SOFTWARE ROUND-UP
Jon Stapley picks the best photo-editing software to download, including subscription-free programs, free software and apps
Photo editing is a hugely important part of most digital photographers’ workflows – and that means it’s important to pick the best photo-editing software for you. While you might have been led to believe that photo editing starts and ends with Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom, in truth there are loads of great tools worth considering for photo editing, and depending on your needs, some of them might be better suited to you than others.
At AP we’ve extensively used many different photo-editing programs, and all of our writers and photographers have their preferred editing workflows. This piece is a run-through of the best photo-editing software we’ve used and tested, with options for different operating systems and budgets.
We’ve split this guide up into sections, covering the best subscription services, best subscription-free software, best free editing software and the best photo-editing apps for mobile.
BEST SUBSCRIPTION PHOTO -EDITING SOFTWARE
Adobe Photoshop is a superb piece of photo-editing software. Whether you need to clone out distractions, rescue blown-out highlights, convert to monochrome, process raw files (via the Camera Raw plug-in) or perform any of the other myriad tasks that might befall a photo editor, Photoshop will be well equipped. We reviewed the most recent version of Adobe Photoshop, and its ability to clean up and declutter images has been made faster than ever thanks to new AI-powered object-selection tools.
Newer versions of Photoshop have come loaded with powerful generative AI tools such as Generative Fill and Generative Expand, which allow you to radically transform images with generative content.
The full version of Photoshop is subscription-only. The popular Photography bundle, where you get it together with Lightroom for $9.99/£9.98 per month, is at least decent value – though be warned that cancellation is a more complex affair than you might think. Adobe is infamous for its sneaky ‘cancellation fees’ that hit users who have the temerity to not want to give them money any more.
Bear in mind that if you do want Photoshop without a subscription, you can get it in the slimmed-down Photoshop Elements package, which is a one-time purchase.
Pros and Cons
+ Powerful image editor equipped for basically any task
+ Smart AI-powered selection tools
+ Neural filters can restore old photos
– AI emphasis won’t appeal to ever yone
– Subscription only
– Cancella
