Fotor Photo Editor Review – A Clever Combination of Photo Editing & Graphic Design Capabilities

When searching for photo editors online, you can most often find two kinds of solutions. These can be really simple and fully automated solutions, which is what we see on mobile platforms. On the other end of the spectrum are complex photo editors that produce magnificent results but that come with a steep learning curve. This means that finding a photo editor that’s easy to use and that doesn’t restrict your creativity is tougher than it might seem. However, as you’ll learn by reading this article, this task isn’t impossible. Welcome to our review of Fotor!

First, let’s introduce you to this photo editor by listing some of its main aspects. Take a look at the table below to learn more.

With the basics out of our way, it’s time to give you a glimpse of what to expect. In case you don’t have the time to read this review in its entirety, take a quick look at the table below. We’ll tell you about the strongest and weakest points of this photo editor, along with our final verdict.

And finally, we are now ready to provide our in-depth review of Fotor. We strongly recommend you to keep on reading, as we’ll be taking a very close look at this application.

Fotor Photo Editor for Windows – TechNadu’s Review

Before we start, we ought to tell you about the PC that was used to test Fotor. Our Windows PC is powered by Intel’s i7 8700K CPU, 16GB of RAM, and Nvidia’s GeForce 1070Ti. However, this is certainly an overkill for Fotor and you’ll be able to run it even on quite dated systems – without any performance issues. And also, we’ve tested the version 3.4.1 - the latest one available.

Platform Compatibility

You can use Fotor on pretty much any popular platform, including Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS. And there’s a Web-version for the rest. Our Score: 10/10.

Even though we’ve tested the Windows version of Fotor, we’ve also taken a look at its Web version. It’s safe to say that no matter which one you pick, you’ll find similar tools and features in both of these - where the Web version even comes with some extras. Finding the official system requirements has proven to be very hard, but we gave it a quick run on some older Windows PCs where Fotor performed without any problems. Therefore, it’s safe to say that if you have a PC bought in the last decade, you’ll be able to run it just fine.

Even though we didn’t test the MacOS version nor the mobile versions (made for iOS and Android), it’s good to know that any possible group of users is covered well.

Installation Process

You can get started with Fotor for Windows in a matter of minutes. However, we’re not a fan of Opera’s offer (advertisement) during the installation process. Our Score: 9.5/10.

To get started with Fotor, you can visit the official ‘Fotor for Windows’ page. From there, you can download the installation file (around 250MB in size) and double-click to install the software.

The process is pretty much typical with just one unexpected interruption. Before you install the application, you’ll see a promotional offer made by Opera. We can’t really be mad about this since Fotor can be used free of charge, so this is a way for this company to generate some revenue. And after all, we’re not talking about malware – and everything’s pretty transparent and clear.

User Interface

This photo editor strikes the right balance between simplicity and complexity, which has become a rare thing to find in this software category. Our Score: 10/10.

This is an incredibly easy-to-use photo editor. However, it’s important to note that it brings a highly capable and comprehensive set of features. To gradually introduce you to all of the available tools, the application starts with a Welcome screen offering you four options.

• Photo Editor: The first category allows you to edit a photo, where you will get a nice set of granular tools for cropping, applying basic adjustments, adding borders, and applying textures. You can also add text and use one of the numerously available filters. We are going to take a look at this set of tools in the following segment of our review.
• Collage: As its name says, Fotor allows you to create photo collage designs. You start out by selecting a layout based on how many images you want to stitch together. Pick a ratio, select one of the dozens of available templates, adjust corners, shadows, and width – and the fun can start. You can add images from your computer, reposition them with ease, and export your collage photos once done.

• Touch Up: This is a recently added feature that’s focused on your selfie photos. It uses a set of granular controls such as smoothing, wrinkle remover, blemish fix, and more. There’s also a set of tools related to make-up where you can color or enhance certain parts of your images.
• Batch: The final option allows you to easily edit a group of images using a single set of predefined parameters. Let’s say that you want to resize a group of images and apply borders to each of those. Once you import the images and set the options you need, Fotor will edit them in batch. This can save you a lot of time and effort making this a nice feature to have.

What we liked about Fotor is that it brings a uniform UI design that spans across all four of its aspects (explained above). The main portion of the window is centered around your photo, while the available tools are on the right. There are no advanced photography terms, so each tool is nicely represented and explained. Of course, there’s a helpful group of online resources if you want to invest some time and learn some advanced tips and tricks (more about that later in the article).

Ease of Use

Even if this is the first time encountering a photo editor, Fotor will guide you through the photo editing process with ease. Our Score: 10/10.

The best way to explain how Fotor works is by taking a look at how photo editing is done. So, we’ll take a comprehensive look at its ‘Photo Editor’ feature. Everything we do here applies to other portions of the software. The only difference here is that ‘Collage’, ‘Touch Up’, and ‘Batch’ bring different kinds of editing tools, where the main principle is the same.

Once we launch the application, we can click on ‘Photo Editor’ to be taken to the photo editing interface. You can add your image via drag-and-drop, you can click on the workspace area, or import your image via File > Open. The result will be the same – you’ll see your photo on the left, with a set of photo editing tools on the right. Now, let’s take a look at different groups of options.

• Scenes: There are about a dozen options here that you apply by clicking on any of them. This can be a good way to adjust your photo with a single click and prepare it for further editing. In other words, scenes are preloaded sets of options designed for specific conditions. Some of the available ones are Darken, Sunset, Flash, Night, and more.

• Crop: The name says it all. You can crop your photo to certain dimensions or use a preloaded value. However, Fotor takes additional steps here by allowing you to straighten or distort (horizontally and vertically) your photos. This allows you to resize your photo and remove any parts you don’t want to be seen.
• Adjust: Now, here a real treat for those who want to dive into photo editing. There are eleven tools here that allow you to fine-tune options like colors, highlights, shadows, blur, and more. However, they are represented by easy-to-understand terms. For example, there’s Defogging, Noise Reduction, Film Grain, and more.

• Effects: In case you’d like fully automatic editing, using a preloaded effect should do the job. It looks like there are dozens of effects available that you apply by clicking on the one you want. Each effect can be applied granularly, which means that you can adjust its intensity from 0 to 100.
• Borders: Suitable for graphic design, you can add borders to your photo. They come from several themed categories and range from really simple borders up to cutouts that hide large portions of your photos. Sadly, you can’t adjust their intensity.

• Textures: This option comes in handy when you want to create vintage-looking photos. Each texture comes with adjustable intensity and angle.
• Focus: In case you want to pull attention to a certain part of your image, adding focus to that point is a good way to go. There are seven preloaded values, each more dramatic than the previous one. Fotor also allows you to easily create tilt-shift effects.

• Text: The final option is to add text to your image. You can choose from different fonts, colors, shadows, spacing, and opacity. A pretty comprehensive set of features for a photo editor.
• New & Export: By clicking on ‘New’, you can start editing another image but remember to save your work on time. And finally, you can export your image in different photo formats, resize it before exporting, or upload your image to your Facebook, Flickr, or Twitter profile.

Speed & Performance

We’ve spent quite a lot of time playing around with Fotor’s features. During all that time, we did not have a single problem with this photo editor. Our Score: 10/10.

As said in the introduction, Fotor works across pretty old devices just fine. And it also looks like the application is highly optimized. After applying a bunch of effects and playing around with in-depth editing tools, Fotor remains very responsive. The photo editor didn’t even take more than a few seconds to apply all the changes we’ve done to the photo and export it in a high-resolution format.

Customer Support

There are different ways to get help and you do this by visiting Fotor’s official website. Also, this is where you can find some inspiration. Our Score: 9/10.

If you get stuck with anything, you will have to turn to Fotor’s Help Section on the official website. This is where you can find categorized topics based on the version of Fotor you’re using. However, there’s not much information here so you’ll want to turn to tutorials. Strangely enough, you can find user guides but not within the Help page. For example, here’s the user guide for Windows, accessible from the page explaining the main options of this version of Fotor.

Finally, this company has a nice blog section where you can turn for some additional tips and tricks. You’ll often find blog posts about current events or holidays, allowing you to easily check what can be done using the photo editors.

Pricing

Considering the number of features that Fotor brings, we think this is perhaps the most interesting offer out of any photo editor on the market. Our Score: 10/10.

First of all, you can get started with free photo editing by using Fotor. The free version isn’t awfully limited and you can do some basic editing and graphic design. However, you’ll need to pay $8.99 per month to fully unlock the application. Even better, you can pay $39.99 per year, which comes down to $3.33 per month.

If you rely on photo editing or graphic design (for your social media profiles, for example), Fotor presents a compelling offer. For the price, you won’t only get access to a specific version of Fotor – you’ll get access to all of its versions. This includes Fotor’s Web version, which we highly recommend to check out – especially if you want to create custom graphics.

To learn more about the offered pricing plans and about the differences between the free and paid versions, here’s the official information on the pricing of Fotor.

The Final Verdict

When you think about it for a second, Fotor is a strange combination. It’s incredibly simple to use, yet it brings professional-level tools. On one hand, this is a photo editor. On the other hand, this is a powerful tool that can be used for graphic design. When we combine all of this together, we receive a highly interesting product that sets the bar high for any photo editor.

• PROS: Incredibly simple to use; Photo editing and graphic design; Present on all popular platforms; Frequently updated Web version; Flawless performance; Good value for the price.
• CONS: The help-related resources could be improved.
• OUR SCORE: 9.8 out of 10.

Final Thoughts

Dear readers, that would be all when it comes to TechNadu’s review of Fotor. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, don’t hesitate to post a comment below.

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Review Summary Fotor is equally powerful when it comes to photo editing and graphic design. It’s quite easy to use – but it can easily compete with pro-level applications. This could easily be the best photo editor out there, as it certainly brings a lot of value for its price.		9.8 Overall Score
Platform Compatibility			10
Installation Process			9.5
User Interface			10
Ease of Use			10
Speed & Performance			10
Customer Support			9
Pricing			10