Best Photo Editing Program For Beginners Mac

Best Photo Editing Program For Beginners Mac 5,0/5 5633 reviews

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Selection of best photo editing software can be a complicated task for beginners. If you are searching for the list of best photo editors then your search probably ends here. But before we take a review of all popular editing software, let us define the criteria for selection of right tool for. Best Photo Editing Program for Beginners Mac Photoshop is a widely known photo editor for Mac, but it isn’t the only option available in the market. It is not very user-friendly and for novice users this software can become no more than a nightmare. Whether you shoot with a smartphone camera or a DSLR, you need software to get the most out of your images. Here's what you need to know to pick the best photo editing software.

  1. It is perfect for simple and quick editing and retouching tasks although its user interface is not as polished as other programs. Best of all, GIMP is an open-source software, thus, it’s free! It is platform independent, which means it can run through Mac, Linux, and Windows OS systems.
  2. You need the best photo editing software, either for Windows or for Mac, which wins in its ease of use, powerful editing capabilities, abundant image effects/patterns, and amazing photo output quality. Sometimes you get photos with several mistakes, like red eye, image noises, etc.
  3. Beginner to Intermediate-level photo editing software costs between $40 and $100, though some programs are subscription based and require a monthly or annual payment that typically totals to about $50 per year.
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Sep 06,2019• Proven solutions

Photo post-processing has becoming important in our daily life, whether you want to remove unwanted person, adjust the color correction, improve the saturation or add some filters, you may need an easy photo editing software to help you achieve that. There are so many photo editing software on the market, selection of best photo editing software can be a complicated task for beginners. If you are searching for the list of best photo editors for beginners then your search probably ends here. But before we take a review of all popular editing software, some of them are free while others may need to pay some money to remove watermark. Before we move on, let us define the criteria for selection of right photo editors for beginners:

  • Convenience: They offers one-click type editing tools, whether it's about reducing blur, resizing the photo, removing objects, restoring old photos, or fixing red eyes.
  • Interface: They need to be simple, intuitive and user friendly.
  • Price: Unlike complicated professional photo editors, these are either free or affordable paid versions with rich features.
  • Support: It'd better provide tutorials or customer support to reduce learning curve.

Hence, we have done some research and found some of the best easy photo editors for beginners and here comes the list for you to have a quick check:

Software Best For Device Price Online Help

Remove background, unwanted objects, retouch and more

Win

Re-size

Win/Mac

Inpaint Remove watermarks stamps Win/Mac Purchase at 30% offCheck Online help
Photozoom Classic 7 Zoom without making your photo blurry Win/Mac Purchase at 30% offCheck Online help
Adobe photoshop element All Needs Win/Mac Check PriceCheck Online help
Affinity Photo Adjust color Win/Mac From $39.99Check Online help
Photopad All Needs Win/Mac Check PriceCheck Online help
GIMP Create some cool logos and other graphic design Win/Mac Free Check Online help
Google Photos Quickly prep their pictures for sharing Online Free Check Online help
ACDsee All Needs Win From $39.99Check Online help
Pixlr Re-touching your pictures on Facebook, Google+ and other social networks Online Free Check Online help
Paint.NET Design Logos Online Free Check Online help

In the following part, we will share with you the detailed information about these photo editors listed above from the following sections. For those who want to edit photos on iPhone or Android phones, check our picks of the best photo editing apps for iOS and Android in 2019.

Part 1: Best 7 Beginner Photo Editors for Beginners on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Fotophire: Best Easy Photo Editing Software for Beginners on Windows

This software can be used by Window users only, but is listed as one of the most affordable yet impressive editing tool. This tool not only offers over 200 photo effects including filters, frames and overlays; but can also intelligently remove the image background of your photo by analyzing few rough marks you make; and moreover, erase the watermark, remove unwanted objects or scratches from your photo without affecting the background.


2. Inpixio Maximizer

This software is very easy to use and in some instances you can increase the size of your photos by over 1000%. You may be thinking that you don't want to lose quality when you do this and with most software types, you will but with this one you don't have to worry about a thing. You can re-size your photos as much as you want and you will also find that it comes with a zoom function as well. On top of this, you can adjust your photos with clarity and the easy interface makes it incredibly easy to use when compared to other types of software that are on the market.

3. Photozoom Classic 7

Photozoom Classic 7 is the best in class solution for enlarging photos and graphics. Based on BenVista's award-winning S-Spline Max technology, it can expand your favorite pictures to any dimensions you choose, up to 300,000 x 300,000 pixels, all without sacrificing a single pixel. Edges, details, and shapes are perfectly preserved. Moreover, you can compare different resize methods at a glance in split screen view to easily select the best resize option for your image. With the simple interface, beginners should have no problems working with this program.

You may also like:Step by Step Resize Photo Tutorial >>

4. Inpaint

Inpaint is great if you want to Remove tourists, watermarks, date stamps, text or logo, and any other unwanted objects from your photos. Or you can also repair old photos, erase wrinkles and skin blemishes, digital facial retouching and more. This will only take you a couple of minutes and it is so easy to do as well. If you have never used any software like this before then you shouldn't have any problems either and it is a great way for you to get started on your road to becoming an excellent photo editor!

5. Adobe photoshop element

The extensive list of editing tools and all advanced features of Adobe photoshop element can assist beginners as well as professionals to transform photos into any impressive form. This software has won so many awards for its sharing capabilities and classic support system. It is rated as best entry level product on the basis of price point and interactive user interface. One most interesting feature of Adobe photoshop element is its camera shake reduction tool; it provides automatically noise reduction in captured images. The only con is that you need to access separate application as photo organizer for this platform but it is provided by Adobe itself.

6. Affinity Photo

Affinity Pro photo editing software was earlier released only for Mac users but the latest update has covered the Window devices too. It consists of wide range of editing tools and extends support to almost 15 popular file formats. You can expect minimal complexity on this platform as the basic editing tool is user friendly. Users can easily make adjustments for drawing tools, painting, selection, cropping as well as for red eye effect removal. Some advanced tools included on Affinity Photo are lens distortion correction, font effects and batch processing capabilities.

7. Photopad

Beginners can easily learn the basic photo editing skills with this interactive software platform that possess wide range of editing tools. Users call it ‘uncluttered software’ that provides easy access to all features so that photos can be transformed to desired form within few minutes. It consists of basic and advanced editing tools that can be used to remove red eye effect and the colour management tool can easily enhance brightness levels. Batch processing is also enabled so that multiple photos can be edited with ease and the best part is that it supports about 250 fonts for easy editing.

8. GIMP

GIMP is an open source type image editing tool with advanced features. People love to use this software for development of graphic designs and logos. But it appears little heavier when you will install it for the very first time. Many users rate it as a useful alternative to Adobe Photoshop due to its classy look and simpler interface. The free graphic editing tools are best service provided by GIMP platform.

Part 2: Best 4 Online Photo Editors for Beginners

1. ACDsee

Here is the easiest and best photo editing software for beginners with standard editing features and highly personalized user interface. Although it does not support live chat feature and the phone support is also missing but you can access knowledge base and community forum easily. With purchase, users are able to avail 10GB free cloud storage space that assists in easy storage as well as efficient sharing of files. Beginners can prefer to start with 30 days free trial period to learn the basic features of this software and then complete tool can be accessed on onetime payment as well as on subscription basis.

2. Paint.NET

You will love to use this software application on your iPhone because it serves with one touch editing tool. The web based version is also user friendly with so many advanced and basic editing tools that can meet all needs of beginners as well as professionals. Those who need to update attractive photos on social media platforms like Google Plus and Facebook etc are advised to go for its web based version.


3. Google Photos

You might be aware of the name Picasa- it is other popular name of Google Photos software tool that is often found on most of Mac systems as well as desktop computers. The major reason behind its popularity is that it offers simplistic user interface where users need to spend just a few minutes to develop outstanding photo effects. The resulting files can be easily shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook etc.

4. Pixlr

iPhone lovers prefer to install Pixlr photo editor just because of its professional touch. The mobile application as well as web based software version, both are rated as user friendly and you can access for free. Pixlr is well known for its interactive file sharing feature that assists users to stay connected with Google Plus, Facebook and many other social media platforms with regular photo updates.

Why don't you have a look at some of these for yourself today to see how they could benefit you? You won't regret it and it has never been easier for you to get what you need, when you need it.

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Easiest to Dive In
Photography Plan
Photoshop Elements

How We Found the Best Photo Editing Software Programs

5 programs tested

The Best Photo Editing Software Programs

To find the best photo editing software, we pitted the best programs tech-giant Adobe has to offer (Photoshop, Lightroom, and Photo Elements) against three highly commended competitors to find out which one was user-friendly enough for beginners and powerful enough for professionals.

The 3 Best Photo Editing Software Programs

  • Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan -

    Most Powerful

  • Serif Affinity Photo -

    Easiest to Dive In

  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018 -

    Best for One-Click Editing



Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan
The most powerful range of photo-editing tools, combining Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.
Pros
Access to Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC
Customizable image editing tools
Easy to learn

Why we chose it

Access to Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC

The Adobe Photography Plan combines two Adobe applications — Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC — into one bundle. Lightroom CC is Adobe’s dedicated photography software. If you’re working with large quantities of photos, you’ll want to take advantage of Lightroom’s organizational system: With it, you can rank photos out of five stars, tag photos, and edit information to keep track of where you took a photo. Subscribing to Lightroom CC (either on its own or as part of the Photography Plan) also gives iPhone and iPad users access to a mobile version of the software.

Photoshop CC, meanwhile, won’t do much to help you stay organized — but it has more advanced tools than Lightroom, like layers, masks, and customizable toolbars.

Customizable image editing tools

Photoshop has over sixty basic tools and customizations to choose from, in addition to its more advanced color, lighting, filter, and 3D tools (among others). These basic tools themselves are customizable, so you can do more than just correct red eyes; you can also specify how large, dark, or light you want pupils to appear. More advanced tools — everything from saturation and contrast to lens correction, liquefy, and RAW photo processing — are similarly customizable. Actions are also processed rapidly, allowing you to quickly assess whether your experiments are working.

Easy to learn

Despite the number of tools (and how easy it is to fall into the rabbit warren of adjustments and filters), we found Adobe surprisingly easy to use. You should expect a learning curve, since Photoshop is intended to be an extremely hands-on program, but Adobe supports you at every step. It has an abundance of online resources — a hidden benefit to choosing a company that’s been in the field for decades — and Photoshop CC particularly impressed us with its tutorials and guidance, helping us learn both terminology (what exactly the clone tool does) and technique (how to create and add to masks).

Hovering over the individual tools in Photoshop's left-hand bar pops up five-second gifs that demonstrate each tool — though you can easily change your settings and remove this feature once you get the hang of things.

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Points to consider

Subscription service

Our only complaint about Adobe’s Photography Plan is that it’s a subscription service; you’ll sign up for a year-long contract and pay fees monthly rather than making a one-time purchase. While this subscription is significantly cheaper than the one-time purchase model that Photoshop used to follow (complete with a painful $1,500 price tag), if you cancel your subscription, you’ll lose access to all of the programs and tools, as well as any photos that remain in Adobe’s proprietary format. Make sure you’ve completely exported your library if you decide to cancel your contract.

Software
Cloud Storage
Price
Photography Plan
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
20 GB
$9.99/mo.
Photography Plan
Lightroom CC
Photoshop CC
1 TB
$19.99/mo.
Lightroom CC
Lightroom CC
1 TB
$9.99/mo.
Photoshop CC
Photoshop CC
100 GB
$19.99/mo.

Free Photo Editing For Mac



Serif Affinity Photo
A cheaper alternative to Photoshop. Not quite as powerful, but a little more intuitive for beginners.
Cons
No organizational tools

Why we chose it

Easy to use

We were primarily drawn to Serif Affinity Photo because of how easy it was to use. Its customizable control panel initially appears overwhelming, with 22 adjustments options immediately available on your right-hand dashboard. However, each one is neatly packaged so that no matter what you want to do, you can quickly find and open the relevant folder.

Helpful presets

We also appreciated how Serif provides a number of immediate preset options on all of its effects. You can also manually adjust each effect for more control, but the presets offer a nice introduction for beginners.

One-time purchase

One of the keenest edges Serif Affinity has over Adobe’s Photography plan is that it’s a one-time purchase of $50, rather than a $10 or $20 monthly subscription. This means that, depending on your cloud storage needs (in turn based on how many photos you have and their editing needs), Serif Affinity becomes the more affordable plan after five months, possibly as early as three months.

Points to consider

No organizational tools

However, Serif Affinity’s budget plan comes with one significant drawback: It doesn’t offer any organizational tools. If you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of photos that you need to organize, or would like to sort by place, date, or personalized keyword, you’ll want to consider Adobe’s Photography Plan or take a look at Photoshop Elements 2018.



Adobe Photoshop Elements 2018
If you value quick, easy results over learning new techniques, this program does most of the work for you.
Pros
One-click editing
Settings for different skill levels

Why we chose it

One-click editing

If you’re just trying to create, say, annual holiday cards, and the idea of learning new photo editing terms, tools, tricks, and techniques feels daunting, Adobe Photoshop Elements transforms the process into a few simple clicks — with a couple of sliders you can adjust if you’re feeling adventurous. That’s it. Photoshop Elements 2018 gives you high-quality photographs without a technical learning curve, so long as you stay within its predetermined adjustments.

Settings for different skill levels

We love that Photoshop Elements offers three tiers of photo editing: Quick, Guided, and Expert. Quick is simply that — with a few auto-adjustments, possibly a camera filter or picture frame, you can take your photograph from raw image to printer-ready. Guided gives you almost 50 options, where it will walk you through step-by-step the process of adjusting brightness, straightening or resizing a photo, or adding filters. Finally, the Expert mode lays out all of the program’s tools with minimal instruction.

Points to consider

Light on advanced editing tools

Even though the Expert mode of Photoshop Elements is more advanced than either the Quick or Guided modes, it doesn’t compete with our top picks. In addition to its clunky ‘90s-era design, it lacks all of the tools found in Photoshop CC or Serif Affinity Photo. That said, it could be a good introduction when you feel like trying out some additional techniques outside of the guided programs.

How to Find the Right Photo Editing Software for You

Decide what tools you need

Different types of image editing require different tools. No matter what you’ll be doing, you’ll want to know which ones you need for your most common projects — these functions might not be immediately necessary, but they’ll let you tackle tasks a little more complex than wiping away corgi footprints.

  • Layers let you combine separate images or edit specific areas of a photograph. These are helpful if you’re trying to remove a photo-bomber from your wedding ceremony on the beach or swapping out the snowy background of your cute dog photo to send him floating through space instead.
  • Applying a mask layer is another technique to isolate areas of a photo for specific editing. If you’d like to make changes to the background of your photograph without affecting the subject, or if you’d like to create a cut-out of a tiny dog from one photograph to layer him into a desert landscape in another, you’ll probably use a mask.
  • Finally, preset filters let you adjust your photos with a single click. These could either take the form of a typical Instagram filter (you click “Black and White” or “Landscape” and it automatically alters your photo) or auto-adjustments on a tool-by-tool case.

Knowing what types of editing you’ll be using the software for will help you narrow down which tools are essential and which are just nice to have.

Test drive several options

All of our top picks offer a free trial, and we recommend taking full advantage of them. You probably know what you’re going to be using the software for, and now’s a good time to see how each of them perform on the type of image editing you need. Pay attention to the number of tools and effects provided, how easy they are to use, and the organization features of each program.

Determine how much you’re willing to spend

Prices for photo editing software vary a lot, and depending on what you’ll be using it for, you may not need to pay a premium. The most powerful tool on the market, Adobe’s Photography Plan, runs on a subscription model for $10 per month. If you don’t need all of that technical prowess, Serif Affinity will meet all your image editing needs for a one-time purchase of $50. There are even a number of free photo editing software options available if you don’t want to make any investment.

Photo Editing Software FAQ

In most situations, you should edit your photos in the raw camera format as opposed to a standard format like JPEG. The raw files will contain a lot more information about the picture, so you can be more precise in your editing. Once you’re ready to show it to the world, you can then convert it to a shareable format like JPEG or PNG.

You can download and install Photoshop on up to two computers, regardless of the operating system. However, you’ll only be able to use one Photoshop on one computer at a time.

What's the difference between Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom?

Photoshop CC is the more powerful editing tool — you’ll need to manipulate multiple layers here — while Lightroom CC offers sorting and organizing features into its slightly more basic editing capabilities. Both programs offer preset filters as well, so you can adjust your photos to a preset perfection with only a few clicks. Adobe’s Photography plan includes both programs.

The Best Photo Editing Software Programs: Summed Up

Adobe Photography Plan
Serif Affinity
Adobe Photoshop Elements
Most powerful
Easiest to dive in
Best for one-click editing
Price
$9.99/mo.
$49.99
$89
Layers
Mask layers
Organizational features

Our Other Software Reviews

Over the years, we’ve put just about every type of software imaginable through the ringer to find the best of the best. Check out some of our favorite reviews below:

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