While you could edit your photos on your iPhone, it’s still better on your Mac. That’s because most of our photo libraries, like iCloud Photo Library, are on our Macs, and it’s easier to edit thanks to a faster processor, more storage, and just overall more computing power.
For serious photographers, editing on the Mac is still the best way to go about it. While Apple gives you the built-in Photos app, which does have some essential photo editing tools already integrated, sometimes you need a little more oomph, Here are the best photo editing apps for macOS Monterey that work on the best Macs.
Table of Contents
Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo supports unlimited layers, groups, layer adjustments, filters, masking, and more: you also have access to tools like dodge, red-eye fix, burn, blemish, clone, and patch (so pretty much Photoshop without all the convoluted bells) and whistles). In addition, nondestructive auto-saving makes undoing everything you’ve done easy, so the option is there if you need to start from the beginning.
Play, manipulate, edit, and get creative with Affinity Photo, whether you’re a serious graphic designer or someone who’s just looking to do some basic editing. Your photography will seriously thank you.
Affinity Photo for Mac
Affinity Photo gives you complete creative control over all of your photos and much more.
Fotor Photo Editor
With this photo editor, you can easily adjust the contrast and color of more washed-out photos, add borders, tilt and shift your images, add different text, slap on a few filters, and so much more, all from the easy-to -find toolbox on the right side of the app. You can even create collages of your photography masterpieces!
The BBC once called Fotor Photo Editor ‘light Photoshop’, and they’re right! You can go above and beyond editing your images with Fotor Photo Editor without getting bogged down by more complicated editing buttons and tools.
Fotor Photo Editor
Fotor Photo Editor is a simple and effective solution for photo editing, and you can download it for free.
Lightroom
Lightroom is great for photographers who need to manage a large image library and who are prepared to commit to (and pay for) Adobe’s cloud storage space. But it is purely a photography tool that’s a little outside the regular Adobe design ecosystem. ,Creative Bloq,
Pretty much anything you want to do with your photo, you can accomplish with Lightroom. You can blend and merge shadows and highlights, sharpen dull, blurry images to look crisp and clear, add details and tint colors to make a photo stand out, and so much more. While it is more complicated, people who use the program and know how to navigate it are hooked,
While you can download and use Lightroom for free, you need an Adobe Creative Cloud membership to access all of the features. However, a single Creative Cloud membership gets you unlimited access to all of the other Adobe creative suite apps, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco, and more. Creative Cloud membership is $9.99 monthly or $118.99 annually.
Lightroom
Lightroom is one of the best photo editing apps, especially if you are already invested in the Adobe creative suite.
Pixelmator Pro
You can use Pixelmator Pro for basic photo editing features like resizing, cropping, adding filters, adjusting color settings, etc. But, thanks to machine learning, you can take things to new levels.
We think Pixelmator Pro is one of the best photo editing apps for the Mac that’s reasonably priced with many excellent features. Don’t miss our full in-depth review if you want to learn more about Pixelmator Pro.
Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro is a powerful photo editing app that allows you to perfect your photos with many features.
GIMP
Like Photoshop, GIMP allows you complete control over editing your photos: an advanced image manipulation program with detailed customization for color reproduction.
You can add layers to your photos, edit and tweak colors, adjust contrast, crop, change saturation, etc. So, if you’re someone who admires Photoshop but is terrified of the price (or thinks it’s not worth it), then GIMP might be the perfect pal for you.
GIMP
GIMP is a completely free photo editing app. It may not have all of the powerful features of other apps, but it is simple and can get the basics done.
Luminar Neo
With Luminar, you can do some magical things like replacing dull skies with just one click — there is a collection of fantastic custom skies in the app that will breathe new life into any photo. In addition, the portrait enhancer tool lets you light up faces and even slim them down if necessary, and it removes dark circles, defines brows, enhances lip color, and more. There’s even AI to help reduce shine on oily skin. Other cool features include adding sun rays, instant looks, textures, and more.
Luminar Neo
Luminar Neo makes photo editing simple and easy. You can try it out for free to see if it’s a good fit for your needs.
Preview
Plus, it’s already built-in to your Mac, so make the most of it!
Many choices
These are just a few of our favorites for Mac’s best photo editing apps. They come with various features in many styles — at different price points.
Updated April 2022: Removed Luminar 4 and added Luminar Neo to the list.
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