Charcoal AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Photo Editors

The best Photo Editor alternative to Charcoal is Krita, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Charcoal and eight of them are Photo Editors so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Photo Editor alternatives to Charcoal are Paint.NET, MediBang Paint, Pixelitor and Seashore.

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Charcoal alternatives are mainly Digital Painting Tools but may also be Image Editors or Photo Editors.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Charcoal.
Charcoal iconCharcoal
  6
  • ...
  • Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start drawing. There are no layers, properties panels or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes.
More about Charcoal
More about Charcoal
Charcoal alternatives page was last updated Jan 27, 2021
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  1. Krita icon
    Krita icon

    Krita

     1321 likes
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    Krita is a professional Free and open source (FOSS) painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone within concept art, texture and matte painters, illustrations and comics.

    142 Krita alternatives
    Main Window

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android Tablet
    • Epic Games Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • Steam
    Startup page with news
    Brush editor
    +3
    Gamut Mask editor

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Digital Drawing
    2.  Blending brushes
    3.  Keyframe Animation
    4.  Drawing 2D
    5.  Advanced brush settings
    6.  Drawing Tablet Support
    7.  Digital-painting focused
    8.  Sketching
    9.  Color blending
    10.  Support for Layers
    11.  Texture painting
    12.  Dark Mode
    Krita iconCharcoal Icon

    Krita VS Charcoal

    Is Krita a good alternative to Charcoal?
     

    • Krita is the most popular Windows, Mac, Linux & Android Tablet alternative to Charcoal.

    • Krita is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Charcoal.

    • Krita is Free and Open SourceCharcoal is Free and Proprietary
    • Krita is LightweightCharcoal is not according to our users
  2. Paint.NET icon
    Paint.NET icon

    Paint.NET

     1626 likes
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    Paint.net is a free and very capable image editing software for Windows. Great alternative to Photoshop for people that do not need all the stuff PS offers.

    164 Paint.NET alternatives
    Paint.NET screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • .NET Framework

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Minimalistic
    3.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Support for Layers
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Support for image plugins
    5.  Community-based
    6.  Transparency
    7.  History Panel
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Portable
    10.  Built-in Color Picker
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  No registration required
    Paint.NET iconCharcoal Icon

    Paint.NET VS Charcoal

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  4. MediBang Paint icon
    MediBang Paint icon

    MediBang Paint

     114 likes
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    MediBang Paint is a lightweight software for illustration and making comic books on Windows and Mac OS.

    73 MediBang Paint alternatives
    Great for anime or comics

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    Good simple!! And like Adobe
    MediBang Paint screenshot 2
    +4
    MediBang Paint screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Multi-choice brushes
    2.  Pressure Sensitivity
    3.  Digital-painting focused
    4.  Color blending
    5.  Pen Stabilization
    6.  Keyframe Animation
    7.  Support for Layers
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  Drawing Tablet Support
    10.  Custom Brushes
    11.  Category Filters
    12.  Texture for brushes
    MediBang Paint iconCharcoal Icon

    MediBang Paint VS Charcoal

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  5. Pixelitor icon
    Pixelitor icon

    Pixelitor

     26 likes
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    Pixelitor is an open source image editor with an intuitive interface and with a special emphasis on non-destructive editing.

    118 Pixelitor alternatives
    Pixelitor screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Pixelitor screenshot 1
    Pixelitor screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Support for Layers
    4.  Image Filters
    5.  Photo effects
    6.  Image Processing
    7.  Retouch photos
    8.  Photographic filters
    9.  Java based
    10.  Sketching
    Pixelitor iconCharcoal Icon

    Pixelitor VS Charcoal

    Is Pixelitor a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  6. Seashore icon
    Seashore icon

    Seashore

     69 likes
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    Seashore is an open source image editor for Mac OS. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMPs technology and uses the same native file format.

    121 Seashore alternatives
    Seashore screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Seashore Features

    1.  Real time collaboration
    2.  Crop images
    Seashore screenshot 1
    Seashore iconCharcoal Icon

    Seashore VS Charcoal

    Is Seashore a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  7. Wizardbrush icon
    Wizardbrush icon

    Wizardbrush

     3 likes
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    Wizardbrush is a natural media painting software which has a lot of brushes and paper with realism style. You can create realistic picture with it. You can not only use it to paint pictures, but also handle your digital photos, even use it to teach digital painting and image...

    134 Wizardbrush alternatives
    Wizardbrush screenshot 1

    License model

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Wizardbrush screenshot 1
    Wizardbrush screenshot 2
    +1
    Wizardbrush screenshot 3
    Discontinued

    Last version, 6.7.7.6, was released on November 2011.

    Wizardbrush iconCharcoal Icon

    Wizardbrush VS Charcoal

    Is Wizardbrush a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  9. Photopainter icon
    Photopainter icon

    Photopainter

     3 likes
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    Photopainter is both a natural-media painting software and an image processing system at the same time.

    143 Photopainter alternatives
    Photopainter screenshot 1

    License model

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Photopainter screenshot 1
    Photopainter screenshot 2
    Discontinued

    The program is no longer updated. Last version, 1.5.2.5, released in December 2007, can be still downloaded from the official website.

    Photopainter iconCharcoal Icon

    Photopainter VS Charcoal

    Is Photopainter a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  10. Pixelstyle Photo Editor icon
    Pixelstyle Photo Editor icon

    Pixelstyle Photo Editor

     1 like
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    PixelStyle Photo Editor for Mac supports easy photo-editing & graphic-designing.

    150 Pixelstyle Photo Editor alternatives
    PixelStyle Photo Editor for Mac

    License model

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    PixelStyle Photo Editor for Mac
    PixelStyle Photo Editor for Mac
    +7
    PixelStyle Photo Editor for Mac
    Pixelstyle Photo Editor iconCharcoal Icon

    Pixelstyle Photo Editor VS Charcoal

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8 of 8 Charcoal alternatives