What are the best photo editing software?

Want to crop some of your vacation photos before showing them to your friends? Do you want to refine the rendering of a graphic creation for an artistic or professional project? ABSMARTHEALTH presents its selection of the best photo editing software.

Formerly reserved for professionals, photo editing software has become more popular in recent years. Today, millions of fans are using digital tools to change the look of their photos to meet their requirements. For people starting out in this field, the question arises of which solution to choose. This is why ABSMARTHEALTH presents you with a selection of the best photo editing software.

Adobe Photoshop: the benchmark

Abode Photoshop is to photo editing software what Kleenex is to handkerchiefs: the absolute reference. Indeed, like the brand of handkerchiefs, its use is so common that it has been gradually integrated into the language of daily life. You must have heard someone say that they are going to "photoshop" an image, that is to say, rework it. It must be said that Adobe Photoshop is by far the most complete solution for edit photos. Professionals have understood this since almost all of them use it. You might as well warn: at first, the interface can put off beginners who may feel like they are a bit lost. It takes a little courage and persistence to master the program. But when you get there, the possibilities are really very interesting. The user thus navigates between the different panels while being able to activate the main tools with one click.

First, it has access to multiple settings for brightness, levels, curves, exposure, vibrance, etc. It also has many parameters to change the color tones and play with light photos. It can then use dozens of features regarding layers and merges. These features are often found in photo editing software for advanced users, but Adobe integrates new ones, refines details and optimizes the user experience. For example, since the last update, it just has to fly over the different fusion modes to see their effect instantly.

If he wants to work on vector images, he can use the pen tool to create paths (to add a logo for example). Again, it has a multitude of options for shape layers or vector masks. If he wants to draw freehand, he can use dozens of brush tool functions. Adobe Photoshop also allows you to do common manual transformation operations to move, resize, or rotate a layer. Finally, Adobe Photoshop offers hundreds of possibilities with regard to filters, whether simple or dynamic: attenuation, noise, distortion, pixelation, rendering, reinforcement, etc.

In terms of new features, the latest version of the software has a "Symmetry" mode, a color wheel for easier choice of colors and a simplified "Export" menu, while rethinking the ergonomics of the work area. The only flaw in Adobe Photoshop is that there is no free version. However, the user can take advantage of the seven-day trial version to get an idea. If he is convinced, he can opt for a subscription. The cheapest of them (at € 11.99 / month) is particularly interesting since it comes in the form of a package including in addition Lightroom and Lightroom Classic (complementary photo editing software from Adobe Photoshop), but also offers 20 GB of online storage.

Adobe Photoshop works under Windows or macOS X.

PhotoWorks, affordable smart photo editing software

PhotoWorks is a photo editing software in French for people wishing to make a gradual transition between simplistic applications that can be found on smartphones and professional solutions like Photoshop.

PhotoWorks aims above all to be an easy-to-use photo editing software. Indeed, the way it was designed leaves no room for doubt, it is users of a beginner or intermediate level who are targeted. Proof of this is, PhotoWorks offers a number of automatic and intelligent improvements indicating to the user tracks to improve its work, as well as multiple video tutorials in French version (rare enough to be underlined). We also note the presence of presets for levels and curves, as well as a cutting aid by applying known grids (rule of the third, gold ratio, etc.). Users are therefore not left to their own devices when they start using PhotoWorks software.

As for the interface, it is clear and rather quick to handle. The image occupies 2/3 of the left side of the screen and the main menus available are accessible with a click just above. The content of each menu is revealed on the right, like most professional editing software.

In terms of functionality, PhotoWorks software offers many possibilities, but is less complete than Photoshop. If we had to make a comparison, PhotoWorks is more like Camera Raw, the Photoshop extension that allows you to modify the images from a RAW file (as a reminder, a RAW is a file in which all the raw information captured by the device, without any filter, processing or adjustment).

Concretely, what does it change? For amateurs, which is the majority target audience, not much, because it is only the most advanced functions, those which offer to refine with great attention to detail, which are missing. For the rest, all the tools and all the functionalities that the user will need are present.

In photo editing, PhotoWorks can improve image quality by changing exposure and white balance, correcting blur and blurring, and then removing distortion. The software obviously has many options to change the colors as desired and adjust the hue, saturation, sharpness and luminance. All the essential photo editing functions of professional software are there.

In addition, PhotoWorks provides simple but intelligent tools (intelligent corrective brush and cloning buffer) which are intended to remove objects from the image cleanly and with just a few clicks. Clipping is largely automated and the user will only have to intervene on details of the outline of the object if necessary. The portraits have not been forgotten, because it is possible to modify the skin texture, whiten the teeth, change the eye color thanks to a range of "magic brushes" which remind that PhotoWorks is an easy photo editing software use.

Finally, the software logically embeds a large number of filters and effects in order to give more cachet to your work: black and white, HDR, legends, watermarks, etc. The list is long and PhotoWorks provides both "classic" effects for discerning amateurs or professionals as well as lighter ones that will delight beginners.

But why should we choose PhotoWorks instead of Photoshop in the end? The answer can be summed up in two words: the price. When Photoshop costs several hundred euros a year, PhotoWorks offers the final purchase of a standard version at 14 euros, a Deluxe version at 21 euros (addition of the perspective correction and distortion functions + 150 special effects ready to use) or a Pro version at 27.30 euros (addition of the function to remove and modify the background). The investment is therefore minimal and will be highly recommended to users discovering a passion for photography, but hesitant to take the step before spending much more sums of money for this kind of product.

Canva: a free online photo editing tool

You may be familiar with Canva, the online platform that allows you to create many designs ranging from the business card to the creation of an invitation card, including the creation of logos. But Can go did not stop there and also offers a very accessible photo editing tool. It is very simple to use and even allows beginners to easily edit their photos or visuals.

The advantage of Canva's photo editing tool is that there is no need to register, that it is completely free and online. It offers the functions most used by photo editing software.

To use it, just download a photo from your computer or smartphone, then make the proposed changes. It is for example possible to crop the image, to use color filters, to play on the brightness, on the contrasts or even on the saturation. The tool also allows you to resize the image, enlarging or reducing the size of the pixels. It is also possible to keep the relationship between height and width, by locking the dimensions. Finally, you can rotate your photo in any direction, to get the desired result. Finally, users can download their visual in PNG format. If they then want to use another format or further personalize their photo, they will have to go to the Canva platform, which offers a multitude of possibilities to compose the imagined visual.

GIMP: a free quality solution

Fortunately, for those who do not want or cannot invest in a subscription for Adobe Photoshop, there are fairly complete and completely free alternatives. GIMP is certainly one of them. This image processing and retouching software is free and will not strain your budget.

Its interface is inspired by that of Adobe Photoshop, the image to work is located between two side panels allowing to select the desired tool on one side, then to apply the related functions on the other. This means that, like Adobe Photoshop, the software is not designed primarily for beginners. However, it is possible to consult a very comprehensive user manual in French or multiple tutorials (in English) on the GIMP website.

Obviously, GIMP does not have as many advanced features as Adobe Photoshop, but nevertheless has all the tools commonly used by professionals. So the user can use editing tools to cut out, fill in the areas, write text, manipulate the brush and change the image settings (contrast, colors, saturation, etc.). It also benefits from an advanced but intuitive layer management, as well as many filters to create thevisual effect desired, especially those related to blurring and distortion.

Finally, the advantage of GIMP, as free software, is that members of its community offer users plug-ins that they have developed themselves. Among the most useful, we can mention:

  • DarkTable to work on RAW photos, G’MIC to add more than 500 filters and additional effects;

  • Resynthesizer to easily delete elements from a photo;

  • Wavelet Decompose to precisely modify the skin of a person in a portrait;

  • Liquid Rescale to resize only part of a photo (for example, the face or silhouette does not change as the background landscape is stretched to give a panoramic impression);

  • Pandora to help recompose a panoramic image;

  • Refocus-it to refocus photos acquired with a wrong focal or blurry;

  • SIOX for automatic trimming.

GIMP is available for Windows, macOS X and Linux operating systems.

Pixlr: a simple and online editor

We chose Pixlr for several reasons: it is free, easy to learn and completely online (compatible with all popular web browsers). To use it, it's very simple, just go to the editor page and launch one of its two tools: Pixlr X or Pixlr Editor.

Pixlr X is really software for beginners. Its interface is in English, but can be taken in hand in a few minutes. Pixlr X integrates the basic functions for editing and retouching. It resizes, rotates, flips, selects parts to keep or delete, adjusts saturation, contrast, brightness, exposure, and plays with shadows. It also offers to adjust the filters for sharpness, blurring, grain, smoothness or to apply effects such as pixelation or mosaic. It also offers the possibility of selecting an effect from a predefined palette (retro, colors, shades, etc.), adding text or drawings, choosing a border or affixing a sticker.

Pixlr Editor is presented in the form of a more traditional retouching software with the usual tool icons arranged on the left of the work area: movement, selection, lasso, pencil, brush, eraser, buffer, etc. Just click on it so that the context menu of each tool is displayed above the Photo. The other main functions are accessible via the menu bar at the top of the window: layers, settings and filters. An interesting point should be noted, because, unlike Pixlr X, the interface can be changed to French in two clicks. A final precision is useful, Pixlr Editor displays advertising (this is not the case for Pixlr X), fortunately it is not intrusive: it occupies only a small part of the image.screen and does not interfere with user operations at any time.

Pixlr also offers a Pro version which gives access to numerous PSD models and to an editor with additional advanced functionalities. Pixlr is also available on mobile on Android and iOS.

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