The Adobe Photoshop for Mac family of products is the ultimate playground for bringing out the best in your digital images, transforming them into anything you can imagine and showcasing them in extraordinary ways.
Editing your photos on your iPhone is one thing, but editing your photos on your Mac can take your photography skills to a whole 'nother level. Many of us still keep our main libraries on our Macs because of its faster processors, larger storage, and all-around bigger computing power. 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. However, in all honesty? It's not really meant to be a robust editing app, so If you are looking for something to really finish your photos right, we've got a list of the best photo editors for Mac right here. Affinity Photo. If you're looking for a photo editing app that goes above and beyond for the pricetag, while still allowing you complete creative control over your images, then it might be worth it to take a peek at Affinity Photo.
Affinity Photo supports unlimited layers, groups, layer adjustments, filters, masking, and more: you also have access to tools like dodge, red-eye fix, burn, blemish, clone, and patch (so pretty much Photoshop without all the convoluted bells and whistles). Nondestructive auto-saving makes undoing everything you've done easy, so if you need to start from the beginning, the option is there.
Play, manipulate, edit, and get hella creative with Affinity Photo whether you're a serious graphic designer or someone who's just looking to do some basic editing. Your photography will seriously thank you. $49.99 - Fotor Photo Editor.
Searching for a super simple, straight-forward photo editing app that's there to help you edit and not confuse you to the point of ripping out your hair? Then check out Fotor Photo Editor!
With this photo editor, you can easily adjust contrast and color of more washed-out photos, add borders, tilt and shift your images, add different text, slap on a few filters, and so much more, all from the easy-to-find toolbox on the right side of the app. You can even create collages of your photography masterpieces! The BBC once called Fotor Photo Editor 'light Photoshop', and they're kind of right! You can go above and beyond editing your images with Fotor Photo Editor without getting bogged down by more complicated editing buttons and tools. Free - Lightroom. Pretty much anything you want to do with your photo, you can accomplish with Lightroom. You can blend and merge shadows and highlights, sharpen dull, blurry images so they look crisp and clear, add details and tint colors to make a photo stand out, and so, so much more.
While it is a bit more on the complicated side, people who use the program and know how to navigate it are hooked. Keep in mind, there are two versions of the app — there's the Classic version, which is more preferred, and the 2018 CC version.
If you're hesitant about the program and paying for it, you can download Lightroom free for 30 days as part of a trial period. After that, you can add it to your Photoshop CC subscription for $9.99 per month.
Free trial - Pixelmator. Amp up your photo editing skills with a little bit of help from Pixelmator! This particular photo editing app allows you to combine two different photos into one (while still allowing you to edit over each layer), add shapes, gradients, filters, tints, and more, and completely change and edit your photography to make it fit perfectly to your aesthetic. You can even mask and cut off certain areas of the photo, giving you more creative control over your final image. Similar to other photo editing apps, you can also adjust contrast, color, saturation level, definition, and so much more. It's another great alternative to Photoshop, at least according to our managing editor Lory Gil. $29.99 - GIMP.
Love Photoshop (or the idea of Photoshop.) but don't want all the complicated components and nonsense that comes along with it? Then it might be worth it to take a peek at GIMP. Similar to Photoshop, GIMP allows you full control over editing your photos: it's an advanced image manipulation program with detailed customization for color reproduction. You can add layers to your photos, edit and tweak colors, adjust contrast, crop, adjust saturation, and so much more.
If you're someone who admires Photoshop but is terrified of the price (or just thinks it's not worth it) then GIMP might be the perfect pal for you. Free - Snapheal. Say 'bye-bye' to nasty photobombs, zits, perky distractions, and so much more in your photos thanks to Snapheal! Snapheal is a little bit unique in the sense that it's more of a 'delete now, ask questions later' app.
It's more about cleaning up a photo than it is editing it and adding a whole bunch of layers. The tools can either remove large objects or smaller imperfections depending on the mode.
You can even adjust the masking tool, use a magic rope, or clone stamp your way to a new photo. If you're someone who's a perfectionist when it comes to your photography and you just can't stand that one stupid, distracting blur in the background, then Snapheal is the guy for you. $7.99 - Preview. I know what you're thinking: 'Preview? Really, Cella?' To which I respond: 'Uh, yeah. Duh, my dude.
You use it every day!' Sure, you can't do a bunch of fancy things with Preview like add filters, adjust contrast, and fix saturation, but you can quickly crop a photo, adjust the color, rotate it, add shapes, texts, and a signature, export as a different format, and more. Yes, Preview isn't perfect, but it is easy to use and fantastic for making small, fast changes to your photography. It's already on your Mac. How do you edit your photography?
What is your favorite photo editing app for the Mac? Why does it work the best for you? Let us know what your top picks are in the comments down below!
Updated August 2018: All the choices on this list are still the best of the best!
Photography is definitely an art but thanks to the present day technology, even normal picture can be converted to an amazing one through photo editing software’s. These types of software’s are available for various OS and platform and using them you can edit the photos and change up the colors, saturation levels, crop it to your desired selection and perform many other features. Thus no mater whether you are a beginner or a professional, these Photoshop software will allow you to manage and edit your photos quickly and efficiently. Below given is the list of the top 5 free Photoshop software for Mac.
Part 1 1.GIMP Features and Functions:. This free Photoshop software for Mac allows you to save your file in any format that you want, which means you don't have to search for anything particular, including PNG, JPG, TIFF and many more. There are numerous tools that you can use, including gradients, text, shapes and it is easy to use and learn. This application is amazing for laxyered images and is perfect for getting rid of unwanted backgrounds.
There is plenty of documentation and tutorials for everyone to use. Pros:. This free Photoshop software for Mac is similar to Adobe Photoshop, but you don't have to pay to use it. This application can be used for every different image requirement, including editing, cropping and much more. This application isn't just for Mac, but you can use it on every different operating system that is available.
Cons:. The toolbox can get pushed behind the main screen, which means you will have to toggle to it in order to select another tool. The interface can be a bit confusing, but after you get used to it, then you can move quickly.
In order to save it as a JPG file, you have to export it instead of simply being able to save it with this. User Review/Comments:. “I have been using Gimp for many years and have watched it develop and get better and better. God bless those involved in this awesome program because it is a God send to those of us who can't afford the pricey programs like the Adobe suite. There is a learning curve but there is a lot of tutorials online if you will just search them out.
Be patient and have fun. Gimp is GREAT!”. “A very good choice to expansive programs. Not expect too much, but you can't be dissapointed about GIMP can do with graphics.”. “Good for Mac and Windows, and I also like the fact that it comes with some Linux distros, no matter if it is on the Internet, bought online, or bought at a shop, or if it is in a CD or not, it could have a chance to come with GIMP.
“ http://download.cnet.com/GIMP/3000-21924-10073935.html. Part 2 2.Pixlr Features and Functions:. You can adjust any picture, including the color, brightness and much more and add other personal touches such as borders, overlays and effects.
The double exposure feature allows you to merge multiple photos with ease to make something beautiful. You can quickly use this free Photoshop software for Mac to turn your photograph into a painting using different filters. Most of the best features are free, but you can upgrade to a expert mode for a simple small fee.
Pros:. There are different applications for your desktop, mobile and web baxsed applications to use. This free Photoshop software for Mac is simple to use and extremely powerful.
There are more than 100 different effects, 200 borders and 340 overlays to choose from. Cons:. To gain access to the higher features, then you need to pay a monthly or yearly fee. Some of the features don't work properly on all operating systems, including on Windows. The desktop version is much to close to Photoshop to have such a small set of tools and features.
User Review/Comments:. “The free Pixlr is like a superclean online version of Photoshop; and considering that it operates within a browser window, the software is amazingly robust. Pixlr's various tools have a distinctly artistic bent.Your first impression is likely to be, 'Is this really free?' ”. “While Pixlr for Windows lacks the full array of features and tools found in the major programs, it's far more capable yet just as easy to use as the stripped-down utilities.”. “True to say, I am not a big fan of Photoshop and recently changed my photo editor from Photoshop to Pixlr.
Looks like I have just found an awesome resource on Pixlr. Thanks a lor for sharing such a nice tutorial collection.” http://pixlrtutorial.blogspot.in/p/tutorials-navigation.html. Part 3 3.Pixelmator Features and Functions:. You can use this free Photoshop software for Mac to create beautiful paintings using their paintbrush feature.
The move tool allows you to simply and easily move any laxyer that you have in the photo. There are plenty of great tools that you can use to alter your images in numerous different ways, including by adding shapes, colors and much more. It supports nearly all of the most popular formats and can easily open images from other applications. Pros:. There are plenty of great tools that you can use to change almost anything in your image. There are numerous different effects and laxyers that you can put on the images and you can even change the saturation of them as well. laxyers is extremely simple and it allows you to combine numerous images into one.
Cons:. There isn't a organizer that is built into the free Photoshop software for Maclike others have. The interface of the tool is extremely dark, which leaves it feeling gloomy and dreary. It only utilizes sRGB colour space, and not even Adobe RGB or any others. User Review/Comments:. “While the software lacks some features, such as a photo organizer and some advanced tools, it serves as an easy-to-use photo editor and good option for beginning photographers.”.
“I have Photoshop installed but hardly use it any more. Considering I am a web developer and photography enthusiast and had used Photoshop since version 1 that must show that Pixelmator is good!”. “I'm not a great professional in photo design -that's why i have enough benefits of this tool. It is not a Photoshop, really - but it's a good alternative version!” http://download.cnet.com/Pixelmator/3000-21924-10826255.html. Part 4 4.PhotoLine Features and Functions:. This free Photoshop software for Mac can handle EXIF and IPTC data. You can also create image maps, buttons, tile images, GIF and flash animations.
You can also use it to add or edit your keywords and create various HTML galleries. It can also create slideshows and easily be exported to the web. Pros:. The application loads up extremely quickly and it customizable. The customer support is amazing and they respond quickly to any queries.
The tools are comparable to Photoshop and some are considered to be better. Cons:. The forums for this free Photoshop software for Mac aren't all that active and the website doesn't have a professional look. The native language is in German, which means during the translation for documentation some problems came up. Learning curve is extremely high and it can be complicated to use.
User Review/Comments:. “You can create a Virtual Copy of the background and attach an adjustment laxyer containing numerous adjustments to it, if needed. More than 36 kinds of adjustments can be handled in this way. No more separate laxyers with unique blends - although you can still do that, too.
All non-destructive.”. “Overall, PhotoLine 16 is a powerful program.
Download for the trial period. Download the English manual and join the English user forum. If you're willing to commit a little time, you'll learn to appreciate it's abilities. The price is right!”.
“Protoline is the most sophisticated and thus complicated design editor you can find. To be used from a novice? Not even from an experienced user. Only a professional can use it, after studying it for 6 months.” http://download.cnet.com/PhotoLine/3000-21924-10056844.html.
Part 5 5.SumoPaint Features and Functions:. This free Photoshop software for Mac can be used online or downloaded to your computer, but only the online one is free. The interface is clear and typical of the Mac look and there are plenty of great tools to use and enjoy. This application is simple and it can be used for children, which is a good thing and the other users of the forum will give advice and criticism for the work that can be uploaded to the gallery.
There is also a good social media presence for the site, which means you can get help when you need it. Pros:.
There is a good forum and the social media presence is there along with a great community that is willing to help and answer any questions. The manual that is included will tell you everything you need to know about how to use the brushes and other tools that are included.
Easy to use without having to download an application and opening it since you can use it online on the website. Cons:. The online free Photoshop software for Mac is found on their website and you can only save it to your computer or your cloud. The interface is somewhat complicated to learn and you need to play around with it. The downloaded version costs $4 per month for the professional version and you can get it for your iPad as a downloadable application for only £1.49. User Review/Comments:.
“Great image-editing tool for all ages; skip the interaction.” #. “I saw commomsense's review on this so i checked it out, and it's really fun! Its like free photoshop but easier to figure out and fun to use. I'm looking forward to figuring out more of the features!
My brand new account is ParamoreFan09. Try it out!”.
“Kind of hard to understand but it is worth it once you do.” Free Photoshop software for Mac.