Photoshop Online – Free Photopea Editor in Your Browser

What Photoshop Online is, and how it differs from Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop Online is an image editor that opens from a link in your browser and runs on the Photopea engine. The interface deliberately mirrors Adobe Photoshop: the same layers panel, the same selection tools, the same keyboard shortcuts. The difference is that there is nothing to install and nothing to pay for — it runs on any machine, including work or school computers where you have no administrator rights. Images are processed by your own device rather than a server, so speed depends on your CPU and available memory.

How to remove the background from a photo

Open the image with File → Open. For a plain background the Magic Wand (W) is enough: click the background, add areas with Shift held down, then press Delete. For hair, fur or semi-transparent fabric, use Quick Selection followed by Select → Refine Edge. Export the result as PNG — it is the only common format that keeps transparency; JPG will fill the background with white.

• Magic Wand (W) — for a plain background
• Quick Selection — for complex shapes
• Refine Edge — for hair and fur
• Export as PNG — to keep transparency

How to open and edit a PSD file

Drag the PSD straight into the editor window, or use File → Open. The layered structure survives intact: groups, masks, layer styles, smart objects and text layers all stay editable. That is the key difference from most free online editors, which simply flatten a PSD into a single image. Save back with File → Save as PSD and the file opens in Adobe Photoshop unchanged.

Working with layers and masks

The layers panel sits on the right. Ctrl+Shift+N creates a new layer, Ctrl+J duplicates one. Add a mask with the button at the bottom of the panel: painting black on the mask hides an area, white brings it back. This is safer than the eraser because the original pixels are untouched and the decision is always reversible. Blend modes — Multiply, Screen, Overlay — are in the dropdown above the layer list.

How to resize and crop an image

Change dimensions with Image → Image Size, crop with the Crop tool (C). Keep the aspect-ratio lock on when scaling down, or the picture will distort. For social media it helps to set sizes by hand: 1080×1080 for a square post, 1080×1920 for stories, 1280×720 for a YouTube thumbnail. Enlarging a small image past its original size will not bring sharpness back.

How to add text to a photo

The Text tool (T) creates its own editable layer. Pick a font in the top bar, where Google Fonts are loaded too; your own TTF or OTF can be added via File → Open and appears in the list straight away. Stroke, shadow and gradient live in the layer styles panel — double-click the layer. If text is hard to read on a busy background, put a semi-transparent rectangle behind it or add a soft shadow.

Photoshop Online on phones and tablets

The editor opens in mobile browsers on Android and iOS with no app to install. The interface is built for a mouse, so a small screen suits simpler jobs: cropping, colour correction, adding text, exporting. For precise selections and retouching, go back to a computer or use a stylus on a tablet. On a phone, keep a single tab open — browsers unload background tabs, and unsaved work can disappear with them.

What happens to your files

Images are never uploaded to a server: the editor processes them in the browser using your own device. That cuts both ways — your files never leave your computer, but they are not saved automatically either. Close the tab without exporting and the work is gone. Save intermediate versions as PSD, especially on long sessions.

Shortcuts worth learning

The shortcuts match Adobe Photoshop, so there is nothing to relearn.

• Ctrl+Z — undo
• Ctrl+J — duplicate layer
• Ctrl+T — free transform
• Ctrl+Shift+S — save as
• Space — temporarily grab the Hand tool to pan
• Alt+scroll — zoom

What Photoshop Online cannot do

The honest limits: no Adobe Firefly generative fill, no Creative Cloud library sync, no real-time collaborative editing, and very large layered files — roughly 200–300 MB and up — run into the browser's memory ceiling. For ordinary work such as photo editing, banners, covers, résumés and layouts for social media or print, you will not meet those limits. For high-volume RAW work, a desktop application is still the better tool.