PhoXo

PhoXo can help you create and edit images. In this respect, it can be used for not only drawing but also enhancing photographs.

Luckily, the application supports importing and exporting images in the most popular formats. Moreover, it has its own format (oXo), which you can use to save unfinished projects. Although the application’s interface is quite intuitive, you may need to consult its online documentation at times.

This picture editor has lots of handy features, and in this respect, it doesn’t lag far behind the leading products of its kind. Fortunately, it supports working with multiple layers, which can be merged or hidden but not be grouped. Moreover, it has the usual tools needed to edit photographs, such as lasso, marquee, magic wand, clone stamp and red-eye removal. Furthermore, it supports applying a long list of creative photo effects, including soft edge, motion blur, radial blur, posterize and many others. One limitation of the tool, however, is that it doesn’t allow previewing the effects before actually applying them.

Something that will catch your eye immediately after you open the application is its clip art gallery, which includes multiple ready-made objects, such as emoticons, cars, flags, figures and icons. In addition, there’s also a frame library.

In general, PhoXo is an excellent picture editor. It works without any problems even when working with large image files. Besides, it allows you to perform all common tasks and a few more. Although I don’t think it’s a match for Photoshop, it has the great advantage of being available at no cost, which makes it ideal for projects with a low budget.