So I constantly get asked by friends and family on how to crop or edit a photo. It’s usually something really easy or quick but the problem is they don’t have access to Photoshop or GIMP. They could be either at work or on someone else’s computer. Has this happened to you? If it has, your in luck – read on. 

Luckily there is an alternative. No, Im not talking about “Paint.exe” either. If the computer has access to a fairly current browser version and internet, you could opt for a web based photo editing application. There are quite a few out there so I’ll give you a run down of what each can do and how they can help. 

First up, of course would be Adobe Photoshop Express. This online tool is based off a bit of a mix between lightroom and Photoshop. You do need a free Adobe account to use this however. Its very versatile in that you can import photos by uploading from your computer or linking to your flickr, facebook, photobucket, or picasa albums. To have all your photos in one portal to edit is a real time saver.  This tool will allow you to do some of the most basic things like crop, rotate, resize, change the exposure, red-eye removal and changing the saturation. It also has a good variety of Tuning and Effects for your photos as well as a bonus “Decorate” feature that adds a bit of fun to your pictures if you want like “sunglasses” or “hats”.

All in all, this is one of the leading online photo editors that if mastered can go a long way if your without the real Photoshop.

Next up on my list is one called Sumo Paint. This handy online photo editor really packs a punch and has a lot of similiar things with the real photoshop. It’s actually more of a art tool than a photo editor. You can create whole images and use the various brushes and patterns they have available for you. Sumo Paint also has filters covered too. IMO Sumo Paint takes the cake when it comes to being the winner for being an online Photoshop equal. (so far)

This photo editor is one of the easier to get a hang of, if your in need of a simple photoshop-like interface that still come with a good variety of tools to use. Splashup is very well rounded for a basic editor that I usually recommend  to my friends who want to play around with an image. Cropping, Layers, Adding Text, and painting are all covered here. It also boasts the ability to import an image from either your computer, splashup, facebook, flickr, photobucket, picasa, smugmug or any URL. I do experience from time to time a weird error when importing an image to Splashup, I believe it has to do with the size or resoultion of the JPG but I’m not quite sure of the limits when it comes to importing images FYI.

Going down the list, we have Picnik – a very basic online photo editor that pretty much has a very limited amount of tools to use. You got your crop, resize, and exposure stuff. You can also add onto your photos types of effects like B&W, Sepia, and others. The downside to Picnik, although one of the early ones, has become ever more fee-based. Some of the effects that you would like to use, you can’t because you need to pay to become a member. Not to mention the constant ads that are on your screen, as well as not being able to have the option to full-screen your window. (unless your a member)

The final editor Im going over would be Pixlr. A very fast, and competitive option for those wanting a Photoshop interface. Coming in 12 different languages, touting the ability to have multiple layers, and tools like magic wand, and dozens of brushes to choose from Pixlr defintely is one of my top picks. Completely free, no ads and being able to full screen the webpage, Pixlr will feel like a real photo editing application.

There are many other online photo editors that I did not cover and quite frankly, they’re popping up faster and faster now of days. Which is a good thing of course since the more we have the more competition there is to bring out the best in each one. If none of the above photo editors suited your style I complied a list of all the ones I could find below. Try each one out, see which one you like.