The Best Photo Editor Software For Mac

- How to edit photos in Photoshop or alternative tools like it?

• Photo Editing Software For Mac
• Best Photo Editors For Mac

A new HDR Smart Structure gives you the precise amount of details and structure in an image without creating excess artifacts that can make an otherwise perfect HDR image look too over-the-top. Free photo editing software for Mac 1: The GIMP for Mac OS X GIMP is a popular open-source image editor for Mac OS X and is often considered as the 'free Photoshop' because of its similar interface and features with Photoshop. Best of all, most of this software is extremely affordable (or even free), so dive in and find an app that's a good fit for your personal workflow. Prev Page 1 of 21 Next Prev Page 1 of 21 Next 1.

- How to quickly adjust the brightness of a photo, blur faces, or add mosaic effects in a photo?

- What is the best photo editing software?

- ...

Well, if you have encountered a question or trouble as the above, then, a professional yet easy to use photo enhancer can help you get out of these troubles soon.

In fact,

There are lots of photo editor software on the market, and Adobe Photoshop can be treated as one of the most popular photo editing software among designers, and professionals. However, it is not suitable for a beginner or people who're looking for a photo editor with simple functions like text writing, adjust transparent, etc.

So, in this post, I'd like to introduce you 10 advanced photo enhancer to help you edit & enhance an image on your Mac, PC, iPhone or other mobile phones. You can compare them and decide which one is better according to your own needs.

[Attention] This list is not limited to providing image editor for beginners, professional photo editor or photo editor with text editing or effects can also be found.

Now, let's start picking up your individual photo editing software as follows:

Top 10 Best Photo Enhancer for Beginners & Professionals

1. Lightroom

The battle between the Photoshop and the light room is always an epic battle. It was the first to be introduced and still being at the top and it is the first choice among the users who are looking to edit their image. But, then the Adobe lght rOOM comes with some cool and fantastic features seemed similar but also different than Photoshop. Light room has always been striven to improve their photos to the next level by developing them at anywhere cropping, tinning, toning, saturating, and of course can edit the photo like a new image or like an old vintage picture with the effects and edits.

Pros:

• You can process RAW files and presets.
• There is an efficient workflow and easier to learn.
• There is little top editing software for video as well as for photo editing that will help you make your images so professional with the way you edit.

Cons:

• The retouching application doesn't found.
• There is no advanced image manipulation.

2. Adobe Photoshop CC

It is perhaps the most popular picture enhancer tool in the market and with good reason. Adobe is constantly improving Photoshop CC with better and more advanced features introduced with every update. It also has a very wide set of tools that can enhance an image in more ways than any other photo enhancer in the market.

Pros:

• It has a slick user interface that can be easy to navigate once you get a hang of it.
• It is significantly faster than most other photo enhancers.
• as video editing and 3D capabilities.
• Has a wide range of photo enhancement tools to choose from.

Cons:

• There is no way to purchase a life-time license of the program and monthly subscriptions can be costly.
• It has a steep learning curve especially for the beginner.

Download Adobe Photoshop >>

3. CyberLink PhotoDirector 8 Ultra

This program is another easy to use and feature-rich image enhancer program you can use to manage and edit photos. Among its greatest assets are the multiple filters and layer options.

Pros:

• Has a simple to use interface despite all its advanced functionality.
• It has multiple HDR effects and other editing tools.
• You can easily export photos directly to Facebook and Flickr.

Cons: It lacks a lens-correction feature and the chromatic aberration correction feature is inadequate.

Download CyberLink >>

4. Corel PaintShop Pro

Corel PaintShop Pro offers a wide range of basic photo enhancement apps although it may lack some of the more advanced tools you’d find in Photoshop or Filmora. It does however work very well for the beginner user. With the help of this photo enhancer, you can enhance picture quality with ease.

Pros:

• It is considerably priced as compared to other similar programs.
• Has powerful editing features and effects.
• It comes with a cool face recognition feature.
• Offers a wide-range of tutorials to help beginners.

Cons: The interface is a little cluttered and some operations may be slow.

Download Corel PaintShop >>

5. DX0 OpticsPro 11

This is a program that you can use to improve digital SLR images and comes with surprising features for a program of its price. It is however not ideal when you are looking for a good way to organize photos.

Pros:

• It has a very clear user interface that makes it easy to find its numerous features.
• It can be used to directly export photos to Facebook and Flickr.

Cons:

• It lacks brush tool and has very few workflow tools.
• It doesn’t support some of the newer cameras.

Download DX0 OpticsPro 11 >>

6. Microsoft Photos

This free image quality enhancer that comes pre-installed on most PCs has quite the arsenal when it comes to simple video and photo editing capabilities. It is however not a tool we’d recommend if you want more advanced photo enhancement capabilities.

Pros:

• It is free to use and has a very responsive simple user interface.
• Make organization of photos and videos very easy by automatically creating albums.
• It has quite a few image correction tools and very col video editing features.

Cons: It lacks some of the more advanced photo enhancement features including 3D effects and panorama stitching.

Download Microsoft Photos >>

7. ACDSee Ultimate

This photo enhancement tool offers a wide range of video and photo enhancement capabilities all of which can be accessed without having to pay the subscription fee.

Pros:

• It has a lot of good adjustable effects and enhancement features.
• It also has great sharing options.

Cons:

• The interface is a little cluttered.
• It lacks a face recognition feature.

Download ACDSee Ultimate >>

8. GIMP

Another very popular free photo enhancement program, Gimp offers a wide range of features that rival even the best paid programs in the business. It has some of the best image-enhancing tools you’ll find in Photoshop and has a simple user interface that makes it easy to learn and use to enhance photo quality.

Pros:

• It is completely free to use with no ads and limitations.
• It comes with a simple to use interface that is much like Photoshop in many aspects.
• It has numerous advanced options with many added regularly.

Cons: It has a steep learning curve particularly for those who’ve never used photo enhancer software before.

Download GIMP >>

9. Photos Pos Pro

It may not be as well-known as gimp or Photoshop, but this free photo enhancing program offers top quality features. Its layout may remind you a little of Photoshop and there is a paid version with more advanced tools.

Pros:

• It has a smart user interface with beginner and advanced modes.
• Offers a wide range of editing tools.

Cons: The exported file’s resolution is limited

Download Photos Pos Pro >>

10. Fotor

One of its main strongest points is its tilt-shift tool that has been praised as one of the best in the business. With it numerous tools, Fotor is the free photo enhancer you should choose when you need to make more vibrant changes to your images.

Pros:

• It has many premium-level filters.
• Supports batch image processing.
• Has a lot of vibrant features that create artistic finishing.

Cons: It has no plugin support.

 

Photo Editing Software For Mac

Download Fotor >>

Want to Edit Photos in A Video? Try Filmora Video Editor

Have loaded some pictures into a video, and want to edit the image in a video editor? Well, Filmora Video Editor is here to help you solve this issue. With it, you can easily cut, rotate, and edit an image within few simple clicks. Now, let's have a brief look on the main features of this powerful tool:

Filmora Photo Video Editor

If you are looking for an advanced video and photo enhancer that makes it easy for you to enhance and share photos and videos. Filmora Video Editor for Mac (or Filmora Video Editor for Windows) offers a great solution for the question on how to enhance a photo. It comes packed with great advanced features that can edit all aspects of the photo or video and it is quite easy to use.

• It has advanced features including the ability to edit both audio and color on a video.
• Importing and exporting video and photos is quite easy.
• You can create a video using your images.
• It offers the option to purchase a life-time license to the program.

Now, let's check the video tutorial to see how easy the program performs.

Related Articles & Tips

What Kind of Photo Editing Software Do You Need?

Whether you merely shoot with your smartphone or you're a professional photographer with a studio, you need software to organize and edit your photos. We all know that camera technology is improving at a tremendous rate. Today's smartphones are more powerful than the point-and-shoots of just a few years ago. The same can be said for photo editing software. 'Photoshopping' pictures is no longer the exclusive province of art directors and professional photographers. Whether you're shooting from an iPhone XS or a DSLR, if you really care how your photos look, you'll want to import them into your PC to organize them, pick the best ones, perfect them, and print or share them online. Here we present the best choices in photo editing software to suit every photographer, from the casual to the professional.

Of course, novice shooters will want different software from those shooting with a $50,000 Phase One IQ3 in a studio. We've included all levels of PC software here, however, and reading the linked reviews will make it clear which is for you. Nothing says that pros can't occasionally use an entry-level application or that a prosumer won't be running Photoshop, the most powerful image editor around. The issue is that, in general, users at each of these levels will be most comfortable with the products that are intended for them.

Note that in the table above, it's not a case of 'more checks mean the program is better.' Rather, it's designed to give you the quick overview of the products. A product with everything checked doesn't necessarily have the best implementation of those features, and one with fewer checks still may be very capable, and whether you even need the checked feature depends on your photo workflow. For example, DxO Photolab may not have face recognition or keyword tagging, but it has the finest noise reduction in the land and some of the best camera- and lens-based profile corrections.

Free Photo Editing Options

So you've graduated from smartphone photography tools like those offered by Instagram and Facebook. Does that mean you have to pay a ton for high-end software? Absolutely not. Up-to-date desktop operating systems include photo software at no extra cost. The Microsoft Photos app included with Windows 10 may surprise some users with its capabilities. In a touch-friendly interface, it offers a good level of image correction, autotagging, blemish removal, face recognition, and raw camera file support. It can even automatically create editable albums based on photos' dates and locations.

Apple Photos does those things too, though its automatic albums aren't as editable. Both programs also sync with online storage services: iCloud for Apple and OneDrive for Microsoft. With Apple Photos, you can search based on detected object types, like 'tree' or 'cat' in the application (Microsoft Photos now offers this feature, too). Apple Photos also can integrate with plugins like the excellent Perfectly Clear, appeasing power users who lament the company's discontinuation of the prosumer-level Aperture program.

Ubuntu Linux users are also covered when it comes to free, included photo software: They can use the capable-enough Shotwell app. And no discussion of free photo editing software would be complete without mentioning the venerable GIMP, which is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It offers a ton of photoshop-style plugins and editing capabilities, but very little in the way of creature comforts or usability. Other lightweight, low-cost options include Polarr and Pixlr.

How to Edit Your Photos Online

In this roundup, we've only included installable computer software, but entry-level photo shooters may be adequately served by online photo-editing options. These are mostly free, and they're often tied to online photo storage and sharing services. Flickr (with its integrated photo editor) and Google Photos are the biggest names here, and both can spiff up your uploaded pictures and do a lot to help you organize them. They even approach the two entry-level installed programs here, but they lack many tools found in the pro and enthusiast products. The latest version of Lightroom CC includes a good deal of photo-editing capabilties in its included website, too. Other notable names in web-based photo editing include BeFunky, Fotor, and PicMonkey.

Image Editing for Enthusiasts and Prosumers

Most of the products in this roundup fall into this category, which includes people who genuinely love working with digital photographs. These are not free applications, and they require a few hundred megabytes of your disk space. Several, such as Lightroom and CyberLink PhotoDirector, are strong when it comes to workflow—importing, organizing, editing, and outputting the photos from a DSLR. Such apps offer nondestructive editing, meaning the original photo files aren't touched. Instead, a database of edits you apply is maintained, and they appear in photos that you export from the application. These apps also offer strong organization tools, including keyword tagging, color-coding, geo-tagging with maps, and in some cases face recognition to organize photos by what people appear in them.

At the back end of workflow is output. Capable software like Lightroom Classic offers powerful printing options such as soft-proofing, which shows you whether the printer you use can produce the colors in your photo or not. (Strangely, the new version of Lightroom CC—non-Classic—offers no printing capability at all.) Lightroom Classic can directly share photos to sites like Flickr and SmugMug. In fact, all really good software at this level offers strong printing and sharing, and some, like ACDSee and Lightroom, offer their own online photo hosting.

The programs at the enthusiast level and the professional level can import and edit raw files from your digital camera. These are files that include every bit of data from the camera's image sensor. Each camera manufacturer uses its own format and file extension for these. For example, Canon DSLRs use CR2 files and Nikon uses NEF. (Raw here simply means what it sounds like, a file with the raw sensor data; it's not an acronym or file extension, so there's no reason to capitalize it.)

Working with raw files provides some big advantages when it comes to correcting (often termed adjusting) photos. Since the photo you see on screen is just one interpretation of what's in the raw file, the software can dig into that data to recover more detail in a bright sky, or it can fully fix an improperly rendered white balance. If you set your camera to shoot with JPGs, you're losing those capabilities.

Enthusiasts want to do more than just import, organize and render their photos: They want to do fun stuff, too! Editors' Choice Adobe Photoshop Elements includes Guided Edits, which make special effects like motion blur or color splash (where only one color shows on an otherwise black-and-white photo) a simple step-by-step process.

Content-aware tools in some of these products let you do things like move objects around while maintaining a consistent background, or remove objects entirely—say you want to remove a couple of strangers from a serene beach scene—and have the app fill in the background. These edits don't involve simple filters like you get in Instagram. Rather, they produce highly customized, one-off images. Another good example is CyberLink PhotoDirector's Multiple Exposure effect, which lets you create an image with ten versions of Johnny jumping that curb on his skateboard, for example.

Most of these products can produce HDR effects and panoramas after you feed them multiple shots, and local edit brushes let you paint adjustments onto only specific areas of an image. Affinity Photo has those features, but its interface isn't intuitive, and it lacks management and lens profile corrections. Capture One, Paintshop Pro, and Lightroom have those and even more precise tools for local selections in recent versions. For example they let you select everything in a photo within a precise color range and refine the selection of difficult content such as a model's hair or trees on the horizon.

Professional Photo Editing Software

Best Photo Editors For Mac

At the very top end of image editing is Photoshop, which has no real rival. Its layered editing, drawing, text, and 3D-imaging tools are the industry standard for a reason. Of course, pros need more than this one application, and many use workflow programs like Lightroom, AfterShot Pro, or Photo Mechanic for workflow functions like import and organization. In addition to its workflow prowess, Lightroom offers mobile photo apps so that photographers on the run can get some work done before they even get back to their PC. Those who need tethered shooting (taking pictures in the software from the computer while it's attached to the camera) may want Capture One, which is offers lots of tools for that along with its top-notch raw-file conversion.

Photoshop offers all and more of the image editing capabilities in anything mentioned above, though it doesn't always make producing those effects as simple, and it doesn't offer a nondestructive workflow, as Lightroom and some others do. Of course, some users with less-intensive needs can get all the Photoshop-type features they need from other products in this roundup, such as Corel PaintShop Pro. DxO OpticPro is another tool pros may want in their kit, because of its excellent lens-profile based corrections and unmatched DxO Prime noise reduction.

Photoshop is also where you find Adobe's latest and greatest imaging technology, such as Content-Aware Crop, Camera Shake Reduction, Perspective Warp, and Detail Enhancement. The program has the most tools for professionals in the imaging industry, including Artboards, Design Spaces, and realistic, customizable brushes.

Another advantage of pro-level photo editing software is that you can take advantage of third-party plug-ins such as the excellent Nik Collection by DxO. These can add more effects and adjustments than you find in the base software. They often include tools for film looks, sharpening, and noise reduction.

Some users have taken umbrage at Adobe's move to a subscription-only option for Photoshop, but at $9.99 per month, it hardly seems exorbitant for any serious image professional, and it includes a copy of Lightroom, online services like Adobe Stock, and multiple mobile apps. It definitely makes the app more affordable for prosumer users, too, when you consider that a full copy of Photoshop used to cost a cool $999.

If you're an absolute beginner in digital photography, your first step is to make sure you've got good hardware to shoot with, otherwise you're sunk before you start. Consider our roundups of the Best Digital Cameras and the Best Camera phones for equipment that can fit any budget. Once you've got your hardware sorted, make sure to educate yourself with our Quick Photography Tips for Beginners and our Beyond-Basic Photography Tips, too. That done, you'll be ready to shoot great pictures that you can make better with the software featured in this story. Click the links below for to read the full reviews.

Best Photo Editing Software in This Roundup:

• Adobe Photoshop CC Review

  
  MSRP: $9.99

  Pros: Multitude of photo correction and manipulation tools. Slick interface with lots of help. Tools for mobile and web design. Rich set of drawing and typography tools. 3D design capability. Synced Libraries.

  Cons: No perpetual-license option. Premium assets aren't cheap. Interface can be overwhelming at times. Lacks support for HEIC.

  Bottom Line: Adobe continues to improve the world's leading photo editing software. The 2018 edition adds a new auto-select tool, raw camera profiles, loads of font and drawing capabilities, and support for the Microsoft Surface Dial.

  Read Review

• Adobe Lightroom Classic Review

  
  MSRP: $9.99

  Pros: Excellent photo management and organization. Camera and lens-based corrections. Brush and gradient adjustments with color and luminance masking. Face detection and tagging. Plug-in support. Connected mobile apps.

  Cons: Although improved, import is still slow. Initial raw conversion is slightly more detailed in some competing products.

  Bottom Line: Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom remains the gold standard in pro photo workflow software. It's a complete package, with top-notch organization tools, state of-the-art adjustments, and all the output and printing options you'd want.

  Read Review

• Adobe Photoshop Elements Review

  
  MSRP: $99.99

  Pros: Many powerful image-manipulation tools. Strong face- and geo-tagging capabilities. Excellent output options. Auto-tagging and powerful search options. Helpful guidance for advanced techniques.

  Cons: Large disk footprint. No HEIF support on Windows. No chromatic aberration correction or lens geometry profiles. Lacks many social sharing outputs. No local help system.

  Bottom Line: Adobe Photoshop Elements, our favorite consumer-level photo editor and organizer, adds AI-powered auto-curation, an open closed eyes tool, and new Guided Edits.

  Read Review

• DxO PhotoLab Review

  
  MSRP: $129.00

  Pros: Clear interface. Best-in-class noise reduction. Excellent autocorrection based on camera and lens characteristics. Haze remover. Geometry corrections. Powerful local adjustments.

  Cons: Few workflow tools. Highest noise-reduction setting can require long waits.

  Bottom Line: Though it's still not a complete photo workflow solution, DxO PhotoLab can deliver image results beyond what's possible in other photo software.

  Read Review

• Corel PaintShop Pro Review

  
  MSRP: $79.99

  Pros: Photoshop-like features at a lower price. Powerful effects and editing tools. Tutorials. Good assortment of vector drawing tools.

  Cons: Interface can get cluttered. Ineffective chromatic aberration removal. No face or object recognition. No Mac version.

  Bottom Line: Corel continues to add new photo editing possibilities to its PaintShop Pro software, making it a worthy Photoshop alternative at a budget-conscious, one-time price.

  Read Review

• CyberLink PhotoDirector Review

  
  MSRP: $99.99

  Pros: Friendly yet powerful interface. Effective noise reduction. Cool multiple-exposure and faux HDR effects. Body shaper and other powerful editing tools. Layer support. Cool AI styles. Tethered shooting support.

  Cons: Not enough lens-profile corrections. Inadequate chromatic aberration correction. No geotag maps.

  Bottom Line: Photo workflow and editing program CyberLink PhotoDirector offers a smooth interface and powerful capabilities. New in this version are multiple-exposure effects, more layer options, and a video-to-photo tool.

  Read Review

• Phase One Capture One Pro Review

  
  MSRP: $299.00

  Pros: Excellent raw file conversion. Pleasing interface. Fast import. Good photo-adjustment toolset. Keyword tagging tool.

  Cons: Some usability quirks. No online-sharing features. No face recognition. No panorama or HDR merging capabilities.

  Bottom Line: Phase One Capture One offers pro and prosumer digital photographers excellent detail from raw camera files, and local adjustments including layers, but it trails in organization tools.

  Read Review

• ACDSee Photo Studio Professional Review

  
  MSRP: $99.99

  Pros: Full set of image editing tools. Good performance. Lens-profile-based geometry correction. Face recognition and geotagging. Good skin-improvement tools. Responsive performance. Cloud storage integration.

  Cons: Interface not as polished as others. Lens-profile-based image correction tools less effective than the competition's. Weak noise and chromatic aberration tools.

  Bottom Line: ACDSee's pro-level tool offers many powerful photo organizing and editing tools, but it falls short of competitors in raw camera file conversion and usability.

  Read Review

• Exposure Review

  
  MSRP: $149.00

  Pros: Pleasing interface. Lots of nifty effects and filters. Fast image transfer. Layers and local adjustments. Good printing options.

  Cons: No auto-correction tools. Weak lens-profile corrections. No chromatic aberration correction. No face or geo-tagging.

  Bottom Line: Photo-workflow application Exposure is similar to Adobe's Lightroom. It boasts lots of filter effects, but it's missing some key capabilities, such as automatic image correction.

  Read Review

• Skylum Luminar Review

  
  MSRP: $69.00

  Pros: Pleasing interface. Good automatic photo fixes. Lots of filters. Local adjustments with brush and gradients. Curves. Multiple workspaces and catalogs.

  Cons: Some speed and reliability issues on Windows. No Library search. Some standard controls are buried. No face recognition or keyword tagging.

  Bottom Line: Skylum Luminar offers effective automatic photo enhancement, a modern interface, and some unique filters and adjustment tools. Its organization capabilities, however, fall short of the competition's.

  Read Review