When I say ‘Image editor’, the first term blinks in mind is ‘Photoshop’, The most comprehensive and promising editor. But can everyone afford $699 price tag? Not really. So, sometimes people go for some cheaper solution, say GIMP or sometimes do piracy. Apart from that there are some good online alternatives to Photoshop. I have listed 9 such editors below. Some of them were surprisingly powerful enough to replicate whole Photoshop usability and feel. Mainly I’ve compared them on the scale of functionality and usability, and gave ratings out of 10. For better transparency, ‘how 10 points are segregated’ is mentioned at the end of this article.

1. Adobe Photoshop Express

Of course Adobe doesn’t want to ruin its business by offering exact Photoshop like online editor. It offers limited editing features as well as image decoration.
Registration required: Yes
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 5/10               Usability: 9/10

2. Picnik

Pretty popular one, refreshing user experience but limited functionality for free version.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 4/10               Usability: 8/10

3. Pixlr

Offers layer capabilities, vast range of functionality, least loading time and precise replica of ‘photoshop usability’ makes it best in class and my favorite.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: No
Functionality: 9/10               Usability: 9/10

4. SplashUp

It is very much similar to Pixlr (except History window and few other less important features) and overall good editor to use.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 8/10               Usability: 9/10

5. Aviary

Aviary has higher learning curve and bit slower at the time of loading. I have to say Aviary offers few out of box functionality with lots of complications.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 8/10               Usability: 6/10

6. LunaPic

Lots of flashy advertisements on page. Applying each effect cause a page load. Over all LunaPic offers worst usability among this list.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 7/10               Usability: 3/10

7. SumoPaint

SumoPaint has wide range of functionality with elegant usability. It also enables to have quick funny decorations.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: No
Functionality: 9/10               Usability: 9/10

8. Phixr

It is more like applying readymade filters. Advertises and page transitions at the time of applying effects make unhealthy usability.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 4/10               Usability: 4/10

9. FotoFlexer

Pretty cool editor. Number effects in one click, glittering text and animation, layer capabilities with good usability makes it eye catcher.
Registration required: No
Integration with social networking or photo sharing site: Yes
Functionality: 8/10               Usability: 8/10

Conclusion: Important for you is to decide which one is better for your custom needs. More functionality doesn’t mean it is ideal. However Pixlr, SumoPaint and SplashUp seems comprehensive and better to be with. Moreover Phixr and LunaPic are HTML based editors, so they can run on machine without installed Flash. Rest are Flash editors and Flash installation is must for them.

Total 10 functionality points = 2 for Image cropping, resize, rotate + 2 for color balance, brightness, red eye removal + 2 for different tools like lasso, marquee, brush, clone stamp, eraser etc. + 2 for Layer capabilities + 1 for filters and remaining 1 for additional features.
Total 10 usability points = No clear segregation but different parameters were considered like presence of advertisement, page transitions while image editing, time required for loading, ease of accessibility to particular tool etc.

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