Table of Contents
What is Photo Editing Software?
Photo Editing Software is used to modify, enhance, resize, and format a variety of image files, such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. They are pixel-based rather than vector-based.
Photo editing tools can be used to improve, change, or adjust natural images to fit a business’s needs and are used in nearly every industry, especially for promotional and marketing purposes.
Photo editing software is often used alongside photo management and other design-related software before creating final versions of an image file.
What is Professional Photo Editing Software?
Professional Photo Editing Software is used by photography professionals to change, manipulate, or enhance digital images.
Usually, the software is used to manipulate images that are opened or imported into the program. Features such as standard editing (e.g., cropping, resizing, enhancing), splicing, drawing, painting, sketching, and so on, are used to create altered images of the original or new images entirely.
Professional photo editing software is commonly used by marketing departments to help generate new creatives for promotional and advertising campaigns.
What is the Best Photo Editing Software?
The best photo editing software can be subjective, but there are some photo editors that are more widely used than others.
Some of the most popular photo editing software include Adobe Photoshop, Corel PaintShop Pro, GIMP, and Adobe Lightroom.
While there is no “one size fits all” answer to this question, many professional photographers and photo enthusiasts often swear by Adobe Photoshop for its wide range of features and capabilities.
However, other photo editors like Corel PaintShop Pro offer a lot of features for a fraction of the price of Photoshop. So it really depends on your needs and budget as to what the best photo editing software is for you.
Let’s take a look at a few of them:
Adobe Photoshop
Adboe Photoshop is a widely used photo editing software that was created in 1988 by two brothers, Thomas and John Knoll.
Features:
- Wide range of features and capabilities
- Highly customizable
- Often used for professional photo editing
- Can be expensive
Corel PaintShop Pro
Corel PaintShop Pro is a photo editor that has been around since 1990. It was created to compete with Adobe Photoshop.
Features:
- Includes many of the same features as Photoshop
- Less expensive than Photoshop
- Good for basic photo editing needs
GIMP
GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a photo editor that was created in 1995. It is a free, open-source photo editor.
Features:
- Wide range of features
- Good for more advanced photo editing needs
- Can be difficult to learn at first
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is a photo editor and management software that was created in 2007. It is part of the Adobe Creative Suite.
Features:
- Photo organization and management features
- Good for basic photo editing needs
- Often used by professional photographers
- Can be expensive
Skylum Aurora HDR
Skylum Aurora HDR is a photo editing software that was created in 2016. It is an HDR photo editor.
Features:
- HDR photo editor
- Good for more advanced photo editing needs
- Easy to use and learn
- Affordable
Skylum Luminar
Skylum Luminar is a photo editing software that was created in 2017. It is a photo editor and RAW photo processor.
Features:
- Photo editor
- RAW photo processor
- Good for more advanced photo editing needs
- Easy to use and learn
- Affordable
Canva
Canva has a wide use of applications and is popular among graphic designers who want to enjoy a host of different tools for free or cheap.
Features:
- A wide variety of tools for photo editing, graphic design, and more
- Good for basic photo editing needs
- Often used by amateur photographers and graphic designers
- Free or cheap to use
What are Common Photo Editing Features?
Common photo editing features found in most photo editing software include:
- Cropping
- Resizing
- Enhancing
- Filters
- Adjustments (e.g., brightness, contrast, saturation)
- Textures
- Effects (e.g., photo frames, borders)
- Layers
- Masking
- Raw photo processing
Photo Editing Software FAQ
What do professional photographers use to edit photos?
Professional photographers commonly use tools and photo editing apps like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and Skylum Aurora HDR for photo editing.
What is the best photo editing software for beginners?
GIMP is often considered the best photo editing software for beginners because it has a wide range of features and is easy to learn.
What photo editor do most graphic designers use?
Most graphic designers typically use tools like Canva, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Illustrator for their photo editing needs.
Is Gimp as good as Photoshop?
GIMP is not always regarded as good as Photoshop for professional photo editing (Photoshop is a household name), but it does have a wide range of features and is good for basic photo editing needs.
What photo editor has the most features?
Adobe Photoshop is known for its wide range of features and capabilities when it comes to photo editing.
Summary: Photo editing software
Photo editing software is used to edit and enhance photos.
There is a wide range of photo editors available, each with its own set of features. Professional photographers typically use more advanced photo editing software, while beginners may find GIMP or Photoshop easier to use.
Graphic designers often prefer Canva for their photo editing needs.