Some of the best Photo Editing Software available in 2022best photo editing software

Over the past few years, photo editing software has become increasingly accessible, with a wide range of options now available to suit all budgets and skill levels. Whether you are a professional photographer, a designer, or simply looking to improve your social media posts, it is useful to know the best photo editing software on the market.

 

 

 

Adobe Photoshop 

There is a reason that ‘Photoshop’ can become synonymous with photo editing, as it is widely considered the best photo editing software for photographers and other industry professionals.

Adobe Photoshop is, unsurprisingly, the most popular photo editing software worldwide. Photoshop has been the industry standard for years, and it continues to be the best photo editing software available. With its powerful tools and advanced features, Photoshop is able to provide professional results that other software simply cannot match.

In addition, Photoshop is constantly being updated with new features and improvements, making it even more essential for anyone who wants to edit photos professionally. If you’re looking for the best photo editing software, there’s simply no substitute for Adobe Photoshop.

Even if you’re new to photo editing, but want to learn the most widely used software, there is a wide range of online tutorials, both within the application, on LinkedIn Learning and for free on YouTube.

best photo editing software

Platforms and Price

Adobe Photoshop is available on Windows and MacOS, as well as iOS on iPads. It is, unfortunately, not the most affordable photo editing software, at £9.98 per month, or as part of all the Creative Cloud applications for £51.98 per month.

best photo editing software

GIMP

The best free photo editing software.

For those who are on a tighter budget, GIMP is a great free alternative, which offers many of the same features as Photoshop. With GIMP, users can access a wide range of tools for manipulating images, including resizing, cropping, airbrushing, and more. The software also supports layers and transparency, making it a versatile option for both amateur and professional photographers. While it may not have all the bells and whistles of some of the more expensive options on the market, GIMP provides an impressive array of features at a price that anyone can afford, so it still makes the list of best photo editing software.

This software can be used by photographers, illustrators and graphic designers, especially if they’re still building their career and do not have the funds for a monthly Adobe subscription. They will still have access to all the necessary tools and produce high quality images. It is even possible to create original artwork on the software, making it one of the best photo editing software options, and the best free one.

Platforms and Price

It is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux and is of course free. 
best photo editing software

Affinity Photo

This is considered by many as the best photo editing software that does not require a subscription. It’s packed with all the features you need to make your photos look their best, and it’s easy to use, even if you’re not a professional photographer. Whether you’re looking to make simple tweaks or completely transform your images, Affinity Photo has the tools you need. And best of all, it won’t break the bank like some of the other options out there.

Pros & Key Features

Affinity offers layers-based editing, focus stacking and raw editing and image support, lens corrections, panorama stitching and HDR merge, as well as many more useful tools and features. It is known for having very comprehensive features and also offering million-plus zoom.

Cons

Being significantly more affordable than Photoshop, it comes as no surprise that it is not quite as full-featured. You are not able to create custom workspaces and sometimes it can be a bit slow with larger files.

 

Platforms and Price

Affinity is available on Mac and Windows, as well as iOS for iPads. You only have to pay a one off fee of £47.99, which is currently on offer for only £23.99. Affinity Photo is part of the Affinity Suite, which includes Affinity Designer and Affinity Publisher, however these require separate licenses.

best photo editing software

 

Pixlr X / Pixlr E

Both these sister apps have been referred to by many blogs are reviewers as the best photo editing software you can access from your browser. It is also considered by some as the best easy photo editing software.

Nothing to download

Since it is a browser accessible editing website, you do not need to download anything onto your computer, tablet or phone. You can simply open it up whenever you need it, not filling up your computer’s memory or slowing it down.

Pixlr X allows you to create non-destructive edits to photos, and has Dropbox integration for convenience, which makes it ideal for collaborative work. This is considered the easier option of the two, providing you with a range of adjustments and filters, while keeping it easy and comprehensive and possibly the best photo editing software for beginners. However, if you have a bit more experience and want to use more advanced tools, you should probably try Pixlr E, which offers some additional options.

Platforms and Price

As it is just an online editing website, you can use it on any browser, on any computer system. There is a free version, which you can use for most of your basic photo editing needs, with some limited effects and with ads. There is also an ad-free, full premium which is $14.99 per month.

best photo editing software          best photo editing software

 

Luminar NEO & Luminar AI 

 

Luminar NEO

Luminar NEO has been called the best photo editing software for beginners. It is ideal for those who regularly make tweaks to their photos using mobile apps, in order to share them on social media, but want to improve on their editing skills with some higher quality software. The interface is very intuitive and simple, the software tends to be very fast and it has great AI tools to assist in your editing process.
best photo editing software

Luminar AI

NEO is considered good for its speed, but if that’s a priority of yours you should try Luminar AI instead, known as the best photo editing software for speed. It also has all the necessary tools for your edit, including specific tools for portraiture, landscapes, nature and black and white images. It also has useful AI features, as implied in the name. This artificial intelligence makes your life easier by suggesting editing options to enhance your images, as well as templates to tweak skies, skin, faces and eyes.

 

Platforms and Price

Luminar NEO is available on Windows 10 version 1909 or higher and MacOS 10.14.6 or higher, it costs a one off price of £59. 

Luminar AI is available on Windows and MacOS, and costs £54.99.

best photo editing software

best photo editing software

In the age of social media, we are constantly inundated with images. And it’s not just personal photos anymore – businesses are using photos more and more to promote their products and services. As a result, photo editing skills are becoming increasingly valuable in a wide range of professions. Whether you’re a graphic designer, a marketer or even just a regular user of social media, learning the basics of the best photo editing software can be extremely helpful.

There are a lot of different photo editing software programs out there, and it can be tough to know which one is best for you. But once you find the right program, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make your photos look amazing. So if you’re looking to give your career a boost, or if you just want to have some fun with your photos, learning how to edit them is definitely worth your time. We hope this list of the best photo editing software options has been useful.

If you found this article helpful, why not share it with your photographer, graphic designer and other photo editing friends and social media followers? If you want to check out more articles like this, check back in on the Nostairway website weekly, we are a video production company in London and post regular articles. And check out these past blogs with relevant topics:

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Audio Editing – Altering Voices in Postproduction

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5 Best Editing Software in 2022

best photo editing software