Free software for the digital darkroom
Some of the best things in life are free, including these nifty programs and utilities to help you in the digital darkroom. Programs include those to edit and enhance digital images, to view and organize them, and even to help recover digital files you may have deleted. All programs were free and available at the time of posting.*
Free photo editing, organizing and viewing software
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ArcSoft RAW Thumbnail Viewer – plug-in for Windows that allows previewing of RAW photos when browsing through files.
- ePassportPhotos – create passport photos online
- Exposure Plot - analyzes usage of focal length, ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
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FastStone image viewer – image browser, viewer, converter and editor.
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FilterSIM – photo filter simulator.
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FrameFun – add mats, frames and drop shadows to digital images.
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FuturePaint (Mac) – full-featured image editing.
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Gimp – (Windows, Mac, Linux) – open source photo retouching software that has many robust features and supports layers. The learning curve may be higher for some than other editing programs listed here.
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Irfanview – image viewer and converter; reads exif data.
- iTag – utility that embeds title, description and keywords in photos and videos.
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Neat Image – digital image noise reduction.
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Paint.NET – image editing program that supports layers. [What are layers?]
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Photo Dater - add date and other information to photo.
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PhotoFiltre – image editing and filter program (go to the downloads page).
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PhotoPlus – image editing software offering layers.
- Photoscape – photo editing software to fix and enhance photos.
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Photo Story – add motion, effects, music and more to digital photos. Windows XP only.
- Picturennaut HDR – combine multiple photos of a scene for High Dynamic Range. [What's HDR?]
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PIXresizer – image resizer.
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Picasa – photo organizing and editing. [Our review]
- TwistedBrush Open Studio – create original digital paintings and all forms of digital art. Photo editing too. Layers and Transparency; Masks; Tracing Paper.
- uMark Lite - image watermarking software.
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VicMan’s Photo Editor – image editing.
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virtualPhotographer – apply photographic styles to images.
Free Photo Recovery software
Free EXIF readers/viewers
- EXIF Image Viewer – view available EXIF information in photos posted online.
- Opanda IExif - browse available Exif / GPS / IPTC data in digital images posted online.
Free video editing software
- DVD Flick - simple but powerful DVD authoring tool.
- MP4Cam2AVI – quickly converts .mp4/.MOV files to .AVI files (lossless).
- Mpeg Streamclip – a powerful video converter, player, editor for Mac and Windows.
- SMPlayer – basic features for playing videos, DVDs, and VCDs; advanced features for MPlayer filters and more
- VirtualDub – video capture and processing utility.
*Important notice: Read disclaimers and operating system requirements posted at the developer’s site. You are solely responsible for software you download and install.
Hi,
I have lots of photos on my pc, something went wrong and I could not view them, 2 days latter and loading a program disk that took over everything, it did everything i did not want it to do, all i wanted was to view them, I went on the your site and there was arcsoft, I realised that was what I had before but had forgotten, it was easy to download and believe me I am 100% thrilled. now I am going to download virtual photographer, now i wont just look at the pictures I will be able to print them for my 11 grandchildren. thank you,
Sandy
i want photo retouching.
All the photo editing programs mentioned will let you retouch photos. Since they are all free, give a few a try to see the one that best meets your needs. For example, the latest version of Picasa has a Retouch tool.
hello, we are in search of a neat program that can say cut out things in a picture and place them in a background. Like for instance we own some neat collectible cars. I want to make picture of our car say in a Mountain background or take one of our cars and place them say in front of a 50’s 0r 60’s diner.
Plus does this program take a picture and make it into a drawing or say clip art form? Can you please let me know… thanks so much
You will need a program that has layering capabilities and lets you make selections and add layer masks. You can get more information about these techniques in our Advanced Editing section. You may have to end up buying something like Photoshop Elements or PaintShop Pro. But first download and try some of the free programs mentioned that have layering capabilities. When there is a clear definition between an object and its background, it’s easier to select and extract. Many programs have dozens of filter effects so you can make a image look like a sketch or cartoon. Here are some examples in a recent review we did of the online photo editing tool, Picnik.
Very good knowledge. Thanks for sharing. I think Fly Free Photo Editing is also a very good free tool.
Thanks for Listing such a nice list of Photo Editing and Recovery software. bookmark it.
Now that I’ve been able to add copyright to my photograph, how do I take it off? I can’t find anything in the help section. The first one, I did it on a copy but for some reason the second one didn’t.
Do you have a software program with a Clone Tool? If so, you can use it to cover up the copyright information. When adding a copyright, I always put it on a separate layer, then save the copy to a separate file.
Thanks a thousand times and over!!!!! This site has helped me so much I can’t thank you enough, keep up the good work.
I’m looking for a program that I can use to leave color on just part of the photo (like a flower or eyes) while turning the rest blk & wht.
You’ll need a program with Layers and Layer Mask capabilities. If you’re looking for a free program, check the complete specifications for the free programs with layers at the developer’s website. otherwise, programs like Photoshop and Adobe Elements, and PaintShop pro have masks. The latter two are less expensive than Photoshop.
yall need more programs with layers an layer mask . cause usually those are tha best programs .
paint.net is the closet thing to photoshop !! — i use it myself . *
I agree that it would be nice if there were more free programs that offered layers. But software developers need to feed their families like the rest of us. They often offer decent programs for free, but if you want advanced goodies like layers and layer masks, you have to pay. At least paint.net is free.
Hi, I’m looking for a program that will manipulate and enhance photos like you see on police shows, kind of like being able to blow up sections and make grainy areas more distinct.
Thanks Rudy
To some extent, you can enhance photos with programs like Photoshop and Photoshop elements that have various editing tools. For something more sophisticated, do a search for Police Photo Enhancement software.
HI, When I tried to upload pics from my camera to my computer, the computer could not read the memory card. It showed as if the memory card was empty and when I clicked properties, it showed that there was no data. I tried in several other computers but none can read the card. But when I view the photos on my camera’s view finder I can still see my pictures. Can anyone please tell me how I can retrieve my pics and upload the files to a computer. Thanks in advance.
If you’re trying to transfer directly from the camera using a USB cord, try a memory card reader. Make sure you’ve installed the camera driver that comes on the CD that came with your camera.
Hi, I am presently scanning over 2000 old family slides to jpg format. I am wanting to find a FREE software that will be user friendly to none computer users (like my family) and allow them to view photos from the DVD in a neat and tidy gallery and copy photos to their computer, if they wish. If they can view via TV/DVD player that is a bonus. I am using an iMAC but most of my family are using PCs. Rather than just give them jpgs or an long winded iMOVIE – can you suggest a software alternative that would appease both MAC and PC users? Any direction would be of assistance.
Rich, if you’re looking for free software, take a look at Picasa. It’s available in both Mac and PC versions. The features are many including creating movies, slideshows and collages. You can also create DVDs. To view on your tv directly from your computer or laptop, you’d need a port for S-Video-out or HDMI.
There are links to the Mac and PC versions of Picasa near the bottom of the page in the page in the review.
hi,
i am looking for a free photo editing program, i used to have picasa, and i really enjoyed it, but i am looking for something with more options. more editing tools, so let me know if you have a program like this.
Try some of the editing programs listed in this article, such as GIMP or Paint.net. Free programs that support layers typically have more editing tools.
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