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.
With the best photo editing software for Mac 2018, it is actually possible to create perfect photos. Choose one of the photo editors above and you will not be disappointed. All of them come with free trial periods whose lengths differ from one to the other. Be sure to try them free of charge before committing financially. Affinity Photo has long been a top seller on the Mac App Store (although you can also buy direct from Serif), as it provides a really powerful selection of photo-editing tools for just under £50/$50.
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. Let's go!
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 - Download now
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 - Download now
Lightroom
When you look into photo editing software, one of the first things that'll pop up is Adobe's Lightroom, and for good reason! It's essentially a staple in the photo editing community.
Lightroom is great for photographers who need to manage a large image library, and who are prepared to commit to (and pay for) Adobe's cloud storage space. But it is purely a photography tool that's a little outside the regular Adobe design ecosystem. (Creative Bloq)
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 - Download now
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 - Download now
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 - Download now
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 - Download now
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!
iPhone photography
Main
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
Are you tired of mediocre photo apps? Apps that limit you to what you can do with your pictures and the number of filters that you can apply? Apps that bring out blurry and light-starved pictures? Then you’re at the right place. Most apps only come with basic features that won’t serve you right if you are a photo enthusiast or an aspiring photographer.
A few touch-ups made on a photo can change its meaning and looks for the better. But the question is; what is the best free photo editing software for Mac 2019? This is an app that will help you edit your photos and make them better. They will serve you right and solve all your editing needs. Do not settle for anything less than perfect with these software.
Quick Navigation
Best Free Photo Editing Software for Mac 2019
GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program and is one of the best free photo editor apps that you'll get. It comes with everything that a premium software contains and features which a professional photographer will appreciate. Breath-taking is the word that can be best used to describe it. This app makes eliminating flaws seem as easy as ABC. This app is free and comes with numerous plugins when already pre-installed. You aren't limited to the number of plugins, but you can install more of your own.
Pros:
- Enables you to edit, resize, crop an image.
- Ability to install brushes.
- Option of making the background transparent with Layer.
- There is the Fitters option.
GIMP is one free photo editor that is ideal for use by many people of different professions. From graphic designers to scientist to photographers they will all find GIMP useful. With this high quality photo manipulation tool, you will be able to make as many changes as you wish. Graphic designers will be able to make use of the many elements that are present and artists can be able to transform simple photos into amazing works of art.
GIMP combines power and flexibility to give out the best results and makes it one of the best free image editor app. It is up for any task and will perform to its maximum capability. GIMP is still in its early stage, and you should expect lots of new developments. This translates unique and exciting features that are yet to be unveiled.
Krita comes with more than nine different brush engines, to show that they strictly mean business. All these brushes are designed for different and specific functions and will satisfy all your editing needs. The different types of brushes available are inclusive of fill brush circle, fill brush block, ink ball pen, bristle texture, bristle wet, airbrush pen and Mix soft brush. If you are an expert in photo editing, then you are familiar with these brushes.
Aside from the brushes, Krita comes with a tool that allows users to manage the different layers, and thus gives them control over the interface. This option also enables users to combine and group multiple images.
Pros:
- Photoshop PSD file support.
- Drawing assistants.
- Resize, Edit and Crop.
- Color palettes.
- Layer management.
Aside from photo editing, Krita offers its users educational instructions that are accessible via the internet. You are taught about the basic and more complex features that the program holds. With this, your editing skills are sharpened, and you become better and better. This is quite thoughtful of the designers.
The line tool is similar to the one in Corel Painter and makes it very easy to draw straight lines. The perspective tools make it easy for you to draw. When you draw points on the canvas a perspective grid appears and you can then use to arrange. The color picker and brushes can be easily accessed as they are displayed right on the screen. A really cool and unique feature is the kaleidoscope tool which applies effects like those of a kaleidoscope on the image. There are many more features in this app. If you are into digital painting, you will surely love Krita.
If you prefer online photo editors then this is the right option. With this, you will be able to create a new image or upload one. The editor works just like PhotoShop so it should be easy to use if you are familiar with image editing tools. You will be able to smudge, crop, fill, blur and do many other changes to images.
Pixlr Editor combines speed and simplicity to allow for low and moderate photo editing options. You aren’t limited to what you can do. Depending on your photo editing skills, you can get creative and play around with your image as much as you’d like. Something great with this software is that it’s easy to use such that beginners will also find it useful.
Pixlr Editor allows you to manipulate the pic’s size, add numerous photo effects, change the image saturation, insert hues, as well as invert and rotate the photo. The killer shot with it is the ‘Grabber for Firefox’ feature that enables you to directly transfer any image on the web to Pixlr for editing.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- Comes with lots of editing tools.
- Grabber for Firefox which allows you to download an image from the web straight to Pixlr.
- Not Requires you to install flash with Pixlr X.
This is one of the easiest photo editors to use. It will only take a few minutes of learning and you will be able to use it like a pro. If you’re an amateur that’s looking for an easy-to-use app for low and moderate editing options, Pixlr Editor will serve its purpose just right.
Photoscape is simple but interesting with six main features that will allow you play with your photo as and bring out its best version. Going straight to its features, we’ve got the Batch Editor, Animated GIF, Merge, Print, Editor Page and viewer where the edited images are saved as thumbnails. The print option is great if you’re looking to print out the image to a hard copy.
The editing tools contained in Photoscape are the normal everyday tools which allow you to adjust the brightness, contrast and color, filter and sharpen the image. This doesn't mean, however, that there isn't anything unique with this software. Fake tilt-shift, for example, manipulates the size of the photo by faking its depth and inserting blur.
The price for Photoscape is perfect, free, and easily accessible. This is the free image editing software to turn to if you’re looking for basic editing options. We, however, have to warn you that it’s not equivalent to prodigies such as GIMP.
This is an advanced photo editing software that is meant to bring out the creativity of an artist and photographer. The Adobe Photoshop CC interface will take the new user a while to learn how to use but those moving from other Photoshop products will find it easier to adjust. Once a paid-for application, Photoshop CC is now offered 30 days free of charge. This is really exciting, as a lot is in store for you with this app. With lots of features to offer, this software needs a lot of investment in terms of time in order to be conversant with it. One thing that I like about it is that it gives the user much control of the appearance of the interface, as you are awarded the power to how and hide different tools.
With this program, you can be able to create a magnificent painting, draw great drawings and design logos, icons, banners and so on. Whether you want to make 2D or 3D images, you can create them with this program. There are many tools to help put that eye-catching effect every artist wants. There are many brushes you can use to paint but they are better categorized and give more intuitive strokes.
Photography is art, and the above-mentioned software are the tools needed for this art. Creativity and uniqueness are core in bringing out the best; capturing emotions, getting the best angles and having the right background lighting. What the above software apps enable you to do, is to polish images, increase the lighting, sharpen the saturation as well as a million other things for a perfect look. If you love perfection, these are the options to go for. They are the Best free photo editing software for mac 2019.