Introduction to Photoscape

It may not be as popular or as powerful as Photoshop, but Photoscape is a surprisingly fast photo viewer and editor that hides a bunch of interesting features.

Photoscape has a nice main screen that lets you access the program's tools either from the top toolbar or from a round icon menu. Let's begin by taking a look at the photo viewer.

It includes a tree-like folder structure to browse your photo collection, and displays the contents of the selected folder in thumbnails. You can easily mark photos as favorites by clicking this star icon, and also display their metadata by clicking this other icon. If you prefer viewing photos in full screen, simply click the Slideshow button.

Editing a photo in Photoscape couldn't be easier. Most effects can be applied with simple mouse clicks. You can rotate, mirror or flip the image any way you want. But that's not all. See what you can do with Photoscape's special filters and frames, in just a few seconds.

The Object tab gives you access to more editing tools, with which you can insert another picture in your photo or add some text lines to it. The last tab, Region, features powerful filters to fix the red-eye effect and apply a nice mosaic effect, among other tools.

If you want to have more control over the photo while editing it, go to the Batch Editor. This will display a larger version of the photo, with a built-in mini-viewer and an optimized filters menu.

Once you're done with your pictures, why not do something original with them? The Page, Combine, AniGif and Print tabs in Photoscape include all the necessary tools to create beautiful compositions, animations and printed collages with your photos. All you need to do is drag and drop the image you want to use, and tweak the settings according to your needs.

Like I said, Photoscape may not be as powerful as Photoshop, but it's an excellent photo viewer and editor that you'll love as soon as you try it. Oh, and did I mention it's completely free?