As long as you have some degree of artistic talent, it's possible to give your digital photos a creative new look by applying effects to them. DreamLight Photo Editor is a program dedicated to helping you do just that, and adding special effects is as easy as opening a photo, then viewing the preview of an effect before selecting it to apply it to your image.

There are dozens of different filters to choose from in DreamLight Photo Editor and all are clearly divided into different categories. One of the best things about DreamLight Photo Editor is the fact that you can apply as many effects to the same image as you please, giving you the ability to get very creative (though, of course, it's easy to go overboard sometimes).

Annoyingly, the Undo feature in DreamLight Photo Editor only removes the last effect you applied, so we often found ouselves having to restart if the combination of filters we added didn't look right. Despite its name, DreamLight Photo Editor doesn't actually include any image editing tools, meaning that you'll still need to use an external graphics app to process any other changes after you've added the effects.

It's much easier to use than Photoshop, but if you have the Adobe app already then you certainly won't need DreamLight Photo Editor.

Download DreamLight Photo Editor 4.2 in Softonic

Let's make a point: we are not talking about fine design here. The only cute available templates are the cartoon ones. The Holiday, Travel and Sport ones are a fairly basic and I wouldn't recommend them if you are looking for something slightly cool or stylish. That said, if you are not too fussy, they will save you lots of time when you have to make an announcement to your acquaintances.

A nice feature allows you to upload a photo which you can resize and rotate so that it will fit exactly the apposite photo space in the template. The program automatically takes care of the card's layer level as sometimes your picture will be surrounded by stars and circles. It is also possible to modify the default text which is useful considering it is often miswritten. The good news is that you can download more cartoon themes!

Photo Card Maker will let you create lovely cartoon photo cards to send around in image format. It is very easy and fast to make announcements or best wishes with this free program, so if you like cartoon-style cards, don't hesitate longer and give it a try.

Download Photo Card Maker 1.0.1 in Softonic

Download Inkscape 0.48.2 in Softonic

The best thing about MyPaint is that focuses on simplicity and ease of use. There are no complicated menus and the interface is really simple, almost minimalist. You can concentrate on your canvas and let your inner artist out, without any distractions.

MyPaint includes a wealth of different brushes, conveniently organized in different categories. Plus you can configure each brush to the smallest detail, and also create new categories in a very easy way. Each brush produces a different result on the screen, always trying to emulate the actual material: oil painting, watercolor, charcoal, marker, acrylic, etc.

Though you can use it with a standard mouse, MyPaint is meant to be used with a graphic tablet, as it supports different types of pressure – which contributes a lot to the feeling of realistic painting.

MyPaint is an excellent editor with which you can create great drawings or quick sketches in an easy way.

Download MyPaint 0.9.0 in Softonic

In this latest release of Open Canvas, there are a ton of new features including a new Tool Palette, Color Sampler, Preset Manager, Grabber Control, Menu and Shortcut Key. The Tool Palette is probably the most interesting and welcome innovation. OpenCanvas 4.5 features a new elegant look with a standardized size of Tool Palette and it now supports docking, window shading and adsorbing when moving the palette. In addition, much more workspace can be used efficiently than before.

In summary, OpenCanvas lets you experiment with traditional painting while enjoying the advantages of computer design.

Download OpenCanvas 4.5.09e in Softonic

If you want to display your drawings online, you have two options: either scan hard copies of your drawings or draw them directly on your computer. TwistedBrush Open Studio lets you do the latter in impressive fashion once you learn how to use it.

If you have already tried the full version of TwistedBrush, you may find TwistedBrush Open Studio quite limited. While it has many of the same features, TwistedBrush Open Studio has conspicuously fewer paint brushes available. Several of the more detailed brushes are available for add-on with a purchase however. Some of these include Fractal Brushes, Pro Clips, Pro Trees and Plants, Blender Brushes and Art Tool Brushes.

TwistedBrush Open Studio can also be a little tricky to learn how to use. While it comes with a quick-start guide that opens upon start-up, this guide is primarily made up of screenshots. If you need more information than what's provided within each shot, there are no links to click. There's also no select tool, which many users have become accustomed to with Adobe Photoshop. This could take some getting used to.

That said, the brush selection is still pretty impressive, and you can create some fantastic pieces of digital art with TwistedBrush Open Studio. It just takes some practice!

Despite including only basic tools, TwistedBrush Open Studio offers a great means by which to create digital artwork from scratch on your PC.

Download TwistedBrush Open Studio 17.24 in Softonic

Still in beta, OpenPaint suffers from a little instability, but is otherwise functional. The tools are basic - you get a brush and pencil with no settings, the fill, spray and basic shape tools and a few more.

With no line tool, OpenPaint is actually more basic than Microsoft's version. There isn't really anything to help you create images - you need steady mouse control, and have to accept this app won't be able to create very subtle images. OpenPaint's instabilities are more annoying - occasionally when you use the shape tool, your shape might disappear after you've drawn it.

As Microsoft Paint still ships with Windows, there's little reason to use OpenPaint which offers no advantages, and isn't improved with it's extreme simplicity!

Download OpenPaint 1.2 Beta in Softonic

If you want to display your drawings online, you have two options: either scan hard copies of your drawings or draw them directly on your computer. TwistedBrush Pro Studio lets you do the latter in impressive fashion once you learn how to use it.

If you're envisioning designing sharp looking graphics for a new website, turn back now. TwistedBrush Pro Studio and its free version TwistedBrush Open Studio has not been developed to create clean crisp graphics. It will frustrate you unless you use it for what it was designed for, which is drawing and art. As a result, one of the best and most effective ways to use TwistedBrush Pro Studio is with a pen and a drawing tablet.

When TwistedBrush Pro Studio starts, a quick-start guide designed to gently introduce you to the features will pop up. While this has the potential to be useful, some users might be frustrated that the guide is largely made up of screenshots with information bubbles. If you have difficulty understanding a concept, there're no links to click on to obtain further information.

Thankfully, TwistedBrush Pro Studio is relatively easy to navigate through. A lot of effort was put into making it a realistic substitute for actual painting, and when you start working with the various brushes you'll immediately see that they interact well with the colors to create a convincing portrait. Undoubtedly TwistedBrush Pro Studio's greatest strength is the vast selection of brush types and styles that are available to use. From simple fine pens, to wet oil brushes and progressive 3D designs, users have a lot to choose from in TwistedBrush Pro Studio. The beauty of each brush is that it can be used quickly and easily, with stunning results.

Users will also find support for all the major image file formats in TwistedBrush Pro Studio, including TIFF, PSD, JPG, GIF, and PNG. Unfortunately, it seems TwistedBrush Pro Studio doesn't have a select tool. After using Adobe Photoshop for so long, many users will view this as key tool in any imaging software. Alternatively it could be the very omission of the select tool that sets TwistedBrush Pro Studio apart, with the production process being more of an evolution than a construction.

TwistedBrush Pro Studio is a quality painting and drawing tool that works best for users who have a drawing tablet handy.

Download TwistedBrush Pro Studio 18.14 in Softonic

Besides opening icons themselves, Greensfish Icon Editor can work with other graphic formats as well, and even convert these images into icons. The program also features an extracting tool to open all icons included in system libraries and EXE files.

You'll have access to a wide variety of drawing tools and special filters to spice your icons up. Plus, the program is really easy to use and supports keyboard shortcuts, drag-and-dropping files and other goodies. You'll only need to arrange the different windowed menus on the interface, and you're ready to start working on your icons.

An excellent editor with which you can easily create professional-looking icons.

Download Greenfish Icon Editor Pro 1.72 in Softonic

What is SVG you ask? SVG is basically an open standard language for drawing two-dimensional (2D) graphics in XML developed by W3C. SVG therefore benefits from the various XML tools that make it so easy to manipulate, generate, search and edit SVG files. The developers also guarantee that as a result, Sketsa also produces very clean SVG XML code. The editor is basic but has everything you need to produce some impressive results. It features various tools for optimizing content creation and gives you a decent feeling of control over what you are creating. The design tools allow you to select, draw, and edit objects easily. It supports SVG specific shape tools and supports additional illustration tools such as the Pencil tool for free-form shapes and Pen tools for curve shape. You can also transform objects or drawings by rotating, skewing and scaling.

Sketsa SVG editor is very basic but for a free application, it packs a powerful punch as an artistic tool and is perhaps best used as something to train on before moving onto something bigger.

Download Sketsa SVG Editor 5.3 in Softonic

mtPaint enables you to both open images in several popular formats and create your own drawings and graphic compositions from scratch. Regarding the latter, it seems that mtPaint is mainly focused on pixel art, as it allows you to draw with high precision thanks to a very powerful zoom tool. Drawing tools, in any case, may not be the strength of this program – my personal opinion is that it should include more of them.

On the upside, mPaint really stands out as a graphic editor with which you can perform many daily tasks. It's simple in design and usage, but at the same time it includes advanced features such as layer support, filters, special effects and more. Of course, this is no equivalent to Photoshop but it will work fine for most of your graphic needs.

Despite its basic appearance and simplicity of use, mtPaint is certainly a great alternative to the standard Microsoft Paint, featuring advanced functions and tools.

Download mtPaint 3.31 with Softonic Toolbar in Softonic

Download SmoothDraw 3.2.11 in Softonic

Any painter who has used a virtual drawing app can be forgiven for not really enjoying the experience - they're just not realistic. Luckily there are graphic editors that try to emulate, with greater or lesser success, the sensations you get when painting with actual pens and brushes, and not a computer mouse or a digital tablet. Flowpaint is one of those editors, but even though it's a good start, it still needs quite a lot of development.

Flowpaint doesn't require installation, only the Java Runtime Environment. It features a very simple interface with no configuration options at all, just the ability to save, clear picture and undo. The right-side panel includes all the drawing tools, though surprisingly Flowpaint has no color palette – you simply have different types of brushes, each one of them with a different color.

Flowpaint's tools are divided into Sketching, Painting and Effects. The bottom half of the panel allows you to make tweaks to these effects, but you'll just have to experiment, as it's not at all clear what each option does. Despite these limitations, Flowpaint is an attractive painting app, perfect to start experimenting with realistic digital tools, but there's just no way it's as advanced as other programs like ArtWeaver or TwistedBrush.

Flowpaint is a simple drawing tool with an interesting array of options, but it still falls short of expectations when compared to other similar programs.

Download Flowpaint 0.2 in Softonic

This graphic editor lets you create amazing pictures, designs and abstract art with special written instructions called grammar. Each grammar contains a bunch of lines that look like source code, which the program interprets and transforms into beautiful shapes and figures. You only have to write the appropriate commands, values and variables on the left column, and see the result on the right pane of the program's interface.

The program includes a few examples so that you get an idea of its capabilities. A couple of these examples work as lessons that teach you the basics of writing new grammar to create new designs. Also, there are direct links to the program's forums and official website, where you can find further information about this special way to draw. It may take a while to master, but it's definitely something all users interested in computer assisted design should try.

With Context Free Art you have access to a completely new and very original way of creating abstract designs and beautiful figures.

Download Context Free Art 2.1 in Softonic

The program is quite similar to Microsoft Paint both in appearance and utilities, though the truth is that it does include more tools and options than the standard Windows graphic editor – each of them with their own configuration settings. Also, HeliosPaint can work with a wide range of formats, which makes it a really handy editor for quick photo retouches.

HeliosPaint doesn't include a proper Help file, just a quick guide to get you started. In any case it only takes a couple of minutes to get used to the program's interface and icons – though I must admit I had a hard time when trying to find the selection tool, hidden under a scissors icon.

HeliosPaint doesn’t match up to other more powerful graphic editors and you may find it too basic for your needs. However it works perfectly fine as a possible replacement for Microsoft Paint and includes a bunch of photo effects (oil painting, emboss, gray image and more) that look nice on pictures.

HeliosPaint is no Photoshop competitor but works fine as an easy graphic editor with which to create simple drawings and perform quick photo retouches.

Download HeliosPaint 1.4.4 in Softonic