software. We're going to start with the most  basic. We're going to look at software that  

comes for free with Windows. Then we're going to  get a little bit more advanced, and we'll look  

at software that allows you to modify any aspect  of a photo. If you want to download any of this  

software, I've included links down below in the  description. All right let's check these out.  

The first free app is one that you might not know  of, but it comes for free with Windows. To access  

this, go down to your taskbar and within the  search field simply type in Photos. Who would have  

thought Windows includes a photos app? Click on  Photos in the best match. This opens up the Photos  

app and here you can review all of the different  photos that are on your computer. And yes, it's  

official. We now have actual cookies at the Kevin  Cookie Company as you can see right here in this  

photo. To edit one of your photos, simply click on  it. This opens up the file preview window, and to  

edit your photo, in the top right-hand corner,  click on this drop-down list and then click on  

edit. This drops me into the editing experience,  and here I have access to all of the most common  

editing tools. Here for instance, I drop into the  crop and rotate view. Here I could crop my photo  

and just tighten it up a tiny bit. Also, I could  rotate my picture around. I could even come in and  

straighten it. Here I could click into filters,  and I could have it auto enhance my photo,  

or I could choose one of these preset filters  down here. Up above, I could also make different  

adjustments. Let's say I want to adjust the  lighting. Maybe I want to come in and adjust the  

color. Here if I click on this drop-down, I could  also fine tune all of the different controls.  

I have a few additional controls and I could also  remove red eye, and I could apply a spot fix.  

Let's say for instance, maybe I have this mark  here on my neck. I could simply click there, and  

it'll disappear. Once I'm all done, I could save  a copy, or I could simply overwrite the original.  

All-in-all, the Photos app is a decent option. It  comes for free with Windows, so chances are you  

already have it, and it also gives you access  to the most common editing tools. However, some  

of the other options that we're going to look at  offer even more control beyond what this can do.  

Next up for the best free photo editing  software, we have the IrfanView Graphic  

Viewer. It's named after the creator Irfan.  You can download it at the following website,  

and I've also included a link in the description  down below. On the home page, you can choose  

which version you want to download. You can also  download additional plugins. These allow you to  

open additional file types like SVG, HEIC, and it  also gives you access to additional image effects.  

Once you finish downloading, you'll see  an application that looks like this,  

and at first glance, it might look a  little bit dated and also pretty basic,  

but don't let that deceive you. There's  actually a lot of power under the hood.  

To open up an image file, you can simply drag  and drop an image and then drop it on the app.  

Once you drop an image into Irfan View, you can  go up to the edit menu and you can do things like  

insert text on top of the image. You could also  insert an overlay or watermark. When I click into  

the image menu, you have all the standard controls  like being able to rotate an image, you could flip  

it, and here you can even add a border or a frame  to your image, and when I open this up, you'll see  

all of these different options that I have, and  you can customize all of these different settings.  

Along with adding borders, you can also apply  color corrections. You could auto adjust colors.  

You could remove red eye and there are a whole  bunch of different effects that you can apply to  

your photos. There's even an effects browser  that let you look at what the effect will do  

to your image, so there are a lot of fun ones  that you can experiment with. Along with simply  

manipulating your photo, you can also set up a  photo slideshow. Here you have full control over  

what your slideshow looks like, and you could  even have music play along with your slideshow.  

Lastly, and this is a lifesaver especially when  you have a lot of photos that you need to convert.  

Within the file menu, there are  also batch conversion features.  

This allows you to batch rename or batch convert  an image file to a different file type. Next up we  

have Adobe Photoshop Express, and you can download  this for free through the Microsoft Store.  

Simply search for Adobe Photoshop Express and then  you can install the app. When you launch the app,  

you'll see an interface that looks like this, and  this is probably most similar to the Photos app.  

You get access to some of the most common editing  tools. Up above, if you're feeling adventurous,  

you can have it auto enhance your photo. Over  on the left-hand side, you have access to all  

of these different filters. Here I see all  of these categories and I can click in and  

then apply one of these filters. Here I'll  select summer. Back on the left-hand side,  

I can also rotate and crop my photo. Here I  have some additional controls that allow me  

to fine tune what my image looks like. I could  also remove blemishes. I could remove red eye  

and I could add borders to my photos. All-in-all,  Adobe Photoshop Express is a fairly well-made app.

It's pretty easy to use, it's simple, and  you can make your photos look a lot better,  

but once again, if you want more control, some  of the other options that we're going to look at  

offer that. Next up we have the Dark Table  app, and this is open source and also free,  

and this offers a tremendous amount of power where  you can basically change any aspect of your photo.  

To download this app, head to the website  darktable.org. It's also in the description.  

When you launch Dark Table, you'll  see an interface that looks like this  

and by default we land in the light table view,  and within light table, this is where we can do  

all of our photo management. You can view all your  different photos. Here you can apply different  

star ratings to your photos. You could also set  various tags on your photos, and you could enter  

in different descriptions. One of the really  neat things with Dark Table is I can click  

into one of these photos. I can make a whole bunch  of different edits and modifications and then I  

can take all of those different settings that I  applied, and I could apply it to my other photos.  

Back on the right-hand side, once I'm done  making changes to my photo, I could decide  

how I want to export it, so I could export it as  a JPEG or other file formats. To edit an image,  

I simply click on it right here, and this will  open up the editing interface. This drops us  

into the dark room view and this is where we  edit the photo, and we make all of the different  

modifications. You can come in here and adjust  things like the white balance, the exposure,  

and when I said some of these other options offer  a lot more control, I really wasn't kidding.  

Over here on the right-hand side, you'll see  all of the various elements that you can modify,  

and once again, you have full control over what  your photo looks like. All-in-all, Dark Table is  

an excellent option if you want full control over  what your photos look like. But the one downside,  

especially compared to some of the other apps we  looked at is the complexity is quite a bit higher,  

and there is a somewhat steep learning curve. Next  up we have Raw Therapy, and you can download this  

at the following website, or you can click  on the link in the description down below,  

and this is pretty similar to Dark Table where  it gives you full control over what your image  

looks like. Once I finish installing, I'll land in  the file browser, and this is very similar to Dark  

Table where I could preview what all of my images  look like. Here too, I could click on one of the  

images. I could apply different star ratings.  Over here, I could view some of the details of  

the image that I took. If I want to edit one  of these images, I simply double click on it.  

This drops me into the editing interface,  and in the top left-hand corner, here I can  

see a histogram of my image. I have a filmstrip  that shows me all of my different image files.  

Down on the left-hand side in the bottom corner,  I also have something called snapshots. So,  

as I start making edits to this image, I can take  a snapshot and as I make additional edits to that  

image, I could jump back to a previous snapshot.  Also over on the right-hand side, I have access to  

all of these different modules that allow me to  change what the image looks like. Similar to Dark  

Table, Raw Therapy gives you full control over  what your images look like, and of course the  

one downside is with that much control also comes  a very steep learning curve. And we've already  

covered five different applications, but I wanted  to include one bonus one, and this is one of my  

favorite image editing applications. This is  pretty much an equivalent to Adobe Photoshop, and  

it's called GIMP. You can download it at gimp.org.  It's completely free and it's also open source.  

Once you finish downloading, you can open up a new  image by going to the file menu and then clicking  

on new or open. Alternatively, you could also drag  and drop a photo in. Once you have an image open,  

there are five main areas in GIMP. In the top  left-hand corner, you have your toolbox, and this  

is where you'll access things like paintbrushes.  You'll be able to transform your image, or you'll  

be able to select your image. When you have a  tool selected, down below in the left-hand corner,  

you'll have all of the different tool options. In  the center of the screen, you'll see your canvas,  

and this is the image that you're working. On over  on the right-hand side, you can also view all of  

your layers, your color channels and your paths.  At the very top, you can view your different  

brushes, the patterns, the fonts, and all the  different files that you're working on. Up across  

the top, you also have a variety of menus with a  whole bunch of different tools that you can use.  

One quick way to access these different tools is  you can press the forward slash on your keyboard  

and that will open up a quick tool right here.  Let's say that I want to bring up the vignette  

tool. I could simply type it in, hit enter, and  that will launch it. When you edit photos in GIMP,  

you'll likely find that you use two of the menus  the most. Up on top, you have the colors menu,  

and here you could adjust things like the color  temperature, the saturation, the exposure,  

the brightness, the levels, and you could  adjust the curves. To the right of this menu,  

there's another one called filters, and right down  here, you could apply various blurs to your photo.  

You could also enhance the photo by say  removing red eye, or you could sharpen  

the photo. You could also adjust the light and  shadows and you have many other options as well.  

Just like with the last two apps, GIMP has  a fairly steep learning curve, but if you're  

willing to invest the time, you can make some  truly phenomenal enhancements to your photos.  

All right, well, let me know down below in the  comments, which photo editing software do you like  

the most? To see more videos like this, please  consider subscribing, and I'll see you next time.