Seven Photoshop alternatives: Online image editors reviewed and rated

Photoshop is the behemoth of desktop image editing, stuffed with powers beyond all but the most creative of digital artists. But you don't need to fork out for Photoshop or even download any software to benefit from image retouching, layers, levels and other tools for crafting digital masterworks. As part of our guide to cloud computing, we've tested a host of image editors that allow you to achieve many of the effects offered by Photoshop, but solely within your browser -- without that whopping price tag or even a download.

None of these programs require an install, so we'll be leaving aside the likes of Paint.net and Gimp. Previously we've reviewed and rated assorted editors: Picnik, which integrates seamlessly and elegantly with Flickr, the gorgeous Splashup, and the flexible Flauntr. We've looked at the headbendingly clever seam-carving offered by FotoFlexer, and the raw-editing Snipshot. We've also shown you how to turbo-charge your photos with Phoenix, Flickr, JPEGCrops and Qtpfsgui.

On our rating scale, 1 is a basic image editor like that ol' favourite MS Paint, while 10 is Photoshop itself. Come with us through our latest crop of online image editors for photo retouching and creating animations -- and meet our new favourite Photoshop replacement.