PhotoDemon is a free, portable photo editor, with stable and nightly downloads and source code available on GitHub.

github.com/tannerhelland/PhotoDemon
Photo Demon homepage screenshot

About Photo Demon

PhotoDemon is a free photo editor for Windows XP through Windows 11. It is distributed as a 22 MB download that does not require installation and can run from a USB stick, SD card, or portable drive.

It provides more than 200 tools for layered editing, image adjustments, and effects, with macro recording and batch processing for folders of images. It is only available as a 32-bit application and cannot load or save images larger than about 2 GB, and operating systems other than Windows are not officially supported.

Key features

  • Runs without installation from USB stick, SD card or portable drive
  • Records editing actions as macros and applies them via batch processor
  • Supports multi-layer editing with editable text layers
  • Opens PSD, PSP, XCF files and major camera RAW formats
  • Provides levels, curves, white balance and shadow/highlight recovery tools
  • Includes content-aware fill and resize, noise removal and perspective correction
Best for: Windows users who need a portable editor that runs without installation.
Good for
  • No installation required and leaves no trace except a configurable temporary folder
  • Source code available under a BSD license
  • Translated into more than a dozen languages
Watch out for
  • Designed for Windows only; other systems are not officially supported
  • Only available as 32-bit; cannot load or save images larger than ~2 GB

Photo Demon at a glance

Type
Open-source project
Pricing
Free
Platforms
Windows
Open source
Not stated
Language
English
Last checked
Oct 5, 2026 · Online when checked
Listed
Oct 5, 2026

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Photo Demon FAQ

Does PhotoDemon require installation?
No. It does not require installation and can run from a USB stick, SD card, or portable drive, aside from a temporary folder that can be specified in Tools > Options.
Which versions of Windows does it run on?
It runs on Windows XP through Windows 11.
Can it be used on macOS or Linux?
It is not designed for operating systems other than Windows. A compatibility layer like Wine may allow it to work, but those configurations are not officially supported.
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