A Photopea alternative with no adverts, that also runs in your browser
Photopea proved that a layered image editor can live in a browser tab and work on your own device. OBSCURA Photo Editor works the same way. The differences are elsewhere: it carries no adverts, it is part of a paid plan rather than paid for by advertising, and it sits beside a set of other private tools. Here is an honest account of both, including when to stay with Photopea.
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OBSCURA Photo Editor is a layered image editor that runs in the browser tab: layers, masks, adjustment layers, selections, retouching, editable text and shapes, layer styles, smart objects, actions, Photoshop PSD files in and out, camera raw, and CMYK proofing against a printer's profile. The picture is never uploaded, and there are no adverts on the page. It is part of OBSCURA Pro, not free: without Pro the page shows the editor and asks for a plan.
Start with what Photopea gets right
Photopea is a capable editor that opens Photoshop files, runs in any modern browser, and does its work on your own computer rather than on a server, so the picture is not uploaded. It is free to use, paid for by adverts, and there is a paid subscription that removes them. For a great many people that is a very good arrangement.
So this is not a page about privacy being better here than there: for the picture itself, both editors work on your own device. If Photopea already does your job and the adverts do not bother you, there is no strong reason to move, and it would be dishonest to invent one.
Where the two differ
- No adverts. The editor takes the whole window and nothing on the page is selling anything. The site loads no advertising and nothing from an advertising network.
- Paid for directly. The editor is part of Pro, which is what pays for it. That is a cost, stated below, where Photopea's free version costs nothing.
- Offline once loaded. A Pro key's copy of the editor is kept on the device, so it opens and works with the network switched off; it asks the network first, so a cancelled plan stops working the next time it is online.
- One plan, many tools. The same subscription covers the rest of the site's paid tools: stripping metadata before a photo is posted, blurring faces and plates, checking whether a photo has been edited, compressing a batch of images.
- Camera raw and CMYK. Raw files (DNG, CR3, NEF, ARW and twenty-odd other formats) are developed in the tab, and a picture can be proofed on screen against a printer's own ICC profile, with a gamut warning, and exported as a CMYK TIFF with the profile embedded.
The jobs people open Photopea for
| The job | Here | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Open a layered PSD somebody sent | Yes | 8 or 16 bit, in RGB, greyscale, indexed, duotone or CMYK, with groups, masks, clipping and guides |
| Save a PSD for somebody who uses Photoshop | Yes | Layers, groups, masks and the common adjustment layers go over; text goes as pixels and layer styles are left out, and it says so |
| Cut out a subject and composite it | Yes | Quick selection, magnetic lasso, wand or colour range, refined, then a mask |
| Fix colour and exposure without touching pixels | Yes | Levels, curves, colour balance and the rest as adjustment layers |
| Remove a blemish, a wire, a small object | Yes | Spot healing, patch, clone, content-aware move, or select it and remove |
| Put editable text on a picture | Yes | Text layers with warps, shadows, glows and strokes |
| Draw shapes and paths that stay sharp | Yes | The pen, shape layers and a Paths panel |
| Develop a raw file from a camera | Yes | DNG, CR3, NEF, ARW and twenty-odd other formats |
| Check a picture before it goes to print | Yes | Proof colours and gamut warning against the printer's ICC profile; CMYK TIFF out |
| Repeat the same edit on a folder of files | Yes | Record an action, run it on the files |
| Make an animated GIF | Yes | One layer per frame; GIF or animated PNG |
| Export every artboard or layer as its own file | Yes | |
| Add a filter somebody else wrote | Yes | Small JavaScript plugins, each run sealed off from the page and the network |
| Open a PSB or a 32-bit file | Not here | Refused, with the reason |
| Keep text, styles and smart objects editable in a PSD | Not here | They stay editable in the editor's own project file |
| Run Photoshop's own .8bf plugins | Not here | They are compiled programs no browser can run |
| Generate or extend a picture from a prompt | Not here | Nothing here sends your picture to a model on a server |
A longer account of every tool and panel, and of what is missing, is in a Photoshop alternative that runs in your browser.
What a browser costs
Both editors live with the same limits, because they come from the browser rather than the editor. A tab has one main thread and a limited amount of memory, so a very large picture with many layers is slower than it would be in a desktop program that uses the graphics card for everything. For a photograph from a phone none of that is noticeable; for a poster at print resolution with forty layers it is.
What leaves the tab here: nothing about the picture. The raw developer and the HEIC decoder are fetched from this site the first time they are needed and kept on the device. A plugin runs in a worker that has had its ways of reaching the network removed, and the site's Content Security Policy refuses any request to another address whatever a plugin tries.
What it costs
The whole editor is part of Pro: layers, brushes, filters, adjustment layers, camera raw, and opening and saving PSD files. There is no free tier of the editor with features held back, and no advertising version. Without Pro, the page shows what the editor looks like and asks for a plan. OBSCURA Pro is US$79 a year, which is US$6.58 a month, or US$9 month to month, with 7 days free first; saving from one tool for a day is US$2, paid once. For a team, each person needs a plan of their own. The Photo Editor on its own is US$4 a month or US$35 a year, with the same 7 days free, which is the cheapest way to try it on a real job.
If you only need a single operation, the free-to-try tools may be enough: PHOTO crops, straightens and marks up a picture, and SHRINK resizes and converts a batch of images. Checking a file in them is free; saving the result is Pro.
See it before you pay. Open OBSCURA Photo Editor to see the editor, or choose a plan and open the sample picture it draws, then a picture of your own.
Questions people ask about A Photopea alternative with no adverts, that also runs in your browser
Is OBSCURA Photo Editor free like Photopea?
No. The whole editor is US$35 a year or US$4 a month on its own, or part of OBSCURA Pro, which is US$79 a year (US$6.58 a month) or US$9 month to month, each with 7 days free first. There are no adverts and no free version with features held back. Without Pro, the page shows the editor and asks for a plan.
Is it more private than Photopea?
For the picture itself, not in any way that matters: both editors work on your own device and neither needs to upload it. The difference is that this page carries no adverts and loads nothing from an advertising network, and that the editor is paid for by subscription rather than by advertising.
Can it open and save PSD files?
Yes. A PSD opens with its layers, groups, masks, clipping, blend modes, guides and the common adjustment layers, 8-bit or 16-bit, in RGB, greyscale, indexed, duotone or CMYK. It saves 8-bit RGB PSDs with the same things in them. Text layers go over as pixels and layer styles are not written, and the editor says so when it happens. PSB and 32-bit files are refused.
Does it work offline?
Yes, once it has loaded with a Pro key. The editor's code is kept on the device, so it opens and works with the network switched off. It checks with the network first when there is one, so a cancelled plan stops working the next time the browser is online.
What does it not do?
PSB and 32-bit files, editable text, layer styles and smart objects inside a PSD it writes, Photoshop's compiled .8bf plugins, and anything generated from a prompt. Very large pictures with many layers are slower than in a desktop program. The table on this page lists each one.
Related tools
- OBSCURA Photo EditorLayers, brushes, selections and adjustments
- PHOTOCrop, straighten and mark up an image
- SHRINKResize, convert and compress images
- CLOAKStrip metadata from a photo
- VEILBlur faces and plates out of a photo
- TAMPERLook for signs a photo was edited
- A Photoshop alternative in the browserEvery tool and panel, and what is missing
- How to open a HEIC fileThe iPhone's format, opened in the tab
- An ExifTool alternative with no command lineExifTool's common jobs, command by command, in the tab: read what a photo carries, strip it, clean a folder, a video or a Word file.
- A Tinkercad or Onshape alternative that keeps designs on your computerParametric CAD in your browser with the designs kept on your own computer: how the Engineering Suite compares with Tinkercad and Onshape, and when each is the better choice.
- An AutoCAD LT alternative for 2D drawings in the browser2D drafting in the browser with AutoCAD's commands, ISO fits, GD&T, hatching, blocks, DXF and PDF to scale: how Foundry compares with AutoCAD LT, and when LT is the better choice.
- An Adobe Illustrator alternative that runs in your browserOBSCURA Vector draws with the pen, shapes, type and pathfinder in a browser tab, with SVG and PDF out and nothing uploaded.
- An Affinity Designer alternative that runs in your browserOBSCURA Vector draws in a browser tab with nothing to install and no account. Affinity is free; this says honestly when to use it instead, and when Vector fits.
A letter, now and then
An occasional letter when there is something worth reading: the new guides and what changed in the tools. Never more than once a month and nothing else, and you can leave at any time on the unsubscribe page.