PhotoPad Photo Editing Software

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As photographers of all abilities have become more predisposed to perfecting their images before sharing them with the wider world, the popularity of the best photo editing software (opens in new tab) has similarly grown. Ideal for those with little experience, and offering a wide selection of basic editing tools, PhotoPad Photo Editor helps beginners learn how to edit images with ease. Between the non-cluttered interface and accessible tools, you can find all of the editing tools you need to transform your photos.

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PhotoPad Photo Editor Review: Features

PhotoPad Photo Editor has a decent selection of both basic and advanced editing tools. Among the more standard features are cropping, rotation, resizing, and flipping, while effects such as sepia tones, red eye reduction, hue adjustment, saturation and brightness, are all there too. You can touch up photos to remove blemishes, while the color-management tools allow you to adjust the color balance, exposure, levels, brightness, contrast and more. It doesn't match the likes of Photoshop (opens in new tab) here, but is perhaps better for novices.

In addition to the basics, PhotoPad offers some more advanced tools, including automatic editing, and options to improve photo quality and focus with blur, sharpening and noise reduction tools. It is also possible to change the aspect ratio of an image without distorting key features using the liquid resize effect, and to merge multiple exposures to create HDR - High Dynamic Range - photographs. Text and captions can be added to photos to post online, or to photo books, too. Its tools are varied, but not as accurate as the likes of Lightroom (opens in new tab).

PhotoPad Photo Editor Review: Compatibility and export options

The best photo editing software supports a large selection of file formats and PhotoPad is no different, with JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, BMP and other popular formats all supported. It is also possible to edit photos directly from your DSLR camera (opens in new tab). Once you've edited your photos, you can post photos directly to social media sites like Facebook or Flickr, or email them to family and friends. 

As to the system requirements, PhotoPad works on Windows 10, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1, as well as 64 bit Windows, and Mac OS X 10.5 or above. A Chromebook version is available, while the Android version runs on 2.3.3 or higher.

PhotoPad Photo Editor Review: Support options

PhotoPad has a variety of customer support options for its software, including numerous video tutorials, ranging from getting started, through to drawing on your photos, and making a collage. There's also an FAQ section, a help manual, a user forum and, if all else fails, you can contact a technical support representative.

Should you buy PhotoPad Photo Editor?

PhotoPad Photo Editor is a great photo editing option for people who have little experience in fine-tuning and manipulating their images. The software has an uncluttered, user-friendly interface and easily accessible tools, and with support that's readily available, you can learn how to use the software at your own pace. While more experienced editing enthusiasts might find PhotoPad comes up a little short, there is little to dissuade novices from giving it a look. 

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Rebecca is a writer who has covered everything from photo books to graphic design and small kitchen appliances for Top Ten Reviews. Now a gaming writer for Future Labs, she's also contributed to big publications like TechRadar, Windows Central, Android Central, Reuters Legal Solutions Blog, iMore, and more. She no longer works for TTR.

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Reviewer:	Stephen Qualtrough
Developer:	NCH Software
Ranked:	7th
Overall rating:
Price:	$50 $34.99 - $15.01 off
Purchase:

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Review summary

Full review

NCH Software offers a range of utilities for all kinds of functions from video editing to invoice management. The NCH PhotoPad package provides effective photo editing to a basic level. Here we look at exactly what you get in this editing package. A free edition is available to download for home use, while the professional – premium - version is paid-for.

Setup

NCH PhotoPad works on Mac and Windows machines, and you need Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 or Vista. For Macs, it’s Intel OS X 10.4.4 and higher.

Importing

NCH PhotoPad supports a range of different file formats and you’ll be able to work with the usual range of image files. Images can be exported in common formats like jpg, png and gif.

Photo editing

Find all the basic and essential editing tools you need within the NCH PhotoPad package. For moving and resizing images you have crop, rotation, resize, and flip tools on hand – the “liquid resize” effect changes the aspect ratio of the image without distorting the features within it. A retouch feature allows you to get rid of red-eye in your shots as well as blemishes. Fine-tune the image color and hue, plus the brightness, saturation, and contrast. Photo effects include sepia, oil paint, cartoon, and vignette – you apply these effects with just a couple of clicks. If you want to improve the quality of the photo you can sharpen the image and reduce noise or add blur to define areas of the image and add contrast.

You can also make additions to the photo by inserting text and captions using a range of different effects. PhotoPad is linked to a library of clipart for inserting images, although this produces fun effects rather than anything that looks professional. Frames and borders around photos provide the finishing touch.

Editing is non-destructive as you work with layers that allow you to modify different aspects of the picture but return to original versions if you need to.

However, you can’t remove objects from a picture and there are no automatic retouch features that give your photos a quick, general boost.

Features

Features are limited in the PhotoPad package but you can create basic collages and mosaics using your pictures and the preset templates within the program. There is also a feature where you can convert photos into cross stich patterns or paint-by-numbers images – great for crafting enthusiasts.

The photo stitch feature links photos together but it’s not particularly advanced.

There is no batch editing feature in the program.

Organizing

There’s no way to organize or sort photos within PhotoPad and we think this is a lack. If you want to keep track of your photos you’ll have to use your own system on the PC or upload photos to a photo storage service.

Sharing

You can upload photos directly to Flickr, which would solve the storage problem. And there is also a feature for uploading edited pictures to Facebook.

Ease of use

Unsurprisingly, PhotoPad is very easy to use. One of the main points in the program’s favor is its clear and uncluttered interface and lack of issues handling the various features on offer. It would be nice to see some more advanced features so this ease of use could really be put into practice.

Help & support

The NCH PhotoPad website has a few questions related to installation and technical issues, and there are a couple of simple how-to queries answered. You will probably find what you need to sort out any issues you have with the program within the Help manual, which is accessed from within the software. There’s a forum, and you can also contact Technical Support but access to this service is limited to people using the paid-for premium version of the program.

Overall

You can’t go wrong with this program, up to a certain point. If you want to make quick and simple edits you can – and NCH PhotoPad is very user-friendly. But if you want to move onto more advanced edits you’ll need a different program. NCH PhotoPad is great for the beginner but advanced editors won’t find what they are looking for.

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