I've always thought that free tools like Paint.NET are incredible pieces of software because they drastically simplify the image editing process for most users while still offering a lot of the advanced options for the power users out there. The downside to Paint.NET is that it's only available on Windows, but a free app called Pinta tries to bring a similar set of features to all platforms.

HDR is the process of combining multiple photos with the hope that the resulting image is clear in both the light and dark areas. Getting good free HDR software that is capable of merging the photos together can be a little tricky since there are a lot of things it has to take into account, such as perfectly aligning each image.

For the every-day photos that you snap just for fun, there’s no reason to spend hefty sums of money and quality time learning Photoshop. Instead, head over to BeFunky.com where you can quickly, and easily, edit your photos for free. Not only can you edit your photos, you can also add effects and design elements with very little effort.

Personally I've never needed to compress a large number of images before, but if I did I'd definitely be using Caesium. The interface is easy to understand, and the dual-pane previews along the right side make it easy to see the before/after comparison so that you can get the right compression ratio.

I resize images quite a bit on a variety of different computers, including ones running both Windows and Mac OS X. On Windows I typically use an Explorer add-on like this one, but I had never taken the time to find something to use on my Mac. During some browsing around the web I recently stumbled upon a free utility, called ThumbsUp, that handles the job quite nicely though.

I use screenshot tools all the time no matter what computer I'm on. One interesting Windows screenshot tool that I came across recently is called Greenshot. It's not the most feature-packed utility that you can find, but I'd say it ranks pretty highly seeing that it does come with its own image editor.

The free and portable Radical Image Optimization Tool (RIOT) has been an app I've recommended for a few years now (I think I've been using it since about 2008). As the name suggests it focuses on doing one thing, and doing it well: optimizing images. It can compress, resize, adjust, and convert your images in a way that leaves you in control of the end result.

There are plenty of image editors out there these days, but there aren't too many that offer some of the advanced functionality that you find in Photoshop. Some of those apps, such as GIMP or Paint.NET, are great alternatives that a lot of users have come to rely on, and I'd have to put StylePix in that same category.