Best Mac Photo Editing Software 2019 - Photo Editor Reviews

Recently, we spent over 50 hours testing 10 Mac photo editing programs. We compared the programs' editing capabilities by importing the same group of photos into each one and applying the same edits. We also took into account how easy each program is to use, preferring those that are powerful as well as easy to learn. We further evaluated each software’s photo organizing features, including how many categorization and search options it offers. After all our testing was said and done, CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10 stood out as the best Mac photo editing software. We think it is a good fit for users of any skill level, but it has features that make it especially good for beginners. To find out if this software is a good option for you, check out CyberLink’s 30-day free trial.

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CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10

PhotoDirector not only offers some of the easiest-to-use editing tools, it also offers one of the best photo organizing systems we've seen.

Pixelmator 3.3

Pixelmator 3.3 is easy to learn and costs less than many other programs. It is compatible with a wide range of file types and offers editing tools to enhance your images like a pro.

Affinity Photo

This software's tools are comparable to Adobe Photoshop. One of the biggest differences between the two programs is Affinity's lower-cost.

Best Overall

CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 10

CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra is one of the easiest programs to use, which makes it ideal for beginners.

Experienced users will also find that it offers the tools needed to edit and organize their work. You can arrange your photos using a star rating system, color labels, keyword tags and even by tagging specific people's faces. There is a wide range of editing tools and we found that they work super well when making changes. The object removal tool was especially impressive, removing unwanted elements and replacing the space believably. We also found an easy HDR feature and lens distortion correction tools. Unfortunately, there were no vector graphics tools.
The interface is built differently than many other photo editing programs. Instead of displaying toolbar icons, the program is split into category tabs, which contain various editing tools. Instead of simply clicking on the cloning brush icon in the toolbar, you'll need to click on the 'People Beautifier' tab in the 'Edit' section to access this feature. PhotoDirector works with the most common image file types including PSD, JPG, TIFF and RAW files. This software also makes it easy to post your favorite images directly to Facebook or send your photos to loved ones using email from within the program. You'll find tutorials and a FAQs page on the website. While emailing the company is free, you have to pay for a phone support plan if you want to get technical help.

Best Budget

Pixelmator 3.3

Pixelmator 3.3 is a less-expensive photo editor with advanced editing capabilities. Considering all included tools, this is a very good value.

You get all the basic tools such as red-eye removal, selection tools, and color management, along with more advanced tools like background removal, creative filters and automatic editing options. Unfortunately, while the program works in layers, you cannot apply layer masks to your images. You also cannot easily fix lens distortion, create HDR images or stitch together panoramas with this software. There is no organizing system, so you will have to purchase a dedicated program if you want that capability. You can, however, view your photos' EXIF information.
Pixelmator works with the most common image files, including RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. It can also help you optimize your photos for online usage. You can post photos directly onto social media sites such as Facebook, or email photos from within the program, but there is no online photo gallery. Also, you cannot make animated GIFs with this software.
If you want help with Pixelmator, there are various video tutorials, FAQs and even a user forum to help you learn and find answers. If you want to contact a representative, you can do so via email.

Best Alternative to Photoshop

Affinity Photo

Affinity Photo is one of the most powerful photo editing programs we tested. It didn't score as high as other program since it lacks a photo organizing feature.

You'll find that many of the tools you use in Photoshop are also in this program. In fact, it uses many of the same hotkeys. We were quickly able to remove unwanted objects from our photos with the content-aware fill tool. We counted 42 preset filters in the program that you can quickly add to your images.
We also found it easy to work with and manipulate the various layers as we worked. The program will help you create HDR photos and panoramas using simple step by step windows. There is no lens distortion tool per se, however, you can use the perspective tools to fix any warping caused by your camera. This program can be bought for a one-time purchase of roughly $50, which is much cheaper than Adobe's monthly or yearly subscription plans.
Affinity does offer a free demo of the software, but you'll need to use it quickly as it only lasts for 10 days. There is no photo organizing system built-in to this software so if you're specifically wanting a program that can sort your images, this might not be the best choice for you. We didn't find any printing project resources within the program. It will only allow you to make basic print requests.

Best for Learning Adobe

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 is one of the best Mac photo editors on the market. You navigate through the interface by choosing between the Guided, Quick and Expert modes. As expected, Guided mode helps you become acquainted with the various tools. It even offers tutorials and written instructions to fully explain everything.

Quick mode allows you to automatically make common adjustments to your photos, which can save time when you know your enhancements won't take long. You can adjust contrast, brightness and color. The Expert Mode gives you access to all of Photoshop Elements' tools.
There are more than 90 filters that can quickly add artistic effects to your favorite images. It also features advanced tools like content-aware fill, which gets rid of objects in an image and fills the space believably.
Photoshop Elements comes with Elements Organizer 2018, a separate program dedicated to organizing your photos. You can tag photos by time, date, name and rating. While Elements Organizer 2018 allows you to organize and catalogue your photos in a variety of ways, it can get tiresome jumping between the two programs. You can use Elements Organizer 2018 to store your photos directly in the cloud so you can access them anytime, anywhere.
This program is compatible with all the common image file types, including RAW, PDF, PSD, PNG, GIF and TIFF. You can also choose to share your photos directly onto Flickr, Facebook and Twitter. Should you need help, there are dozens of video tutorials online along with user forums and a FAQs page.

Best for Making HDR Images

Acorn 6

Use the tools to alter the hue, brightness and contrast of your images to make them look the way you want them to.

This software also works in layers to quickly view and select various elements when making changes. You can create both HDR and panoramic images using this software. The HDR guide steps you through the process making it easier to combine two or more images into one for a vibrant and lively finished product. Since it works with HDR images, it's not surprising that the software is compatible with RAW images, in addition to the most common file types. There is no photo organizer, so you'll have to purchase another one separately if you're wanting to manage your images. Fortunately, it does include a batch processor to make changes to multiple images at once and save you time. The cloning tool can help you eliminate unwanted objects from your images whether that be acne from a portrait or phone wires from a landscape. It also happens to be one of the least expensive programs in our comparison, selling for roughly $30.

Why Trust Us?

We have been testing Mac photo editing software for the past seven years. Whenever we evaluate products, we use the same testing methodology on each product to get fair and honest results. Our testers are often a mixture of experienced and inexperienced users, so we can gauge how different audiences react to a piece of software. With photo editing software, we look at every feature, tool and capability to determine how useful and intuitive each program is overall. Our testing helps us determine whether or not a program is best for beginners, advanced users or a mixture of both. We prefer to recommend programs that help you grow from a novice to an experienced artist while offering all of the best editing tools and sharing capabilities.

We contacted Brooklyn Parks - a graphic designer of 6 years – and Lisa Dixon – a professional photographer of 4 years to get more insights about photo editing programs. We also reached out to John Yoo, Head of Sales at CyberLink to learn more about PhotoDirector Ultra.

How Much Does Mac Photo Editing Software Cost?

You'll find that the best Mac photo editing software ranges between $30 and $100. Usually, programs costing $50 and up will give you more creative freedom and control over your work. The excessively expensive programs that cost more than $100 aren't always worth the cost, since you can usually find a program that fits your needs for less. Determine the tools and features you want most and then choose a program that offers them.

How We Tested

This year alone, we spent 50 hours testing 10 products. Our testers are graphic designers and photographers with a range of photo editing software skills. To determine which programs have the best editing capabilities, we uploaded the same images to each piece of software and applied the same edits. We paid attention to the intuitiveness of each product and compared the edited images side by side.

When the programs allowed, we also shared images to social media sites to see how well the sharing process worked. Programs with more editing features scored higher, while programs with fewer features scored lower. Our ease-of-use score was determined by the number of tools each program offered combined with the effectiveness of applied edits and the intuitiveness of each program's interface. Programs that were well organized and offered plenty of help tools scored higher.

We looked at file compatibility and awarded programs with more points when they worked with a wider range of common image file types. This also included the ability to optimize images for use on the web. The best software also comes with extensive resources, especially online video tutorials. Programs that offered a larger quantity of quality video instructions, a FAQs page and a user forum scored higher in our review.

What to Look For

Editing Tools

When we spoke to Parks, she told us that the best programs are the ones with intuitive tools. 'The name makes it obvious for what [the tool] does and it's easier to find what you are looking for,' she said. We score programs higher that were easier to use, this included making it easier to find the specific tools you need. What you need from a photo editor depends on what you intend to do with your images. Any true photo editor should offer basic editing tools like red-eye removal, cropping, color management, shape tools and the ability to add text to images. More comprehensive programs also have background removal software and a variety of brushes. Advanced tools help you make fine tweaks to your photos like touching up skin blemishes with touch-up or cloning tools.

It's also nice having a program that can fix lens distortion and create panoramas and HDR images. Batch processing is a super-convenient feature that allows you to make the same edits to several images at once. If you plan on taking dozens of photos at a time on a frequent basis, it's worth finding a program that offers it.

Yoo told us that if you can take the time to correctly adjust your camera before taking your photo, you will save yourself some hassle. 'The biggest lesson I learned that saved me time in post-processing was to take the extra time to compose the photo and light in the beginning when shooting. A well-composed photo will save you a lot of time later.' So, it's worth taking the time to prepare your scene.

Pricing
As far as Mac photo editing software goes, you should be able to find a basic editing program for under $100, typically starting for as little as $30. Paying more than $100 will often land you a professional editing program with additional editing tools and presets compared to the basic versions. It's good to note that you don't always have to pay the more expensive prices to get the specific tools you need. Before making your purchase consider what you think are the most important tools and find a software that offers them. If content-aware and cosmetic brush tools are most important to you, you can get a relatively cheap program that still includes those options like Affinity Photo. Programs generally have a trial period as well, so use this to try out the software and see which ones work best for you.

Organizing
Not all photo editing programs come with built-in photo organizing systems. While this isn't a critical feature, it can be incredibly convenient and save you time. The most common systems organize by location, faces, dates, times, titles, ratings and color labels. Categorization options vary from program to program.

File Compatibility
Since file compatibility is an important factor of a program's usability, we gave more points to programs that covered the most common image files such as RAW, JPEG, TIFF, PNG, GIF, PSD and PDF. Make sure you choose a program that works with the file types you use most. Yoo told us, 'I always shoot in RAW since it keeps the most light information in case I need to edit.' RAW images give you the most control over the editing process when they are imported into editing programs, which is why many photographers prefer to work with them.

Sharing Capabilities
Being able to post photos to Facebook or email them to family and friends directly within a photo editing program is a nice feature. Many companies offer online photo gallery accounts for you to use for free, but some cost extra. This can be a good place to back up your photos in case of computer failure.

If you plan on printing your photos or designs, Dixon told us it's best to work with 300 dpi, which is short for “dots per inch”. 'You can print pretty much anything,' she said. Many photo editing programs allow you to determine the resolution and size of new files or adjust the resolution and size of current images. This high resolution allows you to print images the size of movie posters and larger without getting blurry or pixelated imagery.

Parks told us that a super simple thing to help you when using photo editing software is to know the size of your project before you start. 'It will save you headaches later on,' she explained, 'otherwise when you transfer your files it can look like garbage.' Pulling a small image onto a larger file can make the small image pixelated and blurry so it's best to know the size of your end goal project when you start.

Help & Support
Advanced photo editors have so many features that you will likely need help learning how to use them. Video tutorials, FAQs pages and user forums can go a long way in helping you become an editing expert. Look for companies that also offer customer service in the method that you most prefer, whether through email, live chat or phone.

Parks told us that 'the biggest resource for learning is YouTube.' She further explained that she loves using it to find multiple ways to solve the same problem. If you ever get stumped jump on the web and see what other users have figured out.

Tips from the Pros

• If you're wanting to add vectors and symbols to your work, Parks suggests you use The Noun Project, a royalty-free icon library. 'You pay for vectors or PNG objects and symbols. It saves you a lot of time.'
• 'There are a billion artists and YouTube tutorials out there. There are things out there that already exist, there are pictures for you to use. Don't steal things outright, but use things to help you make something.' Many professional artists and graphic designers use imagery that already exists but combine it in a new way to make something unique. As long as you aren't stealing someone else's work, this can be a good method for enhancing your own photography.
• As parting thoughts, Parks explained, 'When looking for a job, it might not be something you imagined, but you can get something using [photo editing] skills.' We couldn't agree more. Being able to use this kind of software opens doors to many different job opportunities, from freelance work to positions within a company.

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Related Product Reviews

Apple’s Photos for Mac app is amazing, but it can be limiting. For doing simple photo edits, the tool is perfect, it’s loaded with photo cropper, features for lightening adjustments, setting white balance & a few more things. But if you’re an aspiring photographer, you probably need a powerful Mac Photo Editing App with a wide array of editing tools and other features.

So, whether you want to brighten up your dark dull images, remove a distracting background or use your creativity to the fullest, there’s a dedicated Mac photo editing app to step up your game. Best of all, most of these image editing tools are extremely affordable (& even free), so dive in to find the best tool to fit your personal/professional needs.

Top 10 Best Mac Photo Editing Apps

There are several image editing software available in the market for MacBook, so it becomes really challenging to pick up the best one. To help our readers, we’ve curated the ten useful photo editors (some are paid while some are free) to enhance your photo collection.

1. Movavi Photo Editor

Movavi is a full-featured photo editing tool designed for both beginners and professional users. It offers some amazing features to improve image quality, do photo restoration (remove noise from old images), perform portrait retouching (remove imperfections), erasing unwanted objects from the picture and so on. Aside from these main features, it offers tools for White Balancing, Color Correction, Makeup, Crop/Rotate/Resize, Add Texts/Images, Replace Background, and much more.

Movavi Photo Editor is available in more than 10 languages & requires merely 57.2 MB of space on your storage.

2. Lightroom

Next on our list of best photo editing software for Mac is Lightroom owned by Adobe Photoshop. Pretty much anything you want to do with your pictures can be accomplished through Lightroom. You can effortlessly blend, merge shadows, add highlights, make images sharper, crispier or even blur in a few clicks. The Mac editing app also allows users to add details & tint of colors to make the picture stand out. The MacBook photo editing tool is available in two versions: Classic (usually more preferred) & 2018 CC version.

Lightroom is offered free for thirty days to let users decide whether their editing needs are fulfilled or not. After the trial period, users can add the CC subscription for using the complete toolkit.

3. Tweak Photos

As the name suggests, Tweak Photos is one of the best batch photo editing app for Macdesigned to tweak your images in a way to bring the best out of it. The image editing software can also be your best bet for ultimate batch editing, it can alter thousands of photos in just a matter of clicks. The interface is modern and easy-to-use, users can easily pick effects & apply to the entire batch of photos, rename them or convert file formats in just one go. Aside from performing basic editing, Tweak Photos offers features for Resizing, Auto-Correction, Rotate, Flip, De-noise images, Add Watermark, and other images, enhance & control Brightness, Sharpness & more. You can even add gorgeous frames & borders to make your image more aesthetic.

Comprising all the essential editing tools & features, Tweak Photos is an ideal app to edit photos on mac. The tool automatically stamps the images with the original/modified Date/Time as per EXIF info & your choice of format.

4. Wondershare Fotophire

Fotophire by Wondershare is a popular photo editing toolkit designed for both beginners and professional users. The software is available on both the Windows and Mac platforms. The toolkit features more than 200+ effects and has strong capabilities to remove or replace the background or unwanted objects from any photo. The image editor brings a plethora of tools to create professional-looking blur & vignette effects, adjust white balance, saturation & other enhancements. Apart from it has wide file format support & bundle of filters, blend modes & textures to turn your photo into a piece of art.

What we like the most about Fotophire is its Batch Processing feature that efficiently processes plenty of images in a determined style. Hence, a real-time saver to edit bulk photos.

5. Pixelmator

Known as one of the greatest alternatives to Photoshop, Pixelmator offers an ideal combination of a modern and simple interface with the ability to work on multiple layers for easy editing. The software has a bunch of editing tools, brushes, effects & other textures to enhance your photo collection. Depending upon users’ needs, Pixelmator offers two versions, Standard & Pro. As the name indicates, the Standard version allows users to perform basic photo editing, it proffers refined selection of tools and other filters. While the pro version is packed with extra brushes, photo effects and other editing features to push your creativity to the next level.

Similar to other Mac photo editing apps, Pixelmator allows users to adjust contrast, saturation, color, definition and much more. The software allows you to save your images in different formats like PSD, JPG, PNG, TIFF, PDF and share them directly with your friends and family.

6. PhotoScape X

Amp up your photo editing skills in no time with a little help from PhotoScape X. It features an advanced range of image-related features including Photo Viewer, Batch editing, Collage, Cut Out, Combine, GIF, Color Picker, Screen Capture and more. PhotoScape has a variety of photo filters, effects & other adjustment settings to make your collection stand out. The tool is a popular choice for removing blemishes, moles, red-eye correction, creating fake HDR, liquify, creating a miniature effect, dehaze and more.

PhotoScape X is available for both Windows & Mac OS & is a very useful tool Batch Photo Editing as well. It proffers various tools to batch format change, batch resizing, batch rename and more.

7. Affinity Photo

Restyle images for a unique look and feel on your Mac with Affinity Photo Editing Software. Its dashboard might seem overwhelming at first, especially for beginner editors. However, once you get the grip, you’ll know that it’s just the application you’ve been looking for. The image editing software features a great bunch of professional editing tools, filters, and other effects to entice the inner artist in you. The best part? The tool features a Before & After view that lets you compare the original picture with the edited one.

The mac photo editing app supports more than fifteen file types and formats, including PDF, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, RAW and some other less popular ones as well.

8. Photoshop Elements

With complete control over Image composition (from the contrast to brightness), Photoshop Elements is one of the Best Photo Editing Software for Mac. Its interface is intrusively designed while keeping users’ needs & requirements in mind. The large colorful icons with comprehensive texts and graphics tips help both novices and advanced users. All the features are organized in the same way as most other Adobe products are. Apart from providing basic features for editing and adjusting image orientations, Photoshop Elements features Intelligent Selection of areas, scaling, smart cropper, restoration of damaged parts and much more.

Photoshop Elements is one of the most ideal apps to edit photos on mac, as it comes complemented by automatic tools for editing that are only available within itself & not other versions of Adobe Photoshop.

9. DxO OpticsPro for Photos

Let your photos shine with DxO OpticsPro for Photos tool. With a tagline ‘Reveal the RAW emotion’ Dxo offers a simple user-friendly interface with amazing photo retouching features & deep color correction tools. The application aims to analyze your images intelligently, correct orientations, adjust balance & exposure, alter the calibration levels to enhance your collection. It’s Magic photo retouching feature literary works like a charm; just select the photo(s) you want to improve in terms of color or quality & click ‘magic; button to intensify the image.

Best Photo Editor For Photographers On Mac 2017 Keyboard

In addition to basic editing features, DxO photo processing for compatible cameras can easily be managed within the editing mode. DxO OpticsPro acts as a third-party extension for the same. It is capable of applying White Balance Correction, Smart Lightning, applying Optical corrections and so on.

10. CameraBag Photo

An easy to use, lightweight photo editor tool, CaneraBag Photo is an amazing app that brings out the best of your photos. It features a clean and easy-to-use interface, on the right side of the dashboard, you’ll find the whole range of filters & customization tools. Unlike other best photo editing software for mac mentioned in the list, CameraBag Photo features 200+ Default Presets, which allows users to edit the photo(s) on the fly.

In addition to photo editing basics: adjust exposure, saturation, contrast, fix the noise, add blur, vignette effect. CameraBag Photo boasts other photo editing utilities like Hue Masking, HSV Mask, adding borders, watermark, fixing dead pixels, color mixer, filtered B+W, split tone and more.

How Do You Edit Your Photographs?

All the aforementioned Photo Editing tools for Mac are well-designed and great looking pieces to easily edit images. However, if you ask us, we recommend using Wondershare Fotophire & Tweak Photos that works suitable for both amateur & pro photographers. Both the photo editing tools have enticing editing feature set to make your photo collection stand out & both have strong capabilities for Batch Editing & Processing!

Photo Editor For Photographers

Do let us know your favorite editing tips, tricks, and hacks in the comment section below. And which Mac photo editing tool is your personal favorite?