Runs entirely on your device

All processing happens on your device. Open the page and start — nothing to install, no backend server involved.

Private & secure

Your images never leave your device — nothing is uploaded to any server. Safe for IDs, contracts, medical and other sensitive material.

Open source & free

This tool is built and self-hosted on miniPaint, an MIT-licensed open-source project — no servers, no ongoing compute costs, so it stays free forever. No signup, no watermark, no feature caps.

What you can do

A full-featured layer editor: retouch photos, apply filters, draw illustrations, make GIF stickers — everyday editing, all covered.

Layer system

Multi-layer editing with opacity, merging and flattening — layers stay independent, so one mistake never ruins the rest.

30+ filters & effects

Gaussian/box blur, sharpen, emboss, mosaic, oil, vintage, vignette, night vision, plus Instagram-style presets like 1977 and Clarendon.

Color adjustments

Brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, auto color correction, plus grayscale, negative, histogram and EXIF viewing.

Paint & retouch tools

Brush, pencil, eraser, gradient, fill bucket, color picker, clone stamp, and blur/sharpen/desaturate brushes.

Selection & magic wand

Rectangle, circle and polygon selections; the magic wand picks areas by color — pair with crop and content fill for quick fixes.

Text & shapes

Add text (with online fonts) and shapes like rectangles, ellipses and lines, with adjustable stroke, fill and corners.

Resize & transform

High-quality resizing (Hermite resample), rotate, flip, crop and trim. Open files by drag & drop or paste.

Animated GIF export

Turn layers into an animated GIF — perfect for stickers and mini animations. You can also print, or save the layer project as JSON for later.

Compared with other free photo editors

"Free photo editing" means very different things: a layer editor in the browser, desktop software to install, or a template-based cloud design tool. Here's how this tool stacks up against common options.

Tool	Positioning	Local	Signup	Free watermark	Formats	Note
Free Image Editor	Browser layer editor	Yes, in-browser	No	None	Common formats + animated GIF	Open source (MIT), no install, no uploads, fully free
Photopea	Online pro editor	Yes, in-browser	No	None	Strong PSD	Established online PS alternative; free tier shows ads
GIMP	Desktop open-source	Yes, needs install	No	None	Many formats	Heavy desktop app, steep learning curve
Canva	Cloud design	No	Yes	Some in free tier	Design templates	Rich templates, not pro editing
Pixlr	Online editor	No	No (daily limits)	Some scenarios	Basic	Free tier is feature-limited
Adobe Photoshop	Desktop pro	Yes, needs install	Yes, subscription	None	Industry standard	Paid subscription, pricey

Free policies may change — the above is for reference only, please check each product's site.

Who is it for?

If any of these sound like you, this tool is probably a good fit:

Creators & bloggers

Touch up photos, apply filters, make covers and social posts on the fly.

Memes & GIFs

Export a few layers as an animated GIF — stickers and mini animations made easy.

Students & teachers

Slides, assignments, posters without buying software.

Small businesses

Crop and color-correct product shots, add text watermarks, make simple promos.

Sensitive material

IDs, contracts, medical images you can't put in the cloud.

Quick edits

No install — borrow a computer, open the browser, edit.

Drawing practice

Brushes, pencil, gradients and layers for casual sketching.

Open-source fans

MIT-licensed, self-hostable, fully transparent code.

Getting started

No tutorial needed — from opening an image to exporting, it takes four steps:

1

Import an image

Drag & drop a file onto the editor, paste with Ctrl+V, import from a URL, or open a whole folder.
2

Edit with layers & tools

Crop, paint, clone or select areas — every element sits on its own layer, safe to undo or merge.
3

Polish with filters & text

Apply filter effects, tune brightness/contrast/colors, then add text or shapes on top.
4

Export

Save as PNG, JPG, WEBP or animated GIF — or keep the layered project as JSON and continue later.

Things to know

Running locally means performance depends on your device and browser. A few tips for a smoother experience:

Needs a modern browser (latest Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari all work).
Very large images use a lot of memory — close other heavy tabs.
Don't close or refresh the page while editing — unsaved work will be lost.
Animated GIF export and large-image processing take time depending on your hardware.
Mobile works, but the small screen and limited power make complex edits harder — desktop is better.
Save the layer project as JSON to continue later; export the final image separately as PNG/JPG.

FAQ

Are my images uploaded to a server?

No. All processing happens in your browser, and your images never leave your device. That's the root of why it's privacy-safe.

Why is it free? How is it sustained?

Because it uses no server to store or process your images, there are no ongoing bandwidth, storage or compute costs. The editor is self-hosted from an MIT-licensed open-source project, so the only real cost is static hosting. This page may carry a few ad slots or related recommendations, but they're never embedded in the editor itself — the core editing features stay free and will not be charged.

Do I need to sign up or log in?

No. Open the page and start — there's no account system and no personal information is collected.

Is there a watermark or feature cap?

No watermark, no feature limits — every capability is open to everyone.

Does it support PSD files?

No. Layer projects can be saved as JSON and reopened in this editor anytime. If you need to exchange PSD files with Photoshop users, a PSD-capable tool like Photopea is a better fit.

What image formats are supported?

It opens the image formats your browser supports (PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, WEBP, SVG and more) via drag & drop, paste (Ctrl+V), URL import or whole folders. It saves to PNG, JPG, BMP, WEBP, TIFF and animated GIF; layer projects save as JSON.

Does it work on mobile?

It opens, but complex edits are better on desktop. The mobile screen is small and power is limited — desktop's screen and performance suit image work better.

How is it different from Photopea?

Both process images locally in the browser. This tool is open source (MIT), self-hostable and ad-free; its filters and paint tools cover everyday editing. Photopea is closed-source with ads on the free tier, but more mature with broader format support (including PSD). Pick this tool for daily edits, Photopea for heavy PSD collaboration.

Free Online Image Editor