16 Best Free PSD Editor Software For Windows

Here is a list of best free PSD Editor for Windows. These software let you open and edit PSD files for free. You can perform basic as well as advanced PSD editing and modifications with the help of these PSD editor freeware. Most of these photo editors to edit PSD, retain layers of PSD files and let you add new layers, delete existing layers, merge layers, and form layer groups.

You will find a bunch of editing tools to modify and edit PSD files in these PSD editors. Some of these tools that these photo editors have to offer are: Select, Text, Pattern, Gradient, Free-hand drawing, Line, Shape, Ellipse, Ploygon, Bezier curve, Free line, Move, Transform, Fill tool, Inverse, Transform, Resize, Grid, Flip, Color picker, Blur, Filter, and many more. Edit your PSD file and save them in PSD or any other popular format.

Formats that these PSD editor freeware support are: .psd, .bmp, .ico, .gif, .tiff, .png, .jpg, .tga, etc.

My Favorite PSD Editor Software:

I like to use GIMP the most as it is an open source PSD editor with almost all the editing tools an ideal photo editor should have. Apart from the vast format support, it also supports plugins.

You can also checkout the list of best free PSD Viewer Software, Websites To Download Material Design Icons, and SVG Editor Software.

GIMP

GIMP is a famous open source PSD editor. This cross platform image editor is available for Windows, MAC, and Linux. Open a PSD file in this freeware to edit it with various editing tools available. It retains the layers of PSD files and lets you modify them. Find layer options such as: Create new layer, Duplicate layer, Delete layer, Merge layers, Move layer up, Move layer down, etc.

Edit PSD by selecting a layer/object, and using the numerous editing tools for simple as well as advance editing. Use editing tools like: Invert color, Transform, Rotate, Color picker, Text, Pen tool, Brush tool, Clone Stamp, Bezier tool, Crop tool, and many more. Export PSD files in any of the following formats: .c, .h., .xhtml, .gif, .html, .jpg, .cel, .psd, .png, etc.

Apart from PSD, you can open and edit various other formats: .jpg, .bmp, .xcf, .cel, .ico, .ps, etc.

RealWorld Paint

RealWorld Paint lets you open and edit PSD files for free. Including PSD, you can also open .bmp, .gif, .jpeg, .png, .paint.net, web image files, real world vector, etc. This free photo editor retains the PSD layers to edit them. The layer panel is available on the left side of the interface. Access the following layer options: add new vector layer, add raster layer, delete layer, duplicate layer, import/export layer, etc.

Go to the toolbar to access these options: Select, Line, Curve, Ploygon , Rectangle, Text, Red eye removal, etc. Other helpful features of this PSD editor freeware are: Grid, Watermark, Change canvas size, Rotate, Transform, and many more.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET is an excellent photo editor which can be used to edit PSD. It does not natively supports PSD files, but adding a simple extension makes Paint.NET ready for seamless PSD editing. Download the plugin, install it, and get ready to open, save, and edit PSD on Paint.NET. To download and plugin, and to know how to open PSD on Paint.NET visit the Paint.NET PSD Plugin website.

You can access the layers of the PSD easily in the Layers window. The Layer window lets you select, add new layer, delete layer, and duplicate layer. Make adjustments like: auto level, contrast, curve, invert color, etc. The tool bar is available on the left side of the UI. The tools available for editing are: lasso, select, crop, clone stamp, shapes, lines, text, brush, draw, and many more.

Paint.NET is a great tool to carry out basic as well as advanced image editing. Adding option to open and edit PSD in Paint.NET makes it even better at what it does.

Krita

Krita is an open source PSD editor software which has been developed as a free digital painting and sketching software. Open PSD files and view the layers in the box available at the bottom right corner. The toolbar on the left side of UI has a plenty of designing and editing tools to help you make creative designs. These tools include: Select, Text, Pattern edit, Gradient edit, Calligrapgy, Free-hand brush, Line, Shape, Ellipse, Ploygon, Bezier curve, Free line, Move, Transform, Fill tool, Color selector, etc.

Find color tools and other important tools on the right side of UI, such as: Advance color selector, Specific color selector, Color slider, Layers, Brush presets, etc. After editing PSD, save your work in .psd or other formats, like: .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .kra, .xpm, .odg, .ora, .ppm, .pgm, .tiff, .xgf, .pdf, etc.

Artweaver Free

Artweaver Free lets you open and edit PSD files for free. Including .psd, you can open and edit various other image formats, like: .awd, .vst, .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, .ora, .pcx, etc. The layers are preserved when you open a PSD and you can edit, delete, duplicate, hide, and merge these layers.

The tool bar is available on the left side of the UI and has the following photo editing tools: Brush, Move, Shape, Magic wand, Lasso, Crop, Text, Gradient, Eraser, Stamp, Paint, Bucket, Zoom, etc. Options like: Brush property, Colors, Color set, Layers, and History are available on the right side of the interface. Save your PSD file in .psd format, or any other format this PSD editor supports: .awd, .vst, .bmp, .jpg, .gif, .png, .ora, .pcx, .pdf, etc.

There are two versions of Artweaver, one is free to use while another one is a premium version. The free version of this PSD editor comes with limited functionality and only can be used for non-commercial and academic purposes.

FireAlpaca

FireAlpaca is a free photo editing and paint tool which can be used as a PSD editor. Open and view the layers of a PSD file at the right bottom corner of the screen. Find a variety of image editing tools to modify your work, such as: Select, Pan, Eraser, Rectangle, Flood fill, Bezier curve, Text, Color picker, etc.

Other important tools and options available are:

• View: Rotate left, Rotate right, Flip, Zoom, Onion skin mode, Autoplay (plays all steps from start to end), etc.
• Layer: Add layer, Add folder, Duplicate, Delete, Merge-all, etc.
• Snap: Off, Parallel, Cross, Circle, and Curve.
• Filter: Mosaic, Cloud, Sand, etc.
• Other tools: Inverse, Transform, Lock layers, Show grid, Pixel, etc.

Edit your photos and save them in various formats, like: .psd, .bmp, .png, .jpg, .mdp, .gif, .tiff, etc.

PaintStar

PaintStar is a free photo editor to edit PSD files with different photo editing tools. It can open a PSD file, but cannot retain the layers, however you can carry on editing with adding new layers and effects. The editing tools available in the toolbar are: Rectangle, Elliptical, Hand draw, Bezier curve, Selection, Move, Crop, Filp, Color picker, Flip, Text, Paint brush, Air brush, etc. A special tool to morph objects is also available under Tools>Morph Maker. The Filter menu consists of the following filters: Color, Blur, Sharpen, Morphology, Distort, Light effect (nova, lighting, bump map), etc.

Save your images in these formats: .bmp, .jpeg, .gif, .pcx, .psd, .emf, .tiff, etc.

Pixia

Pixia is a free and simple picture editor for Windows. With this PSD editor, you can open and save .psd files, but you can not preserve layers while opening or saving a PSD. Layers option is available only for editing purpose.

The toolbar at the top of the UI has following tools: Free-hand, Select, Box, Line, Circle, Polygon , Bezier, Fill, Zoom, etc. The Color, Layers, and Brush tools are available on the right side of UI. The supported formats are: .psd, .bmp, .ico, .gif, .tiff, .png, .jpg, .tga, etc.

PhoXo

PhoXo is an open source photo editing software and also works as a PSD editor. It does not retains layers of a PSD; however, it supports layered editing. This means you can add new layers, delete layers, and merge layers to add new editing effects. Following options are available in the toolbar: Select, Move, Free wand, Zoom, Text, Color picker, Eraser, Clone, Red eye removal, Shape , Gradient fill, Transform, Fade, etc.

You can also apply the following effects: Brightness, Hue, Color tone, Black and white, Color, Size, Auto-trim, Flip, Rotate, Distort, Filter, etc. A special tool lets you create ASCII painting which you can open in a text editor. Add frames and clipart to your photo if you like. This PSD editor supports formats like: .psd, .tiff, .png, .jpg, .tga, .ico, .oXo, etc.

Gimphoto

Gimphoto is a lightweight and free PSD editor for Windows. It has editing tools that most photo editors have. The list of tool includes: Selection tool, Rectangle shape, Free-hand drawing, Color picker, Zoom, Measure, Text, Flip, Blend, Pencil, Paintbrush, and many more.

The layers window lets you add, delete, merge, and position layers. Add following filter effects: Render, Animation, Blur, Sharpen, Noise, Distort, Light, Shadow, etc. Edit a PSD and save it as PSD, else you can save the edited file in these formats: .tga, .cel, .ico, .jpg, .pdf, .gif, .ppm, .png, .ps, .bmp, .tiff, .xwd, etc.

HeliosPaint

HeliosPaint lets you open and edit PSD files without layers. It is a perfect photo editing software to perform basic editing. You can add text, add shapes, draw using pencil tool, free-hand tool, paintbrush, and spray. Use lasso or wand to select an area to apply effects. This PSD editor freeware can also be used to batch resize images.

Supported image files: .psd, .bmp, .jpg, .pct, .pcx, .ppm, .tga, .ras, .tiff, .wbmp, etc.

PixBuilder

PixBuilder is another simple PSD editor freeware which can carry out basic as well as professional photo editing. It doesn’t open the layers of PSD files, but lets you edit PSD using various editing tools. Add text, rectangle, circle, and other shapes to your image.

Toolbar on the left panel has the following photo editing tools: Lasso, Rectangle marque, Move, Magic wand, Polygon, Pencil, Brush, Eraser, Line, Fill color, Gradient, Crop, Measure tool, Eye dropper, etc. It can not retain layers, but lets you add new layers, delete layers, duplicate layer, etc. You can also make the following modifications: Brightness, Clolor balance, Curve, Saturation, Grayscale, Invert, Quick blur, Gaussion blur, Sharpness, Contrast, etc. Here are some of the supported formats: .psd, .bmp, .jpg, .tga, .psb, .tiff, .ico, .png, etc.

IrfanView

IrfanView lets you view and edit PSD files. It is primarily a photo viewer, but has various simple photo editing tools as well. Open PSD or any other image file to add basic effects like: Text, Watermark, Flip, Rotate, Resize, Change Canvas size, Decrease color depth, Channels, Histogram, Auto adjust color, Sharpen, Color correction, Red eye removal, etc. You can also create slideshow and batch process images with this freeware.

Supported formats are: .psd, .bmp, .jpg, .jp2, .tga, .psb, .tiff, .avi, .cam, .ico, .jp2, .sgi, .sff, etc.

Chasys Draw IES

Chasys Draw IES is a free photo editing software to edit PSD free. It preserves and lets you edit layers of PSD that you open without any issue. In fact you can add new layers, delete layers, merge layers, and click on an object to select the layer it is on. Go to the toolbar to use tools, like: Pencil, Line, Curve, Brushes, Spray gun, Color picker, Flood fill, Text, Crop, Magic wand, Custom shape, Block tool, etc.

The best part of this PSD editor is that it supports Photoshop plugins. Here are some formats that it supports: .cd5, .bmp, .ani, .cpp, .gif, .ico, .jpg, .ppm, .tga, .avi, etc.

Fotografix

Fotografix is a PSD editor freeware which lets you open and edit PSD file while retaining its layers. It is a basic photo editor with common photo editing tools. Use the following tools for editing: Rectangle, Circle, Magic-wand, Ruler, Select, Paintbrush, Eraser, Transform, Flood fill, Text, Droper, etc. The right panel displays Layers, Channels, and Scripts. You can change the image size, canvas size, flip image, and rotate image easily.

Supported formats: .fgx, .psd, .bmp, .jpg, .tga, .tiff, .xcf, .pcx, .raw, etc.

VirtualStudio

VirtualStudio is an easy to use simplistic PSD editor for Windows. You can easily open PSD in this editor, but can not access the layers. The editing options include basic color enhancements, exposure enhancement, rotate, flip, resize, filters, textures, etc. Other tools to add objects, draw, brush, and text are not available. Another good feature of this image editor is that you can select a geometrical area like rectangle, oval, circle, or polygon and apply effects just to that selected area.

Supported formats of this PSD editor are: .psd, .tiff, .png, .jpg, .tga, .jp2, .ico, .emf, .avi, .mpg, etc.