- Photo Editors For Macbook Pro
- Photo Editors For Mac Os
- Best Free Photo Editing Software 2019
- Best Photo Editing Software 2019
You don’t have to use Adobe Photoshop on your Mac to edit images like a pro. There are plenty of Photoshop alternatives for Mac that you can download or use in-browser to create just the right images and graphics for your projects. And some of them are completely free!
None of these are necessarily one-size-fits-all solutions. Each tool tends to serve a specific purpose; Do you want to edit online or on a desktop? Are you editing photos or multiple file types? Is all the work for web or will images get printed?
Mac Photo Editor: Best Free Photo Editing Software for Mac in 2019 You may have known how to use the intuitive photo editing tool Photos built in on MacOS to edit photos on Mac like a pro. Use Photos app, you can adjust the light, color, sharpness, add filters or crop and remove unwanted part. The Best Free Photo Editors app downloads for Mac: Adobe Photoshop CC GIMP PhotoScape X Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended trial GraphicConverter Pixelmator. Pixelmator is a photo editing for Mac app developed by two Lithuanian brothers and based on a combination of open source and Mac OS X technologies. This software has many features, including more than 40 tools for selection, painting, retouching, navigation, color correction, and color management, GPU-powered image processing, pixel-accurate selection, and more. Luminar Luminar is a professional photo editor that provides all the essential tools you need to create outstanding photos with maximum flexibility. Luminar is one of the best Photoshop alternatives for Mac and Windows because it gives you endless possibilities to mix presets, filters, and styles.
Here’s a list of the best Photoshop alternatives for Mac in 2019, but not in any particular order. Have a read through to find the one that’s right for you.
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CameraBag Pro: Lightweight photo editor for quick adjustments If you’re looking for basic tweaks in an easy interface, CameraBag Pro may be the best editor for your Mac. The app comes with over 200 professional filters and configurable presets. If you organize your photo collection using the built-in Photos tool on your Mac, you can also edit images in Photos. Just open any photo, then click the “Edit” button, which looks like a bunch of sliders. This will open a variety of editing tools, which let you do things like choose filters, adjust the lighting, or crop the image. There is a plenty of image editing apps for MacOS, but it`s really challenging to pick up truly the best photo editing app for Mac. In this article we selected 10 best photo editing apps, some of them are paid, some photo editing apps are free, but each and every one will let you edit your images successfully and easy.
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1. Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo is a past Apple Mac App of the Year Winner and the professional tool has everything you’d expect in a premium photo-editing product.
Use it to edit and retouch images as well as create multi-layer pieces. The professional corrections and adjustments tools rival any other app out there and it has a great noise-reduction filter. Retouching options include the usual dodge, burn, clone, patch, blemish, and red eye tools, but there’s also an inpainting brush and liquify feature.
Other key features:
- Dedicated camera RAW workspace
- HDR merge
- Panorama stitching
- Bath processing
- 360-degree image editing
Cost: $49.99
Try it:From the App Store
2. Sketch
Sketch isn’t a photo-editing app per se, but you can editing images within the Mac prototyping tool.
The best part of editing in Sketch is that all edits are nondestructive, meaning that any of your changes take effect without overwriting the original image file. (So you can always go back to the original if you want.)
Sketch allows for basic image editing including inverting images, cropping and color fill. It can be described as a basic bitmap editor and for many simple projects is enough.
Other key features:
- Color adjustment capability – hue, saturation, brightness and contrast
- Reduce image/file size
- Replace and change images in projects with one click (Since you are using the same tool)
- Ability to work in layers
- Also includes ability to edit vector elements
Cost: $99/year
Try it:From Sketch
3. GIMP
GIMP offers powerful photo manipulation and editing capability in a free, open source package. (You can also download the source code and make changes as you see fit and add more functionality with third-party plugins.)
GIMP is designed for high-quality photo manipulation including retouching images and photo restorations. Users can also use it to create original artwork, a feature that many other non-Photoshop editors don’t provide (or have but it can be difficult to use).
Other key features:
- Ability to create icons and other elements
- Use for scripted image manipulation (C, C++, Perl, Python, Scheme and more)
- Color management tools included with Scribus, Inkscape and SwatchBooker
- Large number of usable file formats and a customizable workspace
- Extensive tutorial library on the website so you can learn the tool easily
Cost: Free
Try it:From GIMP
4. Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro is a nondestructive editor that allows you to make changes to images and draw in the app. It also includes a nifty machine learning auto color adjustments tool to help make color changes a breeze.
One of the best features of Pixelmator Pro is that you can even export images for the web – hello, optimization – so you don’t have to use multiple tools to edit and then shrink image for top website quality production. Pixelmator Pro also includes some workflow tools to help you work more efficiently.
Other key features:
- Works with Mac’s Touch Bar
- Live preview option so you can see how changes will look before committing
- Text editing capabilities
- SVG editing and export
- Painting tools so you can draw anything by hand
Cost: $59.99
Try it: From the App Store or try the free demo
5. Pixlr Pro
Pixlr Pro is an in-browser image editing app that’s packed with photo, vector and text editing capability. You can edit like a pro with tools that include layer masks, multiple brush options, curve and level adjustments, color and blend modes, effects and filters, and transform and wrap tools.
What’s different about Pixlr Pro, which also has a free version, is that you don’t have to download anything to use it. All the tools are right in your browser (and it has strong browser compatibility). It also includes a lot of other goodies to help jumpstart projects, such as templates and fonts.
Other key features:
- Includes access to 1 million royalty-free stock images
- Comes with more than 10,000 photo templates
- Works with PSD and Sketch image files
- Smart healing tools for photo correction
- Refine edge tool make it easy to mask complex objects
Cost: $5/month
Try it:From Pixlr
6. PicMonkey
PicMonkey is a well-known online photo editor and retoucher. It has the most complicated structure of features of all the tools in this list with free, basic and pro pricing plans with different levels of features and tools.
If you plan to use any of the advanced features – save and export, advanced retouching, effects and overlays, fonts – then you are probably looking at the pro level plan. Free plans include ads; paid plans do not. PicMonkey is a pretty straightforward tool that is popular with users creating images for social media and online-only use with a simple photo editor and design tools.
Other key features:
- Add-ons include filters, overlays and text tools
- Touch up photos to add more visual interest
- Watermark and other templates to make projects quick
- Ability to create a photo collage
- Simple interface with ready to use buttons in-browser or using the desktop app
Cost: Starting at $5.99/month
Try it: From PicMonkey
7. Fotor
The tool that the BBC called “Photoshop lite” is simple and easy to use. Edit images, add effects and text or tough up portraits like a pro with Fotor.
The photo editor has all the tools you’d expect for everyday editing with shape and aspect ratio cropping, color, saturation and white balance options and ability to straighten and rotate images. You can also create a custom college in the app.
Other key features:
- Bath processing option
- Tilt-shirt tools adds focus and blurring for a professional look
- 13 1-tap photo enhancement options
- Use popular file formats such as RAW, PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF and TIFF
- Optimize images for retina displays
Photo Editors For Macbook Pro
Cost: Free
Try it:From the App Store
8. Acorn
Acorn is another nondestructive piece of Mac photo editing software that has a robust set of tools. The company claims that it has “everything you need in an image editor” with the ability to add layer masks and selections to touch up images or make something entirely new. You can also remove backgrounds, combine images, perform color corrections, resize, transform, crop and more.
While Acorn is billed as an image editor, it also includes vector tools as well and a text on a path feature.
Other key features:
- 100+ photo effects — vignette, drop shadow, gradients, sharpening, color correction, distortions, blurs
- Web export and scaling
- Smart layer export
- Camera RAW image import and editing
- Ability to import Photoshop brushes
Cost: $29.99
Try it:From The Flying Meat store (other addons also available)
9. SumoPaint
SumoPaint has free and paid version with different options. One key difference is whether you want to edit image on- or off-line (paid only).
SumoPaint is billed as an image manipulator with plenty of options, not all of which are designed for working with photos. The native Sumo file format also provides a nondestructive save option. The tool includes plenty of brushes, shapes and colors and gradients to jumpstart any project. It also allows for use of layers and comes with plenty of filters.
Other key features:
- Lighting, reflection and mosaic tools
- Animated and 3D brush options
- Auto-smoothing feature
- Text tool
- Ability to adjust curves and levels with ease
Cost: $4/month
Try it:From SumoPaint
10. DxO PhotoLab
DxO PhotoLab is the go-to for RAW photo editing. It’s packed with features – you might even mistake the dashboard for Photoshop at a glance – and doesn’t get bogged down when working with large files and detailed images.
The tools include the ability to editing using control points to work on just the parts of a photo you want to edit, there are plenty of brushes for precise work, a graduated filter makes landscape photos look great and the auto repair mode can remove unwanted elements from images.
Other key features:
- Smooth transitions between elements that preserve textures and shadows
- Fast processing
- Auto lighting optimization tool
- ClearView filter removes atmospheric haze from landscape photos
- 40,000 camera and lens combinations
Cost: $99.99 (Essential Edition)
Try it:From DxO
Today I want to share my personal rating of the best photo editing software for Mac OS X.
Many people continue using Adobe programs but as for me, their high subscription fees may be a problem. Photoshop, Lightroom and Camera RAW are great photo editing programs, however, there are awesome alternatives. Years pass, new companies arise and they develop revolutionary, full-functional and efficient photo editing software for Mac. Maybe they will win the 'challenge for the crown' in the nearest future. The most important advantage of all the software I am going to list below is that they cost less and can please you with the same benefits as expensive programs.
In this article, I have gathered the most interesting software for photo editing on Mac from image editors to image processors. All of them have great sets of qualities. So... It's time to get to the action. Read and choose the one you like the most. Choose the photo editor for Mac you need!
1. Luminar - Best Photo Editing App on Mac
Luminar software created and developed by Skylum for simplifying photo-editing on Mac for both pros and amateurs. Making a photo amazing can take you just a couple of clicks. Luminar 2018 is something between so cool and easy as Instagram filters and complex as Adobe Photoshop. This software is somewhere between those two edges. Everybody will find something in it, from beginners to advanced photographers.
The developer says that the 2018 version of Luminar was enhanced to make the performance faster and more efficient. Great results become visible in less time. The set of functions remained the same as in the previous version.
The controls in this program are the same as it was before and is familiar for photographers who use photo editing platforms (Photoshop or Lightroom). It is handy, easy-to-use and user-friendly, everything can be found quickly.
Of course, Luminar 2018 has essential differences from Adobe programs. It is a powerful platform for processing RAW and ordinary photos and edit photos on Mac using layers and different effects. By the way, the Layers option will be familiar to users who work with Photoshop. You can bring new effects to life, experiment with masks, change layers opacity, and so on. The main advantage of working with layers is the fact that you won't damage your picture if you decide to delete one or two layers. So, if you want to be an expert, I recommend trying how in works in Luminar 2018. Personally, I really enjoy this thing.
The freshest version adds a series of new adjustments and filters. My favorite is the Sunrays filter that brings the additional pleasant glow to your images. Moreover, it looks realistic, unlike similar effects in other Mac photo editors.
Luminar 2018 editor for Mac has customizable workspaces. This gives you a chance to leave only those features that you usually use, and hide away functions you don't need.
For me, it is the best 2018 photo editor for Mac at the moment. You can try Luminar for free.
2. Try Affinity Photo Editing App on Mac
Affinity Photo is the next best software tool for photo editing on Mac OS. It is not connected to Photoshop and other Adobe products in any way, but it may look a bit similar. Maybe it is so, as such interface was developed throughout long years and is the reflection of usability itself. I don't find it bad, as the price for Affinity Photo is much lower comparing to Adobe Photoshop editor.
As Luminar, Affinity is somewhere between professional and amateur software. It supports CMYK and Lab color space, RAW images from all the modern cameras; it shows us that this photo editor for Mac is made for professionals. What's more, it supports .psd files. So, it would be the best choice for those who are used to working in Photoshop but don't want to spend a plenty of money for the subscription.
For comfortable working with Affinity Photo editor for Mac, you'll need to understand the 'Personas' concept. They switch between different modes, toolbars, menus, and panels. For example, you may use the Photo persona for accessing the main set of tools and Develop persona for editing RAW images. There are also other personas such as Liquify and Export, but it seems to me that it's not necessary to explain what are they for.
Similar to other popular photo editors for Mac (Photoshop, Lightroom, Luminar 2018) this software supports the layers feature. So, you can experiment with adding filters on separate layers and removing them without great losses, if something goes wrong.
In general, I like the simple interface of Affinity Photo editor for Mac and its variety of different tools.
3. Pixelmator PRO Another Great Photo Editing Software for Mac OS X
Pixelmator is popular photo editing app among Apple users due to its nice price and a long list of different interesting features.
As in all the previous points, I can't ignore the fact that its interface is influenced by Photoshop greatly. At the same time, it is done along with Mac OS aesthetics and looks pleasantly. If we look deeper at this software, we'll find out that it is integrated with Mac OS even more. It uses OpenGL and Corelmage technologies. They help it to cope with fast applying effects or heavy edits.
As for tools, you won't find here all you used in Photoshop. For instance, here are Heal and Clone brushes, but no History brush or Patch tool. This may be a bit annoying if you need them for your everyday work. However, it wasn't a problem for me when I was testing this software. It is easy-to-use, comfortable and fast.
Photo Editors For Mac Os
It will come along with the interests of amateur and semi-pro photographers. You may be wondering why not for professionals, okay, here is the answer: it doesn't process RAW images.
So, it is just a handy Mac photo editor that can make images brighter, good-looking and accurate.
4. Capture One Pro
We've come to the last best photo editor for Mac on my list. This one may be a bit expensive for beginners, and as its name says, it's a pro software. It is made by Phase One, they specialize in high-end camera systems, though the program can process images created with the majority of professional cameras. It is an app between a RAW-converter and an asset manager.
Here you can create image libraries, catalogs. This will be a permanent home for them, though you may also edit pictures too. Now, let's get closer to the details of photo editing with Capture One Pro. The program is created especially for professional photographers, so you should just polish your diamond in it. It means that your compositions, lighting, and focusing are already perfect. Yeah, experts usually spend lots of time thinking of all these things just during the process of shooting. When it comes to editing photos on Mac with Capture One, you won't find healing brushes or clone tools. However, it will help you to remove chromatic aberration and other defective moments captured on photos.
Best Free Photo Editing Software 2019
For other purposes, you will need different software, for example, one of the described above apps.
