Windows · 26.4 · first release

Retouch photos. Build a composition.Flare - Photo Editor for Windows

Brighten a portrait, remove a distracting detail or add a logo and lettering to a product photo. Flare keeps every change on layers, so you can come back to the picture and revise it. Free, with no account and nothing to buy.

Download for Windows
Version 26.4 · build 1Windows 10 (1809) or 11x64 and ARM64Direct3D 12 graphics requiredfree
Layers you can revisePixel layers, groups, masks and adjustment layers with blend modes and opacity. A correction stays separate from the photo until you decide otherwise.
Select, paint, correctSelections with soft edges, brushes, clone stamp, healing and gradients, then Levels, Curves, colour adjustments and a shelf of filters.
Your files stay yoursLayered TIFF as the working copy, PSD and PSB in and out, and the everyday formats for the copy you send. No account, no usage tracking.
What it does

A layered photo editor for your PC

Flare is the Windows edition of Flare Photo Editor for Mac: the same tools, the same files, in a Windows window with Windows shortcuts.

LayersPixel, shape, type and smart object layers, groups, layer masks, clipping, blend modes, layer effects and adjustment layers you can reopen and change.
SelectionsMarquee, lasso, magic wand, colour range, quick mask and feathering; on supported PCs, Select › Subject and Remove Background run on the computer itself.
Painting and retouchingBrushes with a Brushes palette, pencil, eraser, clone stamp, healing, dodge and burn, smudge, gradients and fills.
Adjustments and filtersLevels, Curves, HSL Curves, Color Wheels, White Balance and the other colour adjustments; blur, sharpen, noise, distort and stylise filters with a live preview, Filter Gallery, Liquify and Pin Warp.
ColourRGB, CMYK, Lab, Grayscale, Indexed and Bitmap modes, 8 and 16 bits per channel, colour profiles with Assign and Convert, a proof preview and a print dialog with a preview. On an HDR display the canvas can show the brighter range, and Ultra HDR JPEG files keep their gain map.
Text and vectorPen and shape tools, editable type with the Character and Paragraph palettes, and logos placed as vector smart objects that stay sharp when resized.
AutomationActions you record and replay, Batch on a folder, JavaScript scripts with a Script Console, and an AI Console. An assistant such as Claude can also work on your pictures through flare.exe --mcp-stdio, if you set it up.
Windows touchesImport from a camera or scanner, quick conversions from the right-click menu in File Explorer, recent files in the jump list, light and dark theme, and twelve interface languages.
The Flare - Photo Editor application icon: a blue flame on a navy background
Good to know

How the Windows edition differs from the Mac

Most of the Mac app is here. These are the differences, said plainly.

Graphics cardThe canvas is drawn by the graphics card through Direct3D 12, and there is no slower way round it: on a PC without Direct3D 12 the window opens and says so, but the picture cannot be shown. Most PCs from the last ten years have it; an up-to-date graphics driver matters. Virtual machines often do not. Details on the requirements page.
HelpHelp › Online User Manual (F1) and Help › Keyboard Shortcuts open pages on this website instead of a help book inside the app. Read them here: Online User Manual and Keyboard Shortcuts.
Not on WindowsShare for Review, Handoff, AppleScript and Quick Look are Apple features and are not part of the Windows edition. Comments on a document are kept, locally; automation goes through scripts, Actions and the assistant connection instead of AppleScript.
Coming laterThe Camera Raw window and OpenFX plug-ins are not in this release. RAW files already open, with the standard development; the commands for the rest stay greyed until they arrive.
HEIC and AVIFOpened and saved through the HEIF, HEVC and AVIF image extensions of Windows (from the Microsoft Store, if your PC does not have them yet). HEIC photos open without their HDR gain map or depth image, which Windows does not pass on.
EPSEPS files do not open on Windows. PDF and SVG artwork can be placed.
Menus and keysPreferences are under Edit; About, Check for Updates and Send Feedback under Help. Ctrl takes the place of Command and Alt the place of Option. Each document has its own window, and closing the last one quits Flare.
Specifications

Windows version details

Version 26.4, build 1.

RequirementsWindows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, on a 64-bit PC: x64 (Intel or AMD) or ARM64. A graphics card or integrated graphics with Direct3D 12 is required — the canvas does not work without it. 8 GB of memory recommended.
Windows App RuntimeThe installer and the portable ZIP use WinUI 3 and need the Windows App Runtime 1.8, a small Microsoft component: if it is missing it is installed automatically the first time. The Classic portable ZIP needs nothing.
Opens and savesLayered TIFF, PSD and PSB, JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, JPEG XL, JPEG 2000, OpenEXR, JPEG XR, Targa and more; HEIC and AVIF with the Windows extensions; camera RAW files; PDF pages as images. Animated GIF, APNG and WebP on export.
LanguagesEnglish, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch and Russian, following Windows or chosen in Preferences.
SigningThe installer and the programs are signed by Rainbowfactory Ltd with an Azure Trusted Signing certificate.
UpdatesCopies from this site check for a new version, download it, verify its signature and install it when you agree; Help › Check for Updates… checks right away. The installer copy is updated through App Installer, each portable ZIP by itself, the Classic one on its own line. Nothing unsigned is installed.
PrivacyFree, with no account and no usage analytics. Your pictures stay on your PC. Something leaves the computer only when you ask: feedback you send, a crash report after a crash (this can be switched off), a request to an AI service, a model download for the on-device AI tools, and the update check. Details in the privacy policy.
FeedbackHelp › Send Feedback… inside the app, or Discord.
Download · free

Get Flare - Photo Editor for Windows

Version 26.4 (build 1), 4 October 2026. One signed installer for x64 and ARM64: double-click it and App Installer puts the right build in the Start menu. Flare is free, with no in-app purchases.

Download for Windows
Windows 10 (1809) or 11x64 and ARM64Direct3D 12 graphics required

Installer FlarePhotoEditor-26.4.msixbundle · 101.47 MB (106,401,856 bytes)
SHA-256 EBE41E696F3BD8FB844426E5B54506F89612DAADE2A26B27CAB37730F74C2A73

Portable ZIP

No installation: unzip it anywhere and run flare.exe. Needs the Windows App Runtime 1.8, installed automatically on first run if missing. Updates itself.

x64 (Intel / AMD) ARM64

x64 47.25 MB (49,542,564 bytes) · SHA-256 3081293DBC02354F8FEE633ECE917997CCB3F9A653C8717C407B2BE543591F92
ARM64 45.76 MB (47,987,211 bytes) · SHA-256 1A642FC7E3FFC90502F2B435A35E1B87D9C224B6FC9DBFA440D6068291DE6C5E

Classic — no runtime required

The same app in a classic Windows window, for PCs where you would rather not add the Windows App Runtime. Unzip and run; it updates itself on its own line.

Classic x64 Classic ARM64

x64 46.98 MB (49,260,164 bytes) · SHA-256 C776E156A05EFFC83A69864BBE34A665B0C81F0B082AC1848F1B90788038A237
ARM64 45.50 MB (47,714,480 bytes) · SHA-256 5A3E0280516F8622C9FCBB8327FBB3C20533D68A39E3DD78FC9624A2A5C2679E

A Microsoft Store edition is on its way.

Signed by Rainbowfactory Ltd (Azure Trusted Signing). Before you start: the requirements, the Online User Manual, the keyboard shortcuts, what is different from the Mac and the privacy policy. This is the first Windows release: work on copies of your pictures and tell us what breaks.