When I take some decent photos and want to publish them on social media, I usually edit them on my phone for convenience. But if there too many photos, I may consider to save and retouch them on my computer, then select some of my favorites for publishing.
To edit images on PC, you can see more details and do more subtle adjustments. It’s a upside but also a downside since the picture retouching software on PC can be more difficult to operate. If you are a hobbyist photographer like me who just want to simply retouch the photos, Photoshop may not be the best choice.
A user-friendly interface, concise and practical functions, aesthetically pleasing filters, and of course, reasonable price – these are the things I care about most. So after searching I decide to have a try on Polarr Photo Editor.
It currently have versions for WEB, WINDOWS, MAC, CHROMEBOOK, IOS, ANDROID allowing you to choose the one you need. For me I downloaded Photo Editor for Windows, so the following introduction is also based on this version.
The first bright spot is that you can download it and use most of its features for free. There’s also a PRO version with more filters and more adjustment options, you can pay $3.99/mo or 29.99/year to get it.
How to Edit Pitures with Polarr Editor
When you first time open Polarr Photo Editor, there will be a sample picture for you to try these features on. You can click the [Open Photos] button on the top-left corner to open the photo or image you want to edit.
The main interface is very concise and intuitive. There are 5 buttons on the left and 4 on the right, which contain almost all the features you need to simply edit a picture.
If you’re not satisfied with the picture size or just want part of it, click [Crop] button on the right to resize it or crop it. You can also flip the image horizontally or vertically by clicking [Filip X] and [Flip Y].
After cropping, you can either do the detailed adjustment by yourself, or choose a proper filter to apply to the image. Click [Filters] on the left, there are many preset filters you can choose from. If you want more, just click [More Filters] on the bottom. And you can also get more PREMIUM filters by upgrading to PRO version.
For a filter you’d like to use frequently, you can click the heart icon the top-right corner of it to save it in [MY FILTERS].
To further retouch the [Color], [Light], [Curves], [Effects], etc. of the image, you can tap the [Adjustments] button on the right, then the menu will be expanded and there are many available options for you to adjust.
For example, you can fix a picture which is lack of light, or switch it from cool tone to warm tone. It’s all up to your aesthetic.
And if you want to add some elements to the adjusted photo, clicik the second button on the left – [Text & Shapes]. As the name suggests, it enables to insert shapes or text with different style and color. And combining them you can do something unique.
For example, you can insert a shape at first, adjust the [Opacity] and choose a proper [Color] till you get satisfied, then click [Add Overlay] to upload an image as the gradient of the shape, or click the reversal button on buttom to give the picture a mask effect.
Hit the [√] icon to confirm the setting and choose [Add Text] in the menu to insert the text you want. You can change its font, alignment, style, color, size, opacity, etc. to make it fit the image.
Furthermore, you can go to [Overlays] (the last button on the left) to choose an overlay effect and adjust its opacity, orientation and effect. You can even add weather phenomenons like rain or snow to creat a specific atmosphere.
As for portrait photos that many people may concern, there’s also a [Retouch] functional zone enables you to refine the people in photo. It will automatically identify the faces in the picture, thus you can do further settings for eyes, nose, mouse, etc. separately.
And with the [Liquify] feature, you can easily adjust people’s body figure and facial contour.
After finishing editing an image, hit the [Save Photo] button on the top-right corner to save it.
In the popping out [Save] window, you can make choices between different format and quality. But please note, the daily number of pictures you can save is limited for free version. You can upgrad to PRO version to break the limit and also enable the feature of batch saving multiple images at once.
Conclusion
I’m actually enjoy the experience of editing pictures with Polarr Photo Editor. There are many beautiful filters and enough options for a non-professional photographer, and most of its features are available in free version. After using the Windows edition, I’m satisfied with the final result and would like to try the iPhone version as well.
