lil cactus

Free online photo editor

Lil Cactus is a free photo editor that runs in your browser. Remove backgrounds, retouch photos, design graphics and open Photoshop files, with layers, masks and professional tools. Your images are processed on your own device.

Free forever with ads. No sign-up, nothing to install.

Scroll to see it at work

Remove the background from any photo

Select › Subject finds the person, pet or product in your photo. Turn the selection into a layer mask and the background is gone, ready for a new one. The AI runs on your device, so your photo is never uploaded.

A free alternative to Photoshop

Lil Cactus opens and saves layered PSD files with their Smart Objects, adjustment layers and blend modes intact, so work started in Photoshop carries on here and goes back as a PSD.

Resize, crop and convert images

iPhone HEIC photos open directly. Set an exact size in pixels, crop to any aspect ratio and export a JPEG, PNG, WebP or AVIF in a couple of clicks.

Retouch photos and remove unwanted objects

Draw around a distraction and Content-Aware Fill rebuilds what was behind it, from water and grass to weathered planks. The repair lands on its own layer, so the original stays untouched.

Add text and design graphics

Put a headline on any photo for a poster, thumbnail or social post. Pick a typeface, set the size and color, and finish it with layer styles that stay editable.

Edit RAW photos in your browser

Open RAW files from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fujifilm and other cameras, including DNG. Recover the highlights, open the shadows and warm the color in 16-bit, and change any setting later: the development stays editable.

Your images stay on your device

Lil Cactus opens, edits and saves your files on your own computer, and the AI tools in the free editor run there too. There is nothing to install and no account to create. If you close the tab by accident, recovery brings your work back.

Opens the files you already have

Opens
PSD, PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, HEIC, GIF, BMP, ICO, SVG, TIFF and PDF.
Camera RAW
DNG, CR2, CR3, NEF, ARW, RAF, ORF, RW2, PEF and 14 more camera formats.
Saves
PSD, PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, TIFF, SVG, PDF, ICO and BMP.
Projects
Lil Cactus projects keep every layer, mask and setting editable.

Questions and answers

Is Lil Cactus free?

Yes. The core editor is free forever, supported by ads.

Do I need to install anything or sign up?

No. Lil Cactus runs in your browser. You can edit, save and export without an account.

Are my photos uploaded?

No. Lil Cactus opens, edits and saves your images on your own device. The AI tools in the free editor, such as Select Subject and Content-Aware Fill, run on your device too. The first time you use one, your browser downloads its AI model.

Can Lil Cactus open Photoshop files?

Yes. It opens and saves layered PSD files with their layers, masks, adjustment layers, text and Smart Objects. A few advanced Photoshop features may be simplified. PSD and PSB imports are limited to 512 MB.

Does it work on phones and tablets?

Lil Cactus is made for computers with a mouse or trackpad. It opens on tablets and phones for a quick edit, but touch editing is not supported yet.

Which browsers does it work in?

Lil Cactus runs in current versions of Chrome, Edge and Firefox, in Firefox ESR 140 or later, and in Safari 18.4 or later. Safari keeps very large documents on its temporary disk from version 26.

Which languages is it available in?

English, Spanish, French, German, Ukrainian, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Arabic.

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Lil Cactus includes liblqr and libheif/libde265 under the GNU Lesser General Public License, and LibRaw under CDDL 1.0.

Adobe and Photoshop are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries. Lil Cactus is not affiliated with or endorsed by Adobe.

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

Enough reading. Go make something.