Best Photoshop Software

Photoshop has become so dominant that you can use its name as a verb, but if you want to get your hands on it you need to shell out at least $10 a month. Don't worry! There are plenty of completely free alternatives to Photoshop; here are a few of the best.

For those of you who'd rather spend that cash on a Netflix or Spotify subscription (or groceries), then there are a stack of free Photoshop-replacement apps to consider. We've cast our eye over the very best of what you can use without paying a penny.

Mar 07, 2019 Whether you're a casual smartphone shooter or a pro using a DSLR, you need software to get the most out of your images. We show you how to pick the best photo editing software.

Aug 14, 2019 To help you select the best software, we tested six popular photo-editing programs, all either free or under $100: Apple Photos, Corel PaintShop Pro, GIMP, Google Photos, Adobe Photoshop.
Aug 21, 2019 The best free photo-editing software Here are 4 free alternatives to Photoshop for all your editing needs By Jon Martindale August 21, 2019 6:45AM PST.

Adobe Photoshop Express

The most basic of Photoshop features, free of charge. You can use Photoshop Express in your browser, or pick up the app for Android, iOS or Windows Phone. The app lets you crop, rotate and resize pictures, adjust the usual variables like brightness and contrast, and remove red-eye. There's also a useful Touchup tool that lets you correct minor blemishes in your pictures.

Photoshop staples such as Dodge, Burn, and Highlight are here, though you don't get the same level of control as you do in the desktop version (there are only three brush sizes to choose from, for instance). A small but handy set of effects can be applied, including Crystallize, Pixelate, Sketch, Distort and Pop Color. It's simple and fun to use, and changes can be undone in a click or two.

You're not going to get the same pixel-by-pixel control as you do in the full Creative Cloud package but then this does cost an awful lot less. Nothing at all, in fact! Give it a test run and see if it's capable enough to meet your image editing needs before committing to a monthly fee.

GIMP

GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is usually the default go-to alternative for anyone looking for Photoshop-level capabilities in a freeware desktop program. It's not quite as feature-rich as Adobe's powerhouse, but it comes with an impressive stack of tools that can be bewildering for first timers. Fortunately, it doesn't take long to get to a grip on GIMP, and you'll be glad you invested the time and effort.

Many of the higher-level tasks people look to Photoshop for—advanced image filtering, stitching multiple pictures together, and so on—can be achieved with aplomb in GIMP. Versions are available for Windows, OS X and Linux, and you'll find a ton of tutorials and resources on the Web to help you dig deeper into the software.

GIMP's development history stretches back nearly 20 years, and the more time you spend with the program the more it shows. From the wide selection of brushes available to the tweaks you can apply to the filters, there's enough functionality here to take on almost any image editing task.

Pixlr

If you find desktop software all a little bit 2010, then Pixlr is here to meet your browser-based editing needs. It looks and feels a lot like Photoshop, but it's free and runs online from anywhere—you can load in an image from your computer, or point it directly to a URL elsewhere on the Web.

With the likes of Dodge, Burn, Blur, and Clone stamp available, as well as numerous selection tools, the toolbox is very Photoshop-esque. Text overlays and layers are supported, and if you open up the Filter menu you'll find all kinds of weird and wonderful effects to play around with.

From the advanced color picker to the plethora of image adjustment options, there's a lot to like about Pixlr, and the fact that you can tweak many of the tool options adds to the appeal for advanced users. Not just one of the best online image editors, but one of the best Web-based applications period.

Paint.NET

Paint.NET was originally conceived as a more feature-rich version of the default Paint tool that shipped with the operating system, but has evolved over time to become a favorite of Windows users for several years now. It's less powerful but easier to use than GIMP, and comes with a more familiar interface.

You have full control over the translucent interface, so you can drag around windows and dialogs to suit your own preferences. As for its capabilities, Paint.NET takes care of all the basics and then some: it features layer support, and a small but useful list of effects, while plug-ins developed by the community extend its capabilities even further (adding support for extra file types, for example).

It's certainly one of the most human-friendly Photoshop alternatives around, and though it doesn't have too many top-end features, there are plenty of users who'll be glad for a less cluttered toolbox and list of menu options. With text, shape, and brush tools available it's a decent option for creating artwork too.

PicMonkey

PicMonkey has helped to fill some of the void left by the shuttering of Picnik, which Google acquired in 2010 and promptly rolled into Google+. Picnik engineers Justin Huff and Brian Terry moved on to create PicMonkey, and you can see some of the same polish and power has survived the transition.

The online app manages to strike that difficult balance between an intuitive user interface and an advanced set of features. Getting started is as simple as clicking Edit a photo on the website, but once you're in you have a pile of different tools to use. Shapes, textures, and text can be added with a couple of clicks, and there are some cool Instagram-style effects to play around with too.

It's not so suitable for those traditional Photoshop tasks—putting the head of Han Solo on the body of Chewbacca, and so on—but it's more than adequate for making quick changes or playing around with effects and overlays. Of course, as it works in your browser you can access it from anywhere too. You can upgrade to a paid-for version to get your hands on some extra features and to remove the adverts from the bottom of the screen.

Those are our picks, but there are others out there. Got a favorite that we didn't mention? Share it below!

How do you choose the best photo editing software? We’ve picked the best paid-for mainstream photo editing programs that will work on both Mac and PC, and we’re looking for ease of use, quality of results, versatility or pixel-crunching power. There are also free, mobile or online photo editors out there but we’ll keep those for another guide.

The answer to the best photo editor question used to be easy – get Photoshop. It’s become clear, though, that photographers and enthusiasts want more than Photoshop can offer. It doesn’t catalog your growing photo library and it doesn’t give you ideas and inspiration to feed your creative vision. Basically it’s just a big box of spanners.

So we’ll kick off with the complex little ecosystem that is Adobe’s subscription-based Photography Plan, then look at alternatives that deliver better quality, better organisation, better inspiration or just better value.

These are not in any particular order since each program has its own particular strengths, so make sure you keep going to the end of the list, because there’s something here for everyone.

Best photo editors in 2019

1. Adobe Photoshop CC

It’s the most powerful photo editing application in the world and there may be times when nothing else will do

$9.99

$19.99

Complex layers-based editing

No cataloging

Photoshop is still the go-to image-editing tool for artists, illustrators and designers, but photographers have a different bunch of needs that might be better met these days by a cataloguing/enhancement tool like Lightroom or an effects tool like Alien Skin Exposure X3. Photoshop’s layering, masking and retouching tools are still the standard by which all others are judged, but it’s designed for painstaking work on single images, or multi-layer composites, rather than quick day-to-day editing. The only way to get Photoshop now is via an Adobe subscription. The regular Photography Plan is best value and also gets you Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic as well.

2. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

Things just got confusing. The ‘new’ Lightroom is a stripped-down tool based around cloud storage

$9.99

$19.99

Streamlined interface

Missing some tools

Where Photoshop is for detailed manipulation, Lightroom concentrates on image organisation and regular photo enhancements. Now, though, there are two versions. The ‘old’ one has been rebranded Lightroom Classic (see below) while the ‘new’ Lightroom CC offers a streamlined interface and integrated cloud storage. You can get Lightroom CC and 1GB storage for the same price as the regular Photography Plan, but you don’t get Photoshop, which is a significant drawback. Lightroom CC is super-slick to use, but it’s missing a couple of tools in Lightroom Classic and it doesn’t support plug-ins and external image-editors except for Photoshop. If you want Lightroom and Photoshop AND 1GB storage the plan costs twice as much… ouch.

3. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC

It’s the ‘old’ Lightroom with a new name, and sticks to regular desktop-based image storage

$9.99

$19.99

Powerful image adjustment

Interface could be better

Lightroom and Photoshop are the perfect double-act. One takes care of organising and enhancing your photos while the other handles any more complex layers-based image manipulation. Lightroom Classic is the old ‘full fat’ version of Lightroom. It feels a bit more ponderous and complicated than the cloud-based Lightroom CC, but it is more powerful and does support plug-ins. You get both Photoshop and Lightroom CC/Classic as part of Adobe’s subscription-based Photography Plan and, to be honest, this combination is good value and takes some beating. For many, though, the idea of paying a subscription to use software is just too much to swallow, which is why we’re going to move swiftly on to the rest of our list.

4. Phase One Capture One Pro 12

Expensive but beautiful, Capture One is a direct rival to Lightroom and pitched firmly at professionals

Pro-grade tethering

No mobile version

Capture One covers almost exactly the same territory as Adobe Lightroom Classic, offering cataloguing tools, seamless raw processing, manual image enhancement tools alongside preset effects and a non-destructive workflow that means you can revisit your adjustments at any time. Its raw conversions are sharper and less noisy than Adobe’s, but it doesn’t support such a wide range of camera raw formats or as large a number of lens correction profiles. It doesn’t have Adobe’s mobile apps and online synchronisation options either, but it does offer professional-grade ‘tethering’ tools for studio photographers capturing images via a computer. It also has a better system for applying local adjustments, using adjustment layers and masks. It’s expensive, but very, very good.

5. Serif Affinity Photo 1.6

If you want Photoshop but don’t want Adobe’s subscription plan, this is the answer!

Great HDR tone mapping

No cataloguing

Serif built its reputation off the back of low-cost Windows versions of professional graphics tools, but with its new Affinity line it’s shaken off its budget past for good. Affinity Photo might have a budget price, but it’s a full-on, full-powered Photoshop rival for professionals, that can even teach its Adobe equivalent a trick or two. Its layering, masking and retouching tools are as powerful as Photoshop’s, its filter effects can be applied ‘live’ and its HDR tone mapping and workspace tools are excellent. Like Photoshop, though, it’s focused solely on in-depth, technical image manipulation. It doesn’t have its own browsing and cataloguing tools and it doesn’t do instant preset effects. Affinity Photo will bring the tools, but you have to bring the vision.

6. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2019

Aimed squarely at beginners, Elements 2018 does a decent job but is starting to look dated

Novice friendly interface

Looking a bit dated

On paper, Elements 19 ticks all the boxes, just like previous annual releases. It offers quite a lot of the photo-editing power of Photoshop wrapped up in a novice friendly interface with quick fixes, guided edits and an Expert mode for more experienced users. It also comes with its own Organizer application for storing, organising and searching your photos. But while it’s fine for beginners who want to stay beginners, its family-friendly interface could become annoying, and while the Elements Editor will give you a head start if you upgrade to Photoshop, the Organizer is a bit of a dead end that’s nothing like Lightroom, so if you do move on up to Adobe’s Photography Plan you’ll have to learn Lightroom from scratch. The 2019 version adds Adobe Sensei AI tech to suggest new ways to use your pictures, and there are some more Guided Edits too.

7. Alien Skin Exposure X4

Trying to recapture the romance of analog images? Exposure X3 combines retro looks and regular editing

Good image adjustment controls

No thumbnail preview importing

Exposure X4 offers blends old analog 'looks' with contemporary photo enhancement tools. It has a large catalog of antique and modern film effects that simulate fading, cross processing, grain, light leaks, vignetting, borders and a whole range of traditional films and processing techniques. These are all built using tools that can also be used for regular image enhancements, including curves, colour adjustments and more. But while it offers adjustment layers for ’stacking’ and blending corrections, you can’t combine images. What you do get, though, is a fast and effective folder-browsing system for organising your photos with all the power of filtering and keyword searches without the fuss of importing them into a catalog. Version 4 adds smart albums, transform tools, movable light effects and improved raw processing.

8. Skylum Luminar 3

Now with Libraries for image organisation, Luminar is developing fast

Quick instant 'looks'

Best Photoshop Software Paid

Now with Libraries

Best Photoshop Software For Artists

Luminar takes an interesting approach to photo editing, offering a collection of preset effects organised into categories for those who just want to apply an instant ‘look’. These are made using a collection of filters which you can combine at will to create presets of your own. It also introduces the idea of custom workspaces which you can set up for specific image types, like Black and White or Portraits. The raw conversions don’t quite match the quality of the big three – Adobe Capture One, DxO – but they do the job and they’re backed up by some great editing tools. Luminar supports both adjustment layers and image layers, so you can create Photoshop-style composite images. The big news is that Luminar 3 – a free update for Luminar 2018 users – adds image cataloguing tools via Libraries and fully non-destructive editing so that you can go back and change any edit, any time.

9. ON1 Photo RAW 2019

An all-in-one tool that does just about everything. Like Luminar and Exposure X3, it’s come a long way, very fast

Great value

Raw processing could be better

ON1 Photo RAW started out as ON1 Perfect Suite and has quickly evolved into a more modern, integrated program rather than a collection of plug-ins. It can still work as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop, where you can browse the huge library of preset effects and manual adjustment filters to create ‘looks’ that the host programs can’t, but ON1 Photo RAW also works as a standalone program, complete with its own image browsing/cataloguing tools. In fact, this could be the only photo editing tool you’ll ever need – though the interface text is quite small and the raw conversions don’t match the quality you get from Capture One and DxO PhotoLab. For power, value and spectacle, though, ON1 Photo RAW 2019 is terrific, and version 2019.2 adds AI-powered image masking and cutouts.

10. DxO PhotoLab 2

Professional Photo Editing Software Free

The name has changed, the software has moved on, and PhotoLab is now a very serious contender indeed

Best Photoshop Software Free

Best Photoshop Software Free 2019

Brilliant lens correction

Some tools cost extra

DxO Optics Pro, famous for its lab-derived lens correction profiles and awesome raw conversions, has evolved. Last year DxO bought the Google Nik Collection (which it intends to develop separately) and integrated the control point adjustment tools to bring out PhotoLab. The big difference between PhotoLab and Optics Pro is that you can now apply powerful localised adjustments to your images. PhotoLab doesn’t have its own cataloguing tools, though it does have a basic folder browser, and to get the full benefit of its raw tools, perspective corrections (DxO ViewPoint) and film ‘looks’ (DxO FilmPack) you need to pay extra. It doesn’t support Fujifilm X-Trans files, either. PhotoLab’s raw conversions and lens corrections are, however, quite sublime. Version 2 adds a 'PhotoLibrary' feature with an autofill search tool, but this feature still feels fairly limited.