Like most of us, you likely have dozens, if not hundreds of pictures stored on your phone or your camera’s SD card. But are you making the most of them? Most of them probably look okay, but with a free photo editor and a little time you can transform them into something amazing.

Whether you’re looking for a total Photoshop alternative that gives you fine control over every minuscule detail of your photos, or basic Instagram-style free photo editing software that offers a range of one-click filters, you’ll find something interesting here.

If you’re already happy with the general look of your photos and just want to tweak them a little before sharing them, a simple free photo editor that allows you to resize, crop and apply filters will be ideal. Many of these have social media sharing built in, removing the hassle of uploading your snaps manually later. They also have the benefit of being easier to use.

If you’re planning to print your work, you’ll be better off considering a more nuanced free photo editor that will give you the fine control you need to make your pictures look perfect, even at high resolutions.

1. GIMP

GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the most powerful free photo editor around. It’s packed with the kind of image-enhancing tools you’d find in premium software, and more are being added every day.

GIMP’s interface will be instantly familiar if you have ever used Photoshop or other premium photo editing software – especially if you select the single-window mode, which lays out all its toolbars and canvases in an Adobe-style layout.

The photo editing toolkit is breathtaking, and features layers, masks, curves, and levels. You can eliminate flaws easily with the excellent clone stamp and healing tools, create custom brushes, apply perspective changes, and apply changes to isolated areas with smart selection tools.

GIMP is an open source free photo editor, and its community of users and developers have created a huge collection of plugins to extend its utility even further. Many of these come pre-installed, and you can download more from the official glossary. If that’s not enough, you can even install Photoshop plugins.

This combination of power and flexibility make GIMP the best free photo editor you can download – whether you’re using Windows, macOS or Linux.

2. Paint.NET

More is not, believe it or not, always better. Paint.NET‘s simplicity is one of its main selling points; it’s a quick, easy to operate free photo editor that’s ideal for trivial tasks that don’t necessarily justify the sheer power of GIMP.

Don’t let the name fool  you, though. This isn’t just a cheap copy of Microsoft’s ultra-basic Paint – even if it was originally meant to replace it. It’s a proper photo editor, just one that lands on the basic side of the curve.

Paint.NET’s interface will remind you of its namesake, but over the years, they’ve added advanced editing tools like layers, an undo history, a ton of filters, myriad community-created plugins, and a brilliant 3D rotate/zoom function that’s handy for recomposing images.

It might not have every feature you can dream of, but if your machine is a little underpowered we can’t think of a better free photo editor.

3. Photo Pos Pro

Photo Pos Pro isn’t as well known as Paint.net and GIMP, but it’s another top-quality free photo editor that’s packed with advanced image-enhancing tools. 

This free photo editor’s interface is smarter and more accessible than GIMP’s array of menus and toolbars, with everything arranged in a logical and consistent way. If it’s still too intimidating, there’s also an optional ‘novice’ layout that resembles Fotor’s filter-based approach. The choice is yours.

The ‘expert’ layout offers both layers and layer masks for sophisticated editing, as well as tools for adjusting curves and levels manually. You can still access the one-click filters via the main menu, but the focus is much more on fine editing.

Photo Pos Pro also includes a clone brush for erasing unwanted blemishes, and there’s extra support for batch-editing and scripts to help you save time when refining a whole folder of photos.

The free edition of Photo Pos Pro only has one drawback: files can only be saved at a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 2,014 pixels, which might be too small if you’re planning to have them printed professionally. If you want to remove this restriction, Photo Pos Pro Premium is available for a license free of £24.50/US$24.90/AU$41.89.

4. PhotoScape

PhotoScape might look like a rather simple free photo editor, but take a look at its main menu and you’ll find a wealth of features: raw conversion, photo splitting and merging, animated GIF creation, and even a rather odd (but useful) function with which you can print lined, graph or sheet music paper.

The meat, of course, is in the photo editing. PhotoScape’s interface is among the most esoteric of all the apps we’ve looked at here, with tools grouped into pages in odd configurations. It certainly doesn’t attempt to ape Photoshop, and includes fewer features.

We’d definitely point this towards the beginner, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get some solid results. PhotoScape’s filters are functional and not at all beginner-like, so it’s if good choice if you need to quickly level, sharpen or add mild filtering to pictures in a snap.

5. Fotor

Fotor is more a photo enhancer than a full-fat manual editing tool. If there’s specific area of retouching you need doing with, say, the clone brush or healing tool, you’re out of luck. However, if your needs are simple, its stack of high-end filters that really do shine.

There’s a foolproof tilt-shift tool, for example, and a raft of vintage and vibrant colour tweaks, all easily accessed through Fotor’s clever menu system. You can manually alter your own curves and levels, too, but without the complexity of high-end tools.

Fotor’s most brilliant function, and one that’s sorely lacking in many free photo editors, is its batch processing tool – feed it a pile of pics and it’ll filter the lot of them in one go, perfect if you have a memory card full of holiday snaps and need to cover up the results of a dodgy camera or shaky hand.

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-photo-editor

A fitness tracker is the perfect way to monitor your activity and health effortlessly and with unmatched accuracy. Think of it as an electronic finger on the pulse, constantly measuring your vitals, quality of sleep and step count.

Today’s fitness band market is stuffed with fantastic devices, most of which can do a pretty good job at the basics of tracking. But frankly, we’re only interested in the best, and you should be too.

We won’t be looking at all the techiest wristwear here – check out our best smartwatch guide for that, which includes the Apple Watch 3, LG Watch Style and Samsung Gear Sport. 

You also won’t find the Fitbit Ionic or Fitbit Versa here either, which despite the brand name are both toted as smartwatches and are priced accordingly. 

This guide will show you the best of the best activity trackers money can buy and show you how each ranks in terms of stand-out features, specs, price, design, the quality of the software you’ll be using on your phone and much more. 

1. Moov Now

Screen: No | Heart rate tracker: No | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes, through phone | Battery life: Six months | Compatibility: Android/iOS

The Moov Now is officially our favorite fitness band in the world right now. It’s cheap, offers everything you’ll want in an everyday tracker and there’s a phenomenal six month long battery life.

The Moov Now isn’t just designed for step tracking though – it comes with boxing and rep-based training, as well as a swimming mode on top of run coaching and sleep monitoring features. That’s a lot to get stuck in with.

You won’t get GPS or some of the more complex fitness tracking features that others on this list offer, but if you’re looking for a great everyday tracker that doesn’t cost a lot of money the Moov Now will suit you perfectly.

Read the full Moov Now review

What’s next? The Moov Now was first released back in 2015, so the device is due a refresh. That said, we haven’t heard any rumors of a new device coming from Moov.

2. Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro

Screen: Yes, 1.5-inch AMOLED | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes, through phone | Battery life: 3 days | Compatibility: Android/iOS

The Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro hasn’t made hefty changes to the company’s wearable line since the Gear Fit 2, but there are a few improvements to an already great tracker that sits it in second place.

The Gear Fit 2 Pro has a gorgeous design that looks fantastic on your wrist and as it’s sporting a big, beautiful AMOLED display you’ll be able to see all of your stats nice and clearly.

It also comes with GPS built-in so you can leave your phone at home while you go for a run as well as a top-notch heart rate sensor that should give you one of the most accurate readings possible from a wrist based tracker. Plus it will track your swimming too.

Read the full Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro review

What’s next? We don’t know exactly when we’ll see the Gear Fit 3, but we expect Samsung to launch a new tracker before the end of 2018 with new fitness tech built in.

3. Huawei Band 2 Pro

Screen: Yes | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes | Battery life: 21 days standby | Compatibility: Android/iOS

In third place is the Huawei Band 2 Pro. a sleek little fitness tracker that manages to pack a decent amount of features into its diminutive frame, and for an impressively small amount of money. 

The Band 2 Pro has heart rate monitoring, VO2 max, GPS, step and sleep tracking and a seriously impressive battery life. The slim screen means that this tracker will work just as well with running gear as it will with a business suit, although the slim screen isn’t going to be as easy to read as some of the competition.

If you’re looking for a device that’s going to give you totally precise metrics, this isn’t it. But if you want an affordable entry-level device for your first foray into the world of fitness tracking, this is a great place to start.

Read our Huawei Band 2 Pro review

What’s next? So far we haven’t heard any hard and fast news of a Huawei Band 3 Pro, but if it’s going to happen we may see it launch toward the end of 2018.

4. TomTom Spark 3

Screen: Yes, Monochrome | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes | Battery life: Two weeks | Compatibility: Android/iOS

The TomTom Spark 3 is our fourth favorite fitness watch and offers a lot of great features for your wrist, including music without your phone.

You can upload music directly to the TomTom Spark 3, so you won’t need to take your phone out with your Bluetooth headphones while on a run.

Plus on top of that, the Spark 3 offers up GPS tracking, a heart rate monitor and route navigation, making this the perfect wrist companion to wear while running around areas you don’t really know and discovering new places.

Read the full TomTom Spark 3 review

What’s next? The company behind the Spark 3 doesn’t seem to be pushing ahead with new trackers right now, so we can speculate there won’t be a TomTom Spark 4 anytime soon.

5. Amazfit Bip

Screen: Yes, black and white | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes | Battery life: 1 month | Compatibility: Android/iOS

This may look more like a smartwatch than any of the other devices on this list, but as it runs its own software and has a very big focus on fitness we’ve decided to include it in our list of the best fitness trackers.

The Amazfit Bip design has been influenced by the Apple Watch (there’s no denying that) and it comes packed with tons of features including GPS, an accurate heart rate tracker, multi-sport tracking, sleep tracking and VO2 Max features too.

If you’re looking for a more watch-like design than everything else on this list, the Bip will be up your street. It’s lightweight too and other highlights include the always-on display and strong battery life that should last around a month depending on your usage. 

If this all sounds good, you’d be hard pressed to go wrong with the Amazfit Bip. It’s worth noting the fitness tracker isn’t available in all markets at the moment though and you may struggle to find the Bip where you live.

Read the full Amazfit Bip review

6. Garmin Vivofit 4

Screen: Yes, color LCD | Heart rate tracker: No | Waterproof: Water-resistant | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: No | Battery life: 1 year | Compatibility: Android/iOS

The Garmin Vivofit 4 is one of the best fitness trackers the company has ever created, and that now means it sits in this prestigious list alongside some other fantastic tracking products.

We particularly like the super-long battery life of the Vivofit 4, which means you won’t need to recharge your device for a whole year. That means you can wear it all day, then all night for sleep tracking and not have to worry about recharging it.

You’ll miss out on phone notifications by buying this tracker, but you do get the benefit of an always-on color display, accurate fitness tracking features – just note these are more limited than some other trackers on this list – as well as access to an in-depth app to break down your stats on your smartphone.

Read the full Garmin Vivofit 4 review

7. Garmin Vivosport

Screen: Yes, color touchscreen | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Water-resistant | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes | Battery life: 7 days | Compatibility: Android/iOS

It’s not as stylish as most of the Fitbit products, but there’s a reason the Garmin Vivosport appears in this list before products from the latter company. 

This is cheaper than most Fitbit products and it comes with GPS built-in too. We found the Vivosport offers a solid seven days battery life from a single charge, even when using the GPS features.

Although it’s waterproof, it wont’ track your swimming easily but the Vivosport excels for other kinds of workouts and is great for tracking your jogging and cycling. Plus we found the heart rate tracker to be accurate too.

Read our full Garmin Vivosport review

8. Polar M430

Screen: Yes, Monochrome | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Yes | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes | Battery life: 20 days | Compatibility: Android/iOS

The Polar M430 has a lot of things going for it, including GPS, a heart rate monitor and sleep tracking skills, along with good battery life. For the most part it’s also reliable and accurate, which is something not all fitness trackers can claim.

The M430 is designed primarily for runners, and can monitor the likes of your pace, distance, speed and cadence, but with all of the above, plus daily general activity tracking, it’s a strong choice for tracking most kinds of exercise and activity.

Given all the tech packed in, the Polar M430 also has a reasonable price tag. It’s not the best-looking fitness tracker, but it’s comfortable and functional.

Read the full Polar M430 review

9. Garmin Vivosmart 3

Screen: Yes, Monochrome | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: Water-resistant | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: No | Battery life: 6 days | Compatibility: Android/iOS

In eighth place is the Garmin Vivosmart 3, which is on the more expensive side of the fitness trackers listed but offers almost everything you’ll want from an exercise tracker.

With a six-day long battery life, a heart rate monitor and fitness age feature, this is a device created more for gym-goers than runners.

The Vivosmart HR+, the device Garmin released before this tracker, came with GPS built-in but this newer version has dropped the feature and it’s a big shame for anyone who wanted to take this watch running.

Even so, you should definitely consider the Garmin Vivosmart 3, especially if you’re looking for a band that can do high-end fitness tracking with an almost week long battery.

Read the full Garmin Vivosmart 3 review

10. Fitbit Charge 2

Screen: Yes | Heart rate tracker: Yes | Waterproof: No | Activity tracking: Yes | GPS: Yes, through phone | Battery life: 4 days | Compatibility: Android/iOS/Windows

The Fitbit Charge 2 is the best Fitbit tracker you can buy right now. It’s more expensive than some of the other options from Fitbit, but if you’re looking to go jogging this is a great choice that won’t cost you as much as a traditional running watch.

It connects with the GPS on your phone, has a large screen to display your data, a heart rate tracker and new fitness features we’ve only previously seen on the Fitbit Blaze.

It may not be the cheapest device on the list, but this is the best Fitbit tracker money can buy.

Read the full Fitbit Charge 2 review

What’s next? Rumors of the Fitbit Charge 3 have started and we may see a new fitness tracker by the end of the year.

Want a fitness watch instead? Here’s our Fitbit Ionic video review 

http://www.techradar.com/news/wearables/10-best-fitness-trackers-1277905

In just over a month we’ll see the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 announced on stage in New York, and we already know a lot about the phone. The latest leak even seems to confirm the color range for it.

Russian tech site Hi-Tech.Mail has found some high-quality renders of the upcoming phone showing it off in five different shades.

It’s seemingly set to come in blue, copper, silver, violet and black. That’s not a remarkably different line-up to the black, gold, grey and blue versions of the Galaxy Note 8, but the actual colors themselves look to have changed a bit.

The colors are more similar to the Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus range, but there have been some changes to make the more intense shades much brighter and bolder on the Note 9.

There’s obviously no guarantee this will be Samsung’s final line-up of colors at the launch, and it may be that we don’t see all of these colors launch in every territory.

Not everywhere

In fact, Samsung is prone to releasing some colors just in select markets. Considering how Samsung usually treats its colors, we wouldn’t expect to be able to buy the violet shade of the phone in every market around the world.

We’ve also seen a new benchmarking stat for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 through Geekbench – and spotted by SamMobile – that claims the Exynos 9810 version of the phone will be able to reach a single-core score of 3,716.

That’s quite a bit better than a previous benchmarking score we saw for the same version of the phone, which had a single-core score of 2,737. The listing also provides further evidence that the phone will have 6GB of RAM, which is something we’ve heard before in previous leaks.

Expect lots more Galaxy Note 9 rumors and leaks in the coming weeks ahead of the August 9 launch.

Via PocketNow

http://www.techradar.com/news/all-the-colors-youll-probably-be-choosing-from-for-your-samsung-galaxy-note-9