5 Photo Editing Apps to Power High-end Social Content Creation
Social media used to be little more than a fun way to share life's big moments with family and friends. Today, however, it's much more than that. It's a multipurpose business marketing tool. It's a place for influencers to spread tips, tricks, and life hacks to their followers. It's also the place to see and be seen by all the people who matter to you.
Therefore, people and businesses now care about the content they post on their social media channels.
To help them put their best foot forward, an array of high-end image editing apps is now available. The difficulty is figuring out which tools are worth using and which aren't worth the space they take up on a device.
Here's a list of the five best photo editing apps available today to help users make their social media channels look memorable and professional.
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1 – Photoleap
Although you may have yet to hear about it, Photoleap by Lightricks is fast becoming the photo editing tool for individual content creators and business marketers. It's the latest AI-enabled photo tool from the team that created the trend-setting Facetune app. In every way, Photoleap lives up to its high-end heritage.
Designed with creators in mind, Photoleap has features you won't find in most other photo editing apps. It can handle multi-layer image creation. It can handle superimposition with ease. It boasts a constantly-updated set of brushes, filters, effects, stickers, and backdrops. Oh, and it has one of the most flexible AI-powered object-removal tools on the market.
If Photoleap's developers stopped there, they'd still have a place on this list. But they didn't stop there. What vaulted them to the top is Photoleap's AI image creation tool. With it, users can type a description of the image they want to see, and the AI will create it. Or they can create their drawing and prompt the AI to complete their sketch, and it will. The feature is groundbreaking and makes Photoleap one of, if not the best, photo editing apps today.
2 – VSCO
Where Photoleap prioritises high functionality, the next app on the list focuses on simplicity and ease of use. VSCO is a simple-to-use photo editing app available in free and paid versions.
Free users can access editing tools like brightness, saturation, grain adjustment, etc. They also get 20 free preset filters designed effortlessly to apply various photo styles.
Paid users, by contrast, get 200 preset filters to choose from, vastly increasing the app's flexibility. Also, the paid version includes video editing capabilities that help creators build a multimedia presence without running multiple apps. Free or paid, though, VSCO is a favourite of creators around the world for numerous obvious reasons.
3 – Darkroom
Winner of the 2020 Apple Design Award, Darkroom is today's most straightforward photo and video editing tool. Apple users will feel at home since it works natively with the iPhone's camera roll functions.
Users can favourite or delete images in their roll from right within the app. It also comes with 12 handy image presets for quick photo edits and the ability to save custom presets.
Its paid version also boasts a curves tool, a flag and reject function, and can handle editing video at resolutions up to 4K. That last feature is notable because few combinations of photo and video editing apps can do that. So, for creators working in 4K, Darkroom eliminates the need for using a separate video tool to handle their footage.
4 – Snapseed
Although less polished than the previous apps on this list, Snapseed has plenty more than enough going for it to warrant a place on this list. It's a slightly more advanced version of the built-in Instagram editing tools. Plus, it's free.
That means users of all skill levels can add it to their editing tool repertoire without spending a little storage space on their devices.
Snapseed features 29 separate editing tools and filters, making it one of the most useful free solutions. It's also worth mentioning that it's a rare free photo editing tool that doesn't sustain itself with intrusive advertising. So, you won't have to deal with a torrent of ads when trying to get some of your editing work done quickly.
5 – Adobe Express
The granddaddy of all photo editing tools, Adobe Express, is the mobile heir to the rich and storied legacy of the widely known and used Photoshop software. Unlike the other apps on this list, Adobe Express is primarily oriented toward template-based editing. It boasts an impressive array of image presets ranging from Instagram Story to YouTube thumbnails and everything in between.
It'll even help you create a restaurant menu or a resume if needed. Critically, it also includes native access to Adobe's gigantic stock photo library, making it easy to find stock photos without leaving your editing environment.
Of course, like all Adobe products, you'll need to purchase a subscription to unlock the app's best features. But if you're dedicated to the Adobe ecosystem, to begin with, it's well worth its price.
Photo Editing Apps for Every Occasion
The five photo editing apps detailed above offer social media creators an impressive array of powerful tools to suit every use case. There's something for everyone, from dead-simple editing to high-end AI photo creation. Best of all, users can opt for a combination of apps to suit their needs, whatever they may be.
Together, creators can leverage these tools to power their cutting-edge social channels and quickly get followers' attention.
