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    Free photo editors and collage makers online

    Published: Nov 07, 2012 / 26 Comments

    11 shares
    • Facebook
    Free photo editors and collage makers online, free photoediting, no downloads

    After editing (brighter, sharper) ................................... Before editing (dull, not sharp enough)

    I am pretty cheap and practical when it comes to a lot of things. For example, I don't own or use Photoshop or Lightroom software, and the only lens that I use to take my food photos costs only $100. I buy all my nice Nike running and work-out outfits (worth around $40 each) at about $2 or $1 each at nearby Goodwill stores. That's the cheap part of me.

    The practical part of me knows that I simply don't have time to learn all the wonderful features of Adobe Photoshop, and I am not going to buy that expensive piece of software only to use a fraction of its capabilities to adjust my photos in a very minor way.

    The lazy part of me does not want to deal with post-processing at all, I just want to shoot the photo and be done with it. So, the lazy part of me tries to get the shot right so as not to require any subsequent photo editing, and as a result I do not post-process most of my photos. However, there are a few instances here and there, when the light is wrong, or I screwed up the exposure, or the photo did not come out bright enough, and in these cases I found some pretty powerful photo editing software online. There are no downloads required, everything is done online, it's free. Interestingly, one of these resources is by Adobe.

    So, here they are, my favorite free online photo editors:

    • Photoshop.com by Adobe
    • Pixlr.com

    My favorite free online photo editor for making collages:

    • Picmonkey: Free online photo editing and collages

    And, by the way, I think Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom are both great, and eventually I do plan on purchasing them, but in foreseeable future I just don't see myself using either of those two often enough or using their capabilities enough to justify the expense.

    I am also planning to write more posts about particular features I use with these free photo editors to edit and enhance the minority of my food photos.

    Here I just want to give you a couple of examples of how I used these photo editors:

    • The photo at the top of this post is an after/before image adjusted for brightness, saturation, and sharpness, using Pixlr.com.
    • These 2 collages (one of them adores my Facebook account) were made with Picmonkey:
    JuliasAlbum.com

    My Facebook cover image

    JuliasAlbum.com

    Image for one of my posts

     

    « Dark Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes
    Crepes with ricotta cheese filling and honey-roasted pears »
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    Comments

    1. Tom Francis

      November 16, 2015 at 10:08 pm

      Great list - I've found some fantastic additional free photo editors that could be of interest, I've reviewed them all here:
      https://www.itpages.com/best-free-photo-editors/
      I hope they help!

      Reply
    2. Frankie Berri

      March 05, 2014 at 9:17 pm

      I've never thought of doing this before! I think I can get my 5 year old to love this idea too!
      Great blog, glad I find you!

      Reply
    3. Talaia @ WholeYum

      January 04, 2014 at 2:45 pm

      Thanks for the tips Julia!! Your photography is outstanding and to learn that you take the practical approach to buying equipment, etc... is awesome. I tend splurge on photo equipment--my husband hates that lol.

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 06, 2014 at 2:51 pm

        Talaia, I noticed that WholeYum was pinning my recipes - thank you very much! 🙂 It also prompted me to check out your site and I already bookmarked it "need to check it out more" 🙂 By the way, I just purchased Lightroom - they had a special and I only spent $100 on it! 🙂

        Reply
    4. Marina | Let the Baking Begin!

      November 05, 2013 at 5:34 pm

      It's always nice when something free is also good)) But, I think you should not deny yourself the pleasure of 30 day free trial of Lightroom 😀 I was just like you describe yourself, until I somehow stumbled upon the free trial... I never looked back. I think once you try it you will absolutely fall in love with all the things you can do with it (editing-vise) and see why other's use Lightroom. I was not paid to tell you this, but I know the difference it made for me and the way I felt after that trial... I really think you should try it 🙂 It is really easy to use (i did not take any classes and figured out how to use it within a couple of minutes of downloading), and nothing like the Photoshop... anyway, just thought I'd share 🙂

      You can get the free trial by going to the adobe Lighroom website, they offer it all the time...

      Reply
    5. Julia

      January 10, 2013 at 8:52 am

      Hi Julia,

      Thanks for stopping by my blog 🙂 I absolutely love yours! Great job!
      Thank you for sharing these tips. My kitchen doesn't have natural light so I try to cook and take pix as much as I can on weekend mornings. When I cook at night, I adjust my DSLR for indoor light, but it still doesn't produce the desired effect. Oh, I can't wait to play with these websites!
      Thanks a bunch,
      Julia

      Reply
      • Julia

        January 10, 2013 at 4:50 pm

        Thanks for visiting! I take many of my photos using a speed light, because majority of my cooking happens in the evening. For instance, the photo at the top (the platter with chicken and 2 wine glasses) was taken in the evening using a speed light. Not the best photo, but not too bad either. Especially after brightening it up with an online photo editor. 🙂

        Reply
    6. Kiersten @ Oh My Veggies

      November 07, 2012 at 6:55 pm

      This is such a great post! I have people asking me about this all the time, so now I know where to send them. 🙂 I had to buy Photoshop when I was in school, so I just use that, but if I didn't already have it, I'd be looking for a free option too!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 08, 2012 at 12:20 pm

        Students get such great discounts on Photoshop!

        Reply
    7. Nicole @ The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie

      November 07, 2012 at 4:20 pm

      I am right there with you Julia! But I think my other reason, besides the insane price of photoshop/lightroom software is the time commitment for me to learn how to use it...they feel a little overwhelming to me!

      I use Picasa - a free Microsoft program and it suits my minimal photo editing needs - for right now at least!

      Thanks for sharing!! 🙂

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 08, 2012 at 12:18 pm

        Exactly, to use Photoshop to its fullest potential requires a time investment, and when I am ready to dedicate my time to it, I might purchase it. But for what I need at this point, online photo editors are just as good. And yes, I've used Picasa a little bit, too, and then I sort of forgot about it. Need to revisit it again.

        Reply
    8. Maureen | Orgasmic Chef

      November 07, 2012 at 3:30 pm

      I love that last photo! I've never used picmonkey but I've used photoshop and lightroom for years. I'm off to investigate. Lovely to meet you, Julia!

      Reply
    9. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

      November 07, 2012 at 11:57 am

      Wonderful recommendations! I love picmonkey too!! There's nothing wrong to be "thrift", especially when times are so hard these days. In fact, kudos to you!!! 🙂

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 1:33 pm

        Thank you! There are always great finds in stores like that.

        Reply
    10. Sandra's Easy Cooking

      November 07, 2012 at 8:38 am

      I love picmonkey! Great recommendations and pictures are truly picture perfect! Awesome post!!!!!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 11:05 am

        Thank you! Picmonkey is so user friendly.

        Reply
    11. Noel Lizotte

      November 07, 2012 at 6:23 am

      Julia,
      Thanks for all these tips. I think your photography is beautiful and I will take your advice. My photography is different, (setting wise) but I can use your tips to make improvements.

      I had to grin at your confession for shopping at thrift stores! They're on my regular rounds too!!

      Noel

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 11:04 am

        Goodwill is so great! I also find it a great source of books (I love biographies and buy a lot of otherwise expensive books there), unique dinnerware, sportswear as I mentioned, and kid clothes (for friends and family).

        Reply
    12. Melanie

      November 07, 2012 at 6:21 am

      I confess I do use Photoshop (I have it for work also) but I LOVE pixlr too and recommend it constantly. Your photos are so bright and inviting and the collages are fantastic as well!

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 10:59 am

        Thanks. What's funny is that I use Pixlr only on a very few of my photos. I really don't like to spend my time editing photos, only when I absolutely have to.

        Reply
    13. Monique

      November 07, 2012 at 6:19 am

      I had never heard of Pixlr..Thanks! Great illustrations too.

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 10:57 am

        Pixlr is great, works for all my photo-editing needs.

        Reply
    14. Kat

      November 07, 2012 at 3:54 am

      This is great - been looking for an online application to make collages. Do you know of any (or does PicMonkey allow you to write on the photos as well, for posts or FB or such?

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 11:15 am

        I use PicMonkey for collages only, and I've used Pixlr for writing text on photos. If you open Pixlr Editor (Advanced) - it has a text tool (big letter A at the bottom of their left tool bar), which allows you to create high quality text with a large variety of fonts, sizes. Pixlr is also great if you need to create or make an existing image into a certain size in pixels (for website header, for instance).

        Reply
    15. B.

      November 07, 2012 at 2:51 am

      Hi Julia. Thanks for your recommendations and links to the free online photo editors and especially the collages maker. It's really helpful. I have been looking for a free online collages maker for a while now without much luck. Will definitely have to try out the picmonkey.

      Reply
      • Julia

        November 07, 2012 at 10:57 am

        Picmonkey is the best on web I found as far as making collages. I looked at A LOT OF SITES! They have so many options, and within those options you can move photos, expand them, reduce them, very flexible.

        Reply

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