In the age of the internet, many complex tools are now available for nearly every kind of digital work. Long gone are the days where an exceptional set of technical knowledge was required for creating a digital masterpiece. That being said, online photo editors are gaining a new sense of popularity among users.
While Adobe Creative Suite has been the most popular choice for photo and video editing since they moved on to the subscription-based model the popularity has taken a hit. Online photo editors are gaining traction because of this, as users can quickly apply simple modifications for free.
What Are Online Photo Editors?
Online photo editors are a web-based version of the native photo editing apps that you have been using on your computer. All the tools required to work and edit a digital artwork are right in the browser, which means that you can create a poster, banner, certificates, etc. and also edit a local photo without having to download anything on your computer.
The primary advantage of photo editors is the fact that you do not have to download anything on your computer. While cookies may be saved on your computer, they are used for enhancing the website experience. This comes in handy when you are using an older computer, or do not have a powerful rig for running the latest creative suite apps.
Fotor Online Photo Editor Review
With new tools being developed regularly, creating a digital masterpiece is becoming easier day by day. Fotor is one such online photo editor that packs in a ton of tools, which makes it a perfect choice for both simple and complex photo editing.
While Fotor is available in a browser-based online version, there is also a dedicated Windows app that can be used to extend the same functions locally onto your desktop.
Let us take a deeper look into the things we liked and disliked, which you help you decide if you should use Fotor.
Pros
A Variety Of Tools
One of the strongest features of Fotor is the sheer number of tools that are available for use. Whatever may be the type of editing work that you need, Fotor has the tool available for it. When you sign into Fotor, you will be presented with three basic options: Edit, Collage, and Design.
Each of these options has a plethora of tools within them, each for a different purpose. Inside Edit, you can drag or upload a local file, and then use the tools available to tune the image to your liking.
1-Tap Enhance
This is one tool that beginners will find very useful. If you do not possess the advanced skills to edit an image, you can always use this feature to enhance photo using artificial intelligence. From our brief usage, the AI tool is actually very good at detecting the different tones and then adjusting them. If you do not wish to learn photo editing, use 1-tap enhance to quickly enhance your photos before posting them to your social platform.
Design Tool Curated For Each Purpose
The design tool deserves a special mention, just for the fact that the tool is curated carefully for each different purpose. When we decided to use Fotor to create a sample Instagram page, the canvas was automatically snapped to 1080×1080 pixels, which is the format supported by Instagram. Similarly, YouTube thumbnails are automatically created in 1280X720 pixels.
While this may not seem exactly a huge feature, this eliminates the need to crop the image later for a quick editing session. However, you also have the option to create a design in custom size.
Support For RAW File Conversion
In the desktop version of Fotor, there is RAW conversion support. For photographers who choose to shoot in RAW, you can import your RAW files and start editing almost immediately. Hence, Fotor is an excellent alternative to Lightroom for RAW conversion.
Note: you require the Pro version of Fotor for RAW conversion.
No Learning Curve
Photoshop and Gimp are extremely powerful photo editors. However, they have a learning curve attached to them, as you will have to spend a significant amount of time learning all the features. However, with online photo editors like Fotor, all you need to do is explore and adjust some sliders.
All the options are fairly easy to access, with the basic adjustment tools in the Basic tool, Crop and Rotate tool, Color correction tool, a Curves tool, etc. You will be able to fine-tune your image without much effort in almost no time.
Cons
There are a few things that come into the mind while using Fotor, that has scope for improvement.
First, the RAW conversion is limited to the native version, and you cannot upload RAW or NEF files online. Also, you will need the pro version of the app for the same.
Secondly, any premium features that you use will leave a pan-image watermark. A smaller watermark would work the same without destroying the quality of the image.
The curves tool is extremely difficult to use, even if you have some idea about how the curves work. It took us quite a while to get the curves right while editing a sample image, with the curves going crazy and registering incorrect inputs.
Should You Use Fotor Pro?
You may argue that Photoshop and GIMP pack in many more features, and you are correct. However, there are way more features than what you would ideally use, and using a heavy tool for a quick edit may be too much. That is exactly what Fotor is trying to accomplish, and quite successfully to be honest. With the bare minimum features, Fotor is one of the best online photo editors that you can use for a quick editing session.
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