Photopea: free browser-based image editor with PSD support

Photopea works with layers, masks, layer styles, smart objects, adjustment layers, channels and paths. This lets you build composites the way you know from classic layer-based programs.

• Masks: A layer mask is an extra image attached to the layer. It comes as a raster mask made of grayscale pixels and as a vector mask made of Bézier curves.
• Adjustment layers: They contain no image data but change the colors of the layers below. The original stays intact.
• Smart objects: Several layers can point to the same source and change with it. You can apply smart filters to smart objects; according to the developer, this lets you work non-destructively.

For retouching, Photopea offers a spot healing brush, a healing brush and a patch tool. According to the developer, these tools use artificial intelligence to remove objects and blemishes from photos. For cutouts there is a feature that removes the background with a single click. In addition, there are selection tools with edge refinement and the Magic Cut tool, where you mark the subject and the background with two colors.

According to the developer, PSD is Photopea's main format. You open PSD files and save them back as PSD so the whole structure of the document is preserved. Other files are converted internally into a PSD document when you open them. You can export to JPG, PNG, SVG and PDF, among others.

According to the developer's format list, Photopea also opens files from GIMP (XCF), Sketch, Adobe XD, Illustrator, InDesign, Affinity Photo, Krita, CorelDRAW and Figma. On top of that come common image formats such as PNG, JPG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, SVG and PDF. You open RAW photos directly, for example DNG, CR3, NEF, ARW and RAF. While doing so, you set exposure, color balance, contrast, highlights and shadows.

Photopea works with 8, 16 or 32 bits per channel and with the color profiles stored in the file. It opens RAW photos as 16-bit documents. For print there is a CMYK mode. According to the developer, it shows how the image will look on an average printer and uses the CMYK SWOP v2 color space for this. The developer does not describe full editing in CMYK. If you have to deliver print files in CMYK, plan on using another program for that step.

According to the developer, Photopea offers several AI features:

• Remove background (Remove BG) with a single click.
• Magic Replace: You replace part of an image with new content that you describe in text.
• Text to image: Generate images from a description and fill masked areas of a photo.

With Premium, the developer says you can use these features hundreds of times per month; usage is counted in AI credits. Once a month's credits are used up, you enter an API key from the third-party provider Dezgo. Photopea then charges your own balance there. For image generation, Photopea says it works with various external providers.

During normal editing, your files stay on your device. According to the privacy policy, opened files are never sent anywhere and are processed entirely by your own hardware. Only if you give Photopea access to a cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive do files go there. If you log in, the server stores your name, email address, preferences and payment details, among other things.

The privacy policy does not say whether images are used to train AI models. It mentions neither the AI features nor the external providers. In our view, it therefore remains unclear what happens to image data you pass to the AI features.

Photopea runs in a web browser; no installation is needed. Via the "More" menu you can also add Photopea to your device as an app. It still runs in the browser, but in its own window with a reduced interface, and you open PSD files with a double-click. Once the page has loaded, the developer says you can disconnect from the internet and keep working offline. The AI features run on external services and, in our view, require a connection.

According to the terms of use, the editor is free for anyone and for any purpose. Your work belongs to you, and you may also sell it. The free version shows ads. Premium removes the ads, doubles the history steps and includes a monthly allowance of AI credits. Premium is neither a subscription nor a perpetual licence: you pay once for 30, 90 or 365 days, after which the account switches back to the free version with ads. For more Premium you buy again. For teams there is Team Premium, which a team owner pays for all members.

You can extend Photopea with plugins that you add in the editor, with actions and with JavaScript scripts. According to the developer, scripts written for Photoshop also run. The developer announces new features on the blog; there is no published update policy.

Photopea suits you if you want to work with layers, masks and smart objects without installing anything and without a subscription. This applies in particular if you have to open PSD files from clients or colleagues, change them and hand them back as PSD. It also gives you a layer editor on other people's computers, on a school network or on a Chromebook.

In our view, the feature set is well suited for social media graphics, banners and composites. Vector shapes, text and templates are included. Photographers can open RAW files and work in 16 bits, but there is no image management for large series.

Photopea is less suited for prepress, because CMYK is only available as a preview. If you want to use AI features heavily, you need Premium credits or a balance with a third-party provider. For sensitive images, keep in mind that the privacy policy does not cover the AI features. You can switch off the ads in the free version with a Premium one-time payment for a fixed period.