According to the world of television and movies, everyone has their very own copy of Photoshop. Need to edit that picture for your website? Use Photoshop. Need to scan an image? Use Photoshop. Need to make it look like a coworker is shaking hands with Barry Bonds? Use Photoshop. Photoshop has become so ingrained in this culture that it has become a widely accepted verb (“to photoshop”). You, however, know that things aren’t really that easy. Despite what the popular culture might be telling you, actually using Photoshop isn’t really the easiest thing to do. After all, like AutoCAD and Flash, Photoshop is meant to be a tool for professionals. Even if you are a pro, getting hold of the program can be rather difficult in its own right. New copies of Photoshop can cost upwards of $1000, and those pirated copies from those sites in Sweden can be less than trustworthy.

So what do you do? You want something a bit more powerful than MS Paint, but you don’t necessarily want to go through everything listed above. This is where we come in. On today’s award winning episode of the Free Line, we take a look at eight free image editors that will give you the power you need without making your wallet cry or your head hurt. Helping us today is Angela Smedley, a freelance graphic designer with considerable Photoshop skills. Each program was tested for ease of use, learning curve, and overall experience. With that said, here we go:

App #1: Artweaver

Type: Download
Site: http://www.artweaver.de/index.php?en_version
Programmer: Boris Eyrich
Plugins: Yes
First Impression: “It’s Photoshop 6!”
Learning Curve: Slightly intimidating at first, but easy to get into.
Ease of Use (Out of 10): 5
Overall Rating (Out of 10): 6. “It’s everything you need, provided that you can figure it out.”
Notes: The overall presentation and layout is said to be “oddly similar” to Photoshop 6. There are apparently several interesting features, but are rather difficult to use. The brushes are interesting, however, and the “help” file is actually helpful.

App #2: Phoenix

Type: Browser-based
Site: http://aviary.com/home
Programmer: Aviary
Plugins: No, but works well with other Aviary products.
First Impression: “The pre-loaded image [a cat in a cat costume] is disturbing.”
Learning Curve: Easy to pick up and use.
Ease of Use: 8; Easy to use, but limited.
Overall Rating: 7
Notes: Only JPEG, GIF, and PNG files can be loaded. Very fast; perfect for quick editing. It’s also very straight-forward. The lack of a zoom tool hurts the overall presentation. Works well with Firefox.

App #3: GNU Image Manipulation Program (aka GIMP)

Type: Download
Site: http://gimp.org/
Programmer: The GIMP Team
Plugins: Yes
First Impression: “It’s Mac-like.”
Learning Curve: Easy to use once you get all of the “basics” down.
Ease of Use: 7; Lots of options available, but nearly all of them are easy to figure out.
Overall Rating: 7
Notes: A major improvement over the previous versions. It does nearly everything that the baseline Photoshop CS3 does with ease. A little difficult for those new to image editing, but those with a little bit of experience will have absolutely no problem using the program.

App #4: Photoshop Express

Type: Browser-based (Free registration required)
Site: https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html
Programmer: Adobe
Plugins: No, but it is designed to work hand-in-hand with Photoshop.com.
First Impression: “No sir, I don’t like it.”
Learning Curve: Insanely difficult.
Ease of Use: 2; “Provided that you can get in, of course.”
Overall Rating: 2; “It stinks.”
Notes: Actually getting to the program is a bit of a pain. Existing accounts have to be verified, and website names have to be handed out. Afterward, you are greeted with an error message. Only JPEGs can be uploaded to the program, though Flickr compatibility is available. There really isn’t much that you can do. Good for light work, but not much else.

App #5: Picnik

Type: Browser-based
Site: http://www.picnik.com/
Programmer: Picnik
Plugins: No
First Impression: “Finally… something that takes a variety of file formats.”
Learning Curve: Very small.
Ease of Use: 8
Overall Rating: 6
Notes: Very fast, easy to just pick up and use, and generally straightforward. On the negative side, it doesn’t actually “do” much. It’s made for those who are interested in simple photo manipulation, but not much more. It’s okay, but not even close to something like Photoshop.

App #6: Picasa

Type: Download
Site: http://picasa.google.com/
Programmer: Google
Plugins: Yes
First Impression: “Oh Lord, it’s scanning my hard drive for every picture that I have. This is going to take forever!”
Learning Curve: Fairly easy, once the scanning stopped.
Ease of Use: 6; “The scan didn’t even find every file on the disk.”
Overall Rating: 6
Notes: First time you run the program, it scans your drive for acceptable files … whether you want it to or not. Once the program stopped scanning, a few error messages followed. The desired file was not added to the library, but other “forgotten” files were added. Out of those files, many had the creation date of “1970.” It does everything Picnik does, but not much more. “It’s no GIMP.”

App #7: Pixlr

Type: Browser-based
Site: http://pixlr.com/
Programmer: Pixlr
Plugins: No
First Impression: “Oh… It looks like the new version of Photoshop.”
Learning Curve: Intimidating for beginners, but easy to get used to.
Ease of Use: 7
Overall Rating: 8; “I might actually use that. I didn’t have to install anything, and it didn’t scan my computer.”
Notes: Only three file formats are available, but other than that, it’s really nice. It has all of the features of Photoshop that a “beginner” would use. It runs pretty fast, all things considered. Slightly easier to use than GIMP.

App #8: Sumo Paint

Type: Browser-based
Site: http://www.sumopaint.com/web/
Programmer: Snap Group Ltd.
Plugins: No
First Impression: “It’s Photoshop on a Mac!”
Learning Curve: Somewhere between GIMP and Picnik.
Ease of Use: 7
Overall Rating: 8
Notes: Remarkably similar to Pixlr without being a ripoff. In many ways, it’s easier to use than the other programs listed. It is also the most Photoshop-like. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, but really shouldn’t be to hard to use. Those wanting to perform a few photo touch ups should look elsewhere.

And the Winners Are: Picnik (for simple edits); Sumo Paint (for a more Photoshop-like experience).

Final Thoughts: “While I don’t think I would use any of those permanently, I would give a few of them a shot if I was on another computer. Simply put, the perfect program is the one that fits your needs the best. For someone who just wants to remove red-eye, a program like GIMP is overkill. For someone who wishes to edit several images for a website, apps such as Picasa will be frustrating. If it works for you, go for it.”