- There are a number of free photo editing apps that you can install on your iPhone or Android.
- Apps like Color Splash and Visage Lab are great for single effects, while Photoshop Express and Pixlr are general apps.
- Here are the seven best free photo editing apps for iPhone and Android.
We are taking more pictures today than ever thanks to the camera app built into all iPhone and Android phones. There is no longer a need to lug around a separate camera so we document our lives on our phones. And that means there is a great need to clean up many of those images. You can use the rudimentary image editing tools that come with your phone, but you can do much better with a third-party photo editor.
Whether you are uploading a photo to Instagram, uploading a photo to a digital photo frame or just Airdropping photos to a friend, you can do wonders with the right photo editor. Here are seven of the best free photo editing apps for iPhone and Android that can help you with your photo game.
Pixlr
Pixlr offers a solid selection of photo editing tools for free, including cropping, rotation, color and brightness adjustments, along with special effects like selective blur and spot color. There are also a number of page templates and collages where you can drop and arrange photos. All the features are available for free, but you can pay to remove the ads in the app. It is available for both iPhone and Android.
Pixlr’s main toolbox contains all the main options you would expect to find in a photo editing program.
Dave Johnson
Photo director
PhotoDirector is a fully-featured photo-editing app for iPhone and Android, packed with tools like cropping and rotation, perspective adjustment and exposure control – along with special effects like object removal, sky replacement, light rays and more. The interface is a bit crowded and can be overwhelming for new users, however, and the app is trying hard to sell you the premium version. For example, some of the more advanced features can only be used once a day while using the free version.
Paint spray
Some photo editing apps are one-trick ponies, but they do one thing so well that they are worth keeping. Color Splash, available for both iPhone and Android, converts your image to black and white and then lets you add spot color back using your finger. It’s easy to make and the effect looks great. Unfortunately, each image gets a relatively small watermark unless you upgrade to the paid version.
Color Splash does only one thing: It converts your image to black and white and lets you selectively restore spot colors wherever you want.
Dave Johnson
Visage Lab
If the main reason you want to edit photos is to retouch faces, why not get an app that focuses solely on that? Visage Lab is narrowly focused on letting you perform touch-up work with tools to fine-tune lighting, remove wrinkles, blur or replace backgrounds and even do full makeover with hair color changes. The app is free for both iPhone and Android, but there are ads in the app and many effects are limited to the paid premium version.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Photoshop Express is the more consumer-friendly version of the world’s most popular image editing software, and Express for iPhone and Android has almost every conceivable feature – this may be the only app you need. It has a dozen filters for basic photo effects, one-touch exposure and brightness control, a healing brush to remove stains, crop and rotate, text overlays and more. You can also create collages from multiple images.
Like the desktop version, Photoshop Express on your phone offers a simplified way to enhance your photos.
Dave Johnson
Snapseed
This is the choice for casual photographers looking for a photo editor who keeps things uncomplicated. The interface is perhaps the easiest of all photo editing apps – just select the tool and then select the intensity or otherwise customize your choice from a few choices. There are no sliders, dials or other widgets to slow you down. And there is no shortage of features; tools range from white balance to perspective control to HDR enhancement to lens blur. Best of all, because this is a Google product, you will not be harassed with in-app ads or upgrade notifications. Snapseed is available for iPhone and Android.
Snapseed has an incredibly simple interface with a generous set of free editing tools.
Dave Johnson
Adobe Lightroom
One criticism you can level at Adobe is that there are simply too many photo editing apps to choose from, and it’s not always clear why you should choose one Adobe app over another. That said, Adobe Lightroom is a smart choice if you are a dedicated photographer and interested in twisting as much editing potential as possible from your iPhone or Android device. Even on your phone, Lightroom has a deep range of features, including the ability to mask your image and apply effects selectively to only part of the image. You have the usual range of exposure controls, texture and clarity settings, a healing brush, lens adjustments and more. If you can do it in Lightroom on the desktop, you can probably find the feature here on your phone.