Best Free Photo Editors for Teachers and Students using Chromebooks

Whether you are looking for a way to edit photos/images for presentations in the classroom or inspire creative projects among your students, many great free photo editors are available for Chromebooks to help you get the job done. Some of these photo editors are simple to use, and some require more time and effort to get the hang of it, but what's best is that they are free and run smoothly on ChromeOS. All you have to do is choose the right one for you and your students. And if you are wondering what the best free photo editors for Chromebooks are, here are some worth exploring and having in your classroom.

Pixlr

Pixlr is one of the most popular online photo editors. The free version is ad-supported and offers essential editing tools and limited features that all users can use for basic editing. Pixlr for Education is free for educators and students for the first year and provides complete access to all tools and features free from ads. It’s an easy-to-use photo editor, and teachers and students can create images and collages or edit photos (it’s great for editing webcam photos), which later they can store in a gallery, save to the camera roll or share across various platforms.

GIMP

GIMP is an open-source photo editor and is considered a great free alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Many professionals, including graphic designers and photographers, already use GIMP, and if your school Chromebooks have Linux support and are powerful enough, you can use it in your classroom too. It offers impressive features, making it a great editing tool and an excellent choice for teachers and students who need more advanced editing options. Although it has a steep learning curve, it's worth the effort, and many tutorials are available on its website to get you started.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design platform and one of the easiest photo/image designing and editing tools you can use for school projects. Even though the free version offers quite enough content for all users, Canva for Education, free for teachers and students, is the best option for K-12 classrooms. It integrates with Google Classroom, and teachers and students can use it to create designs from scratch or choose from thousands of existing educational templates. From creating assignments, worksheets, exercises, or lesson plans to preparing presentations, banners, or posters, it’s an excellent tool for teachers and students.

Sumopaint

Sumopaint is a photo editing and drawing tool that resembles Photoshop, not only because it has a similar interface but also because it operates much like the well-known software. Even though the free version of Sumopaint is limited, teachers and students can access sufficient features and editing tools. One of the best things about this photo editor is that it lets users add unlimited layers to their photos and use amazing layer effects and photo filters. Students can use it to edit photos, create collages, draw new pictures or create designs for presentations, school newspapers, and similar projects.

Photopea

Photopea is an advanced web-based photo and graphics editor, also very similar to Photoshop in terms of design and workflow. It’s compatible with all web browsers, including Chrome, and you can use it from any computer with Internet access, including Chromebooks. All teachers and students can benefit from this excellent free web app, whether using it for simple tasks, such as resizing or cropping images, or complex tasks, such as creating illustrations and processing photos. A downside can be that it’s ad-supported, but on the plus side, it stores all files locally and does not save any data to a server.

Snapseed

Snapseed is a photo editing app by Google and works similarly to Adobe Lightroom. It was initially developed for iOS and Android devices, but you can also download and use this great app for editing photos on a Chromebook. It is simple to use and includes basic and some advanced editing tools, while its user interface is ideal for Chromebooks with a touchscreen. One of the best features of this app is that it lets you save your personal looks and apply them to other photos later. Also, the app includes many tutorials to help you learn how to use its features, and it can be a helpful tool in any classroom.

Polarr

Polarr is another excellent photo editing app for ChromeOS. It has a free and paid version for all users, but teachers and students can get it free-of-charge and access all app features thanks to Polarr for Education. It’s best known for its sophisticated filters, image effects, and the option to create, customize, and share filters among your devices. Also, one of its main advantages is that you can use it without an Internet connection. Overall, it’s a fantastic tool for editing photos on Chromebooks, so teachers and students can use it while working on various projects.