How to Edit Images Online

We’ll start with recommending some basic tools depending on what kind of editing you’re doing:

Basic Photo Editing

(Cropping, brightness, contrast, filters)

• Best Tools:
  • Pixlr X – Super simple and fast
  • Fotor – Clean interface, one-click edits
  • Canva – Great for quick edits and social posts

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️ Advanced Editing / Photoshop-like Features

(Layers, masks, brushes, blending)

• Best Tools:
  • Photopea – Closest to Photoshop, runs in-browser
  • Pixlr E – More powerful than Pixlr X

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Background Removal / Object Removal

• Best Tools:
  • Remove.bg – Just upload and done
  • Cleanup.pictures – Erase objects with a brush
  • Canva Pro – Has one-click background removal too

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Designing for Social Media / Web

(Banners, thumbnails, stories, ads)

• Best Tools:
  • Canva – Templates galore, drag-and-drop
  • Adobe Express – Polished templates & auto resize
  • Crello (now VistaCreate) – Like Canva but with more animations

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AI-Powered Magic

(Style transfer, inpainting, text-to-image)

• Best Tools:
  • Runway ML – AI editing, inpainting, and motion tools
  • ClipDrop – Image upscaling, background cleanup, AI fills
  • Krea AI – AI generative design (very visual + fast)

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Next we have some guidelines when editing images and graphics for your website:

Editing images online can be super convenient and effective, especially with the right tools and techniques. Here are some best practices to follow when editing images online:

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Choose the Right Tool

• For basic edits: Use tools like Canva, Pixlr, Fotor, or Photopea.
• For advanced edits: Go with Photopea (Photoshop-like), or Pixlr E (more powerful than Pixlr X).
• For AI features: Try Remove.bg (background removal), Cleanup.pictures (object removal), or RunwayML (video/image AI editing).

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Know Your Purpose

Tailor your edits based on your goal:

• Social media: Use proper aspect ratios, bright colors, and light filters.
• Web design: Optimize size and resolution for fast loading.
• Print: High resolution (300 DPI), CMYK color mode (if the tool supports it).

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Follow These Editing Steps

1. Crop & Straighten – Clean up the framing.
2. Adjust Lighting – Tweak brightness, contrast, exposure.
3. Color Correct – Fix white balance, saturation, vibrance.
4. Retouch/Enhance – Use healing tools or AI for blemishes, sharpening, etc.
5. Add Text or Graphics – Keep it readable and well-placed.
6. Resize/Compress – Match output format to your needs (e.g., web, print, etc.).

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Keep Design Principles in Mind

• Less is more: Avoid over-editing.
• Consistency: Stick to a color scheme or visual style.
• Hierarchy: Use fonts and contrast to guide the viewer’s eye.
• Alignment: Use grids and guides if available.

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Export Smart

• JPEG for photos (good quality + small file size).
• PNG for images with transparency or sharp graphics.
• WebP for web use (great compression without losing much quality).
• Check the resolution (e.g., 1080×1080 for web images and Instagram posts).
• Note that the average website browser screen is no more than 1600px wide, use this as a reference. IE: If you want an image to take half the page; size it to 800px wide.
• WebP isn’t necessary if you’re using WordPress Plugins like WP Compress, or WP Rocket – these plugins will compress and convert all your images to WebP for you.

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Save Your Work in Layers (if possible)

If using Photopea or Pixlr E, save a PSD or PXZ file so you can go back and tweak layers later.

This should give you the basics to start editing images and graphics for your website.