Comparison of raster graphics editors

This is a comparison of raster graphics editors sorted by availability.

List

Proprietary software

Freeware

Free and open source software

cosmigo Pro Motion
Digimage Arts Color It!
ERDAS IMAGINE
GraphicConverter
ReaSoft Image Converter
Helicon Filter Home/Pro
iPhoto
LView Pro
Manga Studio
Microsoft Digital Image (formerly Microsoft Picture It!)
Microsoft Office Picture Manager
Microsoft Paint
Naked light
OpenCanvas

Historical (discontinued titles)

Graphics Magician (DOS)
HALO desktop imager (Windows 3.1)
IMAGEPRO-PLUS (Windows 3.1)
Kid Pix
mProces
KoalaPainter
Live Picture
MacPaint
Microsoft Image Composer (formerly Altamira Composer)
Microsoft Photo Editor

General information

Basic general information about the editors: creator/company, license/price etc.

	Description	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license
Ability Photopaint	Graphics editor with some advanced features	Ability Software	March 2001	4	Non-free$29.99	Proprietary
Adobe Fireworks	Since ver. CS3 part of Adobe Creative Suite Web	Macromedia	1998	9.01.x	Non-free$299.00	Proprietary
Adobe Photoshop	Professional image editor and graphics creation tool	John Knoll and Thomas Knoll	February 1990	CS3 / 10.0	Non-free$649.00, $999.00 (CS3 Extended)	Proprietary
Alias SketchBook Pro	Image editor designed to be used with tablet PCs	Autodesk	2004	2	Non-free$179.00	Proprietary
ArtRage	Graphic creator and editor designed for tablet PCs	Andy Bearsley and Matt Fox-Wilson	2004	2.5	$25.00 (full version)	Proprietary
Artweaver	Image editor designed for a natural painting experience on the computer	Boris Eyrich	August 2005	0.4.8.1	Free	Proprietary
Brush Strokes Image Editor	Image editor like Windows Paint	Paul Bird	2004	1.0	Free	Proprietary
CinePaint	Moving picture, photo and graphics editor	Robin Rowe	July 4, 2002	0.22	Free	GPL
CodedColor PhotoStudio Pro		1STEIN Corp.	2001	5.1	Non-free$39.00	Proprietary
Corel Paint Shop Pro	Advanced image editor and graphics creator	Jasc Software	1992	X2 (12.00)	Non-free$99.99	Proprietary
Corel Painter	Graphics editor designed to create natural-looking artistic images	Mark Zimmer, Tom Hedges, John Derry	August, 1991	10	Non-free$429.00 (full version)	Proprietary
Corel PHOTO-PAINT	Image editor and web-graphics creator with some advanced features	Corel Corporation	?	X4/14	Non-free$289.00 $299.00	Proprietary
Cosmigo Pro Motion	Pixel editor designed after Deluxe Paint	Cosmigo	?	5.2	Non-free$92 to $29.95	Proprietary
Deluxe Paint	Discontinued basic graphics editor	Dan Silva	1985	5	Non-free$149.99	Proprietary
Deneba Canvas	Graphics editor and creator supporting both raster graphics and vector graphics	Jorge Miranda, Joaquin de Soto, and Manny Menendez	September 1987	X	Non-free$349.99	Proprietary
ERDAS IMAGINE	Advanced remote sensing and GIS capability. Can handle multispectral images.	Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging	1980	9.1	Non-free$2,200 (Essentials), $7,700 (Professional)	Proprietary
GIMP	Free image editor and graphics creator	Spencer Kimball and Peter Mattis	January 1996	2.4.5	Free	GPL
GIMPshop	GIMP designed to have a GUI similar to Adobe Photoshop	Scott Moschella	?	2.2.11	Free	GPL
GraphicConverter	Image viewer capable of importing and exporting many image file types	Thorsten Lemke	1992	5.7.3	Non-free$30.00	Proprietary
ReaSoft Image Converter	Image converter that enables to convert images between 400+ formats and edit them in batch mode	ReaSoft Development	?	5.5	Non-free$39.95	Proprietary
Helicon Filter	Advanced image editor with a simplified tabbed interface	Helicon Soft Ltd.	August 2004	4.83	Free to $75	Proprietary
iPhoto	Image organizational tool and basic editor for Mac OS X	Apple Computer	2002	6.0.2	Free ^[1]	Proprietary
IrfanView	Image and video viewer with basic editing functions	Irfan Skiljan	1996	4.00	Free	Proprietary
JDraw	Graphics editor designed to edit individual pixels	J-Domain	2003	1.1.5	Free	GPL
Kolourpaint		KDE	2004	1.2.2	Free	GPL
Krita		KDE	2005	1.6.3	Free	GPL
MacPaint	Obsolete basic graphic creator/editor	Bill Atkinson	1984	2.0	Non-free$19.00	Proprietary
Microsoft Office Picture Manager	Basic image editing tool	Microsoft	?	?	Included with Microsoft Office	Proprietary
Microsoft Paint	Basic graphic creator and editor packaged with Microsoft Windows operating systems	Microsoft	1985	6.0	Included with Microsoft Windows	Proprietary
Microsoft Photo Editor	Obsolete basic image editor for Windows	Microsoft	?	3.01	Included with Microsoft Office	Proprietary
Mootif	Online Java image editor with a few functions	mootif.com	May, 2006	1.0	Free	Proprietary
mtPaint		Mark Tyler	September, 2004	3.20	Free	GPL
OpenCanvas		Portalgraphics	?	4	Non-free$54.55 $72.73	Proprietary
Paint.NET	Free image editor and graphics creator based on the .Net framework	Rick Brewster, et. al.	May 6, 2004	3.31	Free	MIT
PC Paintbrush	Obsolete basic graphic creator/editor	ZSoft Corporation	1984	5	?	Proprietary
Photofinish		ZSoft Corporation	1993	2	Non-free89.99	Proprietary
Photogenics	Image editor designed to create super HDRs at 32 bits	Idruna Software Inc.	1995	HDR 7.0	Non-free$699.00^[2]	Proprietary
PhotoLine	Image and animation creator/editor	Computerinsel GmbH	1995	14.02	Non-free$76.74 (59 Euro)	Proprietary
PhotoPerfect	Image editor with some advanced features	Arcadia Software AG & Joachim Koopmann Software	2002	2.9	Non-free$59.99	Proprietary
Photo Toolkit	Very simple in use and mostly automatic image editor	VicMan Software Inc.	2007	1.7	Free	Proprietary
Picasa	Efficient image organization tool with basic editing tools and other image effects	Google	?	2.7	Free	Proprietary
PicMaster		Alexander Sabov	December 1999	3.96	Non-free$29.90	Proprietary
PixBuilder Photo Editor		WnSoft Graphic Software	June 2005	1.31	Non-free$34.00	Proprietary
Pixel image editor	Image editor based on Adobe Photoshop	Pavel Kanzelsberger	1999	1.0	Non-free$32.00	Proprietary
Pixia		Isao Maruoka	1998	3.3	Free	Proprietary
Project Dogwaffle	Author retired from computer programming ^[3]	Dan Ritchie	1997 (?)	4.0 (1.2 available as freeware)	$97.00 (full version)	Proprietary
QFX	Obsolete Early image editor to support 1024x768 truecolor graphics	Ron Scott	~1990	8	Non-free$399.00	Proprietary
Seashore	Basic counterpart to GIMP, using its XCF format; full support for a few graphics formats	?	June 2007	0.1.9	Free	GPL
Serif Photo Plus (Studio Pack)	Complete graphics editor and photo organization suite.	Serif		11	Non-free$79.99	Proprietary
Tux Paint		Bill Kendrick	June 16, 2002	0.9.16	Free	GPL
TVPaint	2D animation software	Herve ADAM	June 16, 1991	8.5.10	Non-free$550	Proprietary
TwistedBrush Pro Studio	Advanced digital paint with realistic artist tools and graphics editing	Pixarra	July 23, 2003	15.10	Non-free$129	Proprietary
Ulead PhotoImpact		Ulead Systems	?	12	Non-free$89.99	Proprietary
Ultimate Paint	Basic graphics editor based on Deluxe Paint	Joseph Ladanyi and Daniel Szabo	1998	2.88	Non-free$34.95	Proprietary
WinImages	Graphics editor with a focus on animation	Black Belt Systems	?	7.5	Non-free$99.95	Proprietary
Zoner Photo Studio	All-in-one editor package.	Zoner Inc.	?	9.0 build 7	$84.95 (full version)	Proprietary
	Description	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license
WebCanvas	On-line Collaborative Painting	WebCanvas dot-com Ltd	22/Feb/2008	1.0 Beta	Free	Proprietary
	Description	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Cost (USD)	Software license

Operating system support

The operating systems on which the editors can run natively (without emulation), meaning which operating systems have which editors specifically coded for them (not, for example, Adobe Photoshop for Windows running on Linux with Wine).

	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS
Ability Photopaint	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ACD Canvas	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Adobe Photoshop	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Alias SketchBook Pro	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
ArtRage	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Artweaver	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Brush Strokes Image Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
CinePaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
CodedColor PhotoStudio Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Corel Paint Shop Pro	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Corel Painter	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Corel Photo-Paint	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Cosmigo Pro Motion	Yes	?	?	?	?	No
Deluxe Paint ^[4]	No	No	No	No	No	Yes
ERDAS IMAGINE	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
GIMP ^[5]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[6]
GIMPshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GraphicConverter	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
ReaSoft Image Converter	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Helicon Filter	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
iPhoto	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
IrfanView	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
JDraw	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Kolourpaint	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Krita	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
MacPaint	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adobe Fireworks	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Office Picture Manager	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Paint	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Photo Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Mootif	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
mtPaint	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
OpenCanvas	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Paint.NET	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
PC Paintbrush ^[7]	No	No	No	No	No	No
Photo Explosion	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
Photofinish	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Photogenics ^[8]	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes^[9]
PhotoLine	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
PhotoPerfect	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Photo Toolkit	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Picasa	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
PicMaster	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
PixBuilder Photo Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Pixel image editor ^[10]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes(MorphOS)
Pixia	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Project Dogwaffle	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
QFX	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Seashore	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Tux Paint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
TVPaint	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes ^[11]
TwistedBrush Pro Studio	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ulead PhotoImpact	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Ultimate Paint	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
WinImages	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Zoner Photo Studio	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS

Features

	Selection editing	Layers	Histogram	Scripting	HDR	Retouching	Resizing	Noise removal	Lens correction	Sized Printing	Sharpening	Color correction	Image library	Plugin support ^[12]
Ability Photopaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ACD Canvas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Adobe Photoshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (Bridge)	Yes
Alias SketchBook Pro	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
ArtRage	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Artweaver	Yes	Yes	No	Yes ^[13]	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Brush Strokes Image Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CinePaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
CodedColor PhotoStudio Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Corel Paint Shop Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Corel Painter	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Corel Photo-Paint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cosmigo Pro Motion	Yes	No	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?
Deluxe Paint	No	Partial ^[14]	Partial	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ERDAS IMAGINE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
GIMP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[15]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
GIMPshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
GraphicConverter	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?
Helicon Filter Home/Pro	Partial	No ^[16]	Yes	No ^[17]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
iPhoto	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Partial	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
IrfanView	No	No	?	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	?	No	?	?	Yes
JDraw	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	No	?	?
Kolourpaint	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Krita	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
MacPaint	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Adobe Fireworks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Microsoft Office Picture Manager	Partial	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	No	No
Microsoft Paint	No	No	No	No	No	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Photo Editor	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Mootif	Partial	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Partial	No	No	?	No	No
mtPaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
OpenCanvas	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Paint.NET	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
PC Paintbrush	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Photofinish	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Photogenics	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PhotoLine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PhotoPerfect	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
Photo Toolkit	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Picasa	No	No	Yes	No	Partial ^[18]	No	Partial	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
PicMaster	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
PixBuilder Photo Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Pixel image editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Pixia	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Project Dogwaffle	?	Only in commercial version	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	Yes
QFX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Tux Paint	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TVPaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
TwistedBrush Pro Studio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ulead PhotoImpact	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ultimate Paint	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
WinImages	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Zoner Photo Studio	Yes	No	Yes	No ^[19]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	Selection editing	Layers	Histogram	Scripting	HDR	Retouching	Resizing	Noise removal	Lens correction	Sized Printing	Sharpening	Color correction	Image library	Plugin support ^[12]

Color spaces

	sRGB	Adobe RGB	Indexed	Grayscale	CMYK	LAB	HSV
Ability Photopaint	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Partial (import only)
ACD Canvas	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes
Adobe Photoshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[20]
Alias SketchBook Pro	Yes	?	Yes	No	No
ArtRage	Yes	?	No	No	No
Artweaver	Yes	?	?	?	?
Brush Strokes Image Editor	Yes	?	?	?	?
CinePaint	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
CodedColor PhotoStudio Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Corel Paint Shop Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial ^[21]	Partial ^[21]
Corel Painter	Yes	?	No	No	Yes
Corel Photo-Paint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cosmigo Pro Motion	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No
Deluxe Paint	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No
ERDAS IMAGINE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
GIMP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	partial ^[22]	No	Yes
GIMPshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	partial ^[22]	No	Yes
GraphicConverter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ReaSoft Image Converter	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Helicon Filter	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
iPhoto	Yes	?	No	Yes	No
IrfanView	Yes	?	?	?	No
JDraw	Yes	?	No	Yes	?
Kolourpaint	Yes	?	No	Yes	No
Krita	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MacPaint	No	No	No	Yes	No
Adobe Fireworks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Microsoft Office Picture Manager	Yes	?	?	?	No
Microsoft Paint	Yes	?	No	No	No	?	?
Microsoft Photo Editor	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No
Mootif	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No
mtPaint	Yes	No	Yes	Partial	No	No	Yes
OpenCanvas	Yes	?	?	Yes	No
Paint.NET	Yes	No	Partial	Partial	Partial	No	Partial
PC Paintbrush	No	?	Yes	No	No
Photofinish	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Photogenics	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PhotoLine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
PhotoPerfect	Yes	Partial (import only)	No	Yes	Partial (import only)	Partial (curve editing only)	No
Photo Toolkit	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Picasa	Yes	?	Partial	Partial	No
PicMaster	Yes	?	No	Yes	No
PixBuilder Photo Editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Pixel image editor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pixia	Yes	?	No	No	No
Project Dogwaffle	Yes	?	No	No	No
QFX	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tux Paint	Yes	?	No	No	No
TVPaint	Yes	?	No	No	No
TwistedBrush Pro Studio	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Ulead PhotoImpact	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (import only)	No	Yes
Ultimate Paint	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No
WinImages	Yes	?	?	?	Yes		Yes
Zoner Photo Studio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Partial	No
	sRGB	Adobe RGB	Indexed	Grayscale	CMYK	LAB	HSV

File support

	RAW imports	BMP	GIF	JPEG	JPEG 2000	HD Photo	PNG	TIFF	PSD	PSP	XCF	PCX	OpenEXR
Ability Photopaint	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
ACD Canvas	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?
Adobe Photoshop	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[23]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Alias SketchBook Pro	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
ArtRage	?	Yes	No	Yes	No		Yes	No	Yes	No	No	?
Artweaver	?	Yes	?	Yes	?		?	?	Partial	?	?	?
Brush Strokes Image Editor	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
CinePaint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Partial	No	Yes	?	Yes
CodedColor PhotoStudio Pro	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Corel Paint Shop Pro	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Partial ^[24]	Yes	No	Yes
Corel Painter	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		No	Yes ^[25]	Yes	Yes	No	Import
Corel Photo-Paint	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Cosmigo Pro Motion	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes
Deluxe Paint^[26]	No	?	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	?
ERDAS IMAGINE	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Import
GIMP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GIMPshop	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GraphicConverter	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[27]	Yes
ReaSoft Image Converter	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Helicon Filter Home/Pro	Yes	Yes	Import	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
iPhoto	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
IrfanView	Partial (Requires plugin)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
JDraw	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Kolourpaint	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Import	Yes
Krita	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Partial ^[28]	No	Yes	Import	Yes
MacPaint	No	?	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Adobe Fireworks	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Microsoft Office Picture Manager	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Partial ^[29]	No	No	No	Yes
Microsoft Paint	No	Yes	Partial ^[30]	Yes	No	No	Partial ^[30]	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Microsoft Photo Editor	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	Import
Mootif	?	No	Import	Yes	Import		Yes	Import	No	No	No	No
mtPaint	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
OpenCanvas	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes ^[31]	No	No	?
Paint.NET	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes ^[32]	Yes	Partial ^[33]	Partial	No	No	Yes	No
PC Paintbrush	?	No	Yes	No	No		No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Photofinish	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
Photogenics	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	?		Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes
PhotoLine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	X3F	Yes
PhotoPerfect	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Partial (Not layers)	Yes	No	Yes	No
Photo Toolkit	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Picasa	Yes	Import	Import	Yes	No		Import	No	Import	No	No	No
PicMaster	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
PixBuilder Photo Editor	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
Pixel image editor	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	Yes
Pixia	?	Yes	No	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Project Dogwaffle	?	Yes	No	Yes	No		No	Yes	No	No	No	No
QFX	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
Seashore	?	Partial	Partial	Yes	Partial		Yes	Yes	?	?	Yes	?
Tux Paint ^[34]	?	Yes	No	Import	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	No
TVPaint	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
TwistedBrush Pro Studio	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Partial	No	No	Yes	No
Ulead PhotoImpact	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Import	No	Yes
Ultimate Paint	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	No	No	No	No	?
WinImages	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No		Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	?
Zoner Photo Studio	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (Import only)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial (Import only)	Partial (Import only)	No	Yes	No
	RAW imports	BMP	GIF	JPEG	JPEG 2000	HD Photo	PNG	TIFF	PSD	PSP	XCF	PCX	OpenEXR

Notes and references

^ The latest version of iPhoto comes free with a Mac. iPhoto cannot be purchased separately, but is part of the iLife-suite which is available from Apple Computer for $99.
^ Photogenics' $699.00 price is for a floating license including both Windows and Linux. Version for Pocket PC is $53.
^ According to an official message on the developer's home page, the author suspended development of Project Dogwaffle due to religious reasons. Except for the message, no download or documentation remain on the website. Third-party shareware vendors online still sell licensed versions of Project Dogwaffle software.
^ Deluxe Paint only runs on AmigaOS, Atari ST and MS-DOS.
^ GIMP also supports SkyOS.
^ Through X11 Cygnix
^ PC Paintbrush only runs on MS-DOS.
^ Photogenics also runs on Pocket PCs.
^ Up to version 5
^ Pixel image editor also supports OS/2, MorphOS, BeOS, SkyOS, QNX and DOS.
^ Up to version 3.59; free distributable
^ ^a ^b External plug-ins may allow the program to perform some tasks, such as noise reduction or lens distortion, that could not otherwise be done.
^ Artweaver does not have scripting by default, but with the Lua Scripting Plug-In, one can add scripting to Artweaver using the Lua programming language.
^ There are two: the main page and the swap page.
^ Via the GIMP HDR plug-in
^ Helicon Filter does not implement layers, but it can insert frames and editable text, and objects from one photo can be brushed into the main photo.
^ Although Helicon Filter does not support actual scripting, it is capable of storing and reusing sequences and settings of edits.
^ If images are perfectly aligned, Picasa can create a Multi-Exposure Collage which effectively makes a simple HDR with little customization, though brightness has to be corrected afterwards with no bit depth increase.
^ Zoner Photo Studio does not actually support scripting, but it can store and reuse sequences of filters with preset parameters (Batch Filter).
^ Photoshop requires an optional plug-in from the installation disc to support the HSV color space.
^ ^a ^b Split to channels
^ ^a ^b Via the Separate plug-in
^ Photoshop requires an optional plug-in from the installation disc to support JPEG 2000.
^ No layer modes support
^ Corel Painter does not support TIFF with LZW compression.
^ Deluxe Paint (and almost every other paint package) for versions 3.0 and later of AmigaOS can load and save any file format for which a datatype is registered on the system.
^ GraphicConverter requires Mac OS X or later with installed Image Magick application of the Fink package or any other distribution in order to support XCF.
^ PSD is only supported in Krita up to version 6, from version 7 on, the Photoshop file format is closed.
^ Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Paint.NET only support TIFF for viewing and editing of the first page.
^ ^a ^b MS Paint doesn't support transparency in GIF or PNG
^ PSD is supported only in openCanvas 4 Plus, not regular openCanvas 4.
^ Paint.NET 3.08 supports import/export of images in HD Photo lossy & lossless format via a file-type plug-in based on a Microsoft HD Photo specification; it expires on September 1, 2007 or if the Paint.NET version is 3.20 or higher. The developers hope tentatively plan to implement full HD Photo support by version 3.20.
^ The free plug-ins needed for JPEG 2000, PSD, and XCF support can be found on Paint.NET's website.
^ For the BMP, JPEG and PNG formats, the user is sandboxed in an interface that does not permit file system interaction, including viewing of filenames and the choice of a file's name, type, or location. Files are selected by thumbnails, and may only be loaded from one predetermined directory.

External links

Review of online image editors
Graphic Editor Cross-Reference List - an extensive features, tools, and commands comparison-list of 3 popular editors: PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, and PhotoLine 32

[gi_1-1] The latest version of iPhoto comes free with a Mac. iPhoto cannot be purchased separately, but is part of the iLife-suite which is available from Apple Computer for $99.

[gi_2-2] Photogenics' $699.00 price is for a floating license including both Windows and Linux. Version for Pocket PC is $53.

[gi_3-3] According to an official message on the developer's home page, the author suspended development of Project Dogwaffle due to religious reasons. Except for the message, no download or documentation remain on the website. Third-party shareware vendors online still sell licensed versions of Project Dogwaffle software.

[os_1-4] Deluxe Paint only runs on AmigaOS, Atari ST and MS-DOS.

[os_2-5] GIMP also supports SkyOS.

[cygnix-6] Through X11 Cygnix

[os_3-7] PC Paintbrush only runs on MS-DOS.

[os_4-8] Photogenics also runs on Pocket PCs.

[photog-9] Up to version 5

[os_5-10] Pixel image editor also supports OS/2, MorphOS, BeOS, SkyOS, QNX and DOS.

[tvpaint-11] Up to version 3.59; free distributable

[feat_1-12] External plug-ins may allow the program to perform some tasks, such as noise reduction or lens distortion, that could not otherwise be done.

[feat_2-13] Artweaver does not have scripting by default, but with the Lua Scripting Plug-In, one can add scripting to Artweaver using the Lua programming language.

[feat_3-14] There are two: the main page and the swap page.

[gimp_hdr-15] Via the GIMP HDR plug-in

[feat_4-16] Helicon Filter does not implement layers, but it can insert frames and editable text, and objects from one photo can be brushed into the main photo.

[feat_5-17] Although Helicon Filter does not support actual scripting, it is capable of storing and reusing sequences and settings of edits.

[feat_6-18] If images are perfectly aligned, Picasa can create a Multi-Exposure Collage which effectively makes a simple HDR with little customization, though brightness has to be corrected afterwards with no bit depth increase.

[feat_8-19] Zoner Photo Studio does not actually support scripting, but it can store and reuse sequences of filters with preset parameters (Batch Filter).

[photo_ft_1-20] Photoshop requires an optional plug-in from the installation disc to support the HSV color space.

[sp-21] Split to channels

[gimp_cmyk-22] Via the Separate plug-in

[ft_1-23] Photoshop requires an optional plug-in from the installation disc to support JPEG 2000.

[cpsp-24] No layer modes support

[ft_2-25] Corel Painter does not support TIFF with LZW compression.

[ft_3-26] Deluxe Paint (and almost every other paint package) for versions 3.0 and later of AmigaOS can load and save any file format for which a datatype is registered on the system.

[ft_4-27] GraphicConverter requires Mac OS X or later with installed Image Magick application of the Fink package or any other distribution in order to support XCF.

[ft_5-28] PSD is only supported in Krita up to version 6, from version 7 on, the Photoshop file format is closed.

[ft_6-29] Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Paint.NET only support TIFF for viewing and editing of the first page.

[MS_Paint_Transparency-30] MS Paint doesn't support transparency in GIF or PNG

[ft_7-31] PSD is supported only in openCanvas 4 Plus, not regular openCanvas 4.

[ft_10-32] Paint.NET 3.08 supports import/export of images in HD Photo lossy & lossless format via a file-type plug-in based on a Microsoft HD Photo specification; it expires on September 1, 2007 or if the Paint.NET version is 3.20 or higher. The developers hope tentatively plan to implement full HD Photo support by version 3.20.

[ft_8-33] The free plug-ins needed for JPEG 2000, PSD, and XCF support can be found on Paint.NET's website.

[ft_9-34] For the BMP, JPEG and PNG formats, the user is sandboxed in an interface that does not permit file system interaction, including viewing of filenames and the choice of a file's name, type, or location. Files are selected by thumbnails, and may only be loaded from one predetermined directory.

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