Best Mac For Photo Editing 2018

Best Photo Editing Software of 2019 - Programs for Less Than $100

We thoroughly tested each program by manipulating the same set of photos to see how each program handled the edits. The programs all scored differently based on how intuitive the software's interface is. We also evaluated the photo organizing system to see how well the system helped us find and arrange our photos. Our testing helped us identify Corel PaintShop Pro 2019 as the best photo editing software in our review. Its user-friendly interface and advanced editing tools are good for both beginners and seasoned graphic designers alike. The photo organizing system helps you arrange your photos in a variety of ways so you will be able to find the images you need quickly.

Best phone camera 2018: The best Android and Apple phone cameras If you have a camera that shoots RAW, it's crucial to use the right software to make the most of those RAW files.

1. Here I list 3 best laptop for photo editing 2018. Here I am selecting best photo editing laptops 2018 after checking all features and specs. For photo editing, you need a high screen resolution laptop like 3200 x 1800, 2560×1600 pixels, and 1920×1080 pixels screen resolution.
2. Most Accessible Apple Editor: Apple iMovie at Apple.com, 'If you haven't done video editing before, this is a good place to get started before moving on to more serious software.' Best for Pros: Adobe Premiere Pro CC at Amazon, 'A powerful video editor for professionals putting out movies, short films, and the like.'.

PaintShop Pro 2019

This software's basic and advanced tools can help you make professional-level photo edits to your images. The variety of photo organizing options allows you to create a system that makes the most sense to you.

Affinity Photo

It doesn't include a photo organizing system, but this program has some of the most powerful editing tools you'll find in software you can buy without paying a subscription. It has a steeper learning curve for beginners, but it can help you become a pro.

CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10

The editing and photo organizing interfaces are clean and easy to maneuver. It is a good program for beginners to learn on, but it also has the advanced editing tools that will satisfy a more experienced editor.

Best Overall

PaintShop Pro 2019

This software offers some automatic editing tools, which is helpful for beginners, but it also provides hands-on editing tools that allow you to tweak your images exactly the way you want.

The Smart Photo Fix tool allows you to compare the original image alongside an edited preview as you make alterations, which can help you make the changes you want.
The interface is clean and organized so you can easily find the tools and menus you need. You can organize your photos by rating, keywords, people and places to help you find your photos faster. It also keeps track of your images' EXIF data so you can look up the exact settings your camera used to capture your photos. It also works with a wide variety of file types, including RAW, PSD and PDF files so you can edit just about any project using this software. One thing that helps this program stand out from the others is its extensive help features and resources. The learning center tool allows you to get information quickly about any of the tools in the program. PaintShop Pro also has hundreds of tutorial videos on its YouTube page so you'll be able to find help on any subject.

Best Value

Affinity Photo

Best Free Photo Editing 2018

This software offers all of the advanced photo editing tools that an experienced photographer or graphic designer might want, including content aware tools, EXIF data, HDR tools and more.

While each of the programs on this review can make edits, this software creates the most professional-grade edits. Surprisingly, this program is relatively cheap and only requires a one-time payment instead of a subscription like many of the top programs on the market.
As a more advanced feature, this program's Assistant Manager allows you to make presets to each of the editing tools so that when you select a specific tool it automatically adjusts brush settings, adjustment tools, masks and layers to match your predesignated specifications. This program lacks a built-in photo organizing system. While it isn't necessary to have one, it can make the editing process easier when you can quickly locate your photos.
There are dozens of tutorials on the Affinity Revolution YouTube channel and even more throughout the web so you can learn various effects from experienced users. It is compatible with all the basic files along with PSD, RAW and PDF files. This program is available on both Windows and Mac so it is more likely to suit your needs. A full version of the software recently became available for the iPad.

Best for Beginners

CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10

Photo Editing Free

This software is split into six different sections to help you find the tools you need without overwhelming you with too many options at once, which is especially helpful when you're a beginner.

A user guide is available within the application to help explain the various tools, and there are dozens of video tutorials online to help you learn and achieve more effects. You can add text and a number of text effects to your photos using this program. This software's watermark feature allows you to easily create and place an identifying mark on your photos so you can feel better about sharing them online. In addition to editing your photos, this software also allows you to create slideshows complete with music, transitions and accompanying text.
The Library section helps you to find and arrange your photos by rating, tags and name. To save you time, this program allows you to use batch editing to complete the same edits to a group of photos. It also features a content-aware removal tool which allows you to seamlessly remove items from your images and fills the empty space in a way that matches the rest of the photo.

Best For Learning Adobe

Photoshop Elements

Photoshop Elements is the gateway software for Adobe CC. The program's interface is divided into Quick, Guided and Expert mode, designed to help beginning users grow and come to an intermediate editing level.

You can toggle between the modes to learn how to use the software until you are comfortable enough to stay in the Expert mode. Adobe offers the best editing tools on the market and this is made evident by its impressive content-aware fill tool, which allows you to remove unwanted objects, like trash or electrical poles, from your images and fill in the space believably with just a couple button clicks.
This is one of the only Adobe programs that doesn't require a subscription. You'll just need to make a one-time payment, albeit it a pricey one, of roughly $100. This will give you access to 90 creative filters, plenty of tutorials, HDR tools, blemish removing tools and many more useful features. Like many of Adobe's programs, this one expects you to work with other Adobe software to fulfill your editing goals. The photo organizer is a separate program that opens in a different window. While this is nice in getting you ready for how other Adobe software works, it can also be a little annoying popping between the two programs.

Best Built-In Photo Organizer

ACDSee Photo Studio

ACDSee Photo Studio offers over 60 filters so you can quickly add stylization to your photos. It also features plenty of drawing and painting tools as well as background removal tools.

However, the reason it didn't score as highly as other programs is because this software doesn't work in layers, which is standard for most photo editing software. This means you cannot view and select your separate elements as easily as you can with other programs. This software also requires that you take a few extra and somewhat unnecessary steps before you can finalize your editing changes to your file, which is why it didn't score as highly in the ease of use category.
If you don't mind the lack of layers and the extra steps it takes to edit your photos, this program is a great choice. It has a phenomenal photo organizer that allows you to separate, rate and organize your images in a variety of ways so you can find them in the way that makes the most sense to you. You'll find plenty of online support including an active user forum, tutorials and live chat so you can find answers to questions quickly.

Why Trust Us

For the past nine years, we have reviewed photo editing software to find the best programs available. We spent over 85 hours in the last 12 months using these editing programs to manipulate photos. Our testers are skilled editors with backgrounds in photography and graphic design. We used the same set of photos so we could compare each program's editing capabilities against each other.

We contacted John Yoo, Head of Sales at CyberLink, to see what he finds most important for any photo editing software. He told us, 'The basic functions – crop, adjust exposure, contrast, white balance, noise reduction – all of these features are not only important but the software needs to be able to adjust these accurately and easily.' We completely agree.

Programs that completed edits in a quick, intuitive fashion while truly enhancing the photos received higher scores in our review. Programs lacking main features or offering them in a clunky fashion scored lower. Since tutorials and forums are such an important part of learning the photo editing process, programs with better instructive and help features scored higher.

We also evaluated each programs' help features and organizing abilities to determine which offered the best options overall. We paid attention to each program's ease of use to see which were best for beginners to learn on. Since file compatibility is such an important part of the editing process, we scored programs higher if they accommodated the main photo file types: JPG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD, PDF and RAW.

How We Tested

We used the same 12 photos in each of the programs we tested to see how well each one performed basic and advanced edits. We began by using the most basic editing tools like cropping, red eye removal and filters before moving on to more advanced editing tools like using mask layers to adjust hue, tone and brightness, or creating HDR images. We compared the final images from each program to see which software performed editing tasks the best.

Some programs provided the same level of editing finesse but forced you to go through several unnecessary steps before completing a task. For this reason, we scored clean, simple and well-organized interfaces higher. This year's best photo editing software, PaintShop Pro 2018, beautifully creates basic and advanced image enhancements through an easy-to-use interface.

If the program you want requires a subscription, make sure you understand the payment schedule. For instance, find out if the $20 payment is due quarterly or monthly.

If you are a beginner wanting to become a more advanced editor, make sure you purchase a program that allows you to work in layers.

How Much Does Photo Editing Software Cost?

Beginner to Intermediate-level photo editing software costs between $40 and $100, though some programs are subscription based and require a monthly or annual payment that typically totals to about $50 per year. More professional-level photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop CC will cost you roughly $21 a month or more. Before deciding on a program, make sure it has the features and editing tools that you will likely use the most.

Things to Consider With Photo Editing Software

File Types
Most professional photographers prefer to work with RAW images since it gives them more control over brightness, color and overall image quality. PSD is another popular file type since it saves the individual layers of your photos so you can edit them at any time. If you plan on becoming a serious photo editor, it is best to learn to work with these files.

If you take a lot of photos and plan on editing them on a regular basis, it can really help you save time if you get a program that offers batch processing. For example, if you wanted all of your photos to be a little brighter, you can use batch processing to quickly brighten all of the photos you select instead of taking the time to do it individually. This feature is commonly found in the photo organizing section of photo editing software.

Simple Tips for Good Photography & Editing

• One of the most crucial parts of editing is taking a good picture to begin with. You'll save hours of work if you learn to set up your camera and lighting correctly from the start.
• To capture better details, get as close as you can to your subject while still keeping it in focus.
• Try not to work in direct sunlight, as the harsh cast shadows can be very distracting. This is why many photographers prefer to shoot on cloudy days or during the golden hours – just after sunrise and just before sunset when the light isn't as harsh.
• If you must work in direct sunlight, try to counterbalance the sun's harshness with diffuser or reflector panels, the camera flash, light boxes, and shade.

• Learn how to use shutter speeds. To capture crisp details in fast-moving subjects, such as wildlife, you need a shutter speed of over 1/500th of a second.
• Engaging landscape photography often has a foreground, middle ground and background. Try to incorporate all three when taking a shot.
• When taking portraits, try to help your subjects loosen up. You're more likely to capture genuine expressions and body language this way.
• Practice, practice, practice. If you want to get better, get out there and learn. Experiment with aperture sizes and learn which lenses and settings you like best.
• If you make too many edits, your image may look less organic, amateurish or downright bad. Be conservative with your edits – as the saying goes, 'less is more.'
• Keep a copy of the original image in case you don't like your edits. Before finalizing a photo, focus on something else for 10 minutes and then come back to it. Your fresh eyes will be able to tell if the image looks good or if it needs tweaking.
• Learn from the pros. Many photographers offer tips on YouTube or their websites. Ask questions and learn as much as you can.
• Pace yourself. Photography equipment and editing software are expensive, so you'll likely have to acquire everything bit by bit.

More Photo Editing Guides:

If you are a social media freak and your life's an open book, then every time when you click a photo or selfie, you tend to share it with friends and family. But not every photo you captured would turn out to be perfect. That's why it would be wise to use a simple photo editing app that can make your average clicks look presentable.

Whether it is your phone or computer, you get photo editing tools for every platform. However, not every app has all the features that you need or not every app works on all platforms, one of them is Mac. To reduce the hassle of choosing the best, we have shared a list of the best photo editing software for Mac.

15 Best Image Editing Apps on Mac

1.TWEAK PHOTOS:

Tweak Photos is the best photo editing App for Mac available on Mac store. It is a useful software that lets you brighten thousands of photos with a single click. It enables you to rename and resize the entire batch of photos to save you from the hassle. You can apply filters, denoise a photo, watermark a photo and you can also use more than 20 frames & borders. The tool is available on Mac store for $4.99. Get it here

2.Aurora HDR:

Aurora HDR is the first HDR software and is one of the best Mac Photo Editor tool. This image editing app works on both Mac and Windows. It has various features like HDR enhancer, image radiance, custom textures, advanced tone mapping technology, polarizer filter, HDR denoise and more, which makes it a perfect software to edit and make them more beautiful and vivid photos. In addition to this, it supports JPG, PNG, JPEG, NEF, TIFF, CR2, RAF, ARW formats. Get the App here.

See Also: Top 5 Awesome Duplicate Photo Cleaner Tools for Mac

3.PIXELMATOR:

Pixelmator is the best photo editing software for Mac that lets you touch-up your digital images. It enables you to draw or paint, apply filters and effects, select and remove unwanted parts from the photos, and retouch the photos to make them vivacious.In addition to this, you can adjust exposure, hue, saturation, shadows, brightness, contrast, and more. It allows you to save your images in different formats like PSD, JPG, PNG, TIFF, PDF and share them with your friends and family. Download App

4. ACORN:

Acorn is a Mac photo editor tool which has a feature to make your beautiful photos perfect. The app supports many features such as Shape Processor, Improved Crop, smoothen your pictures with Soft Brushes for Clone, Burn and other tools, Circle Text Tool, Non-destructive levels, and curves, snapping and lot more. This image editor app has a simple user interface which makes it intuitive.

See Also: Top 10 Best Photography Apps for iPhone Users

5.PHOTOPAD PHOTO EDITOR:

Photopad Photo Editor is a simple photo editing tool for Mac. The software is available in a free version for non-commercial use. It has different features including crop, noise reduction tools, sharpening, photo effects, collage, filters to enhance your photos, add text and captions to photos and photo stitching to get the panorama effects. Moreover, it allows you to adjust the color balance, exposure, brightness, contrast and more.

6. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (FREE)

Let your photos shine with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for Mac. With this software, you can analyze your images, correct details, adjust balance and exposure, change their calibration levels, label and enhance your pictures, and work with any photo digital format.

7. Affinity Photo (49.99$)

Affinity is one of the best photo editing software for Mac. It is good software for professionals to edit photos on Mac. It has tools to enhance, edit and retouch the photos to give them a new life. It works with standard formats like PNG, JPG, TIFF, GIF, EPS, SVG, HDR, EXR, and PDF. It allows you to adjust black point, white balance, exposure, shadows, clarity, vibrance, highlights and more to make your photos more beautiful.

8. Pixlr (FREE)

Pixlr is a free Mac photo editor tool. You can capture your memories and make them more beautiful with free effects, filters, and overlays and you can also make collages. You can make your image look like a sketch, pencil drawing, ink sketch and more. It helps you to make your selfies breathtaking by removing blemishes, red-eye effects, whitening your teeth. Moreover, you can add text or overlay to your photos and resize them according to your preferences.

9. GIMP (FREE)

Gimp is one of the best image editing software for Mac which is free and open source application. It is cross-platform software available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. No matter, what your profession is, graphic designer, illustrator or a photographer, this software will get the work done for you. Whether it is retouching or restoring, the software can do it all and it transforms your beautiful memories into a perfect picture.

10. Simply HDR (3.99$)

An easy to use, lightweight photo editor tool, Simply HDR is an app that brings out the best of your photos.It can give your images a look of paintings. It has smoothing brush which denoises the picture and has HDR controls and various filters. Moreover, you can adjust brightness, contrast and it can create custom presets and quick preview. With the mobile version, it also lets users post photos directly to Facebook, Twitter and more.

11. ColorStokes (2.99$)

ColorStrokes is an intuitive photo editing software with the simple interface. The tools with color strokes will make your photos look more beautiful. It has a set of portable tools that help you to enhance the look of the image and make it more lively. The most important feature is the ability to remove color from selective areas of an image in order to highlight the subject in the frame.

12. Google Photos (FREE)

According to various sources, Google Photos is considered to be the best image editing tool for Mac. Besides editing, it can be used to store your unlimited photos. With the app, you can create GIFs, collages, panoramas and more. You can adjust and transform the photos with powerful photo and video editing tools. Furthermore, you can share up to 1500 photos with anyone easily making this a great tool for selfie addicts.

13. Pixa (24.99$)

Pixa is not only an image editing software but also helps in organizing your photos in a neat collection. You can deal with PSD, AI, SVG, GIF, TIFF, BMP and more formats. Searching and exporting of photos becomes easy due to the organized collection.

14. Polarr (19.99$)

Polarr is the choice for world's most professional photographers. With the advanced tools, it lets you enhance every bit of your photo. This image editor app allows you to adjust skin tones, eye sizes, face width and more. It enables you to draw and edit watermark. It supports batch export, copies and pastes adjustments with numerous filters. It helps you to adjust colors, brightness, contrast and more on your photos to make your photos spectacular.

15. Image Tricks Lite(FREE)

Last but not the least, Image Tricks Lite is the best photo editing software for Mac which not only adjusts colors, blurs images but also distorts faces and more. It has an extensive collection of borders and frames for your photos along with 42 filters to choose from. It's built-in Image Generator creates random images to beautify your photos quickly.

See Also: 10 Best Mac Cleaner Software to speed up your Mac

These are some of the best photo editing software for Mac. Choose any of them and make your photos more lively than ever.