Opening up Photoshop or GIMP just to crop an image is silly.

Those powerful tools are great, but sometimes you just need a simple program.

Here’s how to do some of the most common edits with simple, free, online tools.

When we asked our readers about theirfavorite Photoshop alternative, GIMP was the overwhelming winner.

Fotor offers some of the most robust cropping tools you’ll find in a free app.

It even comes with some built-in presets for dimensions like Facebook cover photos.

To crop your photos, run with this:

OpenFotor.

Click “Edit A Photo.”

Choose the photo you want to crop.

Select “Crop” from the left-hand menu.

Choose a constraint from the drop-down menu.

you’re able to also set specific dimensions in the boxes below.

Choose “Keep Proportions” to ensure the box stays the same shape as you adjust the crop box.

nudge the floppy disk icon to save the image to disk.

In my testing, Fotor had the best tools for any situation with the least amount of friction.

It also has basic rotate and flip functionality, which is handy if you need it.

To edit your photo with Pixlr, open up the apphere.

You’ll be prompted to initiate the file you want to edit from your system or a URL.

after you snag it open, it’s possible for you to find several options under the Adjustments menu.

Levels can actually help you accomplish the task of both in one filter.

When you select Levels, you’ll see a histogram of the colors in your image.

Three handles along the bottom represent the black, white, and gray levels.

Check outthis albumfor an example of how this adjustment works.

Curves:Curves is one of the best color correction tools at your disposal.

There are about a dozen other adjustments you’re free to play around with.

The interface may be intimidating, but they’re quite simple once you start playing with them.

Open an image in Pixlr.

Along the bottom of the Layers window on the right hand side, hit the New button.

This will create a new transparent layer.

Draw in the new area.

Alternatively, you’re able to copy selections from other images and paste them into your document.

New layers for pasted selections will be created automatically.

poke the slider icon in the bottom left of the Layers menu to enable opacity and transfer mode options.

you could adjust the transparency to make layers partially see-through, and transfer modes to get unique effects.

Of course, just having layers doesn’t necessarily mean you might do as much with them.

Then again, it’s also a lot cheaper.

Text and Titles: Fotor

The internet turned words on text into something ofan art form.

Actually getting text on image is a bit more difficult.

To add text to your images, follow these instructions:

Open an image inFotor.

choose the Text icon in the left-hand sidebar.

Select a font from the list that slides out.

smack the Add Text button to create a resizable text box.

drop your text into the box.

Fotor can pull fonts installed on your own machine or Fotor’s collection of installed fonts.

Photos bydavebloggs007, andWilliam Murphy.