Indeed, you might have assumed that Adobe Photoshop was the only real game in town, but there are loads of options – many of which don’t require paying an ongoing subscription, and some of which are even free. The AP team all use different photo-editing software, and I’ve drawn on their expertise and experience to put together this guide. 

Whether you’re just looking for something simple to crop and tidy up a few images, or a full-blown processing too l for making professional-looking photos, I’m confident there will be something here for you. Scroll to the bottom of the article for helpful tips on how to choose the right photo editing software. There are also more options in our guides dedicated to the best subscription-free photo editing software and the best free photo editing software.

The best photo editing software: our quick list

Here’s a quick reference list of the image editing programs we’ve picked for our list, along with links to get the best prices…

Best subscription-based photo editing software:

• Best image editing software overall: Adobe Photoshop – Buy now
• Best photo editing software for beginners: Adobe Lightroom – Buy now
• Best photo editing software for Windows: Zoner Photo Studio X – Buy now
• Best editing software for studio photography: CaptureOne Pro – Buy now

Best subscription-free photo editing software:

• Best Photoshop alternative: Affinity Photo 2 – Buy now
• Best RAW processor: DxO PhotoLab 7 – Buy now
• Best AI image editor: Skylum Luminar NEO – Buy now
• Best Adobe subscription-free: Adobe Photoshop Elements – Buy now

Best free photo editing software:

• Best free Photoshop alternative: GIMP – visit site
• Best free RAW processor: RawTherapee – visit site

Best mobile image editing software:

• Best image editing app: Snapseed – Google Play / App Store

Read on to learn more about why we rate each of these image editing programs, with links to full reviews by our team of writers and photographers…

Best subscription-based photo editing software

Opinions are divided on the subscription model for software, but as more and more companies move in this direction, it’s something we can’t ignore. Many of the top-tier, professional standard programs are subscription or nothing. There are some pretty good deals for photographers which can soften the blow of monthly payments a little. Here are our picks of the best subscription services for photo editing.

Best image editing software overall: Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop has been practically synonymous with photo editing for decades now, to the point where many people casually use ‘photoshopped’ as a generic term for an edited or retouched image. Amusingly, Adobe has a page on its website that instructs us to say ‘The image was enhanced using Adobe® Photoshop® software’ instead of ‘The image was photoshopped’. This seems unlikely to catch on. That to be “photoshopped” is a part of the common language is a sign of its pre-eminence and success.

Photoshop is indeed a superb piece of photo editing software. Whether you need to clone out distractions, rescue blown-out highlights, convert an image to monochrome, process RAW files (via the Camera Raw plugin) or perform any of the other myriad tasks that might befall a photo editor, Photoshop will be well equipped. We reviewed the most recent version of Adobe Photoshop, and its ability to clean up and declutter images has been made faster than ever thanks to new AI-powered object selection tools.

These days it is impossible to talk about Adobe software without talking about AI, as the firm is going all-in on it. Newer versions of Photoshop have come loaded with powerful generative AI tools such as Generative Fill and Generative Expand, which allow you to radically transform images with generative content. Those who just want to edit photos without all that may be dismayed that Adobe has, in fact, embraced it fully.

The full version of Photoshop is subscription-only, as it has been for a long time. The popular $9.99 / £9.99 Photography bundle has been discontinued by Adobe and replaced by a Photoshop-Lightroom combo with 1TB storage for $19.99 / £19.97 per month – though be warned that cancellation is a more complex affair than you might think. Adobe is infamous for its sneaky ‘cancellation fees’ that hit users who have the temerity to not want to give them money anymore.

Read our full Adobe Photoshop review

Best photo editing software for beginners: Adobe Lightroom

If you’re subscribed to Photoshop, chances are good that you’ve got Lightroom too, as the most cost-efficient subscription gives access to both. While Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom programs share many features, the key appeal of Lightroom lies in its extensive cataloguing and image-management features. These allow you to use keywording and rating to organise your images and single out the keepers. If you’re regularly sifting through large numbers of files, it is an enormous timesaver.

Lightroom is also no slouch when it comes to photo editing. While Photoshop is the more powerful program with a more comprehensive suite of options, Lightroom is still excellent, and many photographers use Lightroom exclusively. Its image-repair and enhancement tools are precise and intuitive, and the highly fine-tunable masking function can be immensely useful. You can also easily copy your changes to multiple images for speedy batch editing.

Read our guide to Lightroom vs Photoshop: which is right for you? And for more advice, check out our guide to the pros and cons of RAW vs JPEG.

Best photo editing software for Windows: Zoner Photo Studio X

This Windows-only software is designed to be the complete package when it comes to photo editing – so it’s also a raw processor, an image organiser and even a photobook designer. It offers plenty of Photoshop-like tools, including Layer adjustments, and the interface is well designed. The program includes plenty of camera and lens correction profiles too, with the option to upload more if needed. This latest version also runs much better than previous iterations of the software, with plenty of bug fixes and performance enhancements having been introduced.

ZPS X doesn’t have Adobe’s ultra-advanced features like Neural Filters, and its corrections aren’t as good as those you’d find in the likes of Photoshop or DxO PhotoLab. However, as a start-to-finish photo editing program, it does a very good job indeed, and is definitely a credible option for those looking for a solid Photoshop alternative.

Read our interview with photographer Kevin Bruseby on getting more from Zoner Photo Studio X.

Best editing software for studio photography: CaptureOne Pro

Its interface combines features similar to Lightroom catalogues for image storage, management and editing, but also offers the best features of Photoshop, like adjustment layers, masks, and advanced colour grading tools. You can also create so-called ‘Sessions’: standalone projects that are streamlined to include only the current photos you are working on, making it free of distractions. However, after finishing with a session, there is an option to import it into your CaptureOne catalogue and apply further editing, too.

Providing an excellent RAW processing performance and comprehensive support for USB and wireless tethering (your shots are transported to your computer in real time, where you can apply edits while you shoot), it became a must-have for many professional studio photographers. Even though it’s compatible with over 450 camera models, it only supports tethered capture for Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Leica, Sigma and Phase One/Mamiya.

There is an option to purchase the software with a one-off payment (£299), but with this, you won’t get any regular software updates. Alternatively, you can pay a monthly subscription fee, starting from £14.99 and have the benefit of regular bug fixes and updates.

Best subscription-free photo editing software

We get it – not everyone wants to be on the hook to a digital landlord for the rest of their photo-taking life. Less than $10/£10 a month for Photoshop and Lightroom may feel like a really good deal, but if you’re planning on using the software for years on end, those monthly fees mount up. You may be better off paying full-price up front for software that’s yours to own and keep.

For a more detailed round-up, check out our full guide to the best subscription-free photo editing software. Or read on to discover some of the best photo-editing software that’s available as a one-time purchase with no subscription required.

Best Photoshop alternative: Affinity Photo 2

Affinity Photo 2 is probably the best Photoshop alternative for those who want a one-time purchase program for photo editing and other image work. Acquiring it forever is the same price as seven months of Photoshop and Lightroom on the Photography Bundle, and for that you get a sophisticated editor with non-destructive workflow, layer editing, masking controls, and plenty more of the kinds of features photographers expect.

The program isn’t the most immediately user-friendly for beginners; those new to image editing will undergo a bit of a learning curve at first. However, once used to the way the program wants you to think, and swapping between its different ‘Personas’ depending on the task you’re performing, it does get much easier. One thing we particularly appreciated in our review was getting our heads around the adjustment presets, which let you save and re-use your favourite adjustments – a real time-saver for batch-editing.

Read our full Affinity Photo 2 review.

Best RAW processor: DxO PhotoLab 8

This powerful software from DxO is especially potent for processing raw files. DxO’s de-noising technologies, DeepPRIME and DeepPRIME XD2S, provide huge benefits in terms of rescuing detail in shots that are suffering from a significant amount of digital noise due to being shot at high ISOs. The process is fast and highly effective, able to turn shots you might have written off as irredeemable into something you can make prints from.

If you’re using an older camera that gets noisy very quickly when the ISO is turned up, PhotoLab could help extend its lease of life. When we reviewed PhotoLab 8 we were hugely impressed – the newly added hue mask and improved lens softness compensation, along with a new version of DeepPRIME XD2S niose reduction feature, work better than ever. The long-awaited luminosity mask and also a compare tool similar to the one seen in Lightroom have been added too.

LUTs (Colour Lookup tables) are colour filters invaluable for video editors. DxO Photolab 8 includes 17 initial choices, but it also supports third-party LUTs as well. This tool is used increasingly among photographers, as it helps speed up their workflow through automatic colour correction and colour grading.

Read more about the DxO PhotoLab 8

Best AI image editor: Skylum Luminar NEO

While Skylum Luminar does have a subscription model, it also offers the option of a one-time-only lifetime purchase of the software. This will ultimately save you money in the long-run, and there is a 30-day trial period in which you can get a refund if the software is not to your taste.

Skylum Luminar NEO is the latest iteration of a piece of software that’s been around for some time – originally, the developer was named Macphun, and made products exclusively for Apple operating systems. These days, Skylum Luminar NEO is a program aiming to fulfil the roles of both Photoshop and Lightroom, with a full suite of photo editing and photo organising tools. It’s stuffed with AI-powered tools like background removal and noise reduction and also offers tons of presets for those who don’t mind letting the program make a few editing decisions for them.

Read our full Skylum Luminar NEO review.

Best subscription-free Adobe software: Photoshop Elements 2025

Believe it or not, if you want to use Adobe software but don’t want to subscribe to Creative Cloud, you do have options – up to a point. The ‘Elements’ programs (there’s one for Premiere, too) have always been the lightweight alternatives to the big dogs for those who don’t want or need an advanced level of complex functionality. And until recently, they’ve always been available as one-time purchase, rather than in the subscription model.

However, while the former is still true for Photoshop Elements, the latter is not. Adobe now only sells this version as a three-year licence. It’s a disappointingly greedy move that’s clearly designed to shunt you over to the full-fat version, and while it was probably inevitable, I reserve my right to complain about it.

But enough on the price – how does the software perform? Very well! It takes many of Photoshop’s high-level functions and presents them in a way that’s much more immediately comprehensible to the average user. It’s big on ‘Guided Edits’, which help you make sense of what you’re doing – you can switch at any time between ‘Quick’, ‘Guided’ and ‘Expert’ modes, depending on how confident you’re feeling.

You get AI-powered object removal to play with, as well as the AI-powered Depth of Field effect from Lightroom. You can edit raw files as long as you download Adobe Camera Raw, and there’s a separate Organizer module for cataloguing and sorting through your images – a bit fiddly perhaps, but it’s fairly painless.

If you want to do quick touch-ups of images and would appreciate a helping hand, Photoshop Elements is a decent bet. However, the replacement of the permanent licence with a three-year one really does sting, and makes the software look like much worse value than it used to.

Read our full guide to Adobe Photoshop Elements

Best free photo-editing software

If the monthly subscriptions and one-time costs are beyond your budget, fear not – there’s lots of excellent free software out there for editing photos. We have an entire guide dedicated to the best free photo editing software right now – but here are two of the applications we feel are the best.

Best free Photoshop alternative: GIMP

The GNU Image Manipulation Program, or GIMP as it apparently must be known, is a free and open-source image editor that you can download, install and run in barely the time it would take to read this paragraph – no credit card required. GIMP has always been free, and is maintained by a devoted team of enthusiasts. It offers a powerful photo editing suite to rival Photoshop or Affinity Photo, and there are tons of community-developed plugins that allow you to make it your own. It’s infamously tricky to get to grips with – though recent updates have made it a lot more user-friendly than it once was.

GIMP 3.0 was released at the end of March 2025, eagerly awaited by large segments of the photo community. A sensible update, it doesn’t radically overhaul the interface, but provides general workflow improvements and operability tweaks that make the program more user-friendly than it’s ever been. GIMP is definitely worth a try if you’re looking for a free editor – it’ll literally cost you nothing to give it a go!

Best free RAW processor: RawTherapee

When you first boot up RawTherapee, you might be a little overwhelmed at the complexity of what you’re looking at. We’ve found that this free raw conversion software is not blessed with the most intuitive of interfaces, with tons of tool panels and a huge array of features. Geeks will be in heaven; normies might feel a little overwhelmed. However, if you do want to wade into the ins and outs of raw processing and don’t have cash to spend, the amount of power you get for free here is absolutely incredible.

Though RawTherapee wasn’t updated for a while, it eventually did see a welcome new version in May 2025. This update added support for various cameras and lenses, as well as a new Dehaze option, additional Distortion Correction tools and other fixes and improvements (see here for the full patch notes).

Best free photo editing software for Mac: Apple Photos

Despite being pre-installed, the Apple Photos editing software can be a little bit hidden away, and many Mac users might not be aware that they actually have a perfectly capable photo editor already on their machine. While it doesn’t offer advanced features like Layers, the Apple Photos interface offers a number of options for adjusting your images, including standard sliders for Brightness, Contrast, etc, as well as a Curves panel and Sharpening tools.

It also offers a number of automated modes that will enhance your photos for you, showing you what settings have been changed on the sliders so you can further adjust to taste. It’s a nice balance between automation and user-input. The straightening tool is also really good – a fast, intuitive radial wheel that automatically crops your image as you turn it. 

While GIMP is inarguably the more powerful editor, Apple Photos is a simple and capable option for Mac users, one that you don’t even need to download – it’s already there! There’s also an app available for iPhone and iPad, allowing you to easily sync your library and editing across multiple devices. 

Best mobile image editing software

Finally, we’re taking a quick look at the best apps for editing photos on the go. Most photographers likely snap plenty of pics on their phone as well as their camera, and there are plenty of apps out there to help you kick your smartphone photography game up a notch. We have a whole dedicated guide to the best photo apps for phones, including editing apps – but read on for our top recommendation.

Best image editing app: Snapseed

We regard Snapseed as one of the top choices for photo editors on mobile – while there are plenty of competitors out there, truthfully you’re unlikely to go wrong with Snapseed. It’s great. A completely free, Google-made app, available for both iPhones and Android devices, Snapseed puts a powerful and intuitive editor in the palm of your hand.

As well as standard tools like cropping and rotating images, Snapseed also enables Curves adjustments, with a range of presets available to make things easier. It’s perfect both for those who want a streamlined, automated process, and for those who like to dive in deep and get granular with their adjustments. And – need we remind you – it’s free!

Read our guide to how to edit your photos in Snapseed.

How to choose the right photo editing software?

First of all, consider your needs and make a list of what are the most essential features you want to get from your editing software, this will help you narrow down your options. The most suitable photo editing software for you depends on what kind of photography you are doing and whether you are a beginner enthusiast or a pro in editing.

Subscription or one-time purchase

Most of the providers offer either a one-time purchase or a monthly or yearly subscription. With purchasing a one-off license, you own the program forever, and will pay less if you break down your cost per month, as the longer you use it essentially the cheaper it gets. Their downside however, is that they usually don’t provide software updates, and you can miss out on important bug fixes and new plug-ins. The subscription-based options, on the other hand, benefit from regular software updates, but you pay a monthly or yearly fee, and your access to the software stops when you stop paying the subscription.

System requirements

You will need sufficient horsepower to run the latest editing software, so if your computer is somewhat outdated, this can be an issue. Check on the manufacturer’s website for the recommended RAM, graphics card size and type, operating system and monitor resolution recommendations. For example, Photoshop’s system requirements state 16 GB as recommended; however, you can get away with the minimum 8GB, but speed and performance may be curbed.

Consider whether you have enough hard disk space to run it. I am not talking about space to install the software, but having enough free hard disk space to run it.

Another important aspect is how often the provider releases software updates. These often include shiny new features like Photoshops’ Generative AI but can be other useful things like support for newly released cameras and lens profile corrections.

Cross-Platform Licensing

If you use a MacBook or laptop on the go as well as a PC or iMac at home, you want to check if your chosen software offers what’s called cross-platform licensing. This allows you to use the same software on your Mac and PC without purchasing a new license. Some subscriptions also let you download the same software to more than one device, so you can pick up where you left off on another device.

Workflow and organisation

Would you like to edit as well as catalogue your images? Most software offers comprehensive cataloguing and rating features to help manage your image files. It is easy to shoot in burst and fill up your hard drives, so it is more and more important to be able to easily locate your files.

Features

All of the editors listed here will include the essential editing tools, but depending on the style and genre you are shooting and editing, your ideal editor will differ greatly. You might want built-in filters or presets that can be easily applied for a quick fix, AI editing features, or generative fill.

Or maybe you want to work on different layers to composite multiple images together. If you edit your images one by one, practically any of the editors will suit you; however, if your work requires editing multiple images with similar changes, like in event or wedding photography, then you want to make sure batch editing is included in the features.

For macro or product photography, software that’s capable of compiling focus-stacked photos will be essential, but for someone who shoots wildlife, effective noise reduction will be a lifesaver. It all depends on your own unique wants and needs.

Final take away

When you have one or more potential software on your list, make sure to download their trial versions. It is a lot easier to make up your mind after you actually worked with them in real life. Choose three images and edit them in each program; this way you can compare the ease of use and features and get a good idea if you will be comfortable using it on the long run.

Related reading:

• Get the vintage film look with digital photos
• How to edit photos – guide to Adobe Photoshop Elements
• Best software for black & white editing
• Best video editing software for beginners and pros

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The post What’s the best photo editing software in 2025? These are my picks appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

Quick overview:

All of this and more is explained in more detail below:

1. What’s in a name?

Long-term users and beginners alike may be confused about the Lightroom options. It now exists in two main forms: Classic and CC. Lightroom Classic (previously LR CC) is the same app many LR users have been enjoying for years. By contrast, the new Lightroom CC departs from the traditional method of storing photos on a local drive, and replaces the old Lightroom Mobile. Instead, original photos are uploaded to online cloud storage so they can be accessed, edited and synced across your desktop, tablet and phone.

2. Picking a plan

Adobe offers three Lightroom and/or Photoshop plans. At $19.99 a month, the Photography Plan gets you both versions of Lightroom – Classic vs CC – plus Photoshop CC and 1TB of cloud storage. The second option, which is $11.99 a month, gets you LR CC and LR Classic with a healthy 1TB cloud storage, but no Photoshop CC. 1TB may sound like a lot, but if you shoot thousands of images, you may need to upgrade at some point.

3. Important similarities

Both versions share a range of useful features. The Develop controls are mostly the same: there are near-identical tonal sliders, selective adjustments, tone curve, split toning, HSL controls, black & white tools, presets, profiles, spot removal and more. Both also let you organise photos with flags and stars. However, there are fundamental differences. The question is, which version is right for you?

4. Cloud vs local storage

Do you want to store all your photos on the cloud or locally on a hard drive? This decision goes to the heart of the Classic vs CC debate. The cloud offers ease of use across devices and is arguably safer than local storage (unless you’ve adopted a rigorous backup routine). However, even with Adobe’s 1TB of cloud storage, space will be more limited on the cloud and uploading photos may take time.

5. Integration with mobile

Lightroom CC has been designed to work seamlessly across all your devices. All changes sync and update, so you can begin editing on your desktop, then switch to your tablet or phone – and everything is synced. For those who edit on the go, the seamless workflow offered by CC is the better option.

6. Import dialog

The Import dialog is one of the cherished features of LR Classic (when Adobe tried to ‘simplify’ it a couple of years ago the uproar caused an immediate U-turn). Among the comprehensive options, you can apply presets on import, convert to DNG, add keywords, create collections and much more. By contrast, other than an ‘Add to an album’ option the CC import dialog is completely bare.

7. Albums or Collections?

Experienced Lightroom Classic users will be aware of the power of Collections. They let you create groups and categories of images without shifting around files or making copies. LR CC doesn’t have Collections, but it does have Albums, which work in the same way. However LR Classic’s Collections are more advanced, with options to create Smart Collections based on parameters like camera data or star ratings.

8. Clever searches

One of the stand-out features in LR CC that isn’t available in LR Classic is the Search bar – for searching your image library. The clever thing is that it can recognise subjects and types of scene – like the search for trees here – even if there are no keywords or tags attached to the images. Powered by machine learning, this is the future of image cataloguing – and great news for those tired of keywording.

9. Dual monitor support

Using dual monitors is essential to many photographers. It means we can place all our panels and tools on our secondary screen, leaving our main display free to display the image as large as possible. Unfortunately, it’s only an option with LR Classic – LR CC’s single window interface doesn’t work across dual monitor set-ups, but does let you use a second monitor for limited views.

10. Slider locations

Many of the tools and settings found in LR Classic (and Photoshop’s Camera Raw plugin) are also present in LR CC, although in some cases they are grouped together differently. For example, the sliders found within the Classic Basic Panel are laid out in terms of Light, which includes Exposure, Shadows, Highlights, and then in terms of Color, which includes white balance and saturation.

11. Workflow tricks

Lightroom edits images by changing their appearance within the program rather than altering the pixels in an open-edit-save workflow that Photoshop employs. As such, the approach brings several workflow benefits such as Virtual Copies, which let you make several versions of an image without creating memory-sapping copies on your drive. It’s another useful workflow feature that isn’t on offer in LR CC.

12. History panel

Found on the left side of LR Classic’s Develop Module, the History panel remembers every single edit you make to an image, so it’s useful if you need to retrace your steps or restore a previous version of your image. LR CC lacks this helpful feature.

13. Syncing

If you adopt the LR CC cloud-based workflow, then your original photos are stored in the cloud, and any edits are synced to your library instantly. LR Classic works differently – you can still edit synced photos on mobile devices using LR Mobile, but rather than the originals, you work on Smart Previews, which are then synced back to your main image library the next time you open LR Classic on your desktop.

14. Syncing in LR Classic

With Classic, you have to manually choose which collections you’d like to sync by clicking the double arrow sync icon to the left of the collection within the Collections panel. When using LR CC, all images are synced automatically across your devices for a seamless workflow. As such, LR CC’s synced workflow is much slicker.

15. Range Masking

One of the best recent additions in LR Classic are the Range Mask controls. These let you create precise local adjustments by zeroing in on parts of an image based on their tonal or colour values, making it easy to isolate and adjust objects or areas of a photo in seconds. Unfortunately, the feature has yet to make it into LR CC.

16. Classic modules

The LR CC interface is akin to a mixture of LR Classic’s Library and Develop Modules (the two most-used modules), but none of the other modules get a look in. So if you like to geotag photos, create photobooks, slideshows and print, you still need to use Classic.

17. Face recognition

LR Classic can’t match CC’s intelligent search bar, but it does offer one clever library-searching benefit that CC lacks: facial recognition. This works by searching your image library for similar faces, letting you quickly group photos on the basis of who appears in them. Click the face icon in the Library Module to switch it on, then start naming faces to begin compiling.

18. HDRs and panoramas

Creating HDRs or panoramas in Lightroom Classic is quick and easy with the Merge controls found under the Photo menu. Simply choose a set of photos, start the command, work through the simple options, and at the end, Lightroom creates a detail-rich DNG file of the HDR or panoramic image. These features have now been added to Lightroom CC.

• Master Photomerge in Lightroom for outstanding resolution

19. Export options

Like almost everything in LR CC, the Export options are very minimal: you can either save as a JPEG or as ‘original + settings’. There’s no option to export as a TIFF or PSD, but you’ll find these in LR Classic’s more advanced Export dialog. With Classic, you can also set up export presets.

20. Advanced features – Map, Book, Slideshows and more

Lightroom Classic has always featured an advanced Library feature, along with Develop, Map, Book, Slideshow, Print and Web tabs. This lets you create photo projects (and more) from within the program. In comparison, Lightroom (CC) is primarily the “Develop” section, along with some additional features such as a very simplified slideshow feature.

Verdict

For organising an image library, Lightroom Classic wins hands down. Besides the Albums feature, Lightroom CC offers minimal control, and you can’t even rename your images; however, CC does have its amazing Search bar. For editing images, Classic and CC are equally good: Classic offers more advanced workflow options, but CC is slicker, and you can edit video.

Of course, CC is designed for a different audience than those of us who’ve been using Lightroom for years. There’s a reason that certain features aren’t there – things like Smart Collections, Import options, Range Masking, Soft Proofing – they are tools that the casual user doesn’t need.

As such, for professional and advanced photographers and those familiar with Lightroom already, Classic is still the best choice. For beginners, smartphone shooters, casual enthusiasts and anyone who wants to edit on-the-go, Lightroom CC is the friendlier, slicker option.

Related reading:

• Best photo editing packaged – subscription free
• Best photo editing apps for your smartphone
• Adobe Photoshop Review

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Maybe you just want to give your images an Insta-friendly vintage look, or perhaps you want to get truly granular with full-on RAW files. Either way, there’s an app for you, from phone-optimised versions of popular tools like Photoshop, to single-purpose apps that do basically one task, and do it very well.

There’s a lot of choice out there for both Android and iPhones, so I’ve aimed to cover the broadest selection possible. Some of the apps on the list are free, some have a one-time cost, and others are subscription-based – I’ve tried to provide as much transparency on costs as possible to help you make your choice. 

For some more tips on how to choose and what I think about these selections, scroll to the bottom of this page. Also, don’t forget to check out our detailed look at how a smartphone can help your photography, explaining everything you need to know about smartphone shooting.

Best photo editing apps for your smartphone: quick list

If you need to get right to the action, here is a quick rundown of our picks of the best editing apps on the market right now, along with links to download or buy them.

• Best for quick edits: Photoshop Express – Try now
• Best for presets: VSCO – Try now
• Best for Raw image editing: Photoshop Lightroom – Try now
• Best for advanced editing and layers – Adobe Photoshop – Try now
• Best for professional photographers: Snapseed – Google Play Store / Apple App Store
• Best for iPhones: Pixelmator – Apple App Store
• Best for creative designs and styles: PicsArt – Google Play Store / Apple App Store
• Best for networking and growing your brand: Instagram – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for backing up your photos: Google Photos – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for fun edits and styles: Lensa – AI photo editor – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for built-in presets: Pixlr – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for the vintage film look: 1998 Cam – Google Play / Apple Store
• Highest rated: Photo Editor Pro (by InShot Inc) – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for Instax users: INSTAX UP! – Google Play / Apple App Store
• Best for colouring in black and white photos: Colorize – Google Play / Apple App Store

Read on to learn more about each of these apps, and why I rate them as the best photo-editing apps you can download for your phone…

Best photo editing apps for your smartphone

Here are the top apps I’d recommend you download for photo editing, with options for iOS and Android, as well as highlights and reasons why you’ll want the software, as well as what it’s good for.

Best for quick edits: Photoshop Express

At a glance:

• Free to download from www.adobe.com, but premium features require a Creative Cloud Subscription
• Available for both Android and iOS

With “Photoshop” in its name, it comes as no surprise that this photo editor has it all. Features include layer editing, core exposure and colour adjustments as well as the Heal tool to remove blemishes and distractions. If you want to ramp up the editing, then Photoshop Express has you covered with advanced technology such as Auto Object Selection, Face Contouring, and AI image generation.

That said, I liked all the advanced tech, but there are also more fun features too, with an emphasis on creating tools for social media use. From text and graphics to easy-to-use collage tools, so you can merge multiple images together.

There are also hundreds of effects and themes to choose from if you are looking for an express edit.

One further set of noteworthy features is Quick Actions, where complex jobs can be completed in one click. Jobs such as adding Denoise to a grainy image, smoothing out skin or even adding digital make-up to your subject. Almost all of Photoshop’s power, compressed into a smartphone app – amazing!

Best for presets: VSCO

At a glance:

• Free to download basic version; Plus / Pro versions $2.50 / $5 per month
• Available for both Android and iOS
• Free and paid subscriptions available from vsco.co

VSCO has been around for a while now, but has somewhat come into its own more recently, quietly amassing one of the best Film Simulation libraries outside of Fujifilm. If you want to drench your images in Kodachrome cool or give them an ethereal monochrome infrared makeover, VSCO is one of the best ways to do it.

It’s favoured by AP’s deputy editor Geoff Harris, who described it as ‘one of the best photo-editing apps you’ve never heard of.’ While Geoff found the initial setup to be a little bit like hard work — with menus overly relying on skeuomorphic symbols rather than just explaining what’s what — once he got used to VSCO’s layout, he found he had a highly capable editor on his hands. The combination of well-made filters with extensive editing tools means you get the best of both worlds, with the ability to one-tap your images into retro style or spend extended time tweaking them just to your liking.

If you’re a frequent traveller who wants to give your shots a little more pop, VSCO is a brilliant choice, available for both Android and iOS, as well as even your computer if you want to use it through your browser. There is a caveat to that though — the free version is very basic indeed, acting basically as a trailer for the Plus and Pro versions, which come at a subscription cost. For what you get, we’d judge VSCO to be worth the outlay, but this is worth bearing in mind.

Read more: VSCO who? It’s one of the best photo-editing apps you’ve never heard of

Best for Raw image editing: Photoshop Lightroom

At a glance:

• Free to download from www.adobe.com, but premium features require a Creative Cloud Subscription
• Available for both Android and iOS

Photographers know what Lightroom can do and how it works, so the smartphone version will be instantly familiar to those who have used the software on a desktop. The combination of one-click Presets and easy-to-use sliders makes this a great editing app for photographers who need to quickly edit images on the go.

I dug a little deeper and was able to access more advanced features, such as being able to quickly remove Chromatic Aberration or enable Lens Corrections. This is particularly useful if you want to correct the effect of wide-angle lenses.

Remember, you can edit RAWs as well as JPEGs, and there are also plenty of sharing options available, such as the ability to choose the file type you export the image as (JPEG, TIFF, DNG) or the option of uploading straight onto your social media channels such as Facebook or Instagram.

Photoshop Lightroom is available for Android and iOS, you can also further edit your images in Photoshop Express.

Best for advanced editing and layers: Adobe Photoshop Mobile

• Free to download from Adobe.com, but premium features require a subscription for $7.99/£7.99 monthly or ($69.99/£69.99 yearly)
• Available for Apple only, with an Android version expected in late 2025

Even though Photoshop Express already offers some advanced editing features you might be used to from the desktop version, it is more geared towards quick edits. So Adobe’s latest release, the Photoshop mobile app is aiming to bridge this gap and offers more advanced tools. 

There is an easy-to-use and accurate selection tool where you can simply tap to create a selection. As opposed to Photoshop Express, here you can create unlimited layers and use precise selections, layer masks and blending modes or use Spot Healing Brush. The app is also compatible with Adobe Express, Adobe Stock you also have the latest Generative Fill and Generative AI tools available as well.

However, some advanced features like Content Aware Fill, Object Select, Magic Wand, Clone Stamp, and the Remove tool are subscription based. If you have already subscribed to a Photoshop Plan, these tools are available to you for free otherwise, they will set you back $7.99/£7.99 as a monthly subscription ($69.99/£69.99 yearly)

Best free editing app for professional photographers: Snapseed

At a glance:

• Free: GooglePlay / Apple App Store

Whisper it quietly, but Snapseed (now owned by Google) has actually been around for over a decade. Think of it as a one-stop shop for editing your images because this app really does have it all. Recently, Google revamped the whole app on iOS with a new interface, more than two dozen new pro tools and beautiful vintage film effects. The new ios look includes a faves tab in the middle where you can save your go-to editing tools. IN the Tools tab on the right you can find all the available editing tools for retouching and adjustments, and when you scroll down find the new FIlm filters under the Style tab. The new favourites tab and film simulation filters are only available for iOS users, with no specified timeline as to when it will be added for Android users.

Available for both Android and iOS, Snapseed tools range from basic exposure/colour adjustments to more advanced HDR and Mono conversion features. The Head Pose option offers a Liquify-style solution to change the direction of gazes in your portraits, while the Selective options will allow for precise adjustments to both JPEG and RAW files.

Perspectives can be altered, and distractions can be quickly banished with the Healing tool option. For those feeling more creative, Double Exposures can be created in seconds, and vignettes and borders can be accessed to add the final touches to your images.

With the latest update, edited photos are saved in the gallery next to the original images, instead of a new folder. This makes locating your edits a little complicated. Photos can be exported as new files or you can overwrite your original photo to save space on your smartphone. I think you’ll struggle to find a better free photo app, full stop.

Read our guide to editing photos in Snapseed, or have a look at how to edit black and white photos in Snapseed.

Best for creative designs and styles: PicsArt

At a glance:

• Free (with premium subscription): Google Play Store / Apple app store

While the PicsArt app has been around in some form or another for some time, it has more recently rebranded itself with a focus on AI. So in the marketing copy on the store pages, you can expect to see a lot of references to generating smart backgrounds, expanding images, and even generating new images from whole cloth. However, even if you’re completely uninterested in this stuff, PicsArt is a solid image editor for both Android and iOS.

Its interface puts all the usual tools at your fingertips, with cropping and clone tools as well as curve adjustments. There are also plenty of attractive special effects, including film-like filters for a retro look. Annoyingly, the Android version of the app disables screenshotting so it’s hard to demonstrate, but I found the picture styles to be pretty attractive, and it was generally easy to find one keeping with the tone of the image I was editing.

The app is free to use, though it will nag you to upgrade to a premium subscription, which unlocks most of the smart AI-powered features. PicsArt can also be used for video and is available for both Android and iOS.

Best for iPhone and iOS: Pixelmator

• $9.99 / £9.99: Apple app store

Here are some lovely words we don’t hear often enough these days: Pixelmator is an app that costs £9.99/$9.99. No, that’s not the monthly fee, that’s the total cost – pay it, and this fully featured editing app is yours. In this era of death by a thousand subscriptions, being able to just pay a few and own an app is a joyous, glorious thing. And you might be best off acting soon, as the Pixelmator start-up has now been purchased by the Big Apple itself. While it’s a welcome sign that Apple is taking photo editing more seriously, it could also mean that the subscription-free glory days could come to an abrupt end. We’ll see.

Either way, the app itself is excellent. Well-optimised for Apple devices, both iPhone and iPad, it offers an intuitive interface and a powerful suite of tools. It’ll suit the kind of editors who just want to add a quick filter to their images and share it, just as well as it’ll suit someone who wants to get granular with their colours and tones. It can also import and export PSD files, so is a great choice if you want to move away from Photoshop.

There is also a dedicated option for quick photo edits, Photomator – think of as Lightroom to Pixelmator’s Photoshop. We’ve stuck with Pixelmator as our recommendation, partly because Photomator is a subscription model, but with or both could potentially work for your editing.

Best for networking and growing your brand: Instagram

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store

Yes, Instagram has lost its way a little over the years, and now there’s a shift on the platform towards Reels and adverts. That said, I simply can’t deny the ‘Grams’ power for getting your photos in front of a massive audience. The simple-to-use filter function does allow for a big change and very stylised effects, but obviously, there are more advanced features to correct exposure, enhance colours and ramp up contrast.

Detail can be improved via Structure and Sharpening sliders, and finishing touches such as vignettes can be added. Of course, it’s worth remembering that Instagram is also a great app for inspiration too.

I particularly like the facility, when going off to a landscape location, to view what other photographers have captured at the scene. Tap in #LocationName and you can explore compositional options before you even reach the place. Yes, this app is used by far too many for silly selfies, but at its heart, it’s a fantastic photography resource.

Best for backing up your photos: Google Photos

At a glance:

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store (with in-app purchases)

It’s no surprise that Google Photos is a thoroughly comprehensive photo app. Essentially, you get 15GB of storage for free, more if you pay. I like to think of the app as a home for your photos as there are also a lot of options for storing and quickly finding your imagery.

That’s not to say that the app neglects the editing features. Photos can be quickly enhanced with a high degree of precision. Thanks to sliders that allow you to increase or decrease values such as Saturation, Exposure, Highlights and more. If you have a Google Pixel smartphone, you also benefit from a range of additional features, such as Magic Eraser, which allows the removal of unwanted objects from your photos.

There are additional ‘wizard’ style features, such as Auto Enhance Lighting, which work well and will save you a fair amount of time. Lastly, the app makes it very easy to complete the job and forward on edited images to contacts in your phone, which will appeal to those working in creative teams.

Google Photos often comes pre-installed on Android phones, but it is also available to download from Google Play. For iPad and iOS users it can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

Best for fun edits and styles: Lensa – AI photo editor

At a glance:

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store (in-app purchases for some of the main features like Magic Avatars)

This photo editing app is available for iOS and Android, and is known for creating amazing looking avatars (profile pictures) which it calls “Magic Avatars“, and you’ll have probably seen them on social media. You can even make avatars for you, your dog or cat!

However, it can also be used for a number of other cool effects, and photo edits, including Magic Retouch – for portrait enhancement, with one touch. You can use it to separate your subject and background, as well as carry out all the other photo edits (like brightness, contrast, saturation) as expected.

When I was loading it for the first time, it recommended a free trial and purchasing the app. However, this can be skipped so that you can try the app for free. In use, the app is easy to use, with no account needed, and you simply import your favourite images to start editing. It can seem a little slow at times, but this may vary depending on your phone and internet speeds.

To use the main AI features like Magic Avatars will cost money, which is a real shame, as you can’t just try this feature out without payment.

For general editing, it does have some really useful features, like being able to adjust the exposure in the sky separately from the foreground. The foreground and background can also be adjusted separately for people and other subjects like pets. As mentioned the usual adjust saturation, sharpness and general editing options are available, but it’s the Effects and Art Styles that can really make your images stand out, with lots of different options available.

Best for built-in presets: Pixlr

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store (with in-app purchases)

Available for iOS and Android, (and Windows), this free app is packed with easy-to-use features that can completely transform a photo and allow you to add a creative stamp on the frame. From the more conventional exposure and colour adjustments. Pixlr also offers a highly effective Autofix option, which does a great job of enhancing the image and even balancing the exposure of skies in landscape scenes.

There’s also a camera function that adds ‘Picture Style’ filters so I was able to get an idea of how my final image will look. The Collage feature showcases multiple images at the same time. One of the coolest features Pixlr offers, however, is the huge range of creative borders that can be added around the frame with just one click. From grungy looks to modern and clean borders – there is something for everyone.

Another advantage is that I didn’t have to create an account to use this app; after downloading, it was ready to go.

Best for the vintage film look: 1998 Cam

At a glance:

• Free: Google Play / Apple Store (paid upgrade available)

1998 Cam is, as the title suggests, designed to give you the look of a camera from 1998. In 1998, disposable film cameras were popular, and with this app, you can re-create that retro, nostalgic look without the expense of having to use a film camera.

This app lets you edit your existing photos or take new photos with it. You’ve got a variety of film choices, including all the favourites from Kodak, Fujifilm and more. Plus, you can add that all-important film grain, light leaks, and even the classic date stamp that you used to get with some 35mm film cameras. It works with still photos and video too.

If you are inspired to give your photos a vintage look, read our guide on how to get the film look.

Highest rated: Photo Editor Pro (by InShot Inc)

At a glance:

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store (with adverts)

Now available for iOS too, not just for Android users, Photo Editor Pro has some of the best reviews on the Google Play store and is a great option if you’re looking to edit photos and create collages on your phone. It’s easy to use, with lots of great examples, and has the ability to correct skin blemishes, give images a warmer look, remove backgrounds, or even produce an AI cartoon version of your subject.

Cropping tools come with a number of presets for major social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest, so you know you’ve got the right settings for each one.

You’ll find a whole range of cool filters, including RGB Glitch, and more. In fact there’s so much packed into this photo editing app that we’d be here all day if we went into every feature available. Needless to say, it’s really comprehensive and worthy of the high rating it has.

There is a range of templates available, great if you want to create something quickly, and the collage feature is so quick and easy to use. Some of the more advanced features, such as ToonTap, are actually adverts and take you to other software from the same company, but apart from this, it’s difficult to find anything to complain about.

Best for Instax users: INSTAX UP!

At a glance:

• Free: GooglePlay / Apple App Store

When Fujifilm announced the Instax Mini 12 instant camera earlier this year, they also released their smartphone app Instax Up!, which is available to download for both Android and iOS devices. The app has been designed for instant photographers who want to quickly digitally scan and store their photos. The time and place a photo was taken can be added, as well as tags that can be used to organise your collection of images.

There are several basic editing options available, and you can adjust the photo’s contrast, brightness, saturation, and colour temperature. There’s also an option to share photos through messaging apps or posting directly to social media like Instagram and Twitter.

Best for colouring in black and white photos: Colorize

At a glance:

• Free trial: GooglePlay / Apple App Store (paid upgrade available)

If you are curious how your old family photo album would look in full colour, this app transforms black and white and grayscale images into colourful photographs. Scan your B&W photo or upload one from your camera roll, and with one ta,p the app automatically adds colour to your photo.

You can try out the app for free and colourise a few images, but for unlimited use, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan that offers unlimited black and white colourisation, unlimited saving and sharing as well as photo backup and access on other devices and online.

Available via App Store for iOS and Google Store for Android.

Looking for the best photo editing software for your computer? Check this out

Other useful Photo apps for your phone:

Best for inspiration: 500px

At a glance:

• Free: Apple App Store

Smartphone photography apps don’t always need to help you capture or edit images. Sometimes their job is just to provide inspiration. In this area, apps don’t come better than 500px. 500px has been around for over a decade and is the go-to place to scout out locations, research different portrait lighting techniques, or just to be surprised and inspired by all the amazing imagery on the app.

Dig a little deeper, and you’ll also discover that there are plenty of resources on there for photographers. Although some need to be paid for, others are free. For example, there are videos on ‘how to build a photo set on a budget’ or ‘how to shoot fine art at home’. You can also drill down further and refine your search by typing in keywords, or you can take in one of the curated galleries from the 500px staff.

500px is available for iOS. The Android version is currently absent from the Google Play Store, and it’s not entirely clear why.

Best for digitising old photos: Google PhotoScan

At a glance:

• Free: Google Play / Apple App Store

Available for both Android and iOS devices, this app is designed to make it possible to scan photos using your smartphone without the need for any additional software. The photo app will cleverly merge a number of photos, meaning that it can remove reflections and glare, for example, when using the flash on your smartphone, or from other light sources.

If you need to quickly get a printed photo into digital form, then this is a great way of taking advantage of your smartphone and using free software. If you want to move up to higher-quality scans, then have a look at our guide to photographing film photos at home with a camera.

Best photography planning app: PhotoPills

At a glance:

• Price: $10.99 / £9.49, Google Play / Apple App Store

Paid-for apps need to offer a huge amount of value to compete with the free alternatives. But Photopills really does deserve a place on your home screen. A must-have app for landscape and astrophotographers, the comprehensive app will help you plan and shoot your shots and it works like this. A map feature lets you pinpoint a location with great accuracy. Then, it will display both the direction of light throughout the day and also the times of golden hours or moonlight.

That’s not all though, because there’s also an exposure calculator with a feature to factor in an ND filter (and change the strength of the filter) so you can capture balanced exposures. Add in a Depth Of Field table, a Hyperfocal table, a Star Trail feature and an amazing Night Augmented Reality feature, and you’ll soon realise why this is one of the most highly regarded apps out there. If you shoot any photos outdoors, you must download this app. Photo Pills is available for both Android and iOS.

Best for astrophotographers: SkyView Lite

At a glance:

• Free: GooglePlay / Apple App Store

Want to shoot some astrophotography but feeling a little lost? The free version of SkyView will help you find your bearings, as this clever app works with your phone’s camera and augmented reality technology to help you line up celestial targets that you can then choose to shoot with your phone or to swap in your DSLR and shoot with that instead.

Basically, this app takes all the guesswork out of astrophotography and I found the app to be hugely accurate. For a total investment of absolutely nothing, every photographer should be downloading this app; even if you only use it for the search function alongside using your camera, it’s an excellent piece of technology.

SkyView Lite is available to download for Android and iOS.

Best light meter app for iPhone: Light Mate

At a glance:

• Free: Apple App Store

Smartphone apps can even come in handy for those shooting film. Even though available for iOS only, Light Mate is a highly useful app that can be downloaded completely free. With variables such as shutter speed, aperture and ISO, you can dial in your settings, point your phone at a subject and the camera will read the light levels and suggest the appropriate exposure information.

It works with both the front and back camera on your smartphone (assuming your device has both). It could save you a fair amount of money on over- or underexposing frames on pricey film. The whole app only measures 6MB in size, so it’s definitely one to keep on your phone just in case, and that won’t eat up the storage on your device.

Best for calculating exposures with filters: Lee Filters – Stopper Exposure

• Free: GooglePlay / Apple App Store

If you use Lee Filters out in the field then this app is a must-have that will take all the guesswork out of using the brand’s filters. All you have to do is select between the Little Stopper (6-stops), Big Stopper (10-stops) and Super Stopper (15-stops). Then, dial in what would be the balanced shutter speed without an ND filter.

The app will immediately display the recalculated shutter to use once you’ve swapped in the ND filter, so you don’t have to mess about with trial and error. Better still, once you’ve dialled in the settings, the app even has a timer function. So, if you are using the Bulb function on your camera, you simply start the timer and end the exposure once it’s finished – easy!

Lee Filters – Stopper Exposure is available for both Android and iOS

Other smartphone photography apps to try: ProCam X, Filca, VSCO Cam, and Prisma Art Effect Photo Editor.

How to choose the best editing apps for your phone

When you’re choosing an editing app for your phone, the main thing to establish is what exactly you’re going to be using it for. This might seem like an obvious question, but phone editors come in many different stripes. Some are looking for a way to make the images produced by their phone camera pop a bit more and generally look their best, while others may be looking more for something to complement their main computer editing setup — apps that will let you continue editing the same image seamlessly from desktop to mobile.

There are also plenty of users who don’t want anything too granular but are looking for ways to just add a bit of style to their images, whether that’s through a vintage film filter or a fun photo frame. For these users, easy sharing will also likely be a priority, so an app that connects seamlessly to social media profiles like Instagram is going to be highly valued.

Which photo editing app is right for me?

Depending on what you’re looking for, here are our quickfire recommendations for choosing the right photo editing app.

If you’re looking for deep, granular editing that’s similar to desktop editing software:

• Lightroom
• Snapseed
• Photoshop Express
• Photo Editor Pro

If you’re looking for fun filters and special effects to create images with a difference:

• Picsart
• Pixlr

If you’re looking for AI-powered tools to take the hassle out of editing:

• Lensa

If you want to give your images a vintage, filmic look:

• 1998 Cam

There are other apps with more specialist uses we’ve included on our list above, but these are the best ones to start with if you are looking for simple photo editing functionality.

Text by Matty Graham, with contributions from Joshua Waller, Hollie Latham Hucker and Jon Stapley.

Read our latest smartphone reviews, plus have a look at the best camera phones for photography.

Further reading:

• Using smartphones for street photography
• How to take amazing portraits on a smartphone
• How to take great macro photos on a smartphone
• How to edit black and white photos in Snapseed
• What is pixel binning? Smartphone sensor technology explained

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The post These are my choices for the best photo editing apps in 2025 appeared first on Amateur Photographer.

As photographers and content creators, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing an image-editing program. There’s a tool for out there for all levels of experience, ability and budget (including some that are free).

Adobe’s monthly Photography Plan is pretty good value via the Creative Cloud monthly subscription, so in this article I’ll look at the pros and cons of its constituent programs, Lightroom and Photoshop free photo editing software

Lightroom vs Photoshop – the background

Lightroom Classic and Photoshop share many features such as the same raw processing engine and functions, but they are very different beasts.

Lightroom is an excellent workflow and image management program with capable cataloguing and keywording functionality that make it easy to keep track of your images; provided you make the effort of rating, keywording and using its collection/smart collection features in the first place.

Being able to search for images by their rating is really useful, but you can narrow it down further by searching for the camera or lens used, or even the ISO rating.

Lightroom has progressed over time with its editing features. Its image-repair and enhancement tools and masking skills mean it’s now possible to make local alterations as well as global changes. Its masking function detects the background, subject, object or sky, and there are gradient and radial select tools. Furthermore, masks can be fine-tuned very precisely, including curves functionality.

You can edit one picture and then copy those changes – including masks – to hundreds of others before batch processing and exporting them, with a choice of file types, which is also incredibly useful.

With the recent addition of Denoise AI, Lightroom has now finally gained excellent noise reduction skills; this feature is also in Photoshop’s Camera Raw.

Lightroom’s image editing skills and its credentials as a one-stop editing software have been greatly enhanced with recent updates. However, the ultimate image editor is probably Photoshop; an advanced editing solution with endless potential. Its usefulness goes far beyond photography; the software is used by graphic designers, publishers, animators and so on.

It is fair to say, Photoshop takes a little more learning than Lightroom. Put another way, if you’re starting with both programs from scratch, you’ll become more proficient more quickly with Lightroom.

Adobe Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are available on subscription only (which is a negative for some people) and there’s a selection of plans on offer through Adobe’s Creative Cloud, for Lightroom and Photoshop combined or each program individually.

You do not have to be online to use the desktop Creative Cloud apps, but you can’t have more than two computers with working software. Try using one of them on a third computer and you will be asked to log out of one computer to allow it.

In this overview, we take a look at performing three key image editing techniques using both programs. For reference, we used Photoshop v24.6 and Lightroom v12.4.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – pricing plans

Via a Creative Cloud subscription, you can get both programs as part of the Photography Plan or subscribe to each program separately.

Lightroom plan (1TB)
$9.99 / £9.98 per month

Photography (1TB)
$19.99 / £19.97 per month

Photoshop
$20.99 / *£21.98 per month – *£9.98 for first three months as of June 2024

Lightroom cloning and healing*

* Healing in Lightroom is now known as the “Remove” tool

A few years ago, there was a gulf between the image repair capabilities of Photoshop and Lightroom. Lightroom lacked the control for intricate edits and the result often looked less than seamless; you’d be better off taking the image into Photoshop to repair it with the very controllable Clone Stamp, Healing brush and so on.

You would have access to layers, selection tools and adjustment masks too. Times have changed, though, and cloning in Lightroom is greatly improved.

Cleaning up anything beyond small sensor spots used to be the province of Photoshop, but the advances in Lightroom mean you get comparable results very quickly and all image modifications are forever retained virtually in the catalogue.

This benefit proved invaluable recently with the arrival of Denoise AI where you could treat old raws and then re-apply any edits you made to the denoised raw.

You don’t get that ability in Photoshop, although there is a limited workaround. Make cloning and image adjustments on separate layers, save the entire file and then archive it somewhere safe for future use. Be aware this takes up storage, and you need to be organised too.

As usual, much depends on what you are trying to clone or heal and Photoshop is more capable of very complex, seamless alterations with the option of different tools.

The Content-Aware Remove, the Heal brush and the Clone tools have adjustable parameters of size, opacity and feather (not on Content-Aware Remove).

They are easy to use and work very effectively, although you may have to fine-tune and, for example, move the sample area in the case of the Heal and Clone tools or adjust the size in Content-Aware Remove. Hitting the H key reveals cloned and sampled areas (as seen in the above interface), so deleting cloned areas or moving sampled areas is easy.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – Photoshop cloning and healing

Photoshop has more potential for image repair and the powerful option of layers. Here, I kept it simple using the Healing Brush and Clone Stamp tools and a variety of soft and harder-edged brushes working on a background copy.

Cloning on a separate blank layer gives incredible control over colour, selection and the option of layer modes and if you make a mess of it, there’s no harm done to the image so delete the layer and start again. There’s more control to the brushes in Photoshop and that is a definite plus over Lightroom.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – cloning and healing summary

I used this shot of a large skipper as my sample image, with the two grass stalks on the left that needed removing. It may seem like a simple job, but a seamless result can take a little more effort. However, with the skills of both software, a decent result was achieved within a few minutes.

The takeaway is that Lightroom has come on in leaps and bounds, and seamless edits such as cloning can be successfully achieved in this software. Having the security of Photoshop for more complex editing jobs is very comforting, so this is definitely a reason to opt for Adobe’s Photography package and have both programs available.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – contrast control

My pelicans at Lake Kerkini picture was taken on a Canon EOS R5 with a 24-105mm zoom at 24mm using aperture-priority AE. A blue sky, low sun, deep shadows and white birds meant contrast was an issue and some work in raw was needed to retrieve the situation.

Lightroom – contrast control

Masking and selection tools are comparatively new to Lightroom but they have been refined and improved over recent updates. Subject, sky, background and people are the four automated masks and they can be refined, subtracted and added to very easily with an extensive menu of effects.

For this image, the birds were selected with a single click using the subject mask. Lightroom made a great job of that and no modifications were required. The same applied to the sky selection. I adjusted and played with both selections using curves, saturation and exposure to get the effect I’d pre-visualised.

Photoshop – contrast control

Photoshop has always had comprehensive selection skills, but a bit of work was needed for creating accurate masks. Adobe made life easier and accelerated the selection process by adding an automated select sky and select subject to its Select menu. They were the tools used here.

The sky selection was more or less spot on, the subject select mask less so. The selection needed some work so the option and shift keys were used to subtract or add respectively to Photoshop’s automated selection.

With each selection active, I adjusted saturation and curves to get the effect I liked, then used the dodge tool to lighten the shadows and a gradient tool to darken the top left corner.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – contrast control verdict

Photoshop has almost always enabled tremendous control over tones, colours and contrast and with its automated masks, the process is made even easier, so if making selections with the lasso and marquee tools was a problem for you, that is no longer the case.

What has changed is the power Lightroom has gained to make accurate masks with minimal fuss and user expertise. It makes possible results that were hitherto only possible by going into Photoshop (or another well-endowed editing program). In this example, Lightroom was actually quicker to use.

Another big Lightroom benefit is that the same edits, including masks (which get modified if the images are slightly different), can be quickly applied to similar images.

Black and white editing

The medium of black & white is as popular as ever. Shoot JPEGs and you can go mono in-camera; shoot raw and you need to convert to mono in software. There are dedicated mono conversation apps, but both Photoshop and Lightroom deliver good-quality results without leaving the programs.

Lightroom – going monochrome

Going monochrome in Lightroom is a one-click procedure in the Develop module. Once black & white has been selected, click on profile and a drop-down menu appears, hit ‘Browse’, scroll down and a selection of mono thumbnails treated with different profiles appear. Just pick the one you like the look of and close the interface.

Exposure, contrast and clarity are the main sliders to use to fine-tune the image. In this image, I added two linear gradient masks, one from the top of and one from below so I could darken the sky and lighten the foreground slightly.

Photoshop – going monochrome

Photoshop offers any number of ways (leaving aside third party plug-ins) to make a good monochrome conversion. A popular and very good one is the Channel Mixer (found by Image>Adjustments>Channel Mixer) and under the preset menu a selection of monochrome profiles including those simulating the use of on-camera colour contrast filters.

However, for this image Photoshop’s mono filter was used – found in Image>Adjustments>Black & white – and here there are six colour sliders available to fine-tune the look. There’s also a selection of mono effect presets. For this image, a curves adjustment was made to increase contrast and two gradients were applied to darken the sky and lighten the foreground.

Film grain can be added by copying the background and going to Filter>Noise>Add noise. Click on Gaussian and Monochrome and adjust the Amount to taste, and then change the layer mode of the top layer to overlay or soft light.

Going monochrome summary

Both Photoshop and Lightroom give very realistic monochrome conversations with not much work. There’s plenty of extra control too so you want to beef up contrast, add a film grain effect or take the fully-toned fine art approach; all are easily achieved.

Using layers

A major point of difference between Lightroom and Photoshop is that one program has layers and the other doesn’t. Whether you need the power of Photoshop layers really depends on how deep you want to take your image editing. If your aim is to produce multi-image montages, you will need layers.

I had fun with this image below of the Mosquito HJ711, taken on a TimeLine Events shoot at the Lincolnshire Aviation Centre.

It’s an ok image but ultimately rather dull, and with no detail in the sky to work with, I decided to replace it. I went for a dramatic pictorial effect rather than reality and technical accuracy. I found a suitable sky in my Lightroom catalogue (I keyword sky images after importing them, so they are quickly available) and exported it onto my desktop in readiness.

Using Photoshop’s Sky Replacement tool (found in the Edit menu), a couple of clicks followed by a few seconds of processing, and it was done, with the replacement sky placed on a separate layer in the document.

Using layers summary

There is no layer functionality in Lightroom so this is not a comparison – but illustrates that if you want to push the creative boundaries, Photoshop with the power of layers is incredibly useful.

Lightroom vs Photoshop – the verdict

Both programs are incredibly well-featured, and while they have commonalities, there are also key points of difference. I can see many photographers doing everything they need in Lightroom, but equally, I can see that applying to Photoshop, too. However, for most keen enthusiasts who shoot and create a variety of images, having both in your workflow would make perfect sense.

In Lightroom, you can organise and keyword your images for quick retrieval and reference, and can enhance, repair, export and print, and get creative too. And everything you do in Lightroom is retained for future reference.

For more advanced work, images can be briefly taken out of Lightroom, into Photoshop or another app, worked on before being saved back into Lightroom

Lightroom’s also not too complex to learn and Adobe’s recent update with Denoise AI (also available in Camera raw in Photoshop) only enhances its overall value for money quotient.

Photoshop is more complex in use, and there’s much more to learn. However, learn the techniques you need, and you have an incredibly powerful and creative tool at your fingertips. If you have a vivid imagination, there is probably nothing that Photoshop can’t do, providing you have the skill.

Therefore, for me the Photography (20GB) package at $9.99 / £9.98 per month with both packages is ideal and it comes highly recommended.

Adobe Lightroom pros: 

• Cataloguing, keywording and image search skills
• Subject, sky and background masking skills
• Virtual copies feature
• All adjustments remembered in the catalogue
• Batch processing
• Capable of very big catalogues

Adobe Lightroom cons:

• No layers
• Not everyone likes the image-saving process

Adobe Photoshop pros:

• Incredible editing skills
• Layers
• Huge choice of editing tools
• Good for printing

Adobe Photoshop cons:

• Less easy to use compared with Lightroom
• Complex interface
• Editing tools can be harder to find

Further reading
Best software for black and white editing
Best free Lightroom presets
How to use Photoshop actions for a faster workflow

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What is colour grading?

Colour grading is something we associate with video editing, but as the boundaries between video and stills – as well as photographers and videographers – become increasingly blurred, it’s a technique that is ever more relevant to photographers. But what exactly is colour grading? And what tools and apps do we need? Below, we’ll explore some of the key techniques for colour grading in Lightroom and Photoshop and show you how to create classic colour grading looks.

Photo editing can be divided into two broad stages. First is the correction stage, where we fix white balance, fine-tune exposure, crop and make other tweaks. Then comes the creative stage, where we create an atmosphere. This is where colour grading can be so effective. It’s a great mood enhancer, whether we want to give our photos a warm, sunny vibe, a cold sombre feeling, or a retro makeover. By mapping colours onto the highlights, midtones or shadows, we can take our images in all kinds of interesting directions.

Lightroom colour grading

The best place to begin colour grading in Lightroom is – no surprise – the Colour Grading panel. A replacement to the old Split Toning panel, this invites you to add colour tints to the shadows, midtones and highlights in your photos (of course, you don’t necessarily have to tint all three). As with most photo edits, you’re better off starting with a raw file than a JPEG as there’s more colour information to work with, and therefore greater headroom for editing. What’s more, with raws you can set white balance after the fact with exactly the same results as if you’d done so before taking the shot, which gives you greater freedom both for correcting colour casts and introducing creative colour shifts.

Get to grips with the Lightroom color grading panel

Fix colour casts

Colour grading and colour correction are sometimes confused with one another. Correction makes colours look natural, while grading shifts colours and enhances a mood. To correct colours, grab the White Balance eyedropper tool in the Develop Module Basic panel and click on a neutral point.

Colour grading wheels

Scroll down to the Colour Grading Panel on the right. The icons at the top of the panel let you display different colour wheel views. You can view Shadows, Midtones or Highlight colours, or all three at once. There’s also a global wheel that lets you add a universal colour tint.

Tint the shadows

Start with the Shadows colour wheel. Drag the point around the colour wheel to tint the shadows. The circular position of the point will determine the hue of the chosen colour, while the distance from the centre will set the saturation. If you want to reset and try again, simply double-click the wheel.

Adjust the brightness

As well as adding a colour tint, you can also fine-tune the brightness of the shadows, midtones or highlights with the Luminance slider, which is found below the wheel. In this example, we’ve lifted the shadows slightly, which makes the blue colour tint more pronounced.

Grade midtones and highlights

Next, click the edge of the wheel on the right to switch to the midtones. Tint the midtones in whichever way you like, then switch to the highlights and do the same. Here, we’ve added a warm orange tint to the midtones and a subtle yellow tint to the highlights.

Set blending and balance

Switch to the 3-wheel view to fine-tune the effect. The Blending slider lets you tweak how abruptly the colours change from one to another. The Balance slider widens or shrinks the part of the tonal range affected. Push it towards the left to shift the bias towards the shadows, or right for the highlights.

The power of Profiles

Found in the Lightroom Basic Panel, the Profile browser offers a range of one-click treatments, many of which are fantastic for colour grading. Profiles are organised into different sets like Modern and Vintage. Hover over the thumbnails to see how they affect your image. Once chosen, the Amount slider lets you control the strength of the effect.

You might find the perfect Profile for your image straight off the bat, but even if not, they can still be useful for kick-starting your colour grading. You can also save your own colour effects as profiles. To do so, open the image in Camera Raw, go to the Presets panel, hold Alt and click the New Preset icon to create a new custom profile.

Colour grading with Curves

Curves is a fabulous tool for colour grading. Not only can you change the brightness of different parts of the tonal range by dragging the curve line up or down (the left side affects shadows, the right highlights), you can also target and alter colour channels (red, green and blue for an RGB image). The easiest way to get started is with the Curve panel in Lightroom/Camera Raw.

Target a colour channel, then experiment by dragging the top or bottom points up, down, left or right to tint the shadows or highlights. The colours in the graph give you an idea of the shifts you can make. The red channel lets you add red or cyan, the green channel introduces green or magenta, and the blue channel offers blue or yellow. You can get some unusual colour shifts by making several points along the curve line by, for example, adding a red tint to highlights and a cyan tint to shadows.

LUTs and how to use them

Learn how to use and create colour LUTs (lookup tables) for your favourite colour grades

Colour lookup tables – which are known as LUTs for short – are a means of applying different colour grades to your photographs or videos. As the name suggests, a LUT simply determines how a certain colour should look. To explain how they work, imagine a table with two columns, in which column A is a list of all the colours in your image as they are, while column B lists an alternative set of colours. When applying a LUT, each colour in column A is switched to the corresponding colour in column B. So in effect, LUTs are presets for different colour treatments.

However, as well as altering the hue and saturation of a colour, LUTs also allow you to change the brightness. This can lead to all sorts of interesting effects, such as the popular matte shadows look, where the darkest tones in an image are flattened out for a retro feel.

There are numerous ways of applying LUTs to your photos. In Photoshop, there’s the dedicated Colour Lookup Adjustment Layer. This offers a range of presets. Some are good, but most are awful. More interestingly, Photoshop gives you the option to create and export your own LUTs. Any combination of Adjustment Layers and blending modes can be exported as a LUT, so you can save your favourite colour grading treatments for quick use on other photos. The best way to do so is to include the LUT in a custom profile for Lightroom.

Many third-party LUTs are available, too, many of which emulate the look of blockbuster movies. Some are paid for via monthly subscription, so watch the cost.

Create your own LUTs and custom profiles

Try Photoshop LUTs

Open an image into Photoshop then click the Adjustment layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Color Lookup. Click through the various presets in the 3DLUT dropdown to try out different effects. The film presets like the Kodak LUT here can add a nice retro treatment.

Make an adjustment

If the Color Lookup presets don’t work for you, try making your own colour changes. Start with the Gradient Map Adjustment Layer. It allows you to map colours onto the tonal range of your photos. You can then lower the layer opacity or use a blend mode (Overlay here) to make the colour shifts more subtle.

Combine tonal effects

The great thing about using Adjustment Layers for your colour grading is how you can build up the effect on several layers and combine a range of adjustments. Here, we’ve added a Colour Balance layer to skew the colours slightly, and a Curves layer to flatten out the contrast.

Export your LUT

If we settle upon a combination of Adjustment Layers we like, we can export them as a new LUT. Go to File>Export>Colour Lookup Tables. Give it a name and save as a Cube file. Once done, you can load the cube file into the Color Lookup Adjustment Layer, although it’s a clunky workflow; better to save the LUT as a profile.

Make a profile

LUTs saved in Photoshop can be added in to Profiles for use in Camera Raw or Lightroom. Open any image into Camera Raw, click the Presets icon in the toolbar then hold Alt and click the New Preset icon. In the New Profile box, go to the Colour Lookup section and load in your custom LUT, then save it as a Profile.

Test your new profile

Your newly created Profile will be available in the Profile Browser, ready to be applied to other images. It’ll also sync to Lightroom the next time you open the application. The great thing about creating LUTs in this way is that you also get an Amount slider that lets you control the strength of the colour change.

Get the cinematic look with colour grading

Among the most popular of the colour grading effects, the cinematic look introduces blue into the shadows while retaining the delicate tones in skin, which makes it ideal for a stylish environmental portrait. We can achieve this using the Selective Color Adjustment Layer in Photoshop. A useful tool for all sorts of colour grading effects, it allows us to tint existing colour ranges for different results. Here, we can add blue and cyan to the image, then target the reds and yellows in the skin tones and reduce the effect.

Open an image into Photoshop and add a Selective Color Adjustment Layer. Select Colors: Neutrals and set Cyan +15, Yellow -10. Then Select Color: Red and set Cyan -15, Yellow +10. Next select Color: Yellow and set Cyan -15. Finally, use a Curves layer to boost contrast by plotting an S-shaped curve.

Find complementary colours

Once you start colour grading, you’ll quickly realise that the techniques and tools involved aren’t that difficult to master. Instead, perhaps the bigger challenge is in choosing the right combination of colours for your image. But which colours work best together, and at what strengths? There are no rules here, but a little colour theory can help. You’ve probably heard of complementary colours.

These are different shades that work well together, and they usually sit opposite one another on the colour wheel – red/cyan, orange/teal and purple/green can all work well. Adobe offers a great tool for colour combinations. Go to color.adobe.com for a handy interactive colour wheel. Choose from the different Harmony rules on the right, then drag the colour wheel to find complimentary combinations. If you log in with your Adobe account, you can save these to your Photoshop Library for quick access in your projects.

Six colour grading hints and tips

Intense sunsets with Channel Mixer

Here’s a quick Photoshop trick for sunsets. Add a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer. Select Output Channel: Red and set Red +200, Green -50, Blue -50. Next set Output Channel: Blue with Red -50, Green -50, Blue +200. Tweak Layer opacity to adjust the strength.

Get the orange-teal look

For an orange-teal treatment, open the image in Camera Raw or Lightroom and go to the Camera Calibration Panel. Set the Blue Hue slider to -100, and the Red Hue slider to +50. Go to the Color Grading panel and add orange to the highlights and cyan to the shadows, then lift shadow luminance to crush blacks.

Creative white balance

We tend to think of white balance as a tool for correcting colours, but it can also be used to great effect to introduce creative colour shifts into your photos. Here, by pushing the temperature slider to the left we can create more of a sombre mood. Of course, you can also do this at the time of shooting.

Blend a Solid Color

For a simple colour change, try adding a Solid Colour Adjustment Layer. Choose a colour to fill the image, then experiment with layer blending modes. The Screen, Multiply, Overlay, Soft Light and Color modes can all work well. Once done, use layer opacity to adjust the strength of the effect.

Match images

Photoshop offers two commands that let you replicate a colour look from one image to another. First open both images in Photoshop, then either go to Adjustments> Match Color, or try Filter>Neural Filters>Color Transfer. Target the other open image in the Source options, then fine-tune with sliders.

Speedy retro

Here’s a quick trick for a retro yellow/blue treatment. Add a Solid Color Adjustment and choose a bright blue, then change the blending mode of the layer to Exclusion. This will add blue to the shadows and yellow to the highlights. It will be too strong at first, so lower the layer opacity until it looks right.

So, now you have some of the key techniques for colour grading in Lightroom and Photoshop, you can begin experimenting with the moods of your photos, from cinematic to retro or playful complementary colours to sombre. There’s a host of software out there alongside the popular Lightroom and Photoshop, some more intuitive than others. Once you master the key methods, you can unleash your creativity.

Related reading:

• How to edit Raw – AI and new software features
• How to use Lightroom presets & profiles
• Best Adobe Lightroom presets
• How to use colour creatively in your photography

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Snapseed is a good example but there are lots of other apps to consider, some of which you don’t seem to hear so much about these days. VSCO, which stands for Visual Supply Company, is a good example.

VSCO came to prominence about 10 years ago for bringing out a range of convincing analogue-film simulations for editing images from digital cameras.

The company’s thunder was somewhat stolen by Mastin Labs – every wedding photographer, including me, seemed to be using its fantastic Kodak Portra film simulations at one point – and this was then exacerbated when VSCO started charging for the fully featured app.

VSCO who?

Nowadays, I hardly hear VSCO mentioned by smartphone photographers, which is a shame as it’s still a really good app for adding a particular look to your images without spending hours in front of the computer.

The company seems to have changed its pricing plans again, and while there is a free version, it’s very limited. To get the most out of VSCO you need the Plus or Pro version, which cost a paltry $2.50 and $5.00 a month respectively. As I hope to show, it’s money well spent, despite a few quirks.

VSCO – dodgy interface, but worth the effort

Charging for advanced features is fairly common with editing apps these days, so if VSCO has lagged behind other apps, it’s only got itself to blame. With the best will in the world, the VSCO app interface is often more of a hinderance than a help.

The designers have tried to do an Instagram but they simply aren’t as accomplished, resorting to sometimes esoteric icons – ‘hey, you customers are so cool and visually literate you don’t need to be told, right?’ – rather than clearly labelling what each tool does, as with Snapseed.

They also seem more interested in getting people to share images on the VSCO community rather than making it easy for people to edit them in the first place, and trying to retrieve images already in the VSCO system for further editing can be a puzzle until you figure it out.

So now we’ve got these gripes out of the way why bother with VSCO at all when Snapseed is free? Well, it’s worth persevering with, and you can get very good results once you get the hang of it.

VSCO – step by step guide

The app is available for iOS and Android, or can also be used on your computer via the company’s website. Once the app is installed and an account set up, you click the big + button to add images from your phone’s photo library to VSCO’s, working in a similar way to Snapseed.

To edit the image you then click on the slider button (two white lines against a black background, in case you were wondering).

Depending on your plan, you then see a large choice of film simulations, but they are not particularly well-labelled. The impressive Kodak Kodachrome simulation, for example is labelled ‘KC 25.’

Once you have found a film simulation you like – and you get an instant preview – you can then edit the Strength, Character and Warmth as required, or access a wider range of general editing tools. All the usual suspects are here, including Exposure, Contrast, Sharpen, Saturation, plus the ability to add text or a vignette.

The menu isn’t as comprehensive as Snapseed’s, but it’s still got all the essential tools. You can then save the image to VSCO and post on the VSCO community (which it is very keen for you to do), or share on social media or via email etc, in the usual way.

Despite what you may have read online, the original image on your phone is unaffected as a version is imported into VSCO before you begin editing. That said, there isn’t a history function so you can’t undo edits; if you have gone too far you have to start again from scratch.

If you are interested in film simulations, but don’t have access to the excellent ones built into Fujifilm cameras, then VSCO is a good second-best. While some of the more extreme film simulations are a bit off the wall, most are quite tasteful and authentic, and you have a lot of options to tweak the final look as required.

VSCO is also able to import and edit raw (DNG) files from iPhone or Android handset.

VSCO – fantastic for infrared

Another big attraction of VSCO is its superb infrared emulations, particular the colour ones. Infrared might not be to everyone’s taste, but the emulations work well (especially in images with a dramatic sky or lots of foliage) and there are five colour options, plus one black and white. You can tell immediately whether it’s going to work or not on a chosen image.

Using VSCO is way quicker than messing around with Photoshop colour channels to get the infrared look, and, of course, a lot cheaper than getting a camera converted.

If colour infrared is just a bit too weird, the VSCO black and white infrared simulation also works well for eye-catching monochrome effects.

In addition to Infrared, there is also a wide range of other editing presets from the tasteful (for example, E7, Essence) to the eye-burningly mad (D2, Distortia). Again, the labelling system leaves a lot to be desired, but you will soon find your favourites.

A very basic free version of VSCO is available so why not give it go – we’d be interested to hear what you think so do share your VSCO-edited shots with us.

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Indeed, you may not even need to pay anything at all. There are some great photo editing programs out there that are absolutely free to download and keep. We’ve picked out a mix of the two in this guide, aiming to provide as many options as possible, based on the software our team has used, tested and enjoyed. We’ve included programs that offer a great deal of control, as well as some that are great for quick, simple edits. Scroll to the bottom of this guide for a quick explainer of how to choose photo editing software.

We also have a useful guide to the best software for black & white editing for the monochrome lovers among you. For now though, let’s take a look at how to pick the best photo-editing software – subscription-free!

So, let’s take a look at some of the best photo-editing software out there – with no subscription required. Here’s our quick list of the best photo editing programs available:

• Best Photoshop alternative: Affinity Photo 2 – buy now
• Best raw processor: DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite – buy now
• Best raw processor for noise reduction: DxO PureRAW 4 – buy now
• Best Lightroom alternative: Capture One 23 – buy now
• Best AI photo editor: Skylum Luminar Neo – check price
• Best browser-based photo editor: Photoshop on the web – use here
• Best smartphone photo editor: Pixlr Desktop app – download
• Best quick photo editor: Fotor – use here
• Most powerful free photo editor: GIMP – download

Read on for more details on each entry, including the opinions of our review team…

Best Photoshop alternative: Affinity Photo 2

affinity.serif.com, $69.99 / £67.99

Affinity Photo is the best Photoshop alternative. It’s based strongly on the Photoshop mould, which is no bad thing considering that Photoshop is still the gold standard in image-editing. Anybody who is familiar with Photoshop will feel at home in moments, so those ex-Adobe Creative Cloud subscribers who are looking for a subscription-free alternative can jump straight in. Also, if you prefer editing on a tablet, the iPad version of this software works really well – see how to master Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.

Features such as Layers, Adjustment Layers, Masks and Filters are all here. What’s more, some features arguably surpass their Photoshop forebears, such as the powerful Brush tool that gives you a preview of your strokes, or the dedicated Frequency Separation tool for retouching portraits, the HDR tone-mapping tools and the extensive array of non-destructive Live Filter effects.

Affinity Photo’s real strength is in more involved photo edits, like compositing, making cut-outs, adding effects or exposure blending – the sort of things that a while back could only have been done in Photoshop. It’s a professional-level all-in-one photo editor and design tool, just like Photoshop.

Read our Affinity Photo 2 review.

Best raw processor: DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite

dxo.com, $229 (Elite) / from £209 – upgrade from versions 6 & 7: $109 / £99. Free trial available

The latest version of one of the best Raw processors in the biz, DxO PhotoLab 8 is a one-time purchase that gives you a huge amount of control over your Raw files. Using DxO’s AI DeepPrime and DeepPrime XD tools, it offers a level of noise reduction and detail recovery that’s significantly ahead of its rivals. Drawing on DxO’s well-established expertise in the field, the neural network can deliver as much as a 2.5-stop advantage compared to conventional Raw converters.

DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite launched in 2024. It features DeepPRIME XD2s; the new version of the company’s acclaimed raw-processing technology, and DxO claims it gives ‘unprecedented levels of noise reduction and detail extraction… photographers can use higher ISO settings with confidence, breathe new life into old shots, and enjoy previously unseen image quality from even the latest cameras.’

With the intuitive selective adjustment tools of PhotoLab 7, its generous range of LUTs for creating specific looks, advanced colour management and, of course, DxO’s enormous database of optical corrections for a huge range of lenses, this has a generous toolkit.

Also available (for extra cost) are the FilmPacks, which allow you to download profiles to emulate old film stocks and give your images an irresistibly retro look. The up-front cost is fairly significant, and probably only worth it if you habitually shoot in Raw, but DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite is impressive.

Best raw processor for noise reduction: DxO PureRAW 4

dxo.com, $119 / £109, $79 / £69 to upgrade from DxO PureRAW 3. 30-day free trial available

If you don’t need something as complex as DxO PhotoLab 8 Elite, then the cheaper DxO PureRAW 4 may be a better fit. A dedicated raw processor, DxO PureRAW 3 converts camera raw files into DNG raw files, while simultaneously applying DxO’s dedicated lens correction and noise reduction algorithms. The resulting 16-bit DNG raw files can be adjusted in all the exact same way the original files can, meaning that DxO PureRAW 3 can slot easily into any pre-existing workflow you may have established.

PureRAW 3 gains the same DeepPRIME XD processing algorithm that is otherwise reserved for the Elite edition of PhotoLab 7, at an upfront cost of almost $100/£100 less. This algorithm comes into its own when processing images shot at high ISOs, recovering unprecedented levels of detail – we tested it with an image shot at ISO 25,600, and DeepPRIME XD far outstripped the level of detail recovered by Adobe’s processing algorithm. In layman’s terms, our testing indicated that you could probably get away with using ISO settings two stops higher than you otherwise would if you commit to processing with PureRAW 4.

There is a trade-off, naturally – processing times are significantly longer than other software, to the point where you’ll certainly want to cue up some batch-processing and then leave the program to its own devices (there is a new file queueing system to make this all a bit smoother). If you want a way to better process raw files but don’t want to have to learn a whole new system, PureRAW 3 is definitely worth adding to your workflow.

Best Lightroom alternative: Capture One Pro

captureone.com, $299 / £299 

At £299 / $299 for a standalone licence this is the priciest option, but it’s also the closest to Lightroom that you’ll get without signing up for the monthly subscription. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it produces wonderful raw files.

You might think that a raw file would look the same no matter which editor it’s viewed in, but there can be marked changes in quality depending on the way the raw data is processed. Capture One gives you a level of detail and quality that often can’t be matched.

The workflow and tethering features are unsurpassed and it also offers advanced tonal tools that let you finesse your photos to a fine degree, with specialised tools for contrast and colour control, and layers-based local adjustments.

While the interface has recently been updated to make it more beginner-friendly, Capture One can still seem daunting. The learning curve and cost are steeper than most (for the cost of a licence you could get a Photoshop/Lightroom subscription for two and a half years).

But there’s a reason why many pros prefer Capture One. It’s a slick, high-end package that many consider the best you can buy both for its raw editing and workflow tools. The only cloud on the horizon for subscription-haters is that Capture One is pushing towards a subscription model. You can still get a ‘perpetual’ version, but this won’t get the regular free updates that the subscription version brings.

Best AI photo editor: Skylum Luminar Neo

skylum.com/luminar, $79 / £99

Originally one of the simplest photo editors, Luminar Neo has evolved into a much more sophisticated package. There’s still an emphasis on presets and beginner-friendly, one-click ‘looks’ that take seconds to apply. But with customisable panels, tons of tonal tools, selective edits and layer functionality, there’s still a good level of depth for those who want a finer degree of control over their images.

The reality-bending AI of Luminar has become the stuff of legend, starting with Skylum’s AI sky replacement (still arguably the best) and progressing to portrait enhancement, portrait bokeh, AI subject masking, sun rays, power line removal and more. The presets are useful too, though getting used to how they work can be a bit of an uphill climb and not as smooth as using one of the best Adobe Lightroom presets.

It’s all presented in a slick package with a gradual learning curve. If you want an editor that you can be up-and-running with in no time, but still has plenty of scope for those who want to explore further, then Luminar Neo is an excellent choice. Be aware, though, that Skylum is now pushing its subscription plans very hard, and while you can still get a ‘lifetime license’, it will not necessarily be the cheapest option. Luminar Neo is now part of an ecosystem of extensions and premium content, and unravelling the best deals from one week to the next can be a challenge.

Read our full Skylum Luminar NEO review

Best browser-based photo editor: Photoshop on the web (beta)

photoshop.adobe.com, free (requires Adobe account)

Photoshop on the web was introduced in Adobe’s October 2021 update, and has a number of editing options, replacing Photoshop Express (web). While it doesn’t include anywhere near the same number of tools as full-fat Photoshop, it packs in enough to get quick jobs done, and is pitched toward the kinds of tasks you might expect someone to want on a web-based editor, such as background removal.

We’d recommend having a look at the Photoshop on the web FAQ to find out more. After a two year period spent in beta, it is now launched and ready to use. You might be surprised by how easy it is to use to get simple (and not so simple) edits done. You will need to be using Google Chrome or the Microsoft Edge browser, though. Also, if you’re looking for more free resources from Adobe, check out our guide to the best free Adobe Lightroom presets.

Best smartphone photo editor: Pixlr Desktop app

pixlr.com/desktop, free

The impressive Pixlr app comes in two versions. There’s the beginner-friendly Pixlr X and the more advanced Pixlr E. Both apps are free, and the advanced version has support for layers. There are a range of good-looking effects available, though a few features are restricted to the paid-for premium edition, such as one-click background removal and a larger font library for adding text. Pixlr is essentially a somewhat limited free app with paid-for plans to extend its capabilities.

The interface is pretty easy to use, with clear icons and a generally sensible layout. It’s a particularly good option if you want to integrate your photos into designs, such as leaflets or brochures. This is helped by the selection of cutting tools in Pixlr X, which allow you to easily cut different parts of images together.

If you’re wondering, how can I edit photos on my phone like a professional, Pixlr is one of several photo editing software also available to download on your smartphone. For more, check out our picks of the best photo editing apps for phones.

Best quick photo editor: Fotor

fotor.com, free

Another good option is Fotor, a beginner-friendly online photo editor that offers a useful array of tonal sliders, and even an HDR merge feature. It’s actually an online browser-based package, so while it may not be suitable for advanced users or those working with large, high-resolution files, it’s ideal for quick, fuss-free adjustments.

Fotor offers a few one-click adjustments that are designed to take the fuss out of portrait editing in particular. There’s a background remover, a skin-blemish tool, red-eye remover and more. The fact that it’s online and browser-based also makes it easy to access from anywhere, and any device. If you like, there are also Fotor apps for Android and iPhone, allowing you to continue your imaging edits on the go.

While the editor is free to use, something worth bearing in mind is that quite a few of the smart features are locked behind the premium edition. If all you want is to make simple adjustments to JPG files then the Basic version will be fine; otherwise, you’ll need to upgrade to Pro. The cheapest price you can get this version for is $39.99/£34.99 billed annually

Most powerful free photo editor: GIMP

gimp.org, free

With features such as Layers, Masks, retouching tools and advanced brushes, the ‘GNU Image Manipulation Program’ can be used for all kinds of amazing edits and effects, and all for nothing. But GIMP is not just a free Photoshop alternative; it also represents the work of a wide community of generous coders and developers, who have honed it over the years from its beginnings as a simplistic image editor into the slick package available today; one that holds its own against any of the other choices listed here.

It’s not the easiest image editor to grasp, but the same could be said of Photoshop and Affinity Photo. What’s more, there’s a vast array of presets, helpful tutorials and plug-ins out there to help get you up and running. This is due to the fact that GIMP is open-source. This means that anyone with enough programming knowledge can customise the software and make their own add-ons. As such, there is a rich community of enthusiasts who are dedicated to making the program better. Feature-rich, customisable and completely free, GIMP is unique, and could be worth the time needed to learn how to use it.

Manufacturers’ Free Software

If you’ve recently bought a new camera, then have a look in the box to see whether software is included. In most cases, you’ll find the camera comes with free photo editing software, or at least some raw conversion software, in the box, or available for download. In fact, most new cameras will come without the software on a CD, as many computers don’t have a CD drive anymore, so here you’ll find links where you can download the software, as well as what each manufacturer recommends.

Why would I use the manufacturer’s software?

The manufacturer’s software is a good choice if you’ve got a brand-new camera, as other raw software may not support raw conversion for the latest models straight away, (or without an update), and some software will never be updated to include raw support for new models, for example if you’ve got an older (non-cloud) version of Adobe Photoshop.

You’ll also find support for camera specific colour profiles, or film simulations with Fujifilm cameras. For Canon users, it’s possible to add new lens profiles to your DSLR, to add-in optical corrections when needed, but for this you’ll needs Canon’s photo editing software.

Canon – DPP – Digital Photo Professional

Available from Canon’s website, Digital Photo Professional can be downloaded once you enter your Canon camera’s serial number. It works with all of Canon’s digital cameras, from the old Canon EOS 300D, right up to the latest models. The app supports remote shooting with a wide range of Canon’s DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.

• To use your Canon camera as a webcam, you’ll need Canon’s webcam software, called “EOS webcam utility” and a supported Canon EOS camera – you’ll find a list of supported cameras on Canon’s site.

Nikon – NX Studio

Nikon has updated all of it’s different photo editing packages into one neat program, called NX Studio, and best of all, it’s completely free. You don’t need to enter any camera information, and it supports all Nikon cameras, from the Nikon D1 released in 1999, all the way up to the latest Nikon mirrorless cameras.

• To use your Nikon camera as a webcam, you’ll need the Nikon Webcam Utility, and there is a list of supported cameras on the download page.

Nikon users can also use Capture One Express (for Nikon).

Sony – Sony Imaging Edge

Sony has a range of software for it’s cameras, meaning you end up with a range of different programs on your computer, starting with Imaging Edge Desktop, which then lets you launch Remote (for remote tether shooting using live view, and webcam use), Viewer (for rating raw images and applying batch edits made with the Edit part), and Edit (for raw development of images). It’s also needed to merge multi-shot images taken on Sony cameras that support high-res multi-shot shooting.

• You can download it for free from Sony’s website.

Sony users can also use Capture One Express (for Sony).

Fujifilm – Pick your poison

Fujifilm users have the choice of several different programs, and we’d recommend trying the “Fujifilm X” software packages first.

• Capture One Express (for Fujifilm).
• Raw File Converter EX 3.0 (powered by SilkyPix)
• Fujifilm X Raw studio

There’s also Fujifilm X Acquire software to let you get images processed by your camera’s own raw processing engine, and there’s X Webcam to use your camera as a webcam, plus Pixel Shift Combiner for GFX cameras with high-res multi-shot mode.

All of these are available for download from Fujifilm’s website.

Olympus / OM System – OM Workspace

Olympus, now OM Digital Solutions, offers free image editing software, called OM Workspace (previously Olympus Workspace), available for Mac and Windows machines, you’ll need to enter the serial number from your camera before you can download it.

It also gives access to Olympus’ Art Filters, in-camera raw processing (with supported models), and advanced raw editing, with options to adjust Clarity and more. You can also update your camera and lens firmware using this program.

• Olympus offers webcam software, “OM-D Webcam” letting you use supported cameras as a webcam, the software is currently in beta status, and available here.

Olympus Workspare is available for download from the Olympus website.

Panasonic – Photo Editing Software

Panasonic offers PhotofunStudio, a raw editing package, there’s also a separate tether package called “Lumix Tether” available here.

• Panasonic’s webcam software, Lumix Webcam Software is currently in (Beta) status, and lets you use supported cameras as a webcam. It can be downloaded here.

Panasonic PhotofunStudio is available for download from Panasonic’s website.

Pentax / Ricoh Raw Software

Pentax and Ricoh cameras can capture AdobeDNG raw files, so you can use any raw editing software, and it will be able to open the DNG raw files. However, if you shoot .PEF raw files with Pentax DSLRs, then you might want to use the manufacturer’s software. Pentax provides “Digital Camera Utility” in the box, or on the camera’s memory on the K-3 III. You can also download the update from the Ricoh website.

How to choose the best photo-editing software

Before you make your choice, it’s worth considering what you really need out of your photo editor.

If your priority is for raw processing and basic tonal enhancements, then you may not necessarily need an editor with more advanced functions such as layers and selections. In fact, you might be able to get by with the free software bundled with your camera, and we’ve included a run-down of these programs at the bottom of this guide to give you an idea of what your options are. This software is typically tuned to match your camera’s characteristics and lenses, and can offer surprising depth and control. If you are relatively inexperienced with photo editing, you may want to look at some of the tips in our beginner’s guide to Photoshop Elements, as these will likely also help you get to grips with these manufacturer-made programs.

However, to add custom effects, blend exposures, or create HDRs and panoramas, you’ll need a more sophisticated photo editor. This might be a paid-for option like Skylum’s Luminar or Affinity Photo, a free browser-based app like Fotor, or an open-source package like GIMP. We’ve included all these in our guide, along with plenty more.

It might also be that you have specific image-editing goals in mind, such as monochrome conversion. We have a dedicated guide to how to convert images to black and white in Lightroom, and many of the same principles can be applied to other programs.

Article by: Rod Lawton and AP Staff.

Related reading:

• How to use Photoshop Actions for a faster workflow
• DxO vs Lightroom – which is best for noise reduction?
• Lightroom Classic vs Lightroom CC – which is best?
• 12 best photo apps and photography apps for phones

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Geraint Radford explains Focus Stacking

Geraint is an Olympus ambassador with a love for macro photography. He hopes that his images may inspire others to care for insects. He regularly posts videos and tips on Instagram. Find him at @geraintradfordmacro

Macro photography lets us explore the magical world of tiny beasts, flora and fauna. I love to photograph live wild insects, yet discourage the use of any practices that could harm these tiny important beings.

When working close to our subjects, the depth of field reduces considerably. The smaller apertures needed to achieve extra depth of field can impact picture quality through diffraction and reduce the faster shutter speeds we need to maintain image sharpness.

What is focus stacking?

Focus stacking is a great solution to this problem. The technique entails shooting a sequence of images at different focusing distances, and using software to blend the sharp areas together into a single file with greater depth of field and better image quality.

By focus stacking, we can use wider apertures with lower ISO numbers to maintain a decent shutter speed. Sounds ideal, but there are a few caveats. For a successful stack, exposure must be consistent and neither we nor the subject can move. Photographing living beings means we won’t have the opportunity to shoot hundreds of frames. The keep rate can be low, but thankfully there are some things we can do to increase our chances of success.

Dawn and dusk are ideal shooting times as the cooler temperatures make creatures easier to approach and less likely to move. Stability is key to successful stacking. My camera has seven stops of in-camera stability, enabling me to shoot handheld. A ground-level tripod may be useful, while a centre column that tilts horizontally will stop the tripod legs from getting in your way.

Diffused flash will give us complete control of our lighting and help reduce camera shake, especially when shooting handheld. My flash and 30cm diffuser is mounted directly above my lens pointing downwards to achieve soft lighting and nice shadows. This also avoids the light shining directly into the eyes of my subjects.

Geraint’s focus stacking kit list

Macro lens

Macro lenses are my favourite invention! Being designed especially for close-up work, they will achieve 1:1 magnification. The longer the focal length, the further from our subject we can be and still achieve maximum magnification. I would recommend at least 90mm for insect photography.

Extension tubes

These work by increasing the distance between the lens and the camera sensor, so we can focus much closer. The downside is that working distance is reduced, and this in turn reduces the depth of field. Ambient light is also lessened, so a combination of artificial light and focus stacking will give great results.

Flash and diffuser

When shooting macro images handheld, a great flashgun with a speedy recycling time will be your best friend. Good diffusion will help with controlling the highlights created by the shiny exoskeletons of our bug buddies.

How to use focus stacking

The depth of field is very shallow in this image and we need more to show this beautiful creature in all its glory. With two sets of extension tubes attached to my 60mm (120mm equivalent) macro lens, an aperture of f/5.6 is the limit before diffraction sets in.

Focusing is achieved manually by composing the shot and then moving the camera towards the subject. Make small adjustments to ensure each image overlaps properly. Using the rule of thirds grid in our viewfinder helps visual alignment. Use them as crosshairs to make sure the focal point remains the same in each picture.

Essential software

There is a good choice of dedicated focus-stacking software available, but Zerene Stacker and Helicon Focus are very popular. Adobe Photoshop does a good job for small image stacks and it’s a great starting point. For the image above, I blended eight images in Photoshop. The fine details and raindrops, which were obscured by the shallow of depth of field, are now magically revealed. On a side note, I was absolutely drenched getting this shot.

Barry Webb on using Focus stacking in slime mould macro photography

Barry Webb specialises in macro photography and is a regular contributor to Chalfonts and Gerrards Cross Camera Club. He gives presentations and leads practical workshops. Visit www.barrywebbimages.co.uk, @barrywebbimages.

Macro photography and, particularly, focus stacking enable you to see intricate details of tiny subjects. I have been taking macro images of insects, plants and fungi for many years, using a full-frame camera with a 90mm macro lens. I started focus stacking five years ago, using a manual-focus rail to allow fine incremental adjustments between shots.

Practically, the addition of a focus rail made my equipment heavier and more cumbersome. Focusing with a focus rail was time-consuming and made it difficult to manoeuvre into restricted positions.

After much deliberation, I decided to try using a Micro Four Thirds system with a 60mm macro lens. I was amazed at the difference it made. The compact and lightweight setup was a pleasure to use. Additionally, the increased magnification of the Micro Four Thirds sensor and fast, accurate, in-camera focus bracketing meant that I no longer needed to use a focus rail.

I now use this system exclusively for focus stacking. I also often use between one and three extension tubes and, on occasions, a Raynox close-up lens. This has allowed me to explore, and become fascinated by, the tiny, beautiful and most unlikely of subjects – slime moulds.

Barry’s focus stacking kit

Lens and extension tubes

The Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm f/2.8 Macro lens is very small and light yet extremely sharp. It has a useful focus selector that enables you to select true 1:1 with the flick of a switch. I also use the Kenko Auto Extension Tube Set DG for Micro Four Thirds lenses (10mm and 16mm). These tubes maintain TTL exposure with the 60mm Macro lens and they allow the lens to focus closer and provide more magnification.

Tripod

Focus-stacked images require a stable and manoeuvrable tripod that can get right down to ground level. I use the Gitzo Explorer GT 2531. The separate leg locking levers mean that each leg can be positioned independently, at any angle.

LED Hand lens

I use a Triplet Loupe Hand Lens 10x21mm that has built-in LEDs in a ring around the lens. It allows you to observe fine details in low-light conditions: vital for good composition.

Barry’s top tips for capturing slime moulds 

Composition

Once I have found my subject, I use a 10x loupe to help me work out the best composition. The camera is manually focused and the lens is set to 1:1 as a starting point. The tripod legs are adjusted to the optimum position and the tripod then physically moved until the point of nearest focus is located.

The number of shots and the size of the differential between shots will vary according to the depth of the subject and the number of extension tubes being used. Generally, for slime moulds, I take between 30 and 150 shots. An ISO of 100 or 200 is ideal, as is a relatively wide aperture, at the macro lens’s sweet spot.

Light

I prefer to work in natural light whenever possible. Soft light, cloudy conditions or hazy sunlight all give good results, while changing light causes problems during a focus bracket. In bright sunlight, it is usually necessary to shade the subject as direct sunlight causes specular highlights, particularly on wet or reflective surfaces. A small LED light with a diffuser can be useful as fill lighting when shooting subjects on the underside of logs or in areas of deep shade.

Movement

A reliable tripod and a shutter release are both essential for shooting multi-bracketed shots. The slightest movement at high magnification will ruin a stack. Wind is a real problem. Even someone walking nearby can cause ground movement. Small creatures such as springtails can pass through your frame unnoticed, which can complicate post processing.

Processing

I download the bracketed series to Lightroom, select them all and make basic adjustments to the exposure and white balance. The images are then exported to Zerene Stacker for stacking and retouching. The saved output image is then synchronised back into Lightroom, where I make any final adjustments. Occasionally, I import the image into Photoshop to repair any areas that could not be retouched successfully in Zerene Stacker.

Matt Doogue on close-up insect photography

Award-winning photographer Matt Doogue is a passionate conservationist, tour leader, public speaker, outreach teacher and mental health ambassador. Matt’s work has been published in most of the UK’s leading photographic titles, and has appeared on TV shows such as BBC’s Springwatch alongside Chris Packham. In his spare time, he regularly visits schools to educate children on the importance of our natural world. Visit www.mattsmacro.co.uk

Macro photography is a popular genre among photographers, and is one of the most rewarding. Subjects can be found anywhere from inside our own homes, gardens and of course, the great outdoors. Using a macro lens allows you access to a hidden world the human eye never sees, a world full of detail, colour and design. I have been a macro photographer for several years now and I’m still learning.

When photographing at high magnification with a macro lens, depth of field becomes very narrow, leaving much of the subject out of focus. We can increase our depth of field but this limits our light, so naturally we increase ISO but that just adds unnecessary noise. At high magnification, the increase of these two factors can actually leave your image looking less sharp due to the softening effects of diffraction. However, focus stacking resolves this. While it’s one of the more challenging techniques of macro photography to master, it can yield great results if done correctly.

Matt’s focus stacking kit list

Lens choice

My go-to lens is the Canon MPE 65mm, this allows me to achieve up to 5x magnification. I also use the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro or the Sigma 180mm f/2.8 Macro. I use these when shooting larger subjects such as butterflies, dragonflies or even reptiles.

Flash system

I use the Canon MT24 EX dual flash coupled with the MPE 65mm. When shooting at high magnification, the flash really helps. It’s the perfect combination of kit for this type of shooting.

Matt’s top tips for handheld focus stacking

1. Focus stacking is simply the process of moving the point of focus over your subject in very small increments and taking a photo at each of those points. I set the desired magnification on my lens and turn off autofocus.
2. It’s essential you don’t change this while attempting a ‘stack’ and make sure you have consistent exposure settings that are correct for the scene. I shoot with everything in manual: aperture, shutter speed, ISO and flash power.
3. The sharpest point of most lenses, known as the sweet spot, is around f/8 to f/9, however when it comes to focus stacking, we can drop that to anywhere between f/2.8-f/5.6. This will give us a sharper final stacked image.
4. Setting a wider aperture will also allow more light into the lens, which enables us to lower the flash power for faster flash recycle times. This is crucial in order to maintain a quick firing rate.
5. The flash also increases valuable light levels within the scene and can help freeze any subject movement in the frame. You can stick to natural light, of course, but at high magnifications you will end up pushing the ISO so much that it adds unnecessary noise to your image.
6. Start at the front of your subject and work towards the back. Move forward very slightly to adjust the depth of field and as you watch the point of focus move over your subject, take a shot at each stage. The tiniest of movements is sufficient for this.
7. I shoot the majority of my ‘stacks’ handheld. The key is to stay as still as possible, which is easier said than done! If the subject moves or you move from side to side, stop and start a new stack.
8. While getting to grips with this technique, stick to small stacks. Start off with 2-5 images. Then, once you have mastered this you can go for bigger stacks.
9. Don’t be tempted to fire off a burst of shots. While you may get one or two more stacks, you will most likely end up taking shots at the same point of focus and this will leave your image diffracted once you stack those multiple frames together in software.
10. I prefer to use Photoshop, but you can use dedicated software such as Helicon Focus and Zerene Stacker. Loading your files into the selected software of choice will now create a stacked composite of your images. There are plenty of YouTube tutorials to guide you through this process.

Related reading:

• Top Macro Photography Tips
• Best photo editing software
• Top tips for insect photography
• More techniques for pin-sharp close-up / macro photographs

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This can be found within Google’s Photos app and lets you edit photos using the power of “the cloud”. But how does it work? Find out as we take a deeper look into this new photo editing technology.

Can I use Google Magic Editor on my phone?

Look for this icon in the Google Photos app – the colour of the icon changes. You’ll find it in the bottom left of the screen. But if you don’t have the right phone, then you won’t be able to use it.

Google Pixel Magic Editor Icon (found within Google Photos)

If you have an older Google Pixel phone, such as a Google Pixel Fold or Google Pixel 7 / 7 Pro, then unfortunately, you still won’t be able to access Magic Editor. And that’s even after updating Google Photos. This feature is currently found on the Pixel 8, the 8 Pro and the Google Pixel 9 series. However, as this is a software/cloud based feature, you can expect improvements over time.

How do I use Magic Editor?

Internet and cloud backup

To use the Magic Editor, you need to connect your phone to the internet. You also need to ensure that Google Photos is setup to backup your photos to the cloud. If you haven’t set this up, for example, or if your storage is full, then you won’t be able to use this feature. Try to select it, and the phone will helpfully tell you to backup your photos, but won’t let you backup just the one photo you want to edit (without going to a different bit to back it up).

Using Magic Editor to adjust the sky, and remove a sign.

On-screen instructions

These gripes aside, once you do have your photos backed up, you can use Magic Editor to edit and replace the sky, remove and move objects, as well as adjust other settings, based on the type of photo. Instructions on how to use Magic Editor appear on-screen, but quite quickly disappear, often before you’ve had time to read them.

Wait before editing

If you have taken a portrait photo, the Magic Editor will edit the photo for you, giving you a slightly different image. If you’ve just taken a photo and then want to edit it with Magic Editor, again, you’ll have to wait for it to be backed up first. Even with your phone connected to Wi-Fi, this can be a painfully long wait in comparison to simply editing a photo straight away.

Verdict

It’s a neat idea, but it’s a shame it doesn’t give more control, as the level of adjustment within the Magic Editor is rather limited. For example, you have to move and change the size of one thing in the photo at a time, then wait for it to be processed before you can edit another element in the photo. However, it’s likely that Google will update this over time, and we should see some improvements in the future, as Google will be looking at user feedback.

Google Pixel 8 – Magic Editor – Before (left), After (right) “Portrait” enhancement

You can also use Magic Eraser in the normal photo editing app. This is easier, quicker, and more fun, as you don’t have to use the somewhat awkward and slow Magic Editor. In addition, there are a much larger number of editing options within the normal photo editor.

Here are some more examples of photos we’ve edited with Magic Editor:

Google Pixel 8 – Magic Editor, before (left), after (right) – Lego figure enlarged, Instax Pal size reduced.

The results can often be subtle, for example, in the case of the portrait edit. For landscapes results can be quite pleasing, once you apply further editing in the normal editor. In the Lego example, the enlarged Lego figure has worked well. However, reducing the size of the Instax Pal hasn’t worked very well, even with a fairly basic background.

As Magic Editor is still new, and still being improved, results should improve in time. But for the time being, we think we’ll be sticking to the usual Photo Editor for our edits. Let us know what you think! Have you had good results from Magic Editor?

Related reading:

• Best camera phones for photography
• Best photo editing apps for phones
• Google Pixel 7 Pro review

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For all the camera editing apps for phones that now exist, serious photographers still need look no further than Snapseed (for iOS and Android). Its huge variety of tools and tricks remains as apt and useful today as ever. If you’re investing in one of the best smart phones for photography or shopping for a budget camera phone, Snapseed is the editing app for you.

Far beyond one-click filters and fakery, it’s a serious photo editor with striking creative effects and powerful editing tools. These range from the familiar edits like crop and rotate to more in-depth techniques like curves adjustment. Snapseed is also very straightforward and well designed for touch control. Better still, Snapseed is free, with no strings attached.

Note that, although it’s a Google app, it integrates perfectly well with Apple Photos (simply launch Snapseed and choose the photo to edit from your Library). You can apply a single effect or many, and save your favourite looks as preset effects to be used over and again.

Where to start with Snapseed

A deeper dig into Snapseed reveals amazing editing potential. Let’s begin with curves editing before considering other smart editing features. Curves adjustments are typically found in more advanced desktop photo editing apps; yet are actually very simple to use in Snapseed. Give them a try and you will soon have a feel for them.  For more in-depth tips, see my book Smart Phone, Smart Photo Editing, available from all good bookstores.

Curves: the basics

The Curves tool is used to adjust hue, brightness, contrast, highlights and shadows in your photos. Essentially, this is done by dragging blue dots, known as nodes, on a line: down to decrease, up to increase. This very precise way of editing enables much greater adjustment control than when using the contrast slider in the Tune image tool.

Curves will be familiar to anyone used to editing photos on a computer, but for the sake of smartphone users still learning the jargon, we’ll start from the basics.

Opening the tool, we see a straight diagonal line from bottom left to top right laid out in a square box: not a curve as the name suggests. This line, often referred to as the contrast curve, represents the range of brightness and shadow in images. Below it is the histogram graph, which tells us how the light information is distributed in the photo.

The core elements are:

• The existing node at the bottom left of the line represents the black point.
• The existing node at the top right represents the white point.
• The bottom half of the line represents the shadows.
• The middle section of the line represents the midtones.
• The top half of the line represents the highlights.

Nodes can be added to curves adjustments to change the shape of the curve; and the contrast and brightness of the photo.

Snapseed offers a selection of preset curves adjustments. Explore these to get an idea of what each does and when you might want to use it. Other nodes may be added by touching anywhere on the line to manipulate the presets further.

As well as the presets, curves can be adjusted manually by tapping the circular icon at the bottom left. This reveals the different curve adjustments options: RGB, Red, Green, Blue, Luminance. The RGB curve is the default selection. Raising or lowering this curve brightens or darkens all the colours in an image simultaneously.

Choose to increase the lightness or darkness of each colour individually by using the Red, Green and Blue icon options:

• Raise the red curve above the diagonal median line to increase the red hues.
• Drag the red curve down below the diagonal median line to increase the cyan (blue/green) hues.
• Raise the green curve above the diagonal median to increase the green hues.
• Drag the green curve below the diagonal median line to increase the magenta (purple/pink) hues.
• Raise the blue curve above the diagonal median line to increase the blue hues.
• Drag the blue curve down below the diagonal median line to increase the yellow hues.
• Luminance affects the brightness of all the colours at the same time; RGB affects the black and white points individually for each of the colours. Raising the luminance curve increases the hues’ lightness.
• Dragging the luminance curve down increases the darkness of the hues.

In practice, you may not need of all of the above. You’re best to start by altering the Luminance curve alone and then experiment with the individual RGB channels as you gain experience, and use the list for reference.

Curves editing

1. Tap the eye icon on the bottom menu to hide the curve line and bottom menu ribbon, and see the effects on the image.
2. The curve is also known as an S curve, because when used correctly, the shape created looks like the letter S.
3. Avoid dragging the nodes to any extremes (such as straight lines, right angles, shelved or stepped patterns) and avoid touching the ceiling or floor of the curves box. To work best, a curve should be soft and rounded.

Vignettes

Vignettes darken the corners of an image to focus attention on the main subject. As with many effects in Snapseed, it’s easy to ‘overcook’ this. You can reduce or increase the strength of the different vignette effects by sliding your finger up and down to access various options, and then left or right to change the strength.

Interestingly, the Curves tool provides a more sophisticated method for creating a vignette than the Vignette tool itself. The latter is limited to a uniform circle, whereas our Curves tool protects the highlights in the image and produces the light and dark areas in any bespoke shape. This is well worth trying.

In this picture of a jackdaw, I wanted to use a vignette effect to increase the focus on the bird. I created a new RGB curves layer and placed a node on the RGB line just below the first intersection but snuggled into the corner. By dragging this node down, I increased the shadows in the image. Then I placed a node in the top intersection to hold the highlights in place and protect them in the image.

Finally, I masked in the layer in the edit stack, brushing the outside edge at 25. Then moving in towards the centre graduating the steps by 25 at a time, i.e. 50, 75, all the way to 100. This prevented it from being a hard effect and made it look more natural.

This very subtle change is all about creating mood and atmosphere using the lightest of touches.

Vignettes are very effective for enhancing composition and mood, and you can start with the basic vignette tool and move on to more advanced curve and masking techniques.

Composite images

Another handy tool is Double Exposure. My book, Smart Phone Smart Photo Editing, includes two edits using it. One shows how to overlay two different images of the same subject to create an image that is more than the sum of its parts. The second shows how to create a stylised image that will make the most of your new curves skills. Be sure to choose two images that sit well together, however. Image preparation is essential to clean them up and expand the backgrounds so they can be resized to overlay each other.

How to create a composite image in Snapseed

The original images I used here were in colour, so the first job was to convert them, one at a time, to black & white (use the Saturation slider within the Tune image tool, but check highlights, shadows and contrast – again, see my book for more). Once the first image was black and white, I opened the White Balance tool.

The Temperature and Tint were both turned up to +100 to make the image redder before I opened a curves layer and activated the red curve. I dragged this up to make it redder still, then selected hard contrast from the Curves presets to make sure I had strong shadows to work with when the images were blended. Finally, I flipped the image using the Rotate tool to put the subject’s head on the left of the frame. Then, I saved and exported it for later.

Now the second image. Once converted to black & white, I opened the curves layer again. This time I dragged the green curve up and the red down to remove the red and enhance the cyan, which created the turquoise colour.

After using the Expand tool to increase the frame, and the Healing tool to remove background anomalies caused by doing that, I saved and exported this second image, too. With the red image reopened, I tapped the Double Exposure icon on the bottom screen menu to open the turquoise image, creating an instant overlay ready for further editing.

The Swatch icon in the Double Exposure tool opens the blend method, which allows you to explore ways in which the two images are blended.

The Liquid Drop icon lets you raise or lower opacity so you can control the visibility of both images. You can also use your finger pinch to resize the second image, move it around the frame or change its orientation.

Note that you can reposition only the second image. The first will be static; so make sure you open them in the right order for the image you want to create.

Create your own Looks: Styles in Snapseed

Snapseed’s preset Looks (iOS) or Styles (Android) are ‘ready-made’ combinations of various edit stages that you can use to quickly alter the style of photos. However, you can save a huge amount of time by creating your own Looks/Styles; especially if editing multiple images from the same shoot and using the more sophisticated tools such as Curves. Creating your own Looks/Styles means you can rapidly apply the same edits to a whole set of images. This makes it easier to select the best of the bunch, and can also help establish your own style.

Once you’ve finished editing a photo, select the Looks/Style menu. Swipe through the presets until you reach the Add (+) icon at the end. Tap on this, give your new Look/Style a new name and then select Save. It is as easy as that! Then, next time you open a new photo you can go straight to the Looks/Style menu and select your own one without having to do the work!

You can manage your Looks/Style by simply clicking on the three small dots that are bottom left after the +. You can view them all, rename them, or delete any that you no longer use.

See more:

• How to edit black and white photos in Snapseed
• 10 ways smartphones can help your photography
• 11 best smartphone photography apps
• Best camera phones for photography
• Plus, read our smartphone reviews here

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The post How to edit photos with Snapseed – still among the best for smartphones appeared first on Amateur Photographer.