The programs below can perform basic functions, such as letting you resize, crop, and correct exposure with ease, along with offering some semi-advanced tools as well. There are great options for both conventional desktop software and web-based solutions that don’t require installing any software.

The right free photo editor can transform an ordinary picture into something breathtaking. Like most of us, you likely have dozens, if not hundreds of pictures stored on your phone or your camera. Photoshop isn't always the best choice to edit your pictures. In fact, most people don't need professional photo editing software. Our list of the best free photo editing options gives you plenty of choices to improve your pictures, without spending a dime.

The best GIMP Mark Coppock/Digital Trends Often heralded as the best free alternative to Photoshop, (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open-source application that relies on a community of volunteer developers who maintain and improve the product. Available for MacOS, Windows, and Linux, you get a lot of professional-level editing and retouching tools — perfect for designers who can’t or won’t shell out hundreds of dollars to Adobe. Once you launch the program, you’ll find a dedicated window that displays the image, and separate windows to organize the toolbox and layers. When using a large display, or two displays, you have a nice, big workspace to play with your images. Icons in the toolbox represent actions such as the crop, lasso, paint and brush tools, and you can apply various effects to your photos. It may seem like Photoshop, but GIMP has its own look and feel.

Making the jump from one to the other will take a little time, but you’ll save yourself a monthly subscription fee if you do. Download it now for: Three good alternatives Paint.NET This is a case where the apprentice becomes the master.

Was created as a college undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft and it continues to be maintained by alumni of the program. It was originally developed as a free replacement for Microsoft Paint, which comes as part of Windows.

Paint.NET has surpassed in functionality and has some more advanced features as well. Paint.NET features an intuitive user interface that supports layers, an “unlimited undo” to back out of any mistake no matter how disastrous, various special effects, and other tools. Where Microsoft Paint was able to do little more than resize images, Paint.NET is able to handle more advanced photo editing that you’d expect to be limited to Photoshop and other paid programs.

Download it now for: Photoshop Express Mark Coppock/Digital Trends If the above options seem too derivative or you want more of that Adobe-experience without the associated price tag, is another option worth considering. Although pared down compared to the standard Photoshop, the Express variant does have a number of great options for editing photos with a much more gradual learning curve.

With an interface that betrays its mobile roots, Photoshop Express offers quick and easy access to slide bar adjustments and one-touch fixes for photos of all types. Pre-packaged “Effects” make quick and dramatic changes to images to improve coloring and contrast; crop and transform tools let you tweak a photo’s orientation and focus, and “Details” give you control over sharpening and noise. Its file type support is limited to raw camera files and JPG and PNG files, but Photoshop Express is a freely available app that you can use on your Windows PC, iOS, or Android device without hassle. Download it now for: Pixlr.com Mark Coppock/Digital Trends Pixlr.com has a tiered offering that is entirely free.

The site separates its photo editing into Pixlr Editor (advanced) and Pixlr Express (efficient). The site also offers a mobile suite so you can edit photos on a smartphone or tablet — both iOS and Android versions are available. The is more like Photoshop.

It’s a straightforward photo-editing tool that lets you crop, size, and tweak the image. It has a red eye tool that eliminates those devil eyes that appear when the flash goes off. Express, on the other hand, lets you put creative overlays on your images — this is really for playing with your photos. You can put a stain on a picture to make it look like you rested a coffee mug on the photo, for example. Pixlr straddles the line between web-based and desktop image editors: There are both mobile and desktop versions of the software that you can download. However, it’s usually easier to just pop open and load up the online version. Note: The download site does require Adobe Flash to run, so you will need to enable that before moving forward.

Download and install the best free apps for Operating Systems & Updates on Mac from CNET Download.com, your trusted source for the top software picks. MacOS High Sierra now available as a free update macOS High Sierra brings powerful, new core storage, video and graphics technologies to the Mac. Cupertino, California — Apple today announced macOS High Sierra, the latest release of the world’s most advanced desktop operating system, is now available as a free update. Boot Camp Assistant guides you through installing Windows on your Mac. Open this app from the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder. Then follow the onscreen instructions to repartition your startup disk and download related software drivers for Windows. That means Insiders on Windows 10 and Apple’s Mac and iOS systems. As usual, the updates will pass through the Office Insider Program before making their way to end users. If any updates are available, click the Update Now button to install them. Or click ”More info” to see details about each update and select specific updates to install. When Software Update says that your Mac is up to date, macOS and all of its apps are also up to date.