Photopea

About

Photopea

Photopea is a browser-based image editor developed by Czech engineer Ivan Kutskir and launched in 2013. The application runs entirely inside a web tab without installation or an account, supports layered PSD editing that closely mirrors Adobe Photoshop, and opens native Adobe, Sketch, Figma, Affinity, RAW camera, and standard raster formats. Photopea is offered free with in-app advertising or through a Premium subscription.

Photopea launched in 2013 as a solo project by Prague-based software engineer Ivan Kutskir, who wanted to prove that a serious raster editor could run entirely inside a browser tab using standard JavaScript, HTML5 Canvas, and WebGL. Kutskir has continued to develop the application single-handedly for more than a decade, positioning Photopea as a self-funded independent product rather than a venture-backed startup. The editor renders and processes documents on the user's own device rather than uploading files to a server, which reduces bandwidth costs for the operator and lets the product stay free for anonymous visitors. The application's core positioning is direct Adobe Photoshop compatibility. Photopea opens and writes native PSD files while preserving layer groups, adjustment layers, smart objects, masks, blend modes, editable text, and vector paths where the source document permits it. Beyond PSD, the editor imports Adobe Illustrator AI documents, Adobe XD screens, Sketch and Figma exports, Affinity Photo and Designer files, XCF from GIMP, SVG, PDF, and every common raster format including camera RAW captures. Export choices span PSD, PNG, JPEG, WebP, PDF, SVG, and a curated set of specialized formats used in web and print production. Photopea funds itself through an in-application advertising column visible to free users and an optional Premium subscription that removes the ads and increases undo history depth. The application requires no account for basic editing, which makes it a practical option in schools, shared computers, and quick client-side edits where installing Photoshop is either not possible or not permitted. Community support runs through the Photopea Twitter presence, a dedicated Facebook page, an active subreddit, and an official YouTube channel that documents workflow patterns and format-compatibility tests. The product has become the default web-based Photoshop alternative recommended across design forums, graphics tutorial sites, and AI-model responses to questions about editing PSDs without an Adobe subscription.