Most of the people associate image editing with downloadable image editors, like Paint.net. However, lately many online image editing applications have come up that let you edit images online, without a need to download any software on your computer.

I have tried many such online image editing applications, and am quite surprised to see all the advanced features that they offer. After you start using an online image editor, you might not feel a need to go back to other image editing applications.

Here are 5 of the best free online image editors that I have come across:

1) SumoPaint

SumoPaint online image editor really surprised me. I was really astonished to see the number of features this this free online image editor provides. And on top of that, how easy it makes it to use them.

When you open SumoPaint, you will immediately see a vertical toolbar with all the commonly used tools. There is a color picker on the right side. Apart from that, there is a menu bar at the top that groups functions.

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Doesn’t this portrays the picture of a downloadable image editor? That’s the strength of SumoPaint. The interface is so intuitive that you will immediately know how to use it.

Some of the advanced features it provides includes support for layers, option to edit images that you already have, and options to save your images to your computer, or to your Sumo Account.

All you need to use this free online image editor is a browser, and it actually works on most of the browsers. I tested it on Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE, and it works like a charm.

2) Splashup

Splashup is another free online image editing application, that is lot similar to SumoPaint. It also comes with an easy to use interface, and advanced features like Layers, and pixel level control.

Apart from that, Splashup also lets you open your images from other online applications like Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Smugmug, PhotoBucket, and any URL. Apart from that, you can also save your images to these websites.

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I found Splashup a bit more difficult to use as compared to SumoPaint, as it automatically creates layers for everything, which was a bit difficult for me to get used to. However, if you have experience with layers, this will be very useful for you.

3) GfxEditor

GfxEditor is one of the most advanced image editing applications. It comes with all the features that you need for editing your images. Apart from editing images, you can also use GfxEditor as a full fledged Desktop Publishing application.

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Another great feature of GfxEditor is that you can get merchandise created with your images. This is a very good gifting idea.

However, GfxEditor consumes lot of your computer memory, and in fact has an indicator to show when it might be using too much memory. On top of that, the interface might look overwhelmed for casual users. For advanced users, they would find interface quite useful.

4) Pixlr

Pixlr is another easy to use free online image editor. The interface is as intuitive as applications like SumoPaint, and Splashup. I really like some of the features in Pixlr. For example, when you start typing text, a specific toolbar for text comes up that lets you change font, font size, and text color. This is one of the many very thought of features.

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It comes with Layers, filters, and various adjustment options to edit images. You can open an existing image from your computer, or from a URL, and save the image back to your computer, or to Pixlr itself.

5) FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer is more of an online photo editor, than image editor. It lets you quickly edit your photos online. You can upload photos from your computer, pull them from websites like Myspace, Photobucket, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Smugmug, and more.

A great feature of FotoFlexer is that you can even capture a photo directly using webcam. Just attach your webcam to your computer, and capture photo directly from within FotoFlexer.

Some of the photo editing features provided by FotoFlexer include: Red eye removal, add various effects, remove distortion, add animation to photos, beautify photos, and much more.

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All these online image editing applications are completely free. Just try them, and you will be surprised.