Edit Boldly. Create Freely. Picstea is a layer-based image editor that runs entirely in your browser.
About Picstea: features, privacy, file formats and FAQ
What is Picstea?
Picstea is a free online image editor that works like Photoshop and Photopea: layers, masks, adjustment layers, selections, layer styles and filters, in a familiar menu bar, toolbar and panels. It runs entirely in your web browser on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, with nothing to install and no sign-up.
What you can do with it
- Layers: pixel, shape, text, fill and adjustment layers, groups, 16 blend modes, opacity, layer masks, vector masks and clipping masks.
- Adjustments: Levels, Curves, Brightness/Contrast, Hue/Saturation, Exposure, Vibrance, Color Balance, Photo Filter, Channel Mixer, Gradient Map, Black & White and more, as adjustment layers you can change later.
- Layer styles: drop shadow, inner shadow, glows, bevel and emboss, satin, colour, gradient and pattern overlays and stroke, with Blend If and saved styles.
- Selections: marquee, lasso, polygonal lasso, magic wand and Color Range, with feather, expand, contract and transform.
- Painting and retouching: brush, pencil, erasers, gradient, paint bucket, clone stamp, healing and spot healing brush, dodge, burn, sponge, blur, sharpen and smudge.
- Filters: the full Filter menu with live preview, including blurs, distort, noise, sharpen, Camera Raw, Liquify and Vanishing Point, also as non-destructive smart filters on smart objects.
- Text and vectors: editable text, the pen tool and shapes.
- Automation: record actions and batch-process many images into a ZIP file.
Why your images stay on your device
Picstea is local-first. Your images are opened, edited, saved and exported in your browser; there is no upload step and no server that receives them. The editor page runs no third-party code, and its security policy blocks sending document data anywhere. Projects save automatically in your browser, and after the first visit Picstea can be installed as an app and used offline.
File formats
Picstea opens PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, SVG, HEIC (iPhone photos), Photoshop PSD (8-bit RGB and greyscale) and its own .picstea projects. It exports PNG, JPEG, WebP, SVG, PDF and layered PSD. It cannot open PSB, 16/32-bit or CMYK PSD files, TIFF, PDF or camera RAW files yet.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Picstea free?
- Yes. It runs in your browser with no account, no watermark and no trial.
- Are my images uploaded?
- No. Images are opened, edited and exported on your device. Picstea has no server that receives them.
- Where is my work saved?
- In this browser's storage on your device, automatically. Use File → Save Project As to keep a .picstea copy, or export a PSD.
- Can I open Photoshop files?
- Yes. 8-bit RGB and greyscale PSD files open with layers, groups, masks, editable text, adjustment layers and common layer styles.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes. After the first visit you can install Picstea as an app and keep editing without a connection.
- Does it work on a phone?
- The layout adapts to small screens, but Picstea works best with a mouse or trackpad and a keyboard.
- Is it a replacement for Photoshop or Photopea?
- For most layer-based photo editing and design work, yes. Photoshop still leads on AI tools, CMYK print work and 16-bit editing.
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