Ten of the best free software programs for editing audio, video, and images.
Sometimes when you’re in a pinch, money is tight, and you’ve been eating nothing but instant noodles and fried rice for the past three weeks, you don’t have enough spare change to pay for a subscription to the most popular editing software programs. Back before I used adobe, I struggled to find ways to put videos together and touch up photos for family and friends. So for the sake of helping out all of the aspiring graphic artists and video editors that are working on a tight budget, here is my list of a few of the best free alternative applications for all your personal media needs!
Audio
1 – Audacity
Audacity is a robust audio editor with a wide variety of applications for fixing audio recordings and making them ready to add into a video. The biggest strength of Audacity is that it has been around for years and has a large support base of frequent users and tutorials. However, the sheer number of guides and options may be a bit daunting if you’re looking for something a bit simpler.
2 – GarageBand
The classic audio application that comes pre-installed with most apple products, allowing for seamless audio editing and music recording on the iPhone. The portability of GarageBand is its best feature, but you may need better hardware than your smartphone if you want to improve the quality of your recordings.
3 – Wavepad
The windows alternative with a large number of supported audio formats, cutting/pasting, and noise cleanup tools. Wavepad is frequently used for voice over talent, and its auto-trim features allow it to reduce sound popping and other undesirable audio effects. However, you can only edit a single track at a time.
Image
4 – Pixlr
Pixlr is a free html alternative to photoshop that uses many of the same tools, allowing you to touch up photographs and alter details like brightness, contrast, and colors. It also includes more advanced tools and layers so that you can use to make more refined edits to your photos. In addition to these features, Pixlr has an array of plugins for things like special brushes and filters if you decide to subscribe. The only real issue with the program is that some features are paywalled.
5 – Gimp
Gimp is a similar downloadable program that includes the same features as photoshop, but has even more options for making a fully customized user interface. The downside is that it requires a steep learning curve, so unless you have prior experience with photoshop, Gimp may be a bit difficult to get the hang of.
6 – Paint.net
An old but classic photo editor that’s been around for a while. Again, Paint.Net includes many of the same tools as the others. The only issue is that is may be missing a few key features, and limits your brush strokes.
7 – Inkscape
Inkscape is a good alternative to illustrator, as it focuses more on drawing and design. It can be used to make detailed graphic art and logos for advertising, or for organizing images into collages. Like illustrator, it keeps everything symmetrical. One downside is that you might still need an external drawing pad if you want to make more detailed art using inkscape.
Video
8 – Davinci Resolve
As opposed to Premiere, Davinci Resolve offers many of the same editing capabilities for free. Just be prepared to learn, because many of the ins and outs of video editing remain the same with this program’s learning curve.
9 – Lightworks
Detailed, quick, and easy video editor for simple edits. The only real downside of Lightworks is that the free license only allows for specific outputs and formats.
10 – iMovie
Last but not least, iMovie on iOS is even simpler and allows for making video edits on the go. While lacking in features, this app is perfect for putting together small projects for posts on social media.
This was an interesting read, I never really thought about all the editing softwares there are other than the well known ones like Photoshop, much less how many there are. I make stop motion videos sometimes, so these are very helpful to know for the future (StopMotion Studio Pro is the app I use mostly, but it is helpful to edit on other platforms too). I also appreciate you giving pros and cons of each program; great post!
DaVinci is a MVP when it comes to free editing software. Personally, I use premier pro or most of my films because that's what i'm super familiar with but I have been looking into alternatives as i'm gonna graduate in may and DaVinci in terms of editing softwares has a-lot of capability.
Great list, I've heard of a couple of these but most of them are totally new to me! I like that even in a post as brief as this, you're able to highlight a pro and con of every entry.
I enjoyed reading your blog. I am always looking for free editing sites for images and videos! Thanks for sharing these, I will be using them moving forward.
Great recommendations and a couple I haven't tried before. Thank you for curating such a helpful list!