For editing photos, Adobe Photoshop is the gold standard by which others are judged and, therefore is still our best pick for editing photos. The traditional range of editing tools is now being expanded with mind-blowingly powerful AI tools, which puts this veteran package at the cutting edge of image creation.
Affinity Photo offers an excellent alternative to Adobe Photoshop, especially when combined with the other Affinity software tools. While Affinity Photo may not have the AI clout of Adobe Photoshop, it offers a beautiful and consistent experience across Mac, Windows and iPad which few other applications offer. For more options see our pick of the best Photoshop alternatives.
The only downside with Adobe Photoshop is that it may have too many ways to edit a photo, making it intimidating to learn, if that's the case we would recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements as a good alternative for those who just want to quickly edit their photos easily while still having fun.
The great thing about Elements compared to its more complex sibling is that under the hood it is still powered by Adobe's incredible Sensei AI system, meaning, that although easy to use, Adobe Photoshop Elements is still at the cutting edge of image manipulation
Editing Photos may seem an odd thing to do, as cameras today, whether in a smartphone or one of the latest mirrorless cameras, do such a good job at taking photos. The answer is that a good photo edit can dramatically enhance a photograph. For example, switching from colour to a black and white version of a photo drastically changes the 'story' the image is telling and, therefore becomes a more compelling image than the original.
Also, editing photos is one of the quickest 'creative' tasks an artist can do, with a low time overhead compared to video, animation or illustration, making it a satisfying creative 'itch' to scratch quickly.
AI in photo editing takes many forms. Today, people often mean text-to-image generative AI. This allows us to radically transform parts of images using simple text commands. Adobe Photoshop is leading the way in this area, and the reality is that its AI tools like Generative Fill are a game changer, allowing transformation that used to take hours to be made in a matter of seconds.
The best photo-editing software today is more varied than ever. Some photo editing programs focus on the core basics: adjusting tones, colour grading, and masking for local adjustments. Other tools incorporate things like denoising, and others still are focused on retouching, which involves removing distractions and smoothing skin rather than tweaking colours and tones. On top of that, generative AI is transforming image editing with some of the best photo editors adding text-to-image tools that allow mundane tasks that used to take hours to be done in one click.
Download a free trial for PC, Mac or iPad
Yep, it might seem obvious but Photoshop is still number one! The best photo editing software for pros and beginners, if you haven't tried out Photoshop yet, what are you waiting for? There's no obligation to buy after this free trial, but you can convert later if you like it.
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Get Luminar Neo for only $143 / 119 per year
An award-winning photo editor, Luminar Neo works as both a standalone software program or a plug-in extension for Lightroom Classic and Photoshop. With the help of the latest AI tools like GenSwap, GenErase, and GenExpand, you'll be creating your best work in no time with Skylum.
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Try Capture One Pro for free for 30 days
The software that I currently use, Capture One Pro has never let me down and makes editing simple with its smart adjustments and easy-to-use AI masking tools for accurate selections. You can also use it for tethering during shoots, and if you're an Apple user then there's an iPhone app too.
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Get PhotoDirector for only $49.99 / 49.99 per year
CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 offers all the features you'd expect from a top photo editing tool at a very reasonable price. A great way to get high-level editing features such as levels and colour adjustment for less.
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Download a free trial for PC, Mac or iPad
If you're a fan of working across multiple devices then Lightroom is a great choice for you. There are options for organising your images into albums and catalogs while transferring images from your smartphone and camera.
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Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects. ","contributorText":"With contributions from","contributors":["name":"Beth Nicholls","role":"Ecommerce Writer","link":"href":"https:\/\/www.creativebloq.com\/author\/beth-nicholls"]}), " -0-9/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Tom MaySocial Links NavigationTom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.
Any photographer can benefit from a more advanced photo editing app once they grow frustrated by the limitations of the built-in tweaks in apps like Google Photos, Apple Photos, Instagram, or Facebook. A great editing app can save an otherwise beautiful photo that was severely underexposed, for example, or take a merely good photo and help you make it shine.
The apps we tested provide edits that are more in-depth than the basic adjustments that come with those OS-level and social media camera apps. Exposure and curves tools, for instance, can more precisely correct for over- or underexposure than a simple brightness adjustment. Clarity and dehaze tools can help add definition to high-contrast edges, giving images a punchier look. Spot healing gets rid of unwanted bits of dust, smudges, or even passersby.
For past iterations of this review and for our most recent go-round, we loaded a sample photo in each editing app and experimented with it, getting a feel for the user experience and looking for any pain points. We took stock of what features were available to free users and what was paywalled, where and how ads were placed (if present), and how persistent (read: annoying) or subtle the apps were about trying to get you to upgrade.
Similar to how most editing apps work, in Lightroom you press and hold a dot and move it along a slider to change brightness, contrast, and other settings. But unlike other apps, Lightroom lets you bump the adjustment in tiny increments by tapping left or right of the dot, and it also allows you to reset the adjustment to zero by double-tapping on the dot. Most people are probably fine with pressing and dragging, but those who are more particular about their tweaks will appreciate the granularity these micro-adjustments provide.
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