Best 10 photo editing software for Mac (Free & paid)

Recommended best photo editing software for Mac computers: Free and paid options

Last year, I taught myself some graphic design and photo editing skills. I need a photo editing software for Mac (I am a "iSheep"). So I turned to Google for some good photo editing apps. I need a tool that is easy to use, matches my budget and offers a good choice of features.

Alas... I was overwhelmed by a lot of suggestions, comments, comparative articles, etc., and felt overwhelmed. But after spending a few days scrolling through, testing and repeated tradeoffs, I finally found one.

I created this post to narrow down the search for readers so that you can save time and easily find paid or free Mac photo editors that meet all your needs.

Let's review it together.

How to choose the best Mac photo editing software: My method

macOS's photo editing tools vary widely in terms of functionality, learning curve, ease of use, speed, and price. Here are the things I recommend you consider when choosing a photo editor:

• What you use: Do you need a basic photo editing application for cropping, resizing, and enhancing some images? Are you a professional looking for advanced software with enterprise-level capabilities? Choose the tool that best suits your needs.
• Price: What is your budget? Are you looking for free or paid tools? Maybe you're willing to pay a small fee for a great set of image editing features.
• Features: Consider the most common use cases your photo editor should cover for you. If an app doesn't meet your main needs, then any fancy features it offers doesn't matter.
• Learning curve: You may need a day off to master professional tools like Adobe Photoshop. Make sure you understand the learning curve.

Now, let's talk about the apps I've picked for you.

Mac photo editing app

I've put together a handy form that covers information about the various editing applications you need to know. Fortunately, there are many options:

Let's compare!	Best for	Main functions	Free/paid
TouchRetouch	One-click photo decoration	Remove lines (such as telephone lines or wires); photo retouching for selected areas;	Setapp offers $9.99 per month, and over 250 other apps, a 7-day free trial
Luminar Neo	AI Photo Enhancement	AI photo repair tools; portrait and landscape photography preset library;	Setapp offers $9.99 per month, and over 250 other apps, a 7-day free trial
Adobe Photoshop	Highly professional image editing capabilities	A large number of photo correction and processing tools; generative AI; RAW camera file support	Starting from $22.99 per month, free trial for 7 days
CameraBag Pro	Photo and video editing	Intuitive picture and video editing; AI noise reduction and super resolution;	Setapp offers $9.99 per month, and over 250 other apps, a 7-day free trial
Adobe Lightroom	Comprehensive photo editing	Automatic mask for local adjustments; geotagging support;	Starting from $11.99 per month, free trial for 7 days
Preview	Basic Quick Editing on Mac	Supports various file formats; easy conversion between file formats;	free
Apple Photos	Basic quick editing on Mac and iPhone	Automatic enhancement function; AI cleaning tool	free
PhotoBulk	Batch photo editing	Edit hundreds of images at once; responsive preview; multiple watermark applications;	Setapp offers $9.99 per month, and over 250 other apps, a 7-day free trial
Pixelmator Pro	Vector graphic editing	Vector file format support; AI-driven template editing;	$49.99 one-time purchase plan, 7-day free trial
PhotosRevive	Improve and color old photos	Black and white photo enhancement; photo scanner	Setapp offers $9.99 per month, and over 250 other apps, a 7-day free trial

Easily batch photo editing with quick processing

Get CameraBag Pro on Setapp to apply presets, filters, and adjustments to uploaded files and save hours of image editing time.

Free Trial Security Testing Passes Best Photo Editing Apps for Mac: Free and Paid

I personally have used all the tools listed below and have spoken to some professional graphic designers who use them every day. So let's discuss their best features, advantages and disadvantages.

Author Disclaimer I have reviewed each application and process using our evaluation system. You can learn how we choose the app we recommend. I've tried to keep this post up to date, but I recommend doing your own research before installing or investing in any software. It is always wise to collect as much information as possible!

TouchRetouch: Quickly edit photos

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

TouchRetouch is good at a job because it allows you to remove any unwanted objects from images. It makes the image look clean by removing tiny details, whether it is modifying facial lines or background objects. The best part is the new innovative AI feature that effortlessly removes wires, linear objects, or shadows.

It is the best tool for naturally removing acne, glare, tattoos, skin blemishes and wrinkles. The Advanced Background Editor allows you to blur the background or make it transparent. Manual finishing is the best feature of TouchRetouch, allowing you to process tiny details of your image. Latest features such as smart debris removal and object-aware modification are best for repairing your favorite images.

advantage:

• Provides fast results and fast object removal
• Magic color correction tool
• Ideal for small repairs and removal of unwanted people or objects

shortcoming:

• Limitations on large objects and complex backgrounds
• No fine-tuning function

Luminar Neo: Use AI to edit photos

Best for: Amateurs and professionals looking for fun AI tools to enhance photos.

Luminar Neo is one of the best AI photo editors, with surprisingly plenty of tweaks, filters and effects. You can remove wires, dust spots and other unwanted imperfections from the background of the photo.

In addition to standard and AI editing tools, you can also get layer support with overlays and texture directories. The Relight tool allows you to correctly expose subjects that are opposite to very dark or very bright surfaces, delivering excellent results in a short period of time. When you import a completed image, you can sort them by date, keyword, and location. You can even tag or reject images. Neo can even be used as a plugin for Lightroom and Photoshop. Recently added tools include Mask AI and histogram tools, as well as bug fixes.

advantage:

• Unique AI photo repair function
• Quick Learning Curve
• Excellent adjustment tools, filters and effect selection

shortcoming:

• No facial recognition or keyword tags
• Some features run slower than more advanced software such as Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop: Edit photos like a professional

Best for: Professionals who seek highly specialized image editing capabilities.

Adobe Photoshop is the best graphics processing tool and has long been the industry standard for graphic designers and photographers. It is a comprehensive set of photo editing tools, filters, effects and other state-of-the-art features required to achieve professional results. With this layer-based image editor, you can include photos, graphics, and text for masking and blending for excellent results.

The latest version of Photoshop features neutral filters and other automation tools powered by Adobe Sensei AI machines that save time and effort while improving workflow. I love the Sky Replacement Tool, which provides many options to update the sky in your photos easily and quickly.

Source: adobe.com

advantage:

• A large number of photo correction and processing tools
• Advanced Generative AI Features
• Mobile and web design features
• RAW file support

shortcoming:

• Steep learning curve
• Run multiple background processes
• It seems too complex due to its complex interface and too many functions

Please read also:

• Photoshop alternatives for Mac
• Gimp reviews and best alternatives for Mac
• Permute Convenient Image Audio and Video Converter
• Add watermark to photos on your Mac

CameraBag Pro: Edit photos and videos using AI-powered tools

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

CameraBag Pro is an award-winning photo and video editing app that is easy to use and powerful. Professional Photographer Magazine calls it a photo editing revolution, and Apple rated it as the second largest Mac app of the year. So you can imagine the functionality of the editor.

With just a few clicks, you can take images and videos to the next level, thanks to over 200 professional filters created by photographers, videographers and designers. Complex layer lists are replaced by simple embellishment tiles.

Unlike many slow enterprise software, CameraBag Pro is super fast. It uses 96-bit simulation processing, has 32-bit/channel and RED-enabled 4K video. With a simple drag and drop function, the editor can handle RAW photos and remove bad points. Additionally, you can edit multiple photos at once, configure and apply presets, filters, and adjustments.

advantage:

• More than 200 professionally created filters
• Quick and easy batch changes
• RAW file support

shortcoming:

• Navigation is a bit difficult
• It may lack the advanced features found in enterprise software like Photoshop

Adobe Lightroom: Edit your photo shoot like a photographer

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

Adobe Lightroom is an excellent photo editing tool for professional photographers and photo editing experts. It runs on multiple platforms, including macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. What I like most about it is its non-destructive editing workflow, which means it doesn't change the original file when editing the image.

There are many tools available, ranging from editing exposure, color balance, contrast, tone and saturation to other advanced features such as noise reduction, lens correction, and gradient filters. Additionally, its integration with Adobe Camera RAW allows you to edit RAW files while accessing maximum image data and details. This tool also helps organize and manage your

With Lens BlurIt, you can create bokeh effects by simulating the shallow depth of field of a large aperture lens using Lightroom's AI capabilities. To speed up the organizational process, it has powerful AI tools such as facial recognition and automatic tagging.

advantage:

• Built-in and custom presets available
• Edit photos without changing the original file
• Support RAW files
• Easily synchronize with mobile devices and cloud

shortcoming:

• There are fewer advanced editing tools than Photoshop
• Layers are not supported

Tip If you are editing photos every day, you end up making a lot of photos every day. Keeping your laptop neat can be a little tricky, especially if they are full of repetitive and similar-looking photos. That's why I really like using CleanMyMac. It is a very handy tool to clear duplicate clutter, including photos. With its powerful cleanup, you can easily search for duplicates throughout your system and delete them in just a few clicks.

Preview: Edit photos to meet basic needs

Best for: macOS users who want to edit quickly.

Preview is the default image reader on macOS. Surprisingly, it can also edit photos. While not as advanced as other photo editing tools like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, it allows for a small amount of adjustments without opening a separate editing program. Quickly adjust the exposure, contrast, color temperature, saturation, and shadow of your photo.

This default application supports many image file formats such as JPG, PNG, TIFF, and RAW. With this feature, you can crop, rotate, resize, and annotate images. Additionally, it allows users to add text and shapes to photos. Isn't it very magical?

Additionally, preview provides easy conversion between file formats and some basic marking tools such as drawing lines or highlighting sections. Just open the image and start editing. That's it!

advantage:

• Easy to use for everyone
• A simple interface
• Allows easy conversion between file formats

shortcoming:

• Lack of advanced photo editing capabilities
• Not suitable for professional editors

Apple Photos: Edit your photos from your photo gallery

Best for: Beginners who want to start photo editing.

If you just want to do some quick editing of your photos, Apple Photos is a great choice. It is a multi-functional photo editing app for macOS, iOS and iPadOS users. Easily and quickly adjust the light, red eyes, curves, color levels and sharpness of your photo. It allows you to adjust exposure, brightness, highlights, shadows, contrast, brightness, vibrancy, clarity, and noise reduction. However, there is no pen or brush tool in Apple Photos' Edit toolkit.

Sharpen or blur certain parts of an image, such as adding brightness or darkness to the photo area. For quick editing, there is an "auto enhancement" icon that adjusts colors and contrast to make photos look brighter and brighter.

You can also use it to organize photos through albums, smart folders, and collections. Use the application's AI-driven features such as facial recognition to find and edit specific photos.

advantage:

• Quick photo editing
• Zero learning curve

shortcoming:

• Not suitable for advanced editors
• RAW files are not supported

PhotoBulk: Bulk editing photos (literally)

Best for: Looking for Mac users who are looking for a wide range of image editing.

When I was working on a project that needed to capture photos of my surroundings and edit them, I found PhotoBulk for Mac. Initially, I was using MS-Paint and some of the applications in the list below. However, editing 40-50 photos one by one takes forever. My research then led me to find PhotoBulk – an amazing batch photo editing app for Mac. PhotoBulk allows you to process and edit hundreds of images at once. Yes, hundreds of images can be processed with just a few clicks.

It uses a simple image drag and drop function to select various watermarks for JPEG and PNG images. Additionally, you can easily customize its size, opacity, rotation and position. Additionally, this image editor from Mac can convert TIFF, GIF, and HEIC to other formats on macOS 10.13.

advantage:

• High resolution watermark
• Batch image editing and renaming
• Convert different file formats

shortcoming:

• Limited functional availability
• Not suitable for complex editing

Pixelmator Pro: Edit photos with a rich set of tools

Best for: Professionals looking for powerful editing tools:

Pixelmator Pro is good at editing powerful professional images from over 750 digital cameras. This excellent tool allows direct editing of RAW photos without conversion or processing.

what else? It makes your photos look flawless by magically removing all unwanted objects. Use simple strokes to clone parts of the image and brighten or darken the selected area. Pixelmator Pro is a complete image editing package with over 50 tools. It provides a user-friendly interface for simple reshaping, drawing, adjusting colors, styles, text, arrange elements and more.

Thanks to the brand new features, you can now experience AI-driven template editing and smart replacement. Pixelmator Pro solves creativity problems by providing over 200 templates. These templates are perfect for social media, print, video, logo, personal branding, resume and business.

Source: pixelmator.com

advantage:

• Ready-to-use presets and templates
• Compatible with Mac environment
• Provide the latest AI features

shortcoming:

• For non-graphics professionals, it is difficult to use
• You can have difficulty working with large files or images with large numbers of layers.

PhotosRevive: Coloring and editing old photos

Best for: Beginners or professionals who want to recover colorless images.

PhotosRevive makes recovery of old photos easier than ever. This AI-powered editing tool can quickly add colors to black and white images. With this feature, users can immediately repair damaged or faded images. Just upload your photo and click to add color to your desired image. It uses advanced algorithms to automatically fix color loss, scratches, and other degradation in photos.

You can also manually adjust color dots, brightness, contrast, shadows, and more to ensure accuracy and personalization. This easy-to-use photo editing tool integrates seamlessly with native photo apps, meaning you can color images in your existing photo gallery without switching apps.

advantage:

• Quickly repair old photos
• AI-driven shading tools
• Photos application integration

shortcoming:

• Not suitable for advanced photo editing
• All image file formats may not be supported, especially older or less common formats

macOS photo editing tool: Conclusion

Pre-installed tools such as preview and Apple Photos are free, but only offer basic features such as cropping, resizing, and annotating. Tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are suitable for enterprise-level jobs, but they are expensive.

CameraBag Pro, PhotoBulk, PhotosRevive, Luminar Neo and TouchRetouch are affordable and powerful, providing the features you need for professional work. In my opinion, it is worth paying a small fee for the tools that will be used every day. You can find these apps on Setapp, a subscription-based platform that allows access to more than 250 apps for your Mac and iPhone at a single monthly fee. With a 7-day free trial, you can fully explore Setapp.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best tools for editing photos on your Mac?

The best tool for editing photos on your Mac is TouchRetouch. Whether you're a newbie or an experienced professional, this app has all the photo editing tools you need. In addition, it has a very convenient quick trim feature that allows you to remove unwanted objects from your pictures immediately and easily.

Does Apple Mac have photo editing software?

Apple Mac comes pre-installed with a preview app and Apple photos that lets you edit images. However, this software provides basic functionality. If you are looking for professional-grade tools, check out the Luminar Neo app.

What is the best free photo editing app on your Mac?

Preview and Apple Photos are the best free photo editing app on your Mac. But it makes sense to pay a small fee to access advanced features such as batch image processing, line removal, magic color correction, and more. Try professional image editing at affordable prices using affordable apps like CameraBag Pro, TouchRetouch and PhotoBulk.

Are there any free photo editing tools worth using on your Mac?

For basic image editing, you can try previewing apps and Apple photos, which are free photo editing tools for Mac.

Which photo editing software is the best for beginners on Mac?

The best photo editing software for beginners on Mac is TouchRetouch. If you are a beginner looking for affordable but professional, feature-rich macOS photo editing tool, this app is a great choice.

What top professional photo editing tools can Mac users use?

Top professional photo editing tools available to Mac users include Adobe Photoshop, Luminar Neo, Adobe Lightroom, and Pixelmator Pro.

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