Edit your photos on Mac like a pro with these amazing picture editing tools.
Editing photos on iPhone is one thing but editing them on your Mac can take your photography to the next level. It doesn’t matter whether you clicked photos using your iPhone or your camera. Eventually, if you want to edit your image you’ll need an image editing software to step up. An image editing tool helps in brightening a dark photo, removing noise, distracting background and more. For all this, there’s an app.
Jan 04, 2020 The Mac is still the best device for serious photo editing, so you need some serious photo editing apps to make an impact. The built-in Photos app on Mac offers several useful photo editing tools. You can crop, adjust lighting and color, set the white balance, add filters, remove unwanted blemishes, and a few more things. Install Movavi Photo Editor on any Apple personal computer compatible with Mac OS versions 10.10–10.13, for example, OS X Lion, OS X Yosemite, OS X El Capitan, macOS Sierra. The app is so easy to learn that you don’t even have to know the basics about how to edit photos on Mac. You can get to work on your MacBook Pro or Mac mini right away. GIMP is a free cross-platform photo editing software that Mac, Linux, Windows users can use. As it is an open source picture editing software it can be distributed by making changes. Moreover, this best free photo editor can be used by the photographer, designer, illustrator, and others. Fotor is a free online picture editor and graphic designer, allowing you to use online photo editing tools, such as add filters, frames, text, stickers and effectsand apply design tools to make creative photo designs and graphics. Online photoshop and graphic design software has never been so easy!
Some of these apps are completely free to use while a few of them are paid, that will provide additional image editing features.
For you, we’ve curated a list of best free and paid image editor. So, all you have to do is go through the list and select the best tool for yourself to edit images on your Mac.
Here are the best free and paid image editors for Mac.
Tip: As you learn how to use image editing software you might end up with multiple copies of same photographs: the original the edited one, the one you did not like and more. So, if you want to ready to handle such a situation try using Duplicate Photos Fixer. An ultimate and one of the best duplicate picture finder tools that detect exact and similar image stored in iPhoto Library, Photos and anywhere on your Mac.
Best Free Mac Image Editors
Here are the top free image editors that you can use for Mac. These tools will provide you all the basic features that you are looking for in a photo editor. A basic image editor has almost all the features you want and is easy to use. However, if you are looking for a fully featured editing suite with advanced features check out our list of best-paid Mac image editors.
1. Photoscape X: Powerful Photo Editor for Mac
Photoscape X is an advanced picture editor that helps you fine-tune and edit RAW images. This photo editor makes editing RAW photos really simple and easy. It’s an all-in-one app that lets you make a collage, edit batch photos, view photos, cut out, pick colors and more. Moreover, with Photoscape X: powerful photo editor for Mac you can rotate, resize, crop, add textures, change photos to vignette, sepia, grayscale and do lot more.
Get: Photoscape X: Powerful Photo Editor for Mac Now (Free)
2. GIMP: Free photo editing software for mac
GIMP is a free cross-platform photo editing software that Mac, Linux, Windows users can use. As it is an open source picture editing software it can be distributed by making changes. Moreover, this best free photo editor can be used by the photographer, designer, illustrator, and others. In simple words, anyone who wants a photo editor can use GIMP. This tool comprises of all basic and professional features.
Download: GIMP (Free)
3. Pixlr X: Next-gen photo editor
Pixlr X is an online photo editor designed to provide you the ease of navigation. With this picture editor, you can quickly edit photos online without downloading an image editor. Pixlr-X allows you to crop, cut out, resize, remove background and do lot more. Moreover, if you want to share an image on social media you can draw, doodle or scribe anything on it. Using this free photo editor is easy just visit the webpage, start using it and soon you’ll be a pro. Try it today.
Visit:Pixlr X (Free)
4. Polarr: image editor with basic tweaks
Polarr picture editor offers advanced auto-enhance tools to edit and brighten your photos. This tool can be used by both professionals and novice photographers. If you want to superimpose photos this app gives 10 and more blending modes. Further, it includes filters, brush mask, depth mask, batch exporting, photos extension and more. Beginners will love using its free version whereas if you are Pro then you can upgrade to Polarr Pro to try its exciting advanced features.
GetPolaar: image editor with basic tweaks now
5. Photos: Best in-built picture editor
Photos: best photo editing software for Mac developed by Apple Inc., is a great and easy to use photo editor. This Mac photo editing tool offers multiple easy to use editing tools like Smart Slider, filters, Markup tool to add text, shapes and more. If you’re looking for a tool that will help you with basics edits, then Mac’s built-in toll Photos is for you. In addition to this, Photos organizes images based on moments and it even allows you to create groups by person and more.
So, these were the best free photo editor that you can use on Mac.
Also Read: What Is EXIF Data- How To View And Edit It
The Best Paid Mac Image Editors
If you’ve moved past being a time pass photographer and are serious about photo editing, you’ll definitely need professional tools. Paid photo editing tools are fully featured and will help you enhance the quality of your work. Not only this will help you save a lot of time once you get used to these apps.
1. Tweak Photos: Best batch photo editor for Mac (Recommended)
Tweak Photos make batch editing easy. Using this best photo editor is as easy as 1,2,3. With this tool you can edit any image formats including RAW, can add filters, effects of your choice and more. Furthermore, you can rename, resize an entire batch of photos, auto correct orientation, change the texture, add watermark and more. This professional picture editor allows you to apply filters and edits with a click of a button. Not only this when compared with other picture editing tools Tweak Photos has all the basic and advanced features plus the lesser price.
Get Tweak Photos: Best batch photo editor for Mac
Price: $4.99
2. Affinity Photo – lightweight picture editor
Affinity Photo can be considered as a lighter version of Photoshop. It has similar features like Photoshop – advanced selection tools, brushes, and layer support. Affinity Photos, when compared with Photoshop, is much faster especially on Mac machines without a dedicated graphics card.
Plus, you can edit PSD files in Affinity Photo. If you’ve learned all the basics, then this product is a must try.
Get:Affinity Photo: lightweight picture
Price: $49.99
3. Lightroom: Professional picture editor
Lightroom is a highly appreciated photo editor by professional photographers. Its workflow is what makes Lightroom stand apart and one of the best photo editors. Apart from stellar photo editing features, it has a simple yet intuitive interface. Moreover, you can mark important photos, skim RAW files, edit them, save presets, export to multiple formats and more.
Get:Adobe Lightroom: professional picture editor
Price: $9.99/month
4. Photoshop: Advanced photo editor
When compared with other image editors listed Photoshop stands apart. Photoshop is designed specifically for image enhancement and manipulation. This creative photo editing software for Mac makes impossible possible. It can be used by anyone to make something amazing. Further, whether you want to make a few edits to transform the picture you can use tools like adjust, crop, retouch, repair old photos and more.
Get:Adobe Photoshop
Price: $9.99/month
5. Pixelmator Pro: Elegant image editor for Mac
Pixelmator Pro is a powerful, easy to use image editor designed for Mac. This professional image editor comes with an extensive collection of editing tools that help in retouching images, creating graphic designs, adding stunning effects and more. Pixelmator puts all focus on the images you edit, rather than the background making image editing simple and fun.
Get:Pixelmator Pro
Price: $39.99
Picture Edit Software
In the list above there’s something for everyone. We recommend using TweakPhotos as this tool offers all basic and advanced features. Although this is a paid tool, for the price it comes is nothing it’s just &4.99. This rich photo editing tool is a must to try and is a great choice. We hope you’ll give it a try. Whatever tool you choose you’ll get plenty of options to enhance your images. Do let us know which tool you selected to use from this list.
- January 02, 2020
- 18 min to read
Most free photo editors available on the App Store are quite basic, offering just a limited number of filters and allowing you to easily and quickly liven up your photos before posting them on social media.
But if you’re an aspiring or professional photographer, you probably need a more powerful app with a broader set of tools to use your creativity to the fullest. Besides, you probably use your Mac for photo editing because working on a large screen makes it possible to adjust the slightest details.
1. Apple’s Photos (Built-in app)
Apple’s Photos app is included for free on all recently released Macs. It does a good job at organizing your photos, but its collection of photo enhancement tools leaves much to be desired. Hopefully, our selection of the best free programs for photo editing on Mac will help you choose the right app to suit all your creative needs.
2. Luminar (7 days trial)
Luminar is another full-featured photo editor that’s popular with both Mac and Windows users. It can work as a standalone app as well as a plugin for such popular programs as Apple Photos.
Luminar uses Artificial Intelligence to enable sophisticated yet quick photo enhancements. Among these AI features are Sky Enhancer, which adds more depth and detail to the sky in your photos while leaving other areas untouched; Accent AI, which analyzes a photo and automatically applies the best combination of different effects to enhance your image; and Sun Rays, which allows you to place an artificial sun and adjust the lighting to your liking or make the sun rays already in your photo look even more incredible.
Luminar has over 60 filters you can apply to your photos to enhance them in a moment. Luminar also provides a set of powerful tools for cropping, transforming, cloning, erasing, and stamping, along with layers, brushes, and many more incredible features. Luminar supports the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, making photo editing even more effortless and pleasing.
3. Photolemur 3 (Free Version with watermark)
Photolemur is a relative newcomer on the photo editing market but it has all the chances to win the favor of beginner photographers and hobbyists. Running on Artificial Intelligence, Photolemur is a completely automatic photo enhancer, meaning that it does all the editing for you in no time. It has the simplest interface, with only a few buttons and sliders to adjust the enhancement to your liking and view the before and after results.
All you need to do is choose a photo (or a few) that you want to improve, drag and drop or import them using the Import button, and let the program make enhancements. After it’s done, you can compare the edited version with the original image by using the before–after slider and, if you want, adjust the skin tone or even enlarge the eyes using additional sliders. Pretty easy, huh?
Photolemur also offers a number of impressive styles to touch up your photos and give them a sophisticated and professional look. With this app, you don’t need to stuff your head with photo editing nuances and terms. Just run Photolemur and watch the magic happen!
4. Aurora HDR (14 days trial)
As you probably can tell from the name, Aurora HDR is designed to help photographers enhance their HDR photos, making them even more detailed and beautiful. It’s an ideal tool for editing your photos, with an extensive collection of more than 20 tools including details, tone, mapping, color, glow, and vignette. Each tool has its unique selection of controls to adjust its effects.
Aurora HDR enables you to work with brushes, layers, and masks, and provides a number of automatic AI tools for recognizing and removing noise, enhancing colors, lighting, and details, improving clarity, and adding contrast to dull areas while leaving other areas untouched.
Aurora HDR does a great job dealing with difficult lighting situations and creating full-of-life images while being easy to use.
5. Pixelmator (Trial 30 Days)
Pixelmator is a photo enhancer beloved by many Mac users, as it offers a good combination of a modern and simple interface, the ability to work on multiple layers, and powerful features that take photo editing to a whole new level. With so many editing tools, brushes, and effects, you can enhance your photos to your liking. You can choose between two versions of Pixelmator – standard and pro – depending on your needs. The standard version is great for basic photo editing with its selection of essential tools and filters, while the pro version is packed with extra brushes, tools, and effects that let you push your creativity to new boundaries. You can decide which version is suitable for you according to what features you’re looking for in a photo editing app.
6. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 (Trial link)
Photoshop Elements isn’t as affordable as other photo enhancers for beginner photographers. But luckily there’s a trial version available, so you can check it out before deciding whether this app is worthy of your money. Photoshop Elements acquired many powerful features from Photoshop, only Elements is simplified for amateur photographers and enthusiasts. It includes a good number of effects and filters, plus automated editing options for improving lighting, color balance, and exposure, and even opening closed eyes and reducing the effects of camera shake.
In addition to all of these awesome features, Photoshop also offers editing modes for beginners, intermediate users, and experts. Beginners will probably prefer Quick mode, as it focuses on essential tools to quickly enhance your photos by improving color, lighting, and other basic settings. Guided mode provides intermediate users with step-by-step guidance with more professional features like artistic effects, skin tone correction, and background replacement. Expert mode gives you full access to the app’s really powerful editing features and is ideal for creating stunning images.
7. Affinity Photo (Free Trial)
Affinity Photo’s interface may seem overwhelming at first, especially for novices, but when you come to grips with it you’ll find that the app is just what you’ve been looking for. Its numerous professional tools, effects, and filters encourage you to get creative with your photos. Among the coolest features Affinity Photo has to offer is a before and after view to compare the original photo with its edited version.
Affinity Photo works with 15 file types, including common ones like PDF, PSD, JPG, and GIF as well as some less popular ones. The app amazes with its abundance of basic and top-notch editing tools, allowing you to tweak your photos using all possible kinds of instruments. Affinity Photo allows you to edit HDR photos, apply artistic filters and effects, play with masks and layers, and create breathtaking compositions by combining several images in one. If you find its interface a bit much and are afraid of getting lost in all those advanced tools, you should probably look for something more suitable for your level. But Affinity Photo is worth mastering.
8. Google Photos
Google Photos is a popular cloud storage service for photos and videos. It can’t boast countless masterly tools like other photo enhancers that we review in this article, but it includes some fundamental features like filters, color adjustment sliders, and transformation tools.
Although Google Photos may not be that helpful when it comes to editing photos, it does a pretty good job at storing high-resolution images and videos with 15GB of free online storage, compared to iCloud’s mere 5GB (which you can upgrade to 50GB for a monthly fee). If you’re planning to go on a trip and take plenty of photos, then it might be smart to sign up for Google Photos to use that extra storage space when you come back.
9. PhotoScape X (Free)
A relatively new photo editing app, PhotoScape X has been gaining popularity with many Mac and PC users since its release in 2008. Its interface is simple but unconventional, with a number of tabs running along the top of the window. Each is responsible for a specific stage of editing. The Viewer tab allows you to browse and organize your photos. After you pick a photo, you can switch to the Editor tab, which includes a broad set of instruments, filters, and effects and a useful feature that enables you to compare the adjusted photo with the original.
The next tabs, including the Batch tab, mainly concentrate on editing and renaming multiple photos at once. The GIF tab allows you to easily create an animated GIF from a group of selected photos.
Best Free Picture Edit Software
The downside of PhotoScape X is a lack of selection tools, so all changes are applied to the whole image rather than to a selected part.
10. Gimp (Free)
Gimp is a free open-source photo editing app that has been on the market for over 22 years and is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Unlike many free apps, Gimp doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. Its grey interface might seem a little old-fashioned and it may be a bit sluggish when it comes to complex effects, though.
Free Picture Edit Software For Mac Free
Gimp offers a vast collection of advanced tools that hardly any free photo editor can boast. It has numerous enhancement options such as clone and heal brushes, layers and channels, accurate selection tools, a number of transformation instruments, and, of course, color adjustment controls. Gimp is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing photos and is beloved by so many users for its price (free) and versatility. But if you can’t come to grips with Gimp’s interface, it may be worth paying some cash for a more user-friendly program.