Free, open-source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements is Adobe's photo editor for home users. It offers quick fixes and step-by-step guided edits for common tasks such as removing blemishes, straightening horizons or swapping backgrounds, along with a layer-based editor for more hands-on work. The open-source apps below share the core job of retouching and editing photos in layers.

GIMP is the more capable of the two, with advanced selections, masks, filters, painting tools and plug-ins, though it offers no guided edits, so each task is done by hand. Seashore is a smaller native Mac editor for straightforward layer work, closer to Elements in scale if not in automation.