The best photo editing software

The best photo-editing software today is more varied than ever. Some photo editing programs focus on the core basics: adjusting tones, colour grading, and masking for local adjustments. Other tools incorporate things like denoising, and others still are focused on retouching, which involves removing distractions and smoothing skin rather than tweaking colours and tones. On top of that, generative AI is transforming image editing with some of the best photo editors adding text-to-image tools that allow mundane tasks that used to take hours to be done in one click.

Our team of reviewers has tried and tested a wide range of different types of photo editors to pick the best photo editing software for different needs and budgets. Our reviewers all have experience in photo editing themselves and have worked with editing programs for many years. Whether working on a single image or organising a photo library of tens of thousands of images, we understand what is needed from a modern photo editing tool, and they test each program over several weeks to put it through its paces.

Below, we've outlined our picks for the best photo editing software today for different requirements, budgets and operating systems. We've included the pros and cons of each along with links to the providers and links to our own fuller reviews, where you'll find more details of our experience with each program. We've included options for mobile use, but if that's your jam, see our dedicated list of the best photo apps). If you've chosen your software, you may want to check out our guide to the best laptops for photo editing.

The Quick List

We'll start with a very brief overview of our top six picks of the best photo editing software. Scroll down to read our full selection or use the links to navigate the page and dive into more details on each program.

The best photo editing software for photographers

The best photo editing software overall

Photoshop is the number one editing software not only for photographers but for a whole host of creatives. We find that it's most useful for retouching, quick fixes, and digital artistry than for traditional photo editing. Still, Photoshop retains its position as the industry-standard software for image manipulation and Adobe continues to maintain its lead by regularly adding game-changing new features to the software – most recently through the integration of Adobe Firefly-driven AI tools like Generative Fill and Generative Expand.

For retouching especially, we find Photoshop to be the most comprehensive option out there with its layers approach, allowing all kinds of non-destructive adjustments to be made. You can smooth over skin, remove any blemishes, and even edit facial expressions with the touch of a button using Adobe's neural filters. In our full Photoshop 2025 review, we found the new AI features in particular allowed us to "do more work in less time."

Of course, getting to grips with Photoshop comes with a learning curve. There are a plethora of editing features to explore, and plenty of Photoshop tutorials to help you out. You can also make use of third-party plugins, actions, and brushes to help make editing easier and speed up your workflow.

Photoshop doesn't support native RAW image editing – for that, you need the Adobe Camera RAW plugin, which allows you to edit RAW images in Photoshop itself. There's also Lightroom (see number 6 below) for RAW image editing, which you'll almost certainly have access to if you subscribe to the Adobe Photography plan (it's better value than getting one app alone).

The biggest downside of Photoshop for me is that it isn't cheap. The monthly price at full whack can be off-putting for many. Hunting for the best Adobe Creative Cloud discounts can be a good way to soften the blow a bit, and you have the option of subscribing to Photoshop alone, a specific bundle for photographers, or the full Creative Cloud. Ready to start? Here's how to download Photoshop.

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The best photo editing software for AI

I've been using Skylum for a few years now, and this software is as innovative as it gets. The Kyiv-based photography company are always looking for new ways to make life easier for us photographers, and this software delivers in every aspect. My favourite thing about using Skylum Luminar Neo is the potential to save some of your images from the recycling bin. 

Did you miss the focus on a shot by only a fraction of a second? Subject has their eye a little blurred? Is the sky completely overexposed? You can fix all of these things with Luminar Neo, using tools like SkyAI, Supercontrast, and the SupersharpAI extension with the option for focus stacking. 

This photo editing software values your time and is firmly focused on speeding up your editing process, so photographers can spend less time editing and more time creating or expanding their business. It also removes the guesswork in most cases, offering suggestions for the best templates to improve your images with specific tools for portraiture, landscapes, architecture, and grayscale photographs. 

Take a look at our Sklum Luminar Neo (2023) review for an in-depth look at the latest AI tools. 

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The best premium photo editing software

Capture One Pro is the professional photo editing software that I use for almost all of my editing needs. I like it because the interface is extremely clean and easy to use without being overwhelming, yet it still has a whole host of great features to help me get my work edited efficiently. 

Batch editing with Capture One is a breeze, and I haven't found any other photo software that I rate as much as this one for speedy editing of collections and catalogues. You can simply use the command/ctrl C and V buttons to copy and paste your edits from one image to another, and use the provided presets and editing styles to apply a filter onto your images with ease. I can get 30 images edited in 10 minutes using this software. 

I personally have not used the tethering tools or the Capture One mobile app – being an Android user and someone who shoots outdoors a lot of the time – but I can imagine that these features are priceless and super convenient for any photographer who does a lot of studio work and needs a fast way to share images with clients. 

Overall, Capture One is a fantastic piece of software that I would highly recommend, and although it's on the premium side, the student discount option with 65% off sweetens the deal and brings the cost down to around £62 per year in the UK. 

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The best budget photo editing software

While Photoshop is a very powerful image-editing tool, it is quite complex, and has a daunting learning curve. Not everyone needs that – some people just want a simple photo-editing interface that's easy to use, and for such people, we'd recommend checking out CyberLink PhotoDirector 365.

In our full review of CyberLink PhotoDirector 365, we were hugely impressed by the various AI-powered features that have been added into the latest version. Landscape photographers in particular may appreciate the AI sky replacement tool, which lets you seamlessly swap out a drab sky in an image for one with a little more drama to it. There's also automatic body shaping, tools for editing skin and faces, as well as lighting and animation effects.

The intuitive interface is easy to get to grips with. It's a little rough around the edges – use it long enough and you'll start to notice little glitches, types and other things that show a slightly lack of polish. But the fundamentals of CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 are strong, and if you want a budget-friendly option for photo editing, this is a great choice. 

For more information, see our CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 review.

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The best photoshop alternative software

Not keen on subscriptions and prefer to pay a one-off price? Then check out Affinity Photo. We think it's the best single-purchase photo-editing program you can get right now and a viable alternative to Photoshop that's much more affordable. It's got professional-standard editing features, and it can handle RAW editing, HDR Merge, panoramic stitching, focus stacking, batch processing, 360-degree image editing, non-destructive layers-based editing and intelligent objects. 

Affinity can also handle PSD files without an issue, so if you're sick of Photoshop's running costs and want to jump ship, you'll still be able to work with all your in-progress files. As noted in our review, Affinity Photo doesn't quite pack in the high-end Photoshop features like its cutting-edge neural filters. However, there is still a lot to impress. We particularly rate the Personas, essentially customised toolsets for different jobs, designed to put everything you need for particular tasks at your fingertips. 

Affinity Photo is available for Windows and Mac and as a dedicated full-featured iPad app, which can all be purchased for a one-off, no subscription price. Its maker, Serif, also has a graphic design package (Affinity Designer) and a desktop publishing app (Affinity Publisher). As with Adobe's software suite, you can transfer projects between these programs without difficulty, making for a smooth workflow. While it doesn't include an equivalent to every feature in Photoshop, it's pretty close, making it exceptional value.

For more details, see our Affinity Photo review.

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The best photo editing software for compatibility

Adobe Lightroom is one of the most used pieces of software for photo editing, but best of all are its tools for organising images. For that reason, it's an excellent choice for anyone working with large numbers of photos, such as photographers and designers, who typically use it in tandem with Photoshop. Lightroom helps you to organise your work by letting you keep all of your photography in one place, edit it and share it from anywhere. You can store images on your computer, iPad, iPhone or Android device and even transfer photos automatically from your phone into Lightroom as you take them. 

And that's not all. It can also handle complicated image management jobs that Photoshop isn't designed for. For example, it makes light work of day-to-day enhancements and RAW files. Syncing is automatic, so when you make an edit or flag an image as a favourite in one place, it updates everywhere else, too.

Lightroom also offers excellent photo editing features, especially the desktop-based Adobe Lightroom Classic, which, confusingly is still getting updated by Adobe and receives many of the latest features, such as AI Denoise. But for those who are new to photography and are seeking the best 'modern' organiser we would recommend using 'Lightroom' as it is the best option for multi-device organisation.

Check out our Adobe Lightroom review to learn more about the software.

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The best RAW photo editing software

Looking to convert RAW files? DxO PhotoLabis is the best in the business. It's a slightly complex tool to use, but we think it achieves impeccable results. You can browse images on your computer folder by folder, and then select an image and choose from the default conversion/correction setting or a range of presets. 

DxO also has top-class software and plugins (like the popular Nik Collection) available for specific purposes, like its PureRAW editor that can assist with lens softness, demosaicing, vignetting rectification, and distortion correction. 

There's also the DxO DeepPRIME technology which delivers finer details and impeccable noise reduction. This is especially great if you're a music photographer working in low-light conditions like me. 

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The best photo editing software for portraiture

I've only briefly used this photo editing software from Anthropics, but PortraitPro 24 has some pretty great features for portrait retouching, making it another Photoshop competitor. It can locate facial features, as well as skin, hair, and backgrounds and automatically apply smart adjustments using AI. 

Since I first tried out the software, it has adapted newer AI tools and features such as facial recovery, reduced reflections in glasses, and what it calls 'inpaint mouth and teeth' which can guarantee the perfect smile for your subject and can even digitally apply a full face of makeup to your model should you choose.  

This software is available for both Windows and macOS devices, it can also process RAW files, and is reasonably priced too for a one-off payment of $120, or you can get a basic edition of PortraitPro for as low as $59.95. 

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The best free photo editing software

GIMP is another free photo editing tool, but this one is open source. That means it will be free forever, and there's an enthusiastic community of worldwide developers behind it, who are constantly working to improve it.

The software available for Linux, Windows and Mac, and offers a broad range of tools including painting tools, colour correction, cloning, selection, and enhancement. The team has worked hard to ensure compatibility, so you'll be able to work with all the popular file formats without problems. The software also boasts a very capable file manager built in, similar to Adobe's Bridge.

Check out our GIMP review to learn more. 

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The best of the rest

Corel PaintShop Pro has been the budget alternative to Photoshop for Windows users for more than two decades, and it's still going strong. Supporting layers and allowing you to edit in both raster and vector image formats, as well as aping some of Photoshop's more advanced capabilities such as content-aware move, gradients, and filters, it has a lot to offer anyone who does photo-editing as part of their day-to-day job. 

The latest version includes new smart AI tools, including the Frame tool (which quickly masks raster images to fit in specific shapes), AI Background Replacement, AI Denoise, which removes noise from a picture, and AI Portrait Mode, which lets you select a subject and add background blur. It also adds support for the HEIC and HEIF file types used on iPhones.

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If you're just getting started with image editing, full Photoshop may be a bit too much of a learning curve. Instead, you'd be better off with Photoshop Elements; a more basic alternative to Photoshop. Its handy Quick and Guided Edit modes make it great for beginners, but that doesn't mean it lacks power. 

The 2024 version includes even more power-up from Adobe's Sensei AI, such as sky replacement and selection alongside the popular collage tool that scans and groups photos automatically or via the tagging and sorting tool, again, using Adobe Sensei. It also comes with a range of performance enhancements and upgrades. Best of all, it doesn't require a subscription: it's available for a one-off fee. On the flipside, that means you don't get it as part of a Creative Cloud subscription.

Dive in deeper with our full Photoshop Elements review. 

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InPixio Photo Studio is another middleweight photo editing software that's easy to use, and features some clever AI. Currently on version 12, its background eraser and cutout tool are particularly well designed, and there's also a cool sky replacement tool, although the results are not always the most realistic.

With a intuitive interface, this is among the most accessible yet full-featured photo editors for beginners, and makes it easy to perform basic edits very quickly. With the Pro version, you also get inPixio's Photo Maximiser for enlarging, and Photo Focus for sharpening; two job-specific tools that can be used separately.

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Want to make edits right in your web browser? Whether you're on a mobile or desktop device, we recommend Pixlr X and its sister app Pixlr E. Both are very easy to use, and there's nothing to download.  

The free plan is perfect if you just want to use these tools occasionally. However, you will have to wait for ads to load, which can slow things down. Alternatively, subscribe to a paid plan and the ads disappear.

Pixlr X allows you to make non-destructive edits to your images, and brilliantly can be used within Dropbox, which makes it a great addition to your toolkit for collaborative work. With a Photoshop-like interface (albeit much simpler) it offers a good range of adjustments and filters. Pixlr E, meanwhile, offers the same classic photo editing tools, with the addition of some extras for the pros.

Fotor is a free easy-to-use photo editing and graphic design tool, aimed at amateur photographers and design enthusiasts. There are mobile and desktop apps as well as an in-browser version, and you get a full suite of tools that should cover most people's needs. 

A one-tap enhance button aims to offer an instant fix, which will be loved by some and hated by others. A greater degree of control is offered via tools for resizing, cropping, rotating and straightening images. There's also a background remover and some handy retouching tools such as red-eye and wrinkle removal. There's even an HDR image creator and tilt-shift editor in case you're looking to turn your photos into something more dramatic.

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While Canva isn't one of the heavyweights on our list for photo editing, focusing more on graphic design and social media content creation, it has some extremely useful tools. The photo-editor focuses on bringing simplicity to tasks that were previously quite time-consuming, for example the one-click background remover (which will also blur the background) and auto-enhance and retouch. 

However, you will need the Pro version to access these tools (currently $9.95/£8.99 a month). For that, you also get access to a vast image, template and graphics library, which you can use to enhance your own photos.

That price point may not make the software worth it for those who want serious photo-editing tools, but if you're into Canva as a whole package (see our Canva review for more of what it offers), the simplicity of the photo tools are a worthwhile bonus. 

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FAQs

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How to choose the best photo-editing software

The easiest way to decide how to choose which is the best photo editing software for you is to think about a few factors. First is what camera you use. If it is just a normal camera on a smartphone, then practically any of our choices will work with the JPEG images that these cameras tend to create. 

However, you may have a mirrorless camera that can shoot in RAW format, which is the digital equivalent of a film negative and allows a lot more latitude in the editing capabilities of an image. 

Second, how often will you want to make edits? If and will those changes be needed to apply to a batch of images, then a photo editing tool with robust library tools such as Adobe Lightroom may be the best choice.

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How we tested the best photo-editing software

We based our selection of the best photo-editing software for this guide on our own hands-on reviews in which our experienced writers, who have long worked in photography, spent an extended length of time with each program to be able to compare its capabilities, features, ease of use and value for money. They used each program to edit photos using the range of features provided by each program. 

We considered who each program is targeted at, how good it is at what it aims to do and how it compares to other products on the market in order to recommend the best product for different needs. Because we know what makes a great photo editor, we are brilliantly placed to make these recommendations and have advised on which software options are best suited for which kind of user.

For most of our choices above, we've included a link to our original, more complete reviews, where you can read more about our hands-on experience with the software. In the few cases where we haven't tested the software ourselves, we've taken on board expert advice from working photographers and consulted thousands of customer reviews (to find out more about our reviewing process, read our article on how we test software).

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