Adding beautiful images to your blogs and social media posts can enhance their appeal.
Aside from using high-quality images, the layout of these images is also crucial. It grabs attention and communicates your message effectively. If you struggle with formatting or want to save time, using ‘templates’ can be a great option.
This post introduces online editing websites, focusing on “image editing websites that provide templates”, rather than websites that only contain editable images.
I signed up and tried out the free versions of the following online editing websites:
(In general, the free options offer enough templates. However, if you’re creating a lot of in-demand pins in a short time, especially on platforms like Pinterest, and you don’t want to reuse the same templates frequently, upgrading to unlock more layouts might be worth it to speed up your workflow.)
Where can I find free stock images? 37 Free Stock Photo Sites – NO ACCOUNT NEEDED
You can PIN this article and come back anytime.
Canva
Pricing: Free & $119.99/Yearly
Canva is a widely used online tool for creating graphics. It offers a variety of templates for both images and dynamic videos, some of which are free while others require payment. Additionally, many people sell Canva templates as part of their online businesses. Tutorials on using Canva, as well as advanced courses, are readily available.
The platform provides numerous beautiful free templates, with some premium templates marked with a yellow crown icon. While the “Elements” offers plenty of classification options, access to the entire “Audio” content requires an upgrade.
For photo editing, Canva offers basic adjustment functions like light and shadow, brightness, and color, along with effects such as Shadow and Blur. There’s also a wide selection of free filters available. But background removal requires an upgrade.
Pixlr Designer
Pricing: Free & Plus $0.99/Month & Premium $4.90/Month
It’s best to select the template first when entering the editing page. If you choose ‘Design’ → ‘Browse Template’ after entering (on the editing page), it will usually take you out of the editing page, and you’ll lose what you’ve created, which can be a bit inconvenient.
There are plenty of layouts and material libraries available, and it seems all to be free to use for now, although there are output restrictions. Before upgrading, you’re limited to exporting 3 pictures a day. If you don’t have a huge demand for pictures, you can still choose your favorite material output without upgrading.
When exporting, you have the option to choose the quality according to your needs, which is not common in free tools.
In the ‘Text’ category, there are plenty of lively text stickers to choose from, and the ‘Media’ section offers a wide range of materials.
Fotor
Pricing: Free & Pro $39.99/Yearly & Pro+ $89.99/Yearly
Fotor’s editing page has a user-friendly layout and is an easy-to-use tool.
The templates it provides have a different style compared to Canva. In the template selection, there are quite a few that require payment (indicated by a white diamond), so you need to choose carefully. It is recommended to select templates from “Home → Template”. In the editing panel, templates of different sizes are mixed together, which can be a little confusing.
Photos provide a relatively complete selection of categories and content (but many of them require Pro+).
The paid unlock function offers pretty beautiful photo filters and an AI function that can turn photos into cartoon characters.
Picsart
Pricing: Free & Plus $60.00/Yearly & Pro $84.00/Yearly
The menus on the editing page are presented in an easy-to-understand manner and aren’t too difficult to use.
The template selection method is a drop-down menu, making it very easy to operate and select. Some versions require payment (PLUS).
There are many types of pen tips to choose from in the Brush tool under ‘Draw’. If you want to add a drawing effect, you can give them a try.
The stickers are cool, but most of them require an upgrade before they can be used.
Rawpixel
Pricing: Free & Premium $59.99/Yearly & Premium Lifetime $399.00 (Lifetime is currently quite rare)
When you enter and select ‘TEMPLATES’ from the homepage, the quantity is indicated, including free and paid ones.
Personally, I think that the templates provided by this website have an overall illustrative and artistic design atmosphere, which sets them apart from the previously mentioned websites.
The built-in Elements provided are very rich, including backgrounds, elements, shapes, and art, providing many painting types of pictures. If you mainly paint pictures, you can explore and find treasures there!
Vecteezy
Pricing: Free & Pro $144.00/Yearly
While there are templates available for use, there aren’t as many free options compared to some of the websites mentioned earlier.
One notable feature is the free background removal function among the photo editing tools, which is great! (This is not common in free tools.)
“Elements” offers a wide range of pictures, resembling an online gallery.
BeFunky
Pricing: Free & Pro $83.88/Yearly
The free version offers basic functions with simple and clear options, which may appeal to those who tend to hesitate when faced with too many choices.
In the free version, photo editing is limited to cropping and adding color overlay, edge, and shadow effects. The “Edit Image” function requires an upgrade.
PicMonkey
Pricing: Free (cannot be downloaded) & Basic Plan $72.00/Yearly & Pro Plan $120.00/Yearly & Business Pro Plan $228.00/Yearly
In reality, this cannot be considered entirely free. While the browser version in use is free, it doesn’t allow downloads. Although the instructions mention that the app version can be downloaded, the free app version cannot be synchronized to the files of the browser, making it impossible to download images.
However, if you’re willing to pay the basic download fee, you gain access to numerous editing options. For instance, you can add fonts with picture color effects, transform them into circular arrangements, and more. Additionally, you can modify characters in the photo in detail. Yet, the editing layout appears complex at first glance, requiring time to locate functions and understand how to use them.
On the picture editing page, the template classification search method is well-executed. Options like FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, and PINTEREST are clearly distinguished. Clicking on PINTEREST further divides options into PINTEREST PIN, PINTEREST PROMOTED PIN, PINTEREST SQUARE PIN, etc. If you’re unsure about template selection, this provides a helpful guide.
Those with a budget may find it worth considering.
After using them all, among the free versions, Canva stands out as the most popular choice. It offers comprehensive functions, a vast array of (free) materials, and template libraries, and its layout is beginner-friendly.
Personally, I prefer Pixlr Designer. It not only provides a wide range of materials, but I also appreciate its content. Plus, there are no material restrictions that need to be the ‘Plus’ excluding ‘save’. If you only need to work with up to 3 pictures per day, it’s a great fit.
