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Dubbed by BBC as the lite Photoshop, Fotor is the best free photo editing software for mac! Ranking top in Mac Store in over 80 countries, Fotor is the only image editor you need on Mac! As far as Mac photo editing software goes, you should be able to find a basic editing program for under $100, typically starting for as little as $30. Paying more than $100 will often land you a professional editing program with additional editing tools and presets compared to the basic versions. 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. The best photo editing software for spectacular photos and graphics. Capture attention with beautiful, high-impact visuals. Adjust clarity, color and tone and create image manipulation effects or perfect your graphic design work. Take your pictures to the next level with the most powerful image editing software for web, desktop, and mobile. Download Fotor Photo Editor for macOS 10.9 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. Fotor was mentioned as the 'lite Photoshop' by BBC and it will cater all your photography needs. 'I found Fotor to be simple and intuitive to use.
Feb 26,2019• Proven solutions
Previously we have talked about some best photo editing apps for iPhone and Android devices, while editing photos on your Mac can take you to the next level of photo editing skills. If you want a quality image editing tool for your Mac computer then you know you have come to the right place. Here you will find the top 5 tools that you really need to know about, as well as some information that will help you to make your final decision regarding your purchase. Why don't you take a look below to find out more?
Best video editor for Mac user to create Hollywood style video with ease
Besides photo editing software, you may also need a good video editor for editing videos. Wondershare Filmora9 for Mac is recommended here because it is easy to use yet provides various effects for you to create videos with fun.
1. Apple Photos and Preview apps
If you want a free photo editing app on Mac, then the Preview and Photos apps are good choice. These two apps are free photo editors for mac. Don't overlook the apps just by the name. With the Preview App, you can use the Markup feature to edit your image, adjust color and size. What's more, you can export the image in several image formats. The Photos itself is very powerful and you will also find that you can manage all of your photos via your iCloud as well. Of course, the great thing about this is that you can also access them on your iOS as well and this is very similar to your desktop version but obviously it has been changed a little so it works with a much smaller screen.
2. Google Picasa and Google Photos
Picasa is actually a free desktop image editing software that was designed by Google. If you want to share photos right from your desktop then you can do that as well and you can always link your photos to other albums as well. The best thing about Picasa is that when you edit the photos, they have non-destructive effects so you can always have two copies, one of your original photo and one of your edited photo.
However, Google has decided to stop updating Picasa already and you can't download and install it on your Mac if you haven't already. Google advises users to try the single photo service in Google Photos. If you have synced your albums to Picasa, then you will find them in Google Photos. The Google Photos app allows you to add filters, adjust color, crop out unwanted parts and rotate a photo as well. In my opinion, Google Photos is one of the best free photo editor for mac .
3. Fotor Photo Editor
This is a free photo editing software that allows you to edit all of your photos in a very easy way. The effects are incredibly impressive and all you need to do is click an effect in order to apply it. You can then use the slider in order to adjust how strong you want the effect to be, so as you can see, it has never been easier.
4. On1 Perfect Effects 9 Free
The On1 Suite is quickly becoming a competitor for Adobe photo shop. You'll be glad to know that this one is available as a free tool and that you can use the Perfect Brush and Quick Mask tool if you want to access what you want easier. The Perfect Effect feature is completely free but if you did want to use it with programs such as PhotoShop then you can do, so if you want to stick with what you know then you can trust in this program to give you everything you need to feel confident about your purchase.
5. Serif PhotoPlus Starter Edition
This is a free version of the normal Serif editing program. It is a great way to get started without having to have tons of technical knowledge and it is an older version of PhotoPlus but it has been re-engineered to give you all the latest features. In other words, it has gone back to basics. The great thing is that you can re-touch all of your old photos and you can also edit them so they are exactly how you want them as well so there really are no limits to what you can do with this program and what this program can do for you.
So there you have it, the top photo editing programs that are available for the MAC computer as well as some information about how they could benefit you. All the above programs are free of charge and you can download them at any time as well so you know you have endless options available if you work across multiple computers. Why don't you give some of them a go for yourself today?
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In the world of professional photo editing, having the right editing software determines who has the most outstanding performance. To remain dominant, you must rely on more than one photo editing software to keep the stiff competition at bay. On this regard, we have taken a keen interest to identify the most efficient and best photo editing software for Mac users. We have composed a list of top 10 best photo editing software for Mac, and discussed the pros & cons of each in this article.
The Criteria We Considered in Reviewing Each Best Mac Photo Editing App is:
- If the app portrays an excellent degree of ease of use: Includes the installation and general usage of the app for photo editing.
- Photo editing presetting and versatility: The programmed automatic editing functions and the number of editing features offered.
- File formats and device support: The types of file formats the Mac photo editor can access, and save the editing tasks.
- Creativity and Fun: The amount of editing features the application can achieve in editing particular images.
- The app price: The amount of money required to obtain a genuine copy of the Mac photo editor application desired.
- Developer’s Customer guidance and service: The service and support offered by the developer of the photo editing applications for Mac.
1. Skylum Luminar
2. Adobe Photoshop Elements
3. ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac
4. Affinity Photo
5. Pixelmator
6. Fotor Photo Editor
7. JixiPix Impresso Pro
8. GIMP
9. Pixlr
10. Preview
2. Adobe Photoshop Elements
3. ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac
4. Affinity Photo
5. Pixelmator
6. Fotor Photo Editor
7. JixiPix Impresso Pro
8. GIMP
9. Pixlr
10. Preview
1. Skylum Luminar
Luminar is the Entry Level Best Photo Editing Software for Mac
Luminar is one of the best mac photo editing programs that any professional photo editor must have in their arsenal. This app relies on artificial intelligence to achieve the fastest editing rates in the market. The interface is attractive and intuitive with a before/after slider dividing your photo into two halves for easy editing comparisons.
Luminar has eight workspaces with the pre-sets and filters customized for different types of photo. You can have all the settings and filters available by selecting the professional workspace. This mac photo editor app lets you can have your custom design workspace that suits your designing style and type of photos. You can access all the steps taken in editing the picture through the history button and apply the edits to another photo instantly. This photo editing app supports Mac OS version 10.10 – 10.13, with an Intel 64-bit Core 2 Duo processor, or better.
Excels:
- Best photo editor for illustrious one-click editing pre-sets and filters on Mac;
- Customizable and intuitive user interface;
- Responsive editing tools.
Fails:
- No file browser;
- Noise reduction is inferior to other Mac photo editors;
- Image magnifier is a bit clumsy.
Price: $69 (Buy Luminar at $59 or Upgrade at $49 using promo code “MACLIBS” to save $10 when check out.)
Also read our detailed review of Skylum Luminar to learn more features about it.
2. Adobe Photoshop Elements
Photoshop Elements – The Most Advanced and Best Photo Editing Software for Mac Professionals
Adobe Photoshop Element is one of the best photo editing software for Mac professionals, as one part of the Adobe Elements bundle. The app is available for Mac 64-bit OS with a powerful experience of artificial intelligence (AI), and “content intelligence” through Adobe-speak, to achieve lovely image and video editing. This best photo editing software for Mac features new AI-based tools that perform several previously tedious image and video editing tasks with ease.
Adobe Elements remains one of the most user-friendly and best photo editor for mac image editing available. This property gets achieved while incorporating advanced features borrowed from Adobe Photoshop CC in the Expert mode of Photoshop Elements.
Excels:
- Packs lots of powerful image-manipulation tools;
- Excellent output options;
- Best Mac photo editor with Auto-tagging and strong search feature;
- Strong face and geo-tagging resources;
- And, helpful guidance feature for advanced techniques.
Fails:
Photo Editing For Mac Air
- Large HDD/SSD footprint;
- Minimal social sharing outputs;
- And, lacks a local help system.
Price: $99.99 or Get Bundle at $149.99 Or Buy from Amazon.
3. ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac
ACDSee Photo Studio; Best Mac Photo Editor with Numerous Editing and Painting Tools
ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac is amongst the best photo editing apps that feature unparalleled support for RAW images for over 450 professional cameras. This extreme Mac photo editor includes customizable batch presets and the new’ drag and drop’ searching function.
ACDSee is one of the best photo editor for Mac as it suits entry level to professional photographers because of its strong digital asset management elements, and the revamped full toolkit flooded with non-destructive adjustments and features.
The 2018 version achieves more flexibility and control for instant, import-free access photos, professional processing enhancements. The best Mac photo editor, Photo Studio, delivers sufficient organizational tools to accommodate even the most rigorous workflow.
Those dull, blurry, and crooked photos get easily corrected with ACDSee Photo Studio. The new and reliable Straighten function flawlessly corrects orientation ensuring all images look perfectly shot. The sharpening tool of ACDSee photo editor preserves edge detail and achieves perfect definition to images making them crisp and sharper.
Excels:
- Excellent Organizational Tools;
- Mobile Companion App;
- Blends lots of Photoshop & Lightroom features and functions into it.
Fails:
- User Interface needs more work;
- The Cloud Service costs more;
- And slow cataloguing experience.
Price: Easter Offer $69.95 (Full Price $99.99)
4. Affinity Photo App for Mac
Affinity Photo Editor Resembles Photoshop; Best Mac Photo Editor with Support for Various Languages
Affinity Photo runs on Mac OS X 0.7 or later with a minimum of 2GB RAM recommended. For those who bought an older version, the latest one is among the best Mac photo editing software and is free to update. Furthermore, the newest version features plenty of improvements and more compatibility for latest camera raw files. Installing this photo editing app for Mac is as simple as using it and is available in English, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Russian, Simplified Chinese and, and German.
The workspace of Affinity Photo resembles that of the best Mac photo editor -Photoshop in design, so those familiar to Photoshop will find it very easy to use. The standard grey background is also default, with a vertical toolbar on the left side of the window, plus the control panels on the right. The tools you instinctively use in Photoshop get positioned almost in the same spots in Affinity Photo.
Excels:
- RAW editing;
- Quick response;
- No subscription;
- Many tools and features;
- Live edits;
- Best Mac photo editor with excellent value for money;
- Easy to use
Fails:
- No file management system
Best Photo Editing For Mac
Price: $49.99, free upgrades
5. Pixelmator
Pixelmator – The Best Photo Editor for Mac Beginners and Intermediates
Pixelmator keeps the workspace simpler than most of the best Mac photo editing apps, which makes it popular among amateur and intermittent editors. Most of the critical tools proven useful with years of experience using the photo editing software for mac are all available. The interface looks stunning and fits the Mac OS aesthetic.
The Mac OS’s CoreImage and OpenGL technologies get both infused into its engine, meaning you get instantaneous results making it the best photo editor on Mac for heavy edits. The filter tools don’t offer many options for each “beyond a slider” to control the strength of the effect. This setting is nearly often all you need, though aside from those moments when you’re looking for that little extra creative freedom.
Excels:
- Machine learning makes it the best Mac photo editing software for critical operations;
- Flexible raw editing features;
- Quick Repair and Selection tools work flawlessly;
- And Apple’s Core ML framework enables machine-learning features
Fails:
- Dark, monochrome interface with light type can mar brightness;
- Some inflexible features;
- Limited file export options
Price: $14.99 / Pixelmator Pro $29.99 $37.99
6. Fotor Photo Editor
Fotor Photo Editor – One of the Best Free Online Photo Editing Apps Available for Mac
Fotor Photo Editor is an excellent online tool for you if you have some photos on your Mac that you want to have on canvas and hang on your wall. Featuring powerful one-click filters and tools for editing photo collections, it’s one of the best photo editing app for Mac. The interface features easy functionality for making photos look their best.
Fotor editing software for mac packs several image-enhancing tools and filters for your pictures to look their best. It supports the standard image formats and even provides RAW file processing, an exclusive feature for premium and best Mac photo editing apps.
Fotor is the best free online photo editor for getting the fastest results as it features thirteen different one-click pre-sets that you can use to edit all your images instantaneously. The new version allows you to create collages with a custom aspect ratio. It also features a more advanced tilt-shift algorithm with better support for more formats of RAW files and runs on 10.7 Mac OS or later with a 2GB minimum RAM.
Excels:
- Best free photo editor for smart filters and effects available for Mac;
- Easy image collage tool;
- Features RAW file converter.
Fails:
- Not feature-packed;
- Not suitable for designing artwork from scratch;
- Some features only available in Pro version.
Price: Free, Subscription of Fotor Pro: $ 4.99/month, $ 19.99/year
7. JixiPix Impresso Pro
JixiPix Impresso – Best Photo Editing Software for Mac Users to Turn Pictures into Paintings
JixiPix Impresso Pro design targets professionals who fancy creative or artistic control. They will utilize smart Layers and brushes for combining multiple paint styles. Jixipix features a rich collection of edges that beautifully blend on the canvas, and a new background Paint effect that creates distances on photos. There’s also a Soft Paint effect that makes Jixipix the best photo editing software for Mac to enrich foreground elements.
The Aged Paint effect adds craquelure to paintings, and an ultra-realistic effect called Tache that covers pictures with broken brush effect strokes to mimic painted pictures. Impresso Pro has all the essential features any professional photo editor could need for creating gallery-style portraits with enough detail even for super large prints. The Pro Version Includes:
Photo Editing For Mac Os X
- Smart Layers
- Painted Edges
- Brushes
- 6 Paint Styles (Tache, Soft Paint, En Plein Air, Background Paint, Alla Prima, and Aged Paint )
The standalone product system requirements for this photo editing software for Mac includes: Mac OS X 10.7 or newer, and a 64-bit processor environment. The Mac App Store version has no plugins. It can also run on the iPad iOS 9.2 or later in a 64-bit environment.
Excels:
- Support for high-resolution images and rendering;
- Superior customer service;
- Randomize button;
- Multiple undo;
- Customizable styles
Fails:
- A bit complex for beginner editors
Price: $49.99
8. GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) – Best Free Photo Editor for Universal Expandability on Mac
The best photo editing software for Mac you can obtain for free that’s closest to Photoshop is GIMP. This open source best Mac photo editing software features an extensive set of filters, tools, and options for advanced editing of complex tasks. GIMP also is compatible with third-party plugins including Adobe Photoshop’s features unparalleled expandability with broad system compatibility parameters.
Whether you’re an illustrator, photographer or want an application that will let you experiment with your images, GIMP is up to the task. GIMP can fix lens distortion as well as selective colorization and other complicated fixes. GIMP is a beautiful open source photo editor for mac, but like other powerful apps, it has a reasonably steep learning process.
Excels:
- Best free photo editor for expandability on Mac;
- Opens the vastest variety image file types;
- Packed with several features and tools.
Fails:
- Cluttered Interface.
Price: Free
9. Pixlr
Pixlr is the Best Mac Photo Editing app for Mac OS Based Entirely Online
Pixlr is an online photo editing app with fast and simple functionality and has enough features to make it a viable option for low- to mid-level photo editing tasks. Create new images using Pixlr, and upload, or grab a photo directly from a website or URL location. It’s compatible with a variety of Mac OS as it runs on the browser.
Editors familiar with Photoshop will find it the best photo editing software for mac as the menu options are similar, regarding the layout and how the various feature work. You’ll need to have necessary knowhow around image editors and how their various tools work, such as the “fill,” “blur,” “crop,” and “smudge” to effectively use Pixlr.
There is a diverse assortment of editing and drawing tools, paint and filters options. Professional photo editors will take pleasure using familiar tools such as the Gaussian Blur, Night Vision, and Heat Map. The companion web app, Pixlr-o-Matic, offers excellent creativity options for photo filters.
This app is among the best photo editing software that was once available as a downloadable app for Mac but was recently shifted by the developers of this free photo editor into an online-only platform.
Excels:
- A Customizable interface;
- Best Mac photo editor for layers and masks support;
- Opens photos from desktop or URLs
Fails:
- Requires Flash;
- Contains some ads.
Price: Free
10. Preview
Preview Photo Viewer – Best Photo Editor Pre-installed App on Mac OS
Preview is a photo viewing, and editing app for mac provided as part of Mac OS and has proved itself as a worthy tool for tweaking your photos and images. Overlooking best photo editing apps for mac you already have is easy, like Preview viewer: The Tool’s menu offers options for adjusting colors and sizes. You can also export your editing tasks in multiple file formats.
Apple’s Photos app contains some handy tools too. You can experiment with automatic enhancement features which apply the best optimization settings for your image. Red-eye removal and minor blemishes get easily removed. You can also use special effects filters easily and adjust the color parameters, as well as rotating and cropping images.
In Mac OS High Sierra, Apple improves its photo editing software in several important manners. As it is with the rest of the OS, it’s not a complete overhaul, but slightly tweaked up features and additional tools that make the app more powerful and usable. New tools and functions applicable to Live Photos from other iOS devices are among the new elements. The pre-installed app offers some exceptional sharing and organization capabilities.
Excels:
- Free;
- Slick interface;
- Plug-in support;
- Cool features for iOS Live Photos;
- Intuitive; Good sharing options;
- Best Mac photo editor for face recognition;
- Capable auto-correction.
Fails:
- Auto-albums aren’t editable;
- Filters not adjustable.
Price: Free
Conclusion
Professional photo editors in the digital era have come to rely on multitudes of software for completing various editing tasks. Choosing the best photo editing software on your Mac for the job at hand defines the success rate of the particular work. However, no specific software singularly performs all the photo editing tasks. As such, using a combination of more than one of these apps makes working more efficient and fruitful.