Becoming increasingly more important, photo editing or post-production is now an integral part of photo hobbyists’ and pros’ workflows, and is often the second most critical step to producing a photograph after taking the shot itself. With such importance, it is crucial for photographers to find editing software that can fulfill and support all of their needs, ranging from basic editing control to adjust brightness and contrast, to more complex solutions for performing non-destructive edits with layers and masks, as well as manage an entire library of images. Here’s a look at some of the most popular options out there for handling your photographs post-capture. Adobe Photoshop Beginning with the most recognizable photo editing software around, is a product so well-known that its name has been transmogrified into a verb. There is little to say that hasn’t already been said for years about the king of photo-editing software; Photoshop is an incredibly well-rounded application that covers anything from making slight brightness and contrast adjustments, processing raw files, or retouching images all the way up to producing multi-layered, stitched image composites rife with selections and masks. Photoshop is available as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud; however, for photographers, the Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan bundles Photoshop with its younger brother, and second most well-known photo-editing software.
Photo editing software helps you change photographs you've taken and fix old. Cyberlink PhotoDirector 10 Ultra has been awarded best buy Product image of.
Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Introduced almost exactly 16 years after the birth of Photoshop, is a slightly scaled-down, more specialized image editing application. Intended more for photographers than all creatives working with “imagery,” Lightroom is best-known for its non-destructive editing environment, raw file processing capabilities, and file organization and management capabilities. Lightroom is also better tailored to digital photographers in particular, due to the inclusion of several tools for performing batch, repetitive, and synchronized edits.
In addition to being available within the Creative Cloud Photography Plan with Photoshop itself, Lightroom is also still available as stand-alone software under the name. Phase One Capture One Pro 9 onOne Photo RAW and Photo 10 A pair of complementary applications to suit an entire photo editing workflow, onOne’s Photo RAW and Photos 10 allow you to process raw files, make basic edits, apply creative effects, and manage a photo library. Is the newer of the two, and is meant as a single application for developing raw files and applying basic edits without the complexity of cataloging or importing. Picks up where Photo RAW leaves off, and allows for more advanced editing controls using layers and various editing modules for producing creative results.
Additionally, both of these can be used as a stand-alone application or as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom. OnOne Software Photo RAW Topaz Photography Collection A truly well-rounded suite of 16 different editing applications, as well as a stand-alone navigational program, the includes something to tackle just about every type of creative editing situation in which you could find yourself. Dedicated applications are available for converting images to black-and-white, improving detail and clarity, reducing noise, simulating lens effects, and even producing painterly, artistic results. Many of the programs can be used as stand-alone apps; however, all can be used as plug-ins with Photoshop or a handful other editing applications. Additionally, this suite also includes the stand-alone photoFXlab for navigating all of the plug-ins, as well as managing an image library. Topaz Labs LLC Topaz Photography Collection DxO OpticsPro 11 Elite Edition Offering a similar set of post-production capabilities, DxO’s also offers a range of photo-editing controls, as well as file management and exporting functions to suit a variety of applications. Differing from many other applications, though, OpticsPro benefits from DxO’s extensive testing and research on various cameras and lenses to generate specific profiles for more accurate optical corrections, as well as enhanced de-noising for improved clarity.
Smart Lighting, Spot Weighted, and ClearView are a trio of additional modes that also help to improve brightness and contrast for more accurate image rendition and greater detail. Beyond DxO’s flagship software, they also offer the unique app, which serves a specific purpose to simulate the look of numerous black-and-white and color film types, as well as, which is used to correct perspective distortions and other deformed proportions in images often taken with wide-angle lenses. DxO FilmPack 5 Elite Edition Perfectly Clear 2.0 A dedicated plug-in for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Corel’s PaintShop Pro, is an ideal tool for enhancing the look of portraits through the use of its Beautify set of features.
This series of tools utilizes facial detection to identify age, gender, and key facial features to allow 10 unique retouching tools to smooth wrinkles, remove blemishes and shininess, adjust skin tone, improve the look of eyes, whiten teeth, and more. Additionally, the plug-in can also be used to perform automatic global adjustments to imagery to affect brightness, contrast, and color. Perfectly Clear 2.0 Plug-In Bundle for Photoshop and Lightroom Corel PaintShop Pro X9 Last in our look at editing tools for photographers is a bundle from Corel:. The base of this suite, PaintShop Pro X9, is a non-destructive editing application fitted with raw file editing capabilities, a layers-based workflow, and numerous templates and other creative assets to kick-start your creative process. A range of text tools allows you to introduce elements of graphic design to imagery, and photographers also benefit from HDR tools and content-aware fill technology. In addition to PaintShop Pro, this bundle also includes Perfectly Clear 2.0 SE, Corel AfterShot 3, and Live Screen Capture.
Thanks for taking the time to put the above article together; I ask that you clarify some of the content though. As mentioned by Two rails above, the entry regarding the On1 software packages is incorrect. The current software, On1 Photo 10 will be upgraded with the release of On1 Photo RAW, so I'd like to sugest it would be worthwhile clarifying with On1 whether they intend to run Photo 10 alongside Photo RAW or whehter it will be a replacement program.
If Photo RAW replaces Photo 10 then the above article will be completely incorrect in 2 days time when Photo RAW is released. Regards, Grant. Hi Bjorn, I own and use several of the product above and feel they are all great products.
My overall favorite is ON1’s Photo 10. I love that program and have been using it since version 3 when it was known as the Perfect Photo Suite by OnOne. Perfect Photo Suite became Photo 10 after Perfect Photo Suite 9. Photo 10 is getting a new name, too, and will be called Photo RAW with the next release. The name change is appropriate as while Photo 10 can ‘work with’ RAW images, it is not a RAW editor/converter. Photo RAW will have all the power and functionality of Photo 10, and a lot more.
As the new name suggests, Photo RAW will be a RAW editor/converter. I say ‘will have’ as Photo RAW has not been released yet and I’m assisting with BETA testing at the moment. The public release of Photo RAW is scheduled for December 19th. Sincerely, TwoRails. When discussing all the various options, at least some mention should be made (for the cheapskates among us:-) of the freeware available. GIMP is certainly worth a look as are the freeware programs put out by the camera companies.
Concerning the latter, this Nikon shooter only has experience with Nikon's Capture NX-D. For casual editing like a bit of cropping or exposure correction or occasional dust-spot removal, it is all that's needed, is easy to use, and the price ($ zero) is certainly right. I ended up with Corel Paintshop Pro/Aftershot Pro almost as a default. An early version of Paintshop Pro came bundled with Wordperfect Office when I updated my word processing and spreadsheet program at work a number of years ago. Now I have expanded it to include Paintshop Pro, Aftershot Pro and Video Studio.
The programs work efficiently and turn our great images and videos. They are also less expensive than the Adobe programs. The only problem with the Corel programs (and all non Adobe programs) is the lack of training opportunities. For example, B&H has a ton of videos on Photshop/Lightroom, but I have never seen one on any other program. There are some training videos for Corel out there, but you have to look for them. Also, some of the Lightroom videos help with Paintshop and Aftershot, you just have to convert some of the language.
The programs below can perform basic functions, such as letting you resize, crop, and correct exposure with ease, along with offering some semi-advanced tools as well. There are great options for both conventional desktop software and web-based solutions that don’t require installing any software. The best GIMP Mark Coppock/Digital Trends Often heralded as the best free alternative to Photoshop, (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is an open-source application that relies on a community of volunteer developers who maintain and improve the product. Available for MacOS, Windows, and Linux, you get a lot of professional-level editing and retouching tools — perfect for designers who can’t or won’t shell out hundreds of dollars to Adobe. Once you launch the program, you’ll find a dedicated window that displays the image, and separate windows to organize the toolbox and layers. When using a large display, or two displays, you have a nice, big workspace to play with your images.
Icons in the toolbox represent actions such as the crop, lasso, paint and brush tools, and you can apply various effects to your photos. It may seem like Photoshop, but GIMP has its own look and feel. Making the jump from one to the other will take a little time, but you’ll save yourself a monthly subscription fee if you do. Three good alternatives Paint.NET This is a case where the apprentice becomes the master. Was created as a college undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft and it continues to be maintained by alumni of the program. It was originally developed as a free replacement for Microsoft Paint, which comes as part of Windows.
Paint.NET has surpassed in functionality and has some more advanced features as well. Paint.NET features an intuitive user interface that supports layers, an “unlimited undo” to back out of any mistake no matter how disastrous, various special effects, and other tools. Where Microsoft Paint was able to do little more than resize images, Paint.NET is able to handle more advanced photo editing that you’d expect to be limited to Photoshop and other paid programs.
Photoshop Express Mark Coppock/Digital Trends If the above options seem too derivative or you want more of that Adobe-experience without the associated price tag, is another option worth considering. Although pared down compared to the standard Photoshop, the Express variant does have a number of great options for editing photos with a much more gradual learning curve. With an interface that betrays its mobile roots, Photoshop Express offers quick and easy access to slide bar adjustments and one-touch fixes for photos of all types. Pre-packaged “Effects” make quick and dramatic changes to images to improve coloring and contrast; crop and transform tools let you tweak a photo’s orientation and focus, and “Details” give you control over sharpening and noise. Its file type support is limited to raw camera files and JPG and PNG files, but Photoshop Express is a freely available app that you can use on your Windows PC, iOS, or Android device without hassle. Pixlr.com Mark Coppock/Digital Trends Pixlr.com has a tiered offering that is entirely free.
The site separates its photo editing into Pixlr Editor (advanced) and Pixlr Express (efficient). The site also offers a mobile suite so you can edit photos on a smartphone or tablet — both iOS and Android versions are available. The is more like Photoshop. It’s a straightforward photo-editing tool that lets you crop, size, and tweak the image. It has a red eye tool that eliminates those devil eyes that appear when the flash goes off. Express, on the other hand, lets you put creative overlays on your images — this is really for playing with your photos.
You can put a stain on a picture to make it look like you rested a coffee mug on the photo, for example. Pixlr straddles the line between web-based and desktop image editors: There are both mobile and desktop versions of the software that you can download. However, it’s usually easier to just pop open and load up the online version.
Note: The download site does require Adobe Flash to run, so you will need to enable that before moving forward.