Adobe Photoshop is any serious photographer or graphic designer’s application of choice but you’ll have to cough up quite a lot of bills to get it. Another solution is to use Photofiltre, a lesser known and more basic yet free and solid image editing application.

Photofiltre is a relatively small application and, unlike Photoshop, will install and launch very quickly. The interface, loaded with all the features and options, can be confusing at first glance, but after a short time,, you should be comfortable with it. The right side is composed of the shape and drawing tools and an optimizable color palette. The top bar has all the essential image editing and modification options. Photofiltre sadly doesn’t let you customize the interface and choose your favorite tools however.

Among all the image modification tools, we particularly liked the quick contrast/hue and saturation buttons because you can check out the effects and immediately and easily correct the image if you’re not satisfied with its quality. If you trust Photofiltre, you can also let it adjust these parameters automatically.

Like any self-respecting image editing application, Photofiltre includes the most widely used filters to transform your image, but if you need to make really significant changes, you’ll find yourself limited. Furthermore, unlike Photoshop, Photofiltre doesn’t include layers, making it more challenging to work on different elements of the image separately.

Like the excellent free image viewer Irfanview, Photofiltre covers the majority of image formats and can batch process and convert images rapidly. Photofiltre has five different zoom options yet we found them to be more or less similar. The magnifier is probably less precise than the drop down percentage pane, and the auto zoom adjusts the image’s size according to Photofiltre’s window size.

The image explorer is located at the bottom of the screen, and if you set it according to your image file you’ll be able to quickly preview all your pictures. However, if you work with multiple image files, it can quickly become confusing, as you’ll have to open up an explorer tree pane every time to look for your pictures.

While Photofiltre is miles away from the professional oriented Adobe Photoshop it’s an excellent free alternative. The program contains all the essential tools and options to edit and optimize pictures. It loads up very quickly and changes can be instantly previewed. Novice photographers or graphic designers can use it to cut their teeth on image editing before going on to more complex applications.

Download PhotoFiltre 6.3.1 in Softonic

Although it is the PhotoFiltre successor and looks like it, this Studio version is much more powerful than the older one. Layer support is not the only evolution. A new display engine has been developed in order to handle real-time merging and alpha channel support. I have kept the same User Interface, because I think it's a more natural way to upgrade the software. Experienced users will be surprised to learn how much additional features they will get with the layer support.

Download PhotoFiltre Studio 8.1.1 in Softonic

Photo! Editor, previously known as Photo Toolkit, is a basic retouching tool with which you can fix and optimize your digital images in a couple of clicks.

The most outstanding feature of this photo editing tool is its seamless integration with Windows Explorer, which means it adds a whole new command group to the image file context menus. These commands enable you to launch the program's main tools straight away, without having to open the program itself before.

As for the tools included in Photo! Editor, like I said it's a pretty basic program, that is, this is no free Photoshop. That said, the truth is that Photo! Editor works perfectly fine for small retouching tasks such as optimizing colors, removing red eye effect or even cleaning someone's skin from spots, smooth wrinkles and other slight imperfections. Other tools included are a resampling/cropping utility, some really cool light effects and a caricature tool to apply a hilarious morphing effect to your photos.

The only drawback I found in Photo! Editor is that there's no way to browse the folder's contents using thumbnails. This means that if your photo file names are not descriptive enough, you'll have to click on them one by one just to find out which picture they correspond to.

Photo! Editor is the perfect choice for those who are looking for a simple, lightweight and easy-to-use photo editing tool to fix their digital images.

Download Photo! Editor 1.1 in Softonic

Zoner Photo Studio includes all the tools you need to make the most of your digital photo collection.

This comprehensive suite covers every necessary step in photo managing, from extracting pictures from your digital camera to sharing them online. You can view the whole photo directory in thumbnails and double-click on any of them when you want to see if in full screen. Plus, if any of your photos needs optimization, you can also use Zoner for that, as it features tools to balance color, correct gamma values, resize images or even remove that undesirable red-eye effect.

Besides acquiring and optimizing, what I liked most about Zoner Photo Studio was the wide variety of publishing options the program includes for photos. From using your favorite shot as a desktop wallpaper to creating a DVD slideshow to enjoy your pics on TV, there are a bunch of really interesting possibilities, such as creating a web gallery, a customized calendar, a panoramic photo or even a 3D image, to name a few.

To be honest, the only drawback to Zoner Photo Studio is its clunky interface, although fortunately it can somewhat be fixed with skins. The real problem is that there are so many windows, sub-windows, panels and menus (especially when creating photo albums) that it feels confusing and overwhelming, to say the least.

Zoner Photo Studio gives you everything you need to view, optimize, share and enjoy your digital photos.

Download Zoner Photo Studio 9 in Softonic

If you’ve ever dreamed of mingling with movie stars, rubbing elbows with world leaders or having your face immortalized on the side of a mountain, ArcSoft Funhouse® can make it happen. This totally fun, simple software program lets you create hilarious ‘fantasy’ pictures featuring the faces of you and your friends. The program comes packed with over 150 cool background templates to get you started and includes tools for creating your own custom templates from scanned magazine covers or downloaded celebrity snapshots.

Download ArcSoft Funhouse 1.0 in Softonic

Learn how to make your pictures look their best, organize them so you'll always find the right shot, and share them with friends and family.Whether you’re a beginner or skilled photographer, see how you can improve your pictures using the simple, powerful creative tools in Digital Image Suite Anniversary Edition.

Organize your photos

Organizing and finding photos is quicker and easier with improved file management and viewing – organize photos by date, by size, 5-star rating and more.

Editing and effects

Learn more about powerful tools for editing and enhancing your pictures, like panoramic stitching.

Share your memories

Share your pictures with the world - from a simple e-mail attachment, to a DVD slideshow with music and narration, see how you can show off your best work

Download Microsoft Digital Image Starter Edition 2006 11.1 in Softonic

Comic Life is a really fun application with which you can create comics out of your photos and images.

What I enjoyed most from the application is how easy it is to work with. With this type of program, you're looking to play around and Comic Life feels just like that. You can quickly drag and drop your images onto the interface, arrange them in order onto a page, drag bubbles and then enter your text.

Comic Life offers many shapes, forms and text lettering with styles reminiscent of the best cartoons and comics. All can be extensively customized to your taste from the style attributes tab on the right. I also quite liked the choice of filters, with which you can give a different aspect to your photos, like turning them into a scene from Sin City. If you don't want to get carried away into editing, Comic Life also features loads of page templates and themes that you can start off with.

Importing pictures onto the screen is easy, as you'll only need to drag and drop them from your desktop or pick straight from the preview pane in the application. Even more, you can use your webcam or DV camera to take snaps and post them immediately into your comic strip.

The only little downside to this app is that it sometimes uses up a little too much RAM.

Very intuitive and loaded with features, Comic Life is a great way to have fun with your pictures. It has all the bubbles, styles and fonts you'd expect to make good looking comics. Highly recommended.

Download Comic Life 1.3.4 in Softonic

Dynamic Photo HDR is based on a still relatively new technology but it's an important one and one that's getting more and more focus from developers.

According to the developer, this is an ideal tool for those who have taken a photos but the image that they get is not the one that they imagined. The software can adjust photos so that any imperfections, distortions and focus problems are smoothed out as easily possible. It features very powerful Auto-Aligning, Manual and Auto-Assist Aligning of images with something called "Pin Warping" that can correct all various types of misalignment, including camera roll, pitch or yaw. Ever had a ghost type object appear on your photos? Dynamic Photo HDR can completely eliminate ghosting of moving objects. In addition, it features a series of tone mapping procedures that can create a whole range of images - from smooth photographic tone mapping to very dramatic images.

This is still very much a developing technology but it has the potential to improve your photos in a dramatic new way. Take it for a test drive and see for yourself.

Download Dynamic-Photo HDR 3.1 in Softonic

Photo Graffiti can quickly and easily create comic greetings and celebration cards out of your digital images and photos. Hundreds of cartoonish graffiti clipart and text bubbles are available for you to make fun of your pictured friends. The result can be as funny as your imagination allows! When done, simply send your creations by e-mail directly from the program in the right size and file-format.

Take a look at what this program features for you:

• Original graffiti clipart
• Easy multi layer editing
• E-mail support
• Bubbles, signs and banners
• Seasonal themes

Download Photo Graffiti 1.01 in Softonic

This software application is probably the fastest and easiest way to apply some nice effects to your photos. You don't need any artistic skills, nor the ability to manage a complicated photo editor like Photoshop.

In Professor Franklin's Photo Effects you simply choose the picture you want to work on and select the filters you'd like to apply to it. The only big problem is the program's interface, which is designed to be different from the standard Windows app but makes it incredibly difficult to use. It seems they were paying more attention to esthetics rather than usability.

Despite this handicap, the program still has some interesting effects that will add a touch of elegance and originality: borders, frames, painting filters, folded corner effect or drawing filter are just some of the effects you'll find.

Add special effect to your photos in a couple of mouse clicks.

Download Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Effects 2.0 in Softonic

Glamour Filter is designed to improve your portraits by balancing colours, lights and contrast. You just have to load a picture, press the 'Add Glamour' button and see the preview next to your picture. At this point you can decide to add a soft-focus and a saturation effect which can make your photo a little bit fake or ‘dream-like’ if you want.

The application is basic and easy to use, and can be suitable for non-tech savvy users who would like to improve the appearance of a picture in a few clicks. Although you can set some values to the filters, the results are not exciting and basically any graphics editor can improve saturation, brightness and contrast in a very easy way.

Glamour Filter can help you improve the appearance of pictures with easy contrast and colour optimization. The soft-focus effect can also add some 'shine', which some may like but others not.

Download Glamour Filter 1.1.1 in Softonic

Some things will always be funny. Like dancing animals, splitting pants, toilet humor and, of course, your boss’s head on a chick’s body. Thus the birth of FaceOnBody. FaceOnBody is the only software in the universe designed specifically to put any face on any body. With any Windows-based system, you can transport the faces of your friends, classmates and co-workers to the most glamorous, sexy, seedy, hilarious places you can imagine. All you need is your digital photos and a little imagination.

FaceOnBody lets you take your digital photographs to a whole new level. FaceOnBody is the easiest way to transform all those digital photos of friends and family into truly hilarious images. FaceOnBody is super smart yet super simple to use. In just six simple steps, you can create your own FaceOnBody pictures.

Download FaceOnBody 2.4 in Softonic

Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Artist enables you to turn any photo into a work of art, by applying a series of filters that make your photos resemble oil paintings, pastel recreations or airbrush artwork.

The good thing about this piece of software is that it can convert the whole photo on its own, but it also lets you take control of the process. That is, you can grab the virtual brushes and create the painting on your own. You don't even need to have any special skills, as the picture is already outlined in the background. Simply fill it in with colors while applying the effect you like most: oil painting, pastel, pencil, airbrush, etc. There are also special presets that resemble the work of famous painters or painting styles.

On the downside, I found the shareware limitations to be too strict, bearing in mind that this is a creative software tool that users would probably like to test more thoroughly.

With Instant Photo Artist you can turn your favorite photos into realistic artwork that you can then use for calendars, postcards or posters.

Download Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Artist 2.0 in Softonic

FotoSketcher is probably the fastest and easiest way to add a sketch effect to your pictures. Therefore it's perfect for those of you who don't dare use Photoshop yet and simply want to add some spice to your photos without much fuss.

FotoSketcher doesn't even require installation. Simply run the program and select the picture you want to sketch. The process will begin immediately, without having to press any button, and the result will be displayed side to side to the original picture, which is great for comparison. Also, the sketch effect can be done either in color or in black and white.

On the downside. FotoSketcher doesn't include any configuration features. It only allows you to tweak edge threshold and intensity by means of a couple of sliders, but I missed the possibility to adjust light, contrast and above all color, as the sketched pictures tended to be too lightly colored.

Apply a sketch effect to your photos in no time. No artistic skills required!

Download FotoSketcher 1.5 in Softonic

I often get intimidated by image editing programs because they're usually so rich in features that it just becomes overwhelming.

PhotoFiltre Studio was a pleasant surprise however making basic retouching and editing of images easy and accessible. It allows you to perform simple or advanced editing of an image and apply a vast range of filters. Everything is managed through the toolbar with which you access the standard filters. It also has a "layer manager" which controls all the advanced brushes, nozzles, red eye remover plus other useful tools.

The filters are easy to use and for anyone not very familiar with using them, PhotoFiltre Studio provides an excellent introduction into what they can do for you. Many provide simple functions such as changing the brightness, contrast, dye, saturation and gamma levels etc. However, there are also some much more impressive filters such as those that create watercolour, pastel, indian ink or mosaic effects.

It also features tools for more adventurous users such as vector filters that allow you to manipulate images into rectangular, ellipse, triangle, rhombus and rounded rectangle designs. If you're new to image manipulation or editing, or are just lost when it comes to using filters, PhotoFiltre Studio will make you feel much more at ease.

Download Photofiltre Portable 2.6.7 in Softonic

Have you ever wondered how cover girls and models in magazines seem to have perfect skin?

Obviously, not all of us can have skin as smooth as a baby's bottom. On the contrary, some of us look pretty rough in photos, especially if you've had one too many the night before the shoot. While Face Smoother can't guarantee perfect results, it can help smooth over blotchy skin and make you look more presentable.

Face Smoother is very simple - just load in the photo you want to smooth and you can select to what degree you want to smooth your skin. You also have control over the brightness, contrast and color levels. The main options, however, are to sharpen, smooth or even rotate photos. There's not much more to it than that and results can be mixed - depending on the original state of your photo, the "smoothed" result will either look realistic or like someone has painted your face pink.

Face Smoother is in no way a professional tool but it does offer a decent temporary solution for those that need a quick fix and don't have filters in their photo editing software.

Download Face Smoother 1.49 in Softonic

Wire Pilot is photo retouching software especially designed for the removal of annoying wires in photos. The software allows you to remove wires, posts, antennas and other unwanted linear objects from a photo. It enables you to do so with far more ease and accuracy than using Photoshop or other image manipulation software.

Wire Pilot is very simple to use. You simply place the cursor on the line you want to remove and using the mouse wheel or cursor keys, set the cursor size and position on the line you are about to remove. You so this until the background color within the cursor circle matches the one of the object as much as possible. Simply use the mouse button to remove the line and then repeat this procedure along the corrected object.

Note that if you prefer to use this software within your favourite graphics program such as Photoshop or Elements, you can do so as a plug-in. This is a handy piece of software that makes life a lot easier than using traditional photo apps although it can still end up removing things that you don't want it to.

Download Wire Pilot 3.0.4 in Softonic

Turbo Photo is a solution for all the digital camera owners. It consists of two parts: Turbo Photo Album and Turbo Photo Editor. Most of the touch up work and management tasks can be easily done with simple operations. Moreover, the powerful functions can bring you more enjoyment and help create great artwork.

Turbo Photo Album is the photo management and batch edit software of Turbo Photo. With Turbo Photo Album, you can easily manage, view, print and share your photos. Turbo Photo Editor is an "easy to use" but powerful image editing/processing software designed for digital camera owners.

Turbo Photo will help you make excellent photo artworks. All of its functions and features aim to solve the most frequent problems of digital photography caused by the digital camera itself. With Turbo Photo you can master and control what creates a great photo such as exposure, color, composition, sharpness, and contrast. The simple user interface is easy to use. At the same time, professional functions will attract the confirmed photographer.

Download Turbo Photo 6.1 in Softonic

Photomatix Pro allows you to gain the perfect exposure in a picture by blending two photos that are maybe each slightly out of focus. Given that most digital cameras can auto-bracket at different exposures, you do not need to acquire expensive lighting equipment - and carry it - when shooting high contrast scenes. Simply enable Auto Exposure Bracketing, and let Photomatix merge your photos into an image with extended dynamic range.

This program can save you hours of time in post-processing as Photomatix Pro is designed for productivity - i.e. automatic blending, unlimited stacking, easy comparison of results and batch processing. This can save you hours in adding masking and layers with image editing programs.

The developers claim it can even surpass Photoshop CS2 in HDR conversion. If you've ever created a 32-bit HDR image in Photoshop CS2 and could not get a good conversion Photomatix Tone Mapping tool may help.

This is a very powerful program although will only be appreciated by professional photographers that know how to auto-bracket photos at different exposures.

Download Photomatix Basic 1.2.1 in Softonic

Adding water effects or ripple effects to videos is one of the coolest ways to give your videos an extra touch of class.

Sqirlz Water Reflections allows you to add rippling pools of water, rain or snow effects, to images or AVI videos. The pools can be any shape and you can define several factors such as the wave size, perspective and water transperency. You can also change the ripple shapes and wave details plus even add snowflake effects and add depth to other ripple effects. Unfortunately, there are not a large amount of output format options to choose from. Animations can be saved as Adobe Flash files, animated GIFS, AVI video clips and for images, bitmap, JPEG, PNG and TIFF files. The latest release has added some extra effects which are quite interesting which include general rainfall and glossy reflecting areas of water in cincentric circles. Some of the effects you can create are truly stunning - check out the developer homepage for a few examples - although it can take some time to render photos correctly, it's certainly wrth the effort.

If you want to impress friends with your photos or just have a very unique photos collection, Squirlz Water Reflections produces stunning results.

Download Sqirlz Water Reflections 2.4 in Softonic