Because of the widespread adoption of digital media, photo editing software has come a long way over the last decade. In fact, the technology available to photographers today is so great that it can be both fun and challenging. Today’s photo editing software enables us to fix, enhance, and make our photos look better.
As we all know, using the right photo editing software is an essential part of achieving your dream photography. In the early days of digital photography, we were limited to Photoshop. Nowadays, you have hundreds of options. However, it can be hard to know which ones are the right ones. So here I am going to talk about today’s best photo editing software in 2022.
Top 10 Best Photo Editing Software
- Inpixio Photo studio : powerful photo editing software for Windows PCs designed for all skill-level users
- Movavi Picverse : ease-to-use photo editing software designed especially for beginners
- Adobe Lightroom : versatile and lightweight photo editor perfect for photographers of all levels
- Luminar AI : advanced photo editing software for Mac and PC that uses artificial intelligence to create better-looking photos.
- GIMP : one of the best free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop for all skill-level users
- Pixlr : free editor online graphic design
- Adobe Photoshop : go-to tool for professional graphic designers and advanced editors everywhere
- Affinity Photo : Best alternative of photoshop but without subscription
- Pain.NET
- Capture One 22 : Powerul, with better RAW processing
#1. Inpixio Photo studio (inpixio.com)
Pricing : One-time purchase (perpetual license) ranging between $40 and $58.
Inpixio Photo Studio 11 is easy-to-use and powerful photo editing software for Windows PCs that allows you to do photo retouching and restoration without altering their tone. It is a fun and easy way to remove objects (such as people, signs, or logos) from your photos, watermark your photos, and build amazing photomontages you can share. Inpixio Photo Studio 11 includes a robust set of innovative features that make removing objects from photos a snap—even for novices. With features like Erase, Clone Tool, Background Eraser, and more, you can easily cut out any object and rearrange your photos into something completely new! You can turn a simple photo into a memorable one by removing any unwanted object from it, replacing backgrounds, restoring old photos, or creating professional photo enhancing projects within minutes—easily and quickly.
Fully Instant Photo Editing Software. Simple and easy. Purchase it today and receive a 50% discount on the professional version!
| PROS | CONS |
| Remove unwanted objects in just a click | Need to download and install four different apps to complete the pack |
| One-click correct errors on photos | Watermarks on the finished product when I’m not using a trial version |
| Easily create impressive photo montages | – |
| User-friendly editing software suitable for beginners | – |
| Use the clone tool to perfecct your editing | – |
| Share with friends & family on Facebook, Twitter, Flick | – |
| Hundreds of customisable photo filters | – |
#2. Movavi Picverse (movavi.com/photo-editor)
Pricing : Free Trial available, starting price $44.95/year
Movavi Picverse is a professional photo editor for PCs that allows you to get professional photo editing results at the touch of a button. This easy-to-use and powerful picture-editing software comes with artificial intelligence technology, so you can quickly and easily remove background images or objects from ordinary photos, making it possible to include a word-art effect. Its intuitive interface lets you improve your photographs without any professional skills. No matter who you are or what hardware you have, working with this software will be as easy as pie. Movavi Picverse Photo Editor is designed especially for beginners. This all-new Picverse Image Editor gives you smart editing tools and all the right presets, so you can edit images on your PC and get amazing results. It is the easiest way to enhance old and new photos.
Get fast, effortless editing and a myriad of powerful tools—all at a great price.
| PROS | CONS |
| Available for Cloud, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android. | Not very suitable for professionals |
| Remove or change photo backgrounds in just a few simple steps | – |
| Optimize the colors and contrast in a photo in seconds | – |
| Edit images in no time and get amazing results | – |
| Bring old photographs back to life | – |
| Free Trial available | – |
#3. Adobe Lightroom (adobe.com/products/photoshop-lightroom)
Pricing: 7-day free trial available, with monthly price ranging from $9.99 to $19.99.
Lightroom (Adobe product) is perfect for photographers of all levels, with easy-to-use tools that help you brighten photos, bump up colors, and mask distracting elements, so you can bring your vision to life. It offers powerful editing and advanced organizational capabilities from anywhere at anytime. With the new intelligent search, you can find the perfect photo in seconds and easily manage your entire photo collection on your mobile device or desktop. Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, this powerful and flexible photo editing software gives you a simple experience and lets you confidently transform your images with tools to adjust lighting, color, and tone. Then you can access your full portfolio across all your devices with cloud storage and make sure every shot shines on any screen.
Welcome to the world of Adobe Lightroom. Whether you want to fine-tune your image or reimagine it completely, you can make all the changes you need in Lightroom
| PROS | CONS |
| 7-day free trial | Monthly subscription only |
| Create, edit, organize, store, and share your photos across any device | More limited scope in comparison with Photoshop |
| Create photos that look just the way you want | Some basic features like batch editing requires premium subscription. |
| Use Interactive tutorials to learn faster | Slow import speed |
| Available for Cloud, Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android | Slight learning curve but not too bad. |
| It has a simple UI, and it is easy to use. | Preview window is too small. |
| Mobile app is not very intuitive | |
| It has lots of editing features like saturation, hue, brightness, and toning palettes. | Consumes a lot of RAM power |
| – | Performance gets degraded after every update |
#4. Luminar AI
Pricing : Free trial available, One time purchase (perpetual license) ranging between $63 and $79
Luminar AI is an advanced photo editing software for Mac and PC that uses artificial intelligence to create better-looking photos. Using seamless one-click technology, Luminar automatically enhances your photo in just seconds. It intelligently detects and adjusts elements of an image such as colors, exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, and more. Luminar includes over 100 automatic adjustments that can be applied with a simple click of a button, but also gives you full manual control for advanced users who want more control over their photos. With its intuitive and easy-to-use interface, easily distinguished controls, and a learning curve that any beginner can handle, Luminar can quickly turn even the most inexperienced user into an expert photographer! It’s like having a team of pro photographers at your fingertips. Whether you need to remove something from an image or bring out the best of its true colors, Luminar has you covered with intelligent tools for every situation. Its benefits include faster photo-editing, automatic optimization, and fine tuning by hand.
| PROS | CONS |
| Available for Windows and Mac | Mediocre library functions |
| Non-destructive editing | Limited exporting options |
| Intuitive interface | – |
| Improved performance | – |
| In-depth customization | – |
| Available as a plug-in as well | – |
| Free Trial available | – |
#5. GIMP (gimp.org)
Pricing : Open-source and free
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a powerful, free, and open-source program that allows you to edit photos and create original artwork. Its wide range of capabilities makes it suitable for a variety of image editing tasks, like photo retouching, image composition, and image construction. GIMP works on many operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux, and is available in many languages. It is a graphics editing program that provides virtually every tool imaginable to make your photos look great. Whether you are a professional graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, or just looking to do simple photo edits, GIMP has the tools you need. GIMP is one of the best free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.It can be used for any purpose, and it doesn’t put restrictions on the kind of work you produce with it.
| PROS | CONS |
| Works on Windows, Mac OS X, and GNU/Linux, | Need time to learn how to use it |
| Open-source and free | Non-intuitive workflow |
| Easy-to-use | Difficult to get the hang of |
| Colour option | Lack of HDR support |
| Closest free alternative to Photoshop | – |
| Great features, and constantly improving | – |
#6. Pixlr (pixlr.com)
Pricing : Free version available, paid versionranging between $4.99 and $14.99 (30 days free trial)
Pixlr, free photo editor and online graphic design software, is an all-in-one creative suite that inspires and enables anyone to easily create spectacular images in seconds. You can apply effects, blend images, and make collages in a snap. Pixlr provides a variety of photo editing online tools, easy-to-use motion graphics templates, and simple yet effective video editing techniques, making it possible to quickly create high-quality images, movies, animations, and presentations. With Pixlr’s online editor, you don’t need to download software or install plugins. You can take a photo online, edit it any way you like, and then share it with your family and friends. All editing is done right within the web browser, right down to the pixel. Whether you’re a professional graphic designer or a beginner learning how to use a photo editor online, Pixlr has everything you need in order to create top-quality designs. It’s super easy to use.
| PROS | CONS |
| Free to use, with a 30-days free trial for premium option | Advertising for the free version can annoying |
| Ease-to-use | Can be laggy sometimes |
| Runs in a browser, no need to download a desktop program | Limited functionality |
| Mobile version available | – |
| Clean interface | – |
| Nice collection of filters and effects | – |
#7. Adobe Photoshop (adobe.com/products/photoshop)
Pricing : 7-day free trial, starting price at $20.99/month
Adobe Photoshop Touch is a revolutionary mobile design tool that lets you easily draw, paint, edit, and create on-the-go. Take any photo or start with a blank canvas and edit photos with filters, layers, and more. Create artwork with a range of professional tools and brushes, including pencils, markers, pens, airbrushes, and more. Share your creations with your favourite social networks or publish them online. From photo retouching to 3D animation, Photoshop is the go-to tool for graphic designers and artists everywhere. Get all the essential design tools you need with flexible cloud storage plans, as well as helpful services like online storage and video tutorials. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you can create amazingly beautiful images with Photoshop—anywhere you go. With just one finger, you can perform all the essential editing and design tasks, including selection, cropping, colour adjustment, painting, drawing, layering and more.
| PROS | CONS |
| Works on Saas, Windows, Mac, iphone, ipad, Android | Slightly expensive, cheaper alternatives available |
| Massive number of amazing features- great layering images | Need a very high-end system to use the full potential of this software. |
| Great online community and lots of tutorials | Tools are overwhelming, and One gets confused easily |
| Intuitive design interface | – |
| Easily manipulate, crop and resize any image | – |
| Excellent for image retouching | – |
| Lots of free templates available | – |
#8. Affinity Photo (affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/)
Pricing : Free trial available, One time purchase (perpetual license) ranging between $20 and $50.
Affinity Photo is a powerful, versatile, and fully creative photo editing solution for Mac, iPhone, and iPad that allows you to edit photos and create new ones. It’s an advanced photo editing software accessible to everyone that offers professional tools and photo-realistic effects, which means you’re now free to get creative with a complete professional toolset that feels natural in your hands. With a perfect blend of powerful tools and a sophisticated, uncluttered interface, it’ll help you achieve better, sharper results in less time. With a fast rendering engine, full resolution previews, as well as all the key retouching tools, you can do your workflow much faster and much better. With Affinity Photo, you can retouch photos, design graphics and art, and combine functionalities from plugins to create your own tools.
Start now with a world-class photo editing tool trusted by professional photographers and designers around the world.
| PROS | CONS |
| Layer-based editing | No lens-based corrections |
| RAW editing tools | Lack of organization tools |
| Panorama, HDR, and focus stack merging tools | No ability to save custom workspaces |
| No subscription – One time purchase | Poor noise reduction |
| Light and clean interface | – |
| Regurlarly updated | – |
| Easy to use, almost as powerful as Adobe Photoshop but very cheap in comparison. | – |
#9. Pain.NET (getpain.net)
Pricing : Free option available, One time purchase (perpetual license) that cost about $7.
PaintNET is a free image, photo, and painting editor for Windows. Unlike other similar software, Paint.NET is available for free without an expiration date! It features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, transparency, and a wide array of effects. Simple and fun to use, Paint.NET goes far beyond basic image editing functions. It’s the perfect tool for photographers, graphic artists, Web designers, and others who need a professional-quality image editor without spending a fortune. It is easy to replace your expensive commercial software. It supports layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. Features include image adjustment, drawing, red eye removal, sharpening, cropping, colour adjustment, various artistic filters and effects, zooming and resizing.
Installation is fast, with no annoying licence keys or other headaches—and if you ever decide you don’t like it, uninstalling takes only seconds.
| PROS | CONS |
| Free option available | Only for Windows |
| One time purchase for the paid option | Interface design looks a bit outdated |
| User-friendly interface | Limited functionality |
| Tons of creative filters and effects | Only for personal use |
| Suitable for beginner and intermediate users | – |
| Layer-based editing | – |
| Plug-in support | – |
#10. Capture One 22 (Captureone.com) / Powerul, with better RAW processing
Pricing : 30-day free trial, monthly subscription $33 or one-time payment (perpetual license) $400
Capture One Pro 22 is the ultimate photo editing software with an unrivalled set of features for professional photographers, designers, agencies, and studios. Built specifically with RAW images, Capture One preserves every detail captured by your camera with its robust feature set. It supports over 500 camera profiles and gives you an unprecedented amount of image control over every hue in your photo, all in one place. Capture One does more than simply edit your photos—it lets you create the world as you see it. Every nuance of every colour is under your control, from individual colours to colour temperature, saturation, and exposure values. With exclusive, real-time raw processing to ensure true-to-life colors, this industry-leading software offers a complete range of high-end processing tools for professional photographers and advanced amateurs who demand the highest level of quality from their RAW conversion software. Capture One Pro delivers superior performance on both Mac OS and Windows.
| PROS | CONS |
| 30-day free trial | Lack of panorama and HDR tools |
| Great RAW processing | Lack of third-party plug-in support; |
| Numerous adjustment tools for different needs; | Limited organization features; |
| Industry-leading tethering tools | Expensive monthy subscription |
| Annotations feature | – |
| Fast and smooth spot removal | – |
| Powerful, flexible and ease-to-use | – |
FAQ
What is photo editing software?
Photo editing software used to manipulate digital images. Available in a range of versions, from basic apps that let users apply simple effects, to industry-standard programs used by professional photographers for more advanced needs, photo editing software enables us to fix, enhance, and make our photos look better.
What can photo editing software do?
Photo-editing software enables users to adjust their images, customize important details such as colour or brightness, remove unwanted objects, fix blemishes on their faces, whiten their teeth instantly, and much more. Thanks to photo editing software, it’s easy to visually alter images, enhance them, and give them a new lease of life. Whether you take photographs to make photo albums, to decorate your home, or to create wallpaper, photo editing software usually comes in handy. The desired atmosphere can best be created using suitable filters and effects.
What do I need photo editing software for?
Photo editing software helps you easily eliminate the most common problems from photos and significantly improve their quality. With the help of photo editing software, you can make various corrections, such as brushing off red-eye, removing unwanted objects from your photos, and even creating new pictures, designs, or graphics. If you want to edit your pictures, then the right photo editing software is an indispensable tool. With the proper tools, it will help you not only with image editing but also with creating and editing other graphics, such as logos or icons.
If you regularly take pictures with a digital camera, you need a good photo editing application to complement it. It can remove any unwanted objects or people from your photos, crop the picture to show only certain parts of it, and even create completely new images or graphics out of existing photos.
What do I need to look out for when choosing a photo editing software?
When it comes to choosing photo editing software, there are plenty of different products available, most with similar functions. The most important point when making your choice is the range of functions. Special attention should also be given to an intuitive user interface, a comprehensive help function, and helpful tutorials and manuals.
The most important deciding factors are:
- Clear, intuitive user interface that is as multilingual as possible.
- Compatible with the most important image formats and with your operating system,
- A large selection and ease-to-use of editing tools
- A plethora of effects and filters
- The ability to modify and manipulate photos with just a few clicks,
- Automatic photo corrections and optimisation functions
- Useful additional features, such as integrated photo management or social media sharing.