Windows 10 machines are for more than just surfing the web and looking at the photos you take. You can seamlessly sync your personal photos via OneDrive. You can even edit your photos using some of the built-in apps.
This last part is the most important. Our smartphones have great cameras that allow us to take great pictures. Because they’re always in our pockets, we’re able to capture more memories more often than ever before. The lens and processing hardware our phones have allow us to shoot better phones than a point-and-shoot camera a few years ago could have. They are not perfect.
Sometimes you need to remove red eye from an otherwise great looking picture. Other times you want to crop someone you don’t know is in your camera’s field of view. Maybe you want to add some cool effects and share a group photo with your friends and family somewhere other than Facebook and Instagram? Smartphones allow you to do this, but a larger screen and more processing power are ideal.
There are some great programs and apps that let you edit photos in Windows 10. Here are some of our favourites.
Edit Photos in Windows 10: Paint
Lots of photo editing apps and software are costly. It doesn’t paint. The program has been bundled with Windows for years. Even though Microsoft hasn’t seen any major updates since revamping its design for Windows 7, it’s still on your list of installed apps in Windows 10.
Paint allows you to open a photo and save a photo in any of the basic image formats. We’re talking PNG, JPG, TIFF, and Bitmap. The Selection tool makes it easy to crop unwanted areas of photos. We strongly don’t recommend trying deep retouching with Paint due to its coarse tools and lack of layer support. It’s free though. If all you need is quick cropping, resizing or recoloring, this is perfect.
Edit Photos in Windows 10: Photos
Another built-in app for Windows 10 users, the Photos app has easy-to-use image editing specific features you could ask for. There are also organizational tricks.
When you first open Photos for Windows 10, you’ll be greeted with thumbnails of your current photo collection. The app automatically starts creating Albums based on the time and date your photos were taken. Usually if you add location information it will use that too. It’s best used with auto-upload features in OneDrive for iPhone and Android, as it can capture photos from Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage utility.
Besides filters and effects, you can use the app editing tools to change the lighting, remove red-eye and add some clarity. You can also crop and straighten. Only one critical feature is missing at this point: It cannot automatically resize your photos.
Edit Photos in Windows 10: Adobe Photoshop Elements
Adobe Photoshop has gained a reputation for being powerful but expensive. Both accusations are true. The easiest way to get the full version of Photoshop is to subscribe to Adobe’s Creative Cloud service. It’s a great editor with every tool you could ever need, including layering. Adobe’s photography-focused subscription costs $9.99 per month. Fortunately, there is a free trial available on Adobe’s website.
Most people don’t need all the tricks and features of regular Adobe Photoshop. In fact, they need something a little less scary and more direct. They need something to gently guide them through the process of organizing and organizing their memories. There’s Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 for that.
Quick, Guided, and Expert modes allow you to organize your memories at a comfortable pace and standing. In addition to having many of Photoshop’s more advanced tools, buyers of Photoshop Elements also get another feature from the free Photos app or Paint: batch editing. Batch editing allows you to resize, edit and convert multiple photos instead of one photo at a time.
For $79.99 you have permanent access to Photoshop Elements. Adobe has a free trial on its site. Web site right now.
Edit Photos in Windows 10: Polarr
Pole it has a high price tag, but not as heavy as for Photoshop Elements. Designed specifically for Windows 10, the app works well with both touch and mouse. Guides guide new users by making simple changes and edits. Bulk editing and available filters make it easy to enhance your creations.
Edit Photos in Windows 10: GIMP
For those who are not a big fan of the Windows Store and want something to organize their photos for free, GIMP.
Maintained by the software community, GIMP includes many of the advanced features Photoshop offers, but at no cost. Plugins allow users to add new features created mainly by the community.
Try GIMP before paying for Photoshop or Polarr.
Good luck editing photos on your Windows 10 PC. We hope you can find the right software for your photo editing needs.
