too much or too little of the image border or background or edge. The real-time preview window will help you out with this. Come to think of it, this isn’t a con, just a precaution you’ll have to follow while using the tool.

• Make any image background transparent with a few clicks with clippingmagic.com/ via @supermonitoring

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Final Verdict

We loved the tool – less hassle, less investment and a number of great photo editing features. Thumbs-up to the creators!

Bloggers, article writers, online content writers / editors while good at writing, might not be great at clicking pictures. But that doesn’t mean they don’t use pictures to adorn their writings. After all, if you’re into creating read-worthy material, you know how much weight a photo can add to your writing. Various studies point to the same fact that as compared to a write-up full of paragraphs, a write-up with photos, infographs and charts attracts more traffic. So if you’re ready with your next brilliant article or blog post but just can’t seem to find the perfect picture to go with it, hop-in at Pexels – the amazing free stock photo collection.

Pexels – Discover and Submit beautiful pictures for free!

Pexels is a huge online photo library that allows anybody to use any of the pictures present therein in any way they want. Also, it allows people to upload awesome shots that they take and garner attention for their work. There’s no money or attribution involved anywhere. A user doesn’t need to pay for any picture, nor is a photographer paid for his submission. It all works in a mutually beneficial way – the submitter dedicates his work to the public domain and the user utilizes the work attributing the photo to the taker (if he wants to); even if the work isn’t attributed, well, it isn’t a loss for the photographer since it is eventually his work that’s circling the Internet.

Pictures in Pexels’ database are licensed under the Creative Commons Zero License that waives off all rights on the work. A user can copy, modify, and/or distribute the work even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. All the guys running the platform ask for is your support by way of a donation or by submitting your own photos and sharing them with the world. If only all things in the world were just as beautiful!

In addition to offering free stock photos, Pexels also partners with Shutterstock to offer sponsored photos. These are pictures that are available for sale through Shutterstock. Just click on any of the sponsored photos and you’ll be redirected to Shutterstock’s page where you can buy it.

Pexels can be your best launch-pad if you’re ambitious about photography and are looking for a break. Just create an account with the platform and start submitting your master-pieces. Who knows, your inspiration just might stumble upon one of your photos and really like it?

And as a food, travel, history, business, wildlife blogger, if you’ve been waiting for a limit-less photo library where you can get as many beautiful pictures as you want with no strings attached, you need to look no further than Pexels.

All-in-all, it’s a win-win platform for everyone.

How to use Pexels

As a user

To start using Pexels just visit the tool’s website and scroll through their collection. Once you reach a picture you like, click on it to view it along with the following details about it:

• Name of the submitter
• Picture size in pixels
• Size on disk
• Aspect ratio
• The license applicable to the photo (CC0 for most)
• Other photos submitted by the same submitter

Other than this information, there are several little tricks that you can play with the tool. For example, there is a timeline displaying photos similar to the one you’re viewing; click on any to view its details.

Additionally, there are several tags applied to each photo. Click on any tag to view other photos included under it. For example, if you click on the tag “people”, you’ll be able to see all photos that have been tagged under “people”.

Moreover, another unique feature is color-specific photos. All pictures have a small color menu displayed beneath them which contains prominent colors used in the photo you’re viewing. Click on any of the color from the menu to see all images which use that color as a prominent one. Cool eh?

You can “like” photos by signing up with the tool for free. It’s simple and quick! Once you have an account, you can also directly share photos from Pexels on your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

As a photographer

If you wish to use Pexels to show off your work to the world, create a free account. Once through, you can start uploading photos. Once submitted, the Pexels team scrutinizes the photos and selects the best of the lot that are fit to be published.

Additional Features

If you thought that was all, well, here’s a little more. Pexels also offers free stock videos under the Creative Commons Zero License. Of course, the videos are typically short, but they are high definition beautiful ones that can liven up any blog-post or article. Do check out their collection of free stock video by clicking on the three dots (…) at the upper-right corner of the screen. What’s more, the tool even has an API to offer.

Didn’t they leave anything out?

Pros VS Cons

This section is actually pointless with regard to Pexels since the tool has absolutely no negative points. At least we couldn’t find any. Do let us know if you manage to.

As far as the plus points are concerned, they’re pretty evident from the tool description above.

• Unlimited free stock photos to copy, modify, or share at pexels.com/ @PexelsPhotos via @supermonitoring

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To sum it up

Sign up with Pexels as soon as you can to keep monitoring their amazing photo library if nothing else. After all, as mentioned earlier, Pexels is a win-win tool for everyone. We need more such tools/services/people out there to create the perfect world!

“As an avid blogger, my mind often throws situations at me that I try to put into words and share with the world. But I’m not great at taking or collecting photos. Thus, often, my personal blog posts don’t feature an image. And I’m well aware that reading a blog post without an appropriate picture takes away half the fun from it. So I usually rely on the Internet for copyright free images. However, recently, I’ve been having a little trouble finding the perfect photos for my blog. Can anyone suggest any good tools or websites where I can find great pictures of random shots? I don’t mind buying them at a nominal price too.”

Sorry, if that went on for a little too much! But what we wanted to share was a problem quite a few bloggers and social media marketers come across. A picture adds weight to any post, thought or expression. You can’t express as much with words as you can with photos. Thus, people are always monitoring different photo-sharing websites in search of the perfect shots to adorn their blogs or social media pages. If you like sharing beautiful shots on your social media timelines or blog posts, Pablo is one tool you should definitely check out.

Pablo – Create the perfect social-media sharable images!

Pablo is an online tool that lets you upload photos or search photos from a huge library and add quotations, statistics or logos to make them sharable on social media and blogs for personal or professional purposes. The makers of the tool quite aptly recognize the fact that a blog post or a Facebook / Twitter share with a picture is read and further shared a lot more than one without a picture. Similarly, consider the case of a lengthy blog post. If it’s just an array of paragraphs with continuous text or statistics, no matter how interested you are in the subject matter, as a reader, you will get bored at one point. But if that same post contains 2 – 3 photos with appropriate quotations, percentage figures etc. the post engagement would be much more.

This is where Pablo steps in. This unique tool lets you transform beautifully captured random shots into pieces of art or information by adding custom text or quotations to it and then share them on popular social networking websites. You may also choose to download the photos to your computer and use them on your personal blogs or professional articles. Neat!

Here’s how you can use Pablo

To start using Pablo, you can click on the big blue button that says “Try Pablo it’s free!” on the homepage or click on the “Menu” button on the upper right corner of the screen and select the option to Try Pablo. If you’re expecting to find a sign-up page, here’s another good news – it’s not required. Could it be any simpler?

As soon as you click on the ‘Try’ button, you’re redirected to the image editor page. Before you start using the tool, in order to help you out with the nitty-gritties, a quick tour of the app is displayed in quite an interactive manner. Once you’re through, you can start playing around.

Towards the upper left side of the tool’s screen, you’ll find a “Search” box. Enter a keyword for the kind of picture you wish to search. For example, type ‘Pasta’ and hit enter. All images of pasta that exist in Pablo’s database will be listed vertically. Select any of the images by clicking on it and it will be enlarged in the space adjacent to the list. Now comes the interesting part – the edits.

You can:

• Alter the size of the image as per the social media platform or technique through which you wish to share the image: Pinterest, Email, Facebook / Twitter
• If you’ve uploaded a photo that doesn’t make a good background, you can apply effects (Contrast, Blur, Black-and-White) to it to fix it
• Insert Text on the image. The text can be something you type (custom) or a random quote from Pablo’s database. You can also alter the font size, type, alignment, and color of the text.
• You may share the image to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Buffer directly from Pablo or Download it to your computer.

Additional Features

In addition to the above mentioned way to use it, you may also choose to join the Pablo community in order to receive articles about how to create engaging social images and other interesting things (this is where you need to sign up).

Moreover, you may also install the browser extension for Pablo to make using it easier.

Pros VS Cons

There are several plus points to the tool:

• A photo library with more than 50K beautiful photos
• No sign-up required, no hidden costs involved
• Option to upload self-taken photos and share with the world
• Facility to apply edits on pictures
• Facility to share or download pictures without any strict license requirements

As far as the negative are concerned, there was only a single noticeable one:

• There should be more advanced edits available

• Prepare perfect images for social media with pablo.buffer.com/ @pablobybuffer via @supermonitoring

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Final Words

Pablo is one tool that won’t disappoint you. So the next time you wish to grab your 10 seconds of fame by sharing something awesome with the world, create the perfect image with this simple, yet brilliant tool.