Helicon Filter is a free and very comprehensive, and we mean comprehensive, photo editing program. The current version is shareware, but the Ukranian developers have also released their earlier version as freeware, which is a nice touch.

This is not a quick pick up and use program, you will need to spend some time experimenting in order to get the best out of it. I particularly like the sensitivity of things like the ‘equalizer’ and the super flexible brushes on offer, there’s a depth of functionality here I’ve not seen in other image editors apart from Photoshop.

The interface does require a bit of patience, as the different functions don’t always follow a logical pattern, but once you get over the learning curve, everything you need is pretty close at hand. The program also supports plugins and pre-set scripts which you can use for common tasks. All in all this is a great program, and it’s immediately going onto my permanent task bar for when I need some extra oomph in my image editing.