Best Photo Editing Software

The best photo editing software includes Canva, InPixio, Wondershare, Fotor, and Adobe Photoshop. These online image editors can be categorized into vector graphics editors, raster graphics editors, and 3D modeling tools.

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List of 20 Best Photo Editing Software

Showing 1 - 20 of 68 products

Contenders | 2023

#1

InPixio lets you transfer photos and videos from a smartphone to a computer without any hassles of using a cable or cloud service. Its editor provides exciting photo effects and makes your picture stand out so that you can share them on social media and send them to your family and friends!  Read InPixio Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $49.99 Per Subscription

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#2

Easily create beautiful designs and documents Use Canva's drag-and-drop feature and professional layouts to design consistently stunning graphics. Design presentations, social media graphics, and more with thousands of beautiful layouts. Read Canva Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

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Recent Review

"Canvas best online photo editor for begginers " - Ashutosh Kala

#3

Adobe Creative Cloud is a fully featured Graphic Design Software designed to serve SMEs, Startup, Agencies, Enterprises. Adobe Creative Cloud provides end-to-end solutions designed for Web App. This Graphic Design Software offers Dashboard, 3D Animation, Image Library, Document Management, Drag & Drop, and Video Capture at one place. Learn more about Adobe Creative Cloud

Starting Price: Available on Request

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#4

Wondershare is the best video editing software that can help you recover over 500 video file formats. In this motion tracking tool, there are only 3 steps involved for you to recover your data such as photos, videos, and much more from the memory card, camera, USB drive and etc. Read Wondershare Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $4.99 One time

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Recent Review

"Overall goof" - Raashidha Banu

Category Champions | 2023

#5

Fotor is an online photo editing software which utilizing exclusive technology to bring an unparalleled level of editing control to anyone and everyone. This provides the photo editing app which edit your photos anywhere, anytime, right in the palm of your hand. Read Fotor Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $8.99 Per Month

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Recent Review

"Best Alternative of Photoshop" - Preet Chovatiya

Category Champions | 2023

#6

Adobe Photoshop Elements 15 automates photo editing software so you can have fun creating and sharing your amazing photos. It makes any snapshot extra special with everything from one click fixes to artistic looks. Read Adobe Photoshop Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $79.99 Onetime

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Recent Review

"Photoshop tool by Adobe" - V. Rahul

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Category Champions | 2023

#7

Adobe After Effects is a fully featured Animation Software designed to serve Agencies, Enterprises. Adobe After Effects provides end-to-end solutions designed for Windows. This online Animation System offers to create VR videos, Create movie titles, intros, and transitions at one place. Read Adobe After Effects Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

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Recent Review

"I use it a lot for the post process of CG video production" - Marion Rempe

Emergents | 2023

#8

Corel PaintShop Pro X8 is a versatile photo editing software that brings creations to life, it integrates many features for professional and occupation photo editors one. In addition to performing basic and advanced photo editing tasks. Read Corel PaintShop Pro X8 Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $54.99 Onetime

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Recent Review

"Software that enables any expression" - Arlie Clark

Emergents | 2023

#9

If you are not an expert digital photographer (and even if you are), it is not always possible to take a tidy image. People or undesirable items are things that can spoil an actually excellent shot, but don't rush and erase it. Read SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $50 Onetime

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Recent Review

"Functional program" - Devin Fincher

Contenders | 2023

#10

PhotoDirector 7 Deluxe provides photo editing tool that beginners can easily understand but that are complexed enough to please those with advanced skills. All you need is imagination and the desire to shine the best light possible on the subjects in your photographs. Read PhotoDirector 7 Deluxe Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $49.99 Onetime

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Recent Review

"PhotoDirector is a simple tool that will help you come up with some beautiful designs and thumbnails" - Vanita Vekariya

#11

Pixlr is what you need for professional editing over a single click. Using the free photo studio software, you can detect poor light exposure, blurred images, correct red-eye, edit the objects, and add filters of your choices. Read Pixlr Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

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"Best app for image editing and making collages" - Rahul Raj

#12

Inkscape is a great and open source graphic designing for making vectorized versions of sketches. It is a free and powerful graphic designing software. It has got a wide range of editing tools which helps in editing shapes, editing text, adding filters, filing gradient, node editing and much more. Read Inkscape Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

Recent Review

"Better than Illustrator" - Bhavya Kumar Garg

Contenders | 2023

#13

Animotica is an easy-to-Use and Powerful Video Editor, Movie Maker and Slideshow Editor for Windows 10. Trim, Split, Join, Rotate Video, Apply Video Effect, Add Text and Music. With more than 1.5 million users, Animotica reached 2.5 millions of videos exported by users. Read Animotica Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $9.99 One Time

#14

Pinnacle is a smart and creative video editing software. It supports various functionalities such as multi-camera video editing, split screens, special video effects, movie sharing, etc. You can perfect your video sound with royalty-free music, voiceovers and so on using this software.  Read Pinnacle Studio Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

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#15

Krita is a smart designing software for both professionals and amateur artists. It has various features such as layer management, mirroring tools and colour palette. Krita offers conventional as well as advanced painting techniques, making it highly popular. Read Krita Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

Recent Review

"Really worth it !" - Azino

Category Champions | 2023

#16

NCH PhotoPad is a fully-featured Photo Editing software designed to serve SMEs, Enterprises, Agencies. This Photo Editing System Offers Color Correction, Image Editing, Alignment and Straightening, Digital Retouching at one place. Read PhotoPad Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $35 Licensed for non-business use

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Recent Review

"honest review of Photo-pad " - Muhammad Hassan

Emergents | 2023

#17

PhotoWorks is a robust photo editor suitable for both beginners and experts. Use quick-fix solutions to adjust colors and shadows, remove objects, and enhance quality. Create a perfect composition with Cropping and Vignetting. Read PhotoWorks Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $20 Full Licence/Single user

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Recent Review

"A++" - Dave Douglas

High Performer | 2023

#18

The PC Image Editor Software is designed to be easy to use and user friendly. It is provide with the usual set of file operations together with some of the slightly higher level editing options & adjust colors in photos Read PC Image Editor Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

Recent Review

"Best Photo Editing Software" - Pavan Sai Yadav

Emergents | 2023

#19

GIMP is a image editor software available for GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows and more operating systems. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator scientist, It provides you with complexed tools to get your job done. Read GIMP Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

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Emergents | 2023

#20

AVS Photo Editor 2.3 photo editing software which Improve your photos thorugh adjust size, zoom, change and refine colors, sharpen objects shapes and make your photos look perfect. Read AVS4YOU Reviews

Starting Price: Starting Price: $59 Onetime

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Recent Review

"User Friendly -AVS Video Editor" - Vaibhav Bagga

Until 31st Mar 2023

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What is Photo Editing Software?

The best photo editing software solutions come with myriad features, corrections, and effects that allow you to edit your pictures and make them look better and more natural.

Photo Editing Software is designed basically for image editing. It may be used to crop and give a touch-up to the photos. One can even organize the photos into albums and slide shows. Some of the tasks that the photo editor software will be able to furnish include editing the resolution of the picture, cropping the image or individual in the image, adding brightness or contrast to an extraordinarily dark image, merging images, etc.

Why Do You Need Photo Editor Software?

The main purpose of picture editing software is to enhance the quality of the images and alter them to the maximum resolution for a crystal clear display. This would help in providing utility services to the end-user, thereby creating value for the money spent by them.

Key Processes of the Photo Editing Software

  1. 3-D representation: of the image, or giving an embossed or engraved effect to certain segments of the image.
  2. Picture Collage: making in various forms such as different shapes, on different objects, of different size images in a single collage, etc.
  3. Addition: of appropriate color scheme and suggestion of backgrounds, in case of a plain background of the original image.
  4. Generation of various forms: The image supplied by the user can be used in case the chosen form doesn’t suit the user.
  5. A small representation: of the end result product to the user, so that the user gets an idea of what the image would look like after editing and arrangement in the inbuilt template ( for eg: frame, Cup, etc.).
  6. Enhanced presentation: of the image. The image editor software will upgrade the presentation of the image, thereby resulting in a more convincing and alluring portrayal of the image.
  7. Availability of Multiple Designs: of representing the image. The change of texture or appearance of the image is also possible, to give a more realistic effect.
  8. Add On: feature of talk and present. This allows the inclusion of voice messages in the visuals.
  9. Freebies: to the early birds in the form of some special guidances and techniques of usage of certain tools.

Benefits of Photo Editing Software

  1. Customization of the features: according to the requirement of the client would result in cost benefits. It would curtail the storage-related issues in the device in which it is used.
  2. Easy Installation: of the product with less cumbersome rules, regulations, and device requirements.
  3. User-Friendly: Layman with a little bit of knowledge of technological tools can operate the software easily.
  4. User Guide: is also available for reference.

Reliefs to the buyer of Photo Editor Software

  1. Easy usage without any external help: The software would enable you to work independently in a cost-effective manner.
  2. Perfect Guidance: The user doesn’t need a team for the approval or acceptance of the projects (Project management), as the software provides reviews at the end of each and every assignment.
  3. Increase in existing knowledge: Apart from working on the current tools, the user also gets to know and learn about the latest prevailing trends in the market and the likes and dislikes of the same.
  4. Increased Goodwill and popularity: of the customer just by word of mouth and by the display of the edited images.

The Pic Editing Software will give you enhancement in your work. The choice of software depends on your needs. Hope you had a better understanding of what to buy, just by reading the features and the benefits of the software.

Top Photo Editing Software Trends on Social Media

Trends are never constant, and if you have a social media following that continually waits for you to upload new images, you need to be aware of the latest trends. Trends come and go, and you need to structure your content around those trends to keep your audience interested and hooked. That being said, here is a few photo editing software for beginner trends on social media that are working well nowadays and receiving the appraisal of the audience. 

1. No filter

This trend has been out for a while now, but it will always be trendy because people want to see the "real" stuff. Too much editing can deviate the edited photo from the original one, which can manipulate the message and turn off your followers. The no-filter trend does not restrict you from editing pictures at all; you can do the necessary editing to remove blemishes and unwanted entities. However, your aim with the #nofilter tag should be to edit a picture in a way that it does not lose its natural look and feel. 

2. Digital Fim Photo

Another popular trend on social media, especially on Instagram, is the digital film photo trend. In this trend, you can use photo editing apps of your choice to produce film-like effects for videos and images. Some popular film photo effects include light leaks, blurs, and vignettes, that are intended to give a photo a vintage, dreamy quality. These effects are nostalgic, that take people back to the '90s when disposable cameras were ruling the photography segment.

3. Photo Doodle

Contrary to the "no filter" and "film photo" trends that focus on promoting reality, the photo doodle trend is all about adding flair to your photos. If you have spent your childhood decorating your textbook covers, you will relate to this effect as it includes adding a playful look to your photos by applying stickers and brushstrokes. This trend is fun and youthful, ideal for young influencers and brands that want to reflect energy and vibrancy. 

4. Vertical Photo

This trend is mainly associated with Instagram. If you have been using Instagram for many years, you must be aware that Instagram is used to allow square photos only. Uploading vertical images was considered to be an amateur move, but the trend has changed and reversed. With the number of mobile users increasing rapidly, vertical images are gaining more and more popularity. Vertical photos allow you to experiment with composition and frames and also produce images that fill more screens and eliminate distraction. 

5. Collage Photo Carousel

Collage photos were prevalent in the early 2010s, with almost every other Facebook and Instagram user uploading photo collages. However, this trend lost its popularity as other trends took over, but it has regained its reputation as creative use of this format has been adopted. With uniquely designed layouts, and other scrapbook photo styles photo, brands & influencers are widely using this trend. 

6. Uncurated Candid Photo

If you are a regular Instagram user, you must have come across the #candid trend. This effect includes producing pictures that are nonreproducible. For example, the joy on the face of a dog owner after reuniting with the dog that was lost. The emotion cannot be reproduced even by the best photographers and the best photo editing software (until the dog is lost again). 

7. Muted Color Palette:

If you are spending too much time adjusting the saturation, vibrancy, and contrast of your images, you need to change the gears. The times of bright photos that used to pop out are gone, as people prefer watching more of the soft and muted tones. Film-like images with subdued colors and white, warm beiges that produce a clean, polished, vintage look is what trends nowadays. 

8. Real Food Photo

This trend can be helpful if you upload a lot of food images. You must have seen a lot of mouth-watery pictures of pastries and burgers on Pinterest and Instagram that don't look the same way in real life. The audience is over the edited food trend and craves real food photos. Although authentic food images might not look as attractive and appealing as the edited ones, they look more realistic.

Types of Photo Editing Software

All top photo editing software has most of their features in common, with a few standout features that differ from each other. However, a generalized classification is accepted, which divides all best photo editing software for photographers into two types:

  1. For Beginners
  2. For Professionals

Let us discuss in detail these two types of software and how they differ from each other. 

For Beginners

As the name suggests, beginner photo editing software is designed for the use of beginner photo editors or ordinary people who want to apply a few changes here and there in their photographs. Beginners' photo editing system is less expensive, and most of them are available for free, as well. 

These types of software can be found easily for free and require minimal computer knowledge to operate. For example, in Pixlr Editor, you can change the contrast, brightness, and FX of an image by a simple click and drag & drop method. Nowadays, a lot of digital cameras come with in-built photo editing software for beginners. 

More basic beginner photo editing tools come with one or two essential functions, only like applying frames & borders and cropping the image. Some advanced software also provides contrast, brightness, and color adjustments. Not many, but a few beginner software provide some professional features like changing the resolution of the image, making the image more realistic, etc. 

For Professional

Unlike beginner photo editing software, these types of software are not readily utilized by day-to-day home computer users. Most professional photo editing software is expensive; it can cost two or three times more than beginner software. Moreover, they are hard to master and require skills and practice. These skills are essential because professional photo editing software embodies a wide range of features that professionals can utilize only if they have in-depth knowledge of all the features and options available. Some professional photo editing software that is commonly used by professional graphic designers, art directors, and photographers are:

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Corel Paintshop
  • PhotoDirector 7 Deluxe

Although professional photo editing tools can be expensive and hard to master, they can produce unbelievable results that are otherwise impossible to achieve with beginner photo editing tools. These types of software can change the complete look and feel of the image, by offering unique features like retouching photos, changing colors, eliminating backgrounds, erasing blemishes, healing spots, and much more. 

Some advanced professional photo editing software also allows you to change the file format, add watermarks, change the photo size, etc. Similar to beginner photo editing systems, these tools also work on the same click and drag & drop method. However, the high number of features increases the complexity of the software; therefore, if mastered, professional photo editing software is equally easy to use. 

Best Photo Editing Software for Beginner Photographers

1. Adobe Lightroom Classic

One of the best qualities of Adobe photo editing software is that they are excellent for both beginners and professionals. For beginners, this software offers a large number of free Lightroom tutorials and free Lightroom presets, making it easy for beginners to learn and develop their photo editing skills on the go. 

2. GIMP

GIMP is widely regarded as the best free alternative to photoshop and very rightly so. It might not offer as many features as Photoshop but is not too bad either. Most importantly, it is an open-source platform and completely free to use. For a beginner, purchasing software can be a challenge, and GIMP helps beginners overcome that challenge. However, be prepared to counter some bugs. 

3. Pixlr Editor

Pixlr Editor is widely used as a photo editing software for personal use because of its retouching interface. It is arguably one of the easiest pic editing software to use, keeping in mind the wide range of features it provides. Pixlr is free to use and can be compared to Adobe Lightroom in terms of features and functionality. However, you might get annoyed by a little too many ads in Pixlr. 

4. Paint.Net

Similar to Pixlr, Paint.Net is a photo retouching software. It is free and comes with an easy-to-use and understandable interface. In spite of being free, basic software, it offers a lot of useful tools and features. 

5. ACDSee Ultimate

Not that popular, ACDSee Ultimate is an excellent alternative to popular software for beginners like Lightroom and Photoshop. Moreover, it is also regarded as a combination of both Lightroom and Photoshop, but in an easy-to-use way for beginners. 

Best Photo Editing Software for Professional Photographers

1. Skylum Luminar

Skylum Luminar has quickly gained popularity as one of the most powerful and favored photo editing tools for professional photographers. Starting with a one-time fee, it offers various features like AI Editor/Slider, Exclusive filters, Image Layers, Dedicated presets, and Adjustment Layers. 

2. Capture One

Capture One is another RAW image editor that is favored by professional photographers because of its solid distinctions. Capture One features Interface customizability, Annotations, Advanced Color Editing, Layers, and a one-time, flat fee. It also offers Advanced Color Editing and a quick interface. 

3. ON1 Photo RAW

The support for the ON1 RAW format is gradually becoming a deciding factor for many editors. Apart from RAW support, this software is occupied with stackable filters, a plethora of presets, and various other solutions. This software also offers Live adjustments and previews and 170 photo editing effects. 

4. Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool with a huge user base and following. It has a free version as well as a paid version and is ideal for both beginners and professionals. This software is suitable for photographers that own a website, as they can apply all the necessary effects suitable required for excellent website content. 

5. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is another popular graphic design package that allows you to create and edit photos, collages, and touch-ups. It is ideal for beginner photographers, as it helps you develop your design skills and increase your creativity. It offers all basic design and edit tools like Filters, effects, templates, and automatic sizing. 

Photo Editing Software for PC

1. Adobe Photoshop CC

Adobe Photoshop CC continues to be one of the best photo editing software for PC. With new additions like the Auto-select tool, loads of font and drawing capabilities, support for the Microsoft surface dial, and raw camera profiles, the 2018 edition has turned out to be better than ever.

2. DxO PhotoLab

Although slightly more expensive than other similar software, it can produce results that no other software can. Some stand-out features of this software include Haze remover, Powerful local adjustments, Geometry corrections, and Excellent autocorrection & noise reduction.

3. Corel PaintShop Pro

Similar to Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paintshop continues to dominate the image editing software market. It offers powerful effects that are continuously updated. It is available at a one-time affordable price, making it an ideal Photoshop alternative. 

4. CyberLink PhotoDirector

Another popular PC photo editing software, CyberLink PhotoDirector, offers a powerful and friendly interface. Some of its significant features include Cool multiple exposures, active noise reduction, and faux HDR effects. It also provides powerful tools like a Body shaper. Additional features of this software include Tethered shooting, Layer support, and Cool AI styles.

5. Phase One Capture One

Phase One Capture One is an excellent photo image editing software for professional editors and photographers. Some features of this software are the Keyword tagging tool, Fast import, a Good photo-adjustment toolset, and a Pleasing interface. However, this tool has some usability issues and a lack of online sharing. 

Photo Editing Software for Mac

1. CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10

PhotoDirector is by far the most popular photo editing software for mac users, primarily because of its easy-to-use interface. Although ideal for beginners, this software caters to professional editors as well with its wide range of editing tools. 

2. Pixelmator 3.3

Less expensive than PhotoEditor, this software offers all the necessary tools and advanced editing capabilities. It offers all the basic editing tools like color management, background removal, filters, etc. However, it does not provide lens distortion correction tools and a photo-organizing system. 

3. Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is the most powerful photo editing tool for Mac. It covers it comprises many advanced tools like 42 preset filters, a content-aware fill tool, etc. It also offers a free trial period. 

4. Acorn 6

Acorn 6 is an excellent tool for producing natural HDR images. It works in layers to quickly create both panoramic and HDR pictures. It also features an HDR guide that helps you out with an easy image combination. It is also compatible with the WAR image format. The only drawback of this software is that it lacks a photo organizer. 

Photo Editing Software for Android

1. PicsArt

With more than 250 million users, PicsArt has been one of the most popular photo editing software for android for quite some time. It justifies its popularity as it offers some of the most advanced editing features like changing skin tones and hair colors, stretching and whirling tools, and hundreds of unique filters. 

2. Pixlr

This software to AutoDesk can be compared to Picsart in terms of popularity and features. Almost all the features offered by Pixlr are similar to Picsart, with one drawback- a limited number of filters.

3. Snapseed

Another free-to-use photo editing app for android, it is counted among the most popular photo editing apps for android. Owned by Google, it is a powerful photo editor with support for the RAW format. Additionally, this app is entirely free of cost with no in-app purchases and no in-app advertisements. 

4. PhotoDirector

PhotoDirector comes with a minimalist UI with various enhancement and editing tools. It offers multiple tools and features like light effects, filters, and various add-ons for improving the images and giving them a new life. One of the noteworthy features of this app is the object removal trick, which helps you remove unwanted objects from an image easily. 

5. Cymera

Regarded as one of the most excellent photo editing applications for android, Cymera offers an impressive collection of image editing tools. Apart from these image editing tools, it also provides a useful camera function that allows you to turn your camera into a beauty camera. 

6. Camly

If you need a photo editing app that is simple and easy to use but is productive and practical at the same time, Camly is the ideal choice for you. Although the simple user interface is its most significant advantage, this application offers all the necessary photo editing tools a photo editor should have.

FAQs of Photo Editing Software

Yes, picture editing software is available for all platforms like PC, Mac, Android, IOS, Windows, etc. However, it is not necessary that one photo retouching software will be supported on all the platforms.

Yes, you can start using photo effects software without any prior editing experience. If you want to use advanced platforms, you will need to spend some time watching tutorials and practicing before making the most out of the software

Photo Editing Software in following industries

Last Updated: February 27, 2023