Popular Open Source Image Editors
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Open source image editors have matured into serious tools for photo editing, digital painting, and vector illustration, with no subscription fees and full control over your files and workflow. Whether you’re retouching photos, drawing illustrations, or processing RAW camera files, there’s a mature open source option built for the job rather than a single tool trying to do everything.
The editors below span different use cases: GIMP and Krita cover raster editing and digital painting, Inkscape handles vector illustration, and darktable and RawTherapee focus on non-destructive RAW photo processing. All are actively maintained, cross-platform, and free to use commercially.
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Popular Open Source Image Editors
darktable
Free and open source RAW photo editor and workflow application
darktable is a free, open source RAW photo editor with non-destructive editing and library management, built as a privacy-respecting alternative to Adobe Lightroom.
GIMP
Free and open source image editor
GIMP is a free, open source raster graphics editor for photo retouching, image composition, and graphic design, and a popular alternative to Adobe Photoshop.
Inkscape
Free and open source vector graphics editor
Inkscape is a free, open source vector graphics editor built around the SVG standard, offering professional drawing, illustration, and logo design tools as an alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Krita
Free digital painting application
Krita is a free, open source painting application for illustrators, concept artists, and comic creators, with a powerful brush engine and animation tools.
RawTherapee
Free and open source RAW image processing software with a high-precision editing pipeline
RawTherapee is a free, open source RAW photo processor with a 32-bit floating-point pipeline and extensive local editing tools, built as an alternative to Adobe Lightroom.