Pixlr is a popular photo editing tool. It offers a range of features for both beginners and professionals. This review covers Pixlr’s features, pros and cons, and pricing plans. It helps you decide if Pixlr is the right tool for you.

What Is Pixlr?

Pixlr is a suite of web-based photo editing and graphic design tools. You can use it for free without signing in. It is also available as a desktop or mobile app. Pixlr includes five apps:

• Pixlr Editor (E): An advanced photo editor for pro designers.
• Pixlr Express (X): An AI-powered photo editor for quick edits.
• Pixlr Designer (D): A graphic design tool with templates.
• Pixlr Remove BG (Bg): A tool to remove backgrounds from images.
• Pixlr Batch Editor (B): A bulk photo editing tool.

Pixlr Editor

Pixlr Editor is for pro designers. It offers maximum control over projects. Its interface is similar to Photoshop. You can generate an AI image, start a design from scratch, or open an image from your computer.

The editor has tools like text, draw, eraser, clone, and mask. These tools are in the left panel. The top bar has additional features. The right panel manages layers and history.

Export your photo as JPG, PNG, WebP, PDF, or PXZ (Pixlr document) file.

Pixlr Express

Pixlr Express is for quick edits. It is like a lightweight version of Pixlr Editor. It has necessary editing tools in the left panel. These tools include arrange, crop, cut out, filter, effect, adjust light and color, retouch, and liquify.

The AI tab has advanced tools like backdrop, super scale, super sharp, sticker maker, generative fill, remove noise, remove object, generative expand, face swap/AI avatar, remove background, and generative transform.

Pixlr Designer

Pixlr Designer is for creating social media graphics, posters, or flyers. It has over 10,000 templates. You can customize templates with text, uploaded photos, and graphics.

The Animate tool lets you animate the entire page or specific layers. This gives you additional export options like MP4, GIF, and ZIP.

The photo collage maker merges multiple photos into a grid. The product shot tool edits product photos for ecommerce shops or social media pages.

Pixlr Remove BG

Pixlr Remove BG removes backgrounds from images. It is easy to use. Upload one or multiple images, and their backgrounds will be removed instantly. You can keep the background transparent or set it to black or white.

The Fine tune option lets you make manual tweaks. When you’re satisfied, export the images as PNG files.

Pixlr Batch Editor

Pixlr Batch Editor lets you bulk edit multiple images at once. Select the images you want to edit, then apply functions like cropping, resizing, adding borders, and adjusting brightness.

Each edit is treated as a “task.” You can save these tasks as a macro on your computer. This is useful for photographers and ecommerce businesses.

Export your images in JPG, PNG, or WebP format.

How Much Does Pixlr Cost?

Pixlr has a free plan. It gives you access to all the Pixlr apps and their features. However, you’re limited to 3 daily saves and 50 AI credits, and you’ll also have to endure the in-app ads.

Pixlr has three subscription tiers:

• Plus ($1.99/month): Unlocks unlimited saves, removes ads, and gives you 80 monthly AI credits.
• Premium ($7.99/month): Everything in Plus along with access to 1,000 monthly AI credits, a private mode for AI image generations, and a wider range of fonts, templates, and graphics.
• Team ($12.99/month): Get features in the Premium plan for 5 team members.

If you need more team seats or a custom API solution, reach out to the Pixlr team for custom pricing.

Is Pixlr Worth It? Pros and Cons

Pixlr Pros

• Generous free plan
• Robust AI image generation/editing
• Extensive export options
• Accessible via web, desktop, and mobile
• Responsive support team and community

Pixlr Cons

• Ads on the free plan
• Takes a while to get familiar with tools
• Doesn’t support real-time collaboration

Is Pixlr Right For You?

Pixlr is best for anyone who needs an affordable, web-based photo editing and graphic design tool. It’s perfect for beginners who need a simple tool to make quick edits or create social media graphics. It also offers advanced features for professionals who want more control over their designs.

That said, if you’re a social media manager, a solopreneur looking for extensive templates to speed up your design process, or a team that needs real-time collaboration, Pixlr isn’t for you—Canva or Adobe Express could be a better choice.

And if Pixlr’s tools aren’t advanced enough, Adobe Photoshop is the way to go.

Creating Designs? Monetize Them With Whop!

If you’re a creative looking to monetize your custom Pixlr images, graphics, or templates, check out Whop. Whop is a user-friendly platform that helps creatives sell their digital products and services online.

You can use Whop to sell Instagram templates, design guides, or branding kits as digital downloads. Alternatively, it’s great for selling custom graphic design and editing services, with clients booking directly through your Whop page.

Besides selling designs, you can expand to offering courses, live events, community access, and more on the Whop platform—the possibilities are limitless.

And guess what? You get access to all these features for free! You only pay 3% on each sale.

Ready to start? Start selling with Whop for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pixlr free?

Yes, Pixlr’s free plan gives you access to all its features. However, it comes with in-app ads and limits you to 3 daily saves.

Can Pixlr open PSD files?

No. Pixlr isn’t compatible with Photoshop, so you can’t import or export PSD files. Some basic PSDs might load, but the design may not be fully preserved.

Is Pixlr like Photoshop?

Pixlr Editor has very similar features to Photoshop and works on web, desktop, and mobile devices. But it might still lack certain advanced functionalities of Photoshop.

Is Pixlr like Canva?

Pixlr Designer works similarly to Canva. It has templates and lets you add text and media elements to customize them. However, Pixlr Designer has limited template and element libraries and lacks real-time collaboration tools.

Can Pixlr edit videos?

No. Pixlr Designer, Pixlr’s graphic design tool, only lets you design graphics and animate them.

Pixlr Review: A Breakdown of the Pixlr Apps

Let’s take a peek behind the curtain of each of the five apps in the Pixlr suite—their interface, features, and export options.

Pixlr Editor

Get started with the Pixlr Editor by:

• Generating an AI image
• Starting a design from scratch
• Opening an image from your computer
• Choosing an existing file you have on Pixlr

Your file opens in the Pixlr Editor. If you’re already familiar with Photoshop, you’ll feel right at home.

Most of the editing tools you need—including the text, draw, eraser, clone, and mask tools—are arranged in the left panel. Hovering over these tools reveals their keyboard shortcuts, which you can learn over time to speed up your editing workflow.

The top bar houses additional features, which are neatly grouped under the tabs. On the right panel, you can manage your layers and access your history to switch to specific edits.

When you’re done editing, export your photo as a JPG, PNG, WebP, PDF, or PXZ (Pixlr document) file.

Pixlr Express

Similar to the Pixlr Editor, the Pixlr Express app lets you get started from scratch, with an AI image or an existing file on your computer or the Pixlr app.

When you choose to start with an AI image, you’ll be sent to the AI image generator page. Generate an AI image by entering a prompt and specifying its aspect ratio, style, color, lighting, and composition. You should enable the negative prompt to tell the AI tool what to not include in the image.

The “Make private” option lets you hide your design from the public, but it’s not available on the free plan. So, any image you generate will be added to the public library.

Pixlr’s public AI image library shows all the images generated by other users on the platform. You can browse, like, or download them to your computer for future edits.

Besides just saving other creators’ designs, Pixlr lets you remix their images to generate similar ones, or you can tweak their prompt to generate your own unique image.

Once you have the AI image you want to use, click Edit image to open it in the Pixlr Express editor.

Right away, you’ll notice that the Pixlr Express editor is like a lightweight version of the Pixlr Editor app. There’s no top toolbar, you only have the left panel containing the necessary editing tools—arrange, crop, cut out, filter, effect, adjust light and color, retouch, and liquify. You can also add text, draw on the photo, and add graphics from the element library.

Most importantly, there’s the AI tab with these tools:

• Backdrop
• Super scale
• Super sharp
• Sticker maker
• Generative fill
• Remove noise
• Remove object
• Generative expand
• Face swap/AI avatar
• Remove background
• Generative transform

These are super helpful for making advanced photo edits in just a few clicks.

Pixlr Designer

After editing your photos inside Pixlr Editor or Pixlr Express, bring them together inside Pixlr Designer to create a social media graphic, poster, or flyer.

The Pixlr Designer also has two distinct tools:

• Photo collage maker for merging multiple photos into a grid.
• Product shot for editing product photos for your ecommerce shop or social media page.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these tools, starting with creating social media graphics.

With Pixlr Designer, you can create your social media graphics in four main ways:

• Start from scratch and specify your design’s width and height.
• Open an existing file on your computer.
• Scroll down to the Temporary projects section to work on an existing Pixlr project.
• Go to the Templates library to start with a template.

There are over 10,000 templates in Pixlr’s template library. This isn’t much compared to a platform like Canva, which has millions of templates; however, the designs are still high-quality.

Browse the categories in the left panel to find a suitable template for your project or use the search bar to get something more specific.

Whichever design you choose, it opens inside the Pixlr Designer editor. This is where you get to customize your template with text, uploaded photos, and graphics from the media library.

The Animate tool lets you animate the entire page. You can also animate specific layers by setting their animation behavior as they enter the template, while they’re in position, and as they exit.

Applying animations to your designs gives you three additional export options—MP4