- January 02, 2020
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A comprehensive review of the best RAW photo editors on the market
There are many RAW photo editors available, and they get better every year. It can be hard and time-consuming to try all of them, so we’ve tried them for you and come up with a list of the best RAW photo editors you should consider right now.
Professional photographers shoot in RAW to preserve as much detail as possible. They want high-resolution images with a wide dynamic range, natural-looking colors, and sharp details. RAW files are large files that need powerful editors. A good RAW photo editor is able to edit RAW files while preserving image quality and color accuracy.
Excellent photo editing requires the use of cool tools which have all the features such as special effects, filters, unique add-ons, frames and much more. If you require such a tool for editing your photos, then the Free Photo Editing Software tools are the ones you mustn’t miss to try. This article describes some of the best Free Photo Editing Software. Canva: Canva is the best free photo editing software for Mac. It is used for the professional level of photo editing with different kinds of templates. To make logos, posters, pamphlets,. Photo editing software for mac free download - WinZip Mac, PhotoPad Free Photo Editor for Mac, WavePad Masters Edition for Mac, and many more programs. Professional photo-editing applications aren’t cheap, nor are they easy to master without formal training. That’s why we’re taking a look at the best free photo-editing software on the market.
The first criterion in choosing a RAW photo editor is how good the RAW processor is and how well it renders the RAW data. But there are also other criteria to consider, such as support for batch processing, digital asset management, preset libraries, layers and masks, and local editing tools. Practicality is also important. Consider system requirements, processing speed, the user interface and workflow, and, of course, the price.
Because RAW editors are sophisticated software that require a long time to develop, you’ll hardly find free RAW photo editors. The only free editors on our list are darktable and RawTherapee, cross-platform image processing programs with enthusiastic communities around them. Nevertheless, all paid RAW photo editors on this list offer free trials that allow you to test them before buying.
The best RAW photo editors on the market
1. Luminar 4
Released at the end of 2019, Luminar 4 is a RAW photo editor that includes AI-based technology. Yes, it provides support for most RAW file formats and all the basic adjustments you need, but it also provides content-aware automatic adjustments. Its smart features and friendly interface have already convinced many professional photographers to become Skylum Ambassadors.
Luminar’s AI-based features analyze your images and make decisions based on their contents. Luminar 4 recognizes objects and people and applies custom adjustments for different types of pictures. It includes AI-based features for sky replacement, skin and portrait enhancement, structure enhancement, general image enhancement, and adding sun rays.
Moreover, Luminar 4 comes with more than 70 built-in presets, called Looks, that provide easy access to the most popular artistic styles. You can also create your own presets and download Signature Looks designed by renowned photographers from the Luminar Marketplace.
Luminar 4 allows you to fine-tune every aspect of an image, which is great because in RAW editing, every detail counts. Free audio editing software for mac os x. Luminar works with layers and masks and provides easy tools for controlling opacity and blending modes. The workflow is fluid and easy to learn, and you’ll find features such as batch processing, adjustment synchronization, digital asset management, and image rating and labeling.
Luminar 4 works as standalone software, a plugin for Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, and an extension for Apple Photos. It’s available for Mac and Windows and costs $89.
2. Aurora HDR
Aurora HDR was the first Skylum solution for RAW photo editing and is one of the most appreciated HDR photo editors. It’s the perfect choice if you want to create images with a wide dynamic range. Aurora provides tools for bracket merging that create high-quality images without halos, chromatic aberrations, or artifacts. It also includes basic tools such as color toning, a polarizer filter, detail enhancer, and LUT mapping.
Like Luminar 4, Aurora HDR makes use of AI technology to separate noise from detail and deliver exquisite denoising and detail enhancing tools. As Aurora is a RAW photo editor, its support for layers and masks is especially useful. Also useful are the presets designed in collaboration with professional photographers, which deliver amazing effects in seconds.
In terms of practical features, Aurora HDR offers batch processing, support for most popular cameras, and the ability to run as standalone software or a plugin for Adobe and Apple products. Aurora HDR is available for Windows and Mac and costs $110.
3. Adobe Lightroom
Due to its prestigious producer, Adobe Lightroom has been the standard in RAW photo editing for a long time. But it has lost many fans since Adobe introduced the monthly subscription plan. Yes, Lightroom is a RAW photo editor that gives you access to cloud space and synchronizes your edits across all your devices. But it’s expensive, and people have started to look for cheaper alternatives. Adobe Lightroom costs $9.99 per month, which means almost $120 per year. That’s more than other software costs for a lifetime license.
For this money, Adobe Lightroom offers endless sharing capabilities, image synchronization, exquisite image management tools, and easy-to-use image editing tools. It also has many presets, and you can find more in the large Adobe community, which also offers books, tutorials, and video materials.
Adobe Lightroom is available for Windows and Mac, but check the system requirements before you buy it because it requires relatively new operating system versions.
4. ACDSee Photo Studio
ACDsee is known for its image organizing software, but its latest products show that it has become a powerful competitor on the photo editor market. Photo Studio is a complete editing solution that includes RAW processing, image editing tools, and the amazing ACDSee digital asset management.
ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2020 supports more than 500 camera models and offers RAW editing tools such as LUTs, non-destructive color grading, lens corrections, noise and haze removal, contrast and brightness adjustments, layers and masks, selection tools, and local adjustments. It’s fast and supports many file formats, offers batch processing, and has a lot of tools for zooming, previewing, and reviewing images. In terms of the interface and image management, it’s one of the best RAW photo editors.
ACDSee Photo Studio Professional 2020 is available only for Windows. There’s also a separate ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac 6. You can choose between a monthly subscription at $8.90 and a lifetime license for $99.95.
5. PhotoDirector Ultra
With PhotoDirector Ultra, Cyberlink aims to deliver a photo editor that accumulates the functionalities of Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom at a better price. PhotoDirector Ultra supports many RAW file formats and provides AI-based tools for image retouching, layer editing, and presets.
This software is aimed at a wide variety of users, from professional photographers to the general public. It mixes powerful content-aware image adjustments with tools for making videos out of images, frame templates, and 360-degree photo editing. Delivering a wide variety of features isn’t always the best idea, however. Professional photographers are more interested in color accuracy, noise reduction, and detail preservation than in applying brushstrokes that simulate painting styles.
But despite the features unrelated to RAW editing, PhotoDirector Ultra is very good at recovering blurred images, eliminating haze and fog, and retouching portraits. It also provides image management tools, cloud storage, and additional products such as special effects and dedicated plugins.
PhotoDirector Ultra is available for Windows and Mac and costs $74.99.
6. Capture One Pro 2020
Capture One develops a RAW photo editor that supports many RAW file formats and has dedicated versions for Fuji and Sony camera users. Capture One Pro 2020 is a complete photo editing solution for all cameras, and it provides tools for image editing and management.
While Capture One Pro 2020 isn’t very easy to learn and use, once you get to know it, you’ll have full control over every aspect of your images. This software’s features range from tools for basic image adjustments (fixing exposure, color, and contrast) to HDR tools, advanced color adjustments, and presets. Essential for a RAW editor, Capture One Pro 2020 works with layers and masks and provides non-destructive editing.
Capture One Pro 2020 is a powerful photo editor even if its workflow isn’t for beginners. It provides lens and camera profiles, lens correction, high color accuracy, and tools for printing and creative artwork. All these features come with a price, however: Capture One Pro 2020 costs $27 per month. It’s available for Windows and Mac.
7. DxO PhotoLab
Like Capture One Pro, DxO PhotoLab is a complex RAW photo editor for professional photographers. It focuses on color accuracy and camera compatibility. DxO PhotoLab matches the rendering of over 60 camera models and provides optical corrections and custom lens profiles.
Among its best features are exquisite color tools such as ICC profiles, Moiré removal, and the new HSL tool, more than 40 presets, haze removal based on colorimetric component analysis, noise removal that’s been optimized to process RAW files at high speed, and local adjustments. DxO PhotoLab is an editor for color perfectionists and aims to satisfy the most demanding professionals.
DxO PhotoLab provides digital asset management with all you need for organizing images in a neat interface. It’s available for Windows and Mac and costs $140.
8. PaintShop Pro
PaintShop Pro is one of Corel’s solutions for photo editing that includes RAW functionalities. Keeping to Corel’s long tradition in graphic design, PaintShop Pro provides not only photo editing tools but also graphic design tools. So if you want tools for creating artistic compositions, drawing, and painting onto images, PaintShop Pro is the best editor for you.
In terms of RAW photo editing, PaintShop Pro offers a powerful RAW processor, lens correction, HDR editing, geometric transformations, basic adjustments for image retouching, and layers and masks. It doesn’t have too many filters and presets, but it offers support for third-party plugins such as the NiK Collection from DxO and Topaz Labs plugins. This may cover the need for extra features, but these plugins come with an additional cost.
In terms of useful functionalities, PaintShop Pro doesn’t have digital asset management, but it does provide batch processing and support for many file formats. PaintShop Pro is easy to learn and has a customizable workspace. But if you don’t need graphic design tools, they’ll only slow you down.
Invisible 2 2 download free. PaintShop Pro is available only for Windows and costs $79.
9. AfterShot Pro
Another RAW photo editing solution from Corel is AfterShot Pro. Designed to compete with Adobe Lightroom, AfterShot Pro focuses on increasing processing speed while delivering high-quality images.
Unlike PaintShop Pro, however, AfterShot Pro is dedicated to photography. This means is has RAW camera profiles, lens corrections, a large library of presets, and highlight recovery for images with a wide dynamic range. It also provides efficient digital asset management and integrates with other editors. In exchange, it doesn’t have graphic design tools.
In terms of RAW photo editing, we’re more interested in color accuracy, noise reduction, and HDR tools than in drawing tools. Still, the advanced selection tools provided by Corel’s programs are always welcome for local adjustments and subtle image retouching.
AfterShot Pro is a better option than PaintShop Pro for RAW editing. It’s also more expensive, as it costs $99.99. But if you compare it with Adobe Lightroom, you’ll see that it’s worth the money.
10. Darktable
Darktable is an open-source, free RAW photo editor available for Linux, Mac / macports, BSD, Windows, and Solaris 11 / GNOME. It’s designed to be a virtual darkroom and allows you to view negatives through a zoomable lighttable.
Aiming to be more than a RAW convertor, darktable provides tools for image enhancement, batch processing, and tethered shooting. It also allows you to develop your own image processing modules and add them to the program.
For a free editor, darktable offers exquisite tools, from an optimized RAW processor that can manage large files to non-destructive edits and professional color management. It has ICC profiles, several demosaicing methods, base and tone curves, lens corrections, and tools for dithering, haze, fringing, noise removal, color, contrast, and white balance adjustments. It also offers a few filters for creative effects.
However, darktable has minimal image organizing functionalities. It does allow you to search for images by tags, stars, and labels, and it works with metadata.
11. RAW Power
Gentlemen Coders offers a RAW photo editor for Mac and iOS called RAW Power that can run as standalone software or a Photos extension.
RAW Power uses Apple’s RAW decoder to provide high-quality images. Among its best features are support for hundreds of camera models, precise curve adjustments, white balance recovery, lots of presets, and perspective and chromatic aberration corrections.
RAW Power also provides digital asset management, batch processing, synchronization between devices via iCloud Photo Library, multiple editing windows, and batch export. It comes as an extension to Apple Photos and costs $29.99
12. RawTherapee
RawTherapee is a free RAW photo editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It provides high-quality images with high dynamic range and uses state-of-the-art demosaicing algorithms. Although it’s open-source software, RawTherapee supports most common RAW file formats, including those from Pentax and Sony.
Among its best features are RAW histograms, adjustments for fixing exposure, contrast, detail, and color, color profiles, and advanced controls. RawTherapee also lets you save your current editing profile for later use or batch editing. Unfortunately, it doesn’t support layers, and you have to apply all adjustments to the same layer, which may be confusing.
RawTherapee has a neat workspace that allows you to find all you need in seconds. It’s intuitive, well-labeled, and has shortcuts for everything. It also provides file browsing, ratings, and color labeling, and it supports metadata. For those who want to see how printed images will look, RawTherapee runs a simulation with a specific printer profile.
13. Affinity Photo
Affinity Photo provides powerful photo editing and graphic design tools. Alongside RAW editing, it provides HDR editing and focus stacking, panorama stitching, support for editing Adobe Photoshop files, and painting tools.
In terms of RAW photo editing, Affinity Photo’s big advantage is its ability to process very large files (more than 100 Megapixels) and to offer smooth zoom at 60 frames per second. It gives you full control over the smallest details of your images and provides editing tools such as levels, curves, HSL, and exposure and white balance adjustments. All edits are non-destructive because Affinity Photo works with layers and masks. You can perform local adjustments using advanced selection tools, analyze histograms, and edit EXIF information.
Affinity Photo provides lens corrections, noise reduction, and hot pixel removal, which is essential for RAW editing. It also provides presets and effects, including brush libraries and text and vector tools. It’s one of the best RAW photo editors for creating artistic compositions and collages.
Affinity Photo is available for Windows, Mac, and iPad and costs $49.99 respectively $19.99.
In conclusion
We’ve tested the most powerful RAW photo editors on the market, but the final decision is yours. Choose the best editor for your needs. Consider your budget, frequency of use, skills, and artistic preferences. For example, you shouldn’t buy an editor with graphic design functionalities if you don’t do abstract photography and strong editing. If you work with large amounts of similar images, batch processing is a must. So is digital asset management when you have lots of albums and catalogs. Keep in mind that trying before buying is the wisest thing you can do.
Your Mac is a powerful creative tool for a variety of tasks, including image and video editing. Just like on the iPhone or iPad, there are lots of free and paid apps that can help you enhance and organize your pictures. From necessary edits to more advanced manipulation with layers, masking, filters, etc., there’s a lot you can do with these best photo editing apps for Mac.
1. Fotor Photo Editor – Editor’s Choice
This power-paced app lets you quickly process dozens of photos to save time and effort. You can resize, rename, and change file formats of multiple photos at a time for speed and efficiency. You can also apply Scenes, Effects, and Borders with just one click.
Further, you can create fun collages by selecting from 100 templates and adding up to 9 photos at a time. Add borders, shadow effects, and more. The app boasts a state-of-the-art photo processing engine that makes it easy to process high-quality images quickly.
Price: Free ($5.99 for Monthly Plan)
2. Photos for macOS (Default App)
The default Photos app on your Mac is a top choice for editing photos with ease and convenience. The latest updates to this app give it an immersive look that showcases your best photos and brings a ton of flexibility to your fingertips.
Moreover, you can perfect your images with a range of editing tools. Add studio-quality lighting effects to Portrait mode photos. Or you can transform a photo instantly with just a click using the Enhance feature. Then, you can add text, shapes, sketches, or a signature to images.
You can organize your photos into custom albums or let the app do it automatically with Smart Albums. Plus, access your memories across your other Apple devices thanks to iCloud. The best part is that this app is free and available by default on your Mac!
3. Pixelmator Pro
Check out this feature-rich and easy to use image editor that boasts a wide range of professional-grade image editing tools. It’s ideal for bringing out the best in your photos and add stunning effects, text, and more.
It’s got an intuitive and accessible design that’s straightforward to use for both beginners and pros. You can even choose from beautiful presets and edit non-destructively to always have your original image on hand.
Price: $19.99
4. Adobe Lightroom
Any list of photo-editing apps is incomplete without mentioning Adobe. This cloud-based service gives you the complete package of everything you need to edit, organize, store, and share your pictures.
It offers pro-level features that are still easy to use. You can adjust your full-resolution shots and have both your originals and edits backed up to the cloud. Further, keep things organized with searchable keywords that are automatically applied without the hassle of tagging.
Price: Free ( $9.99 for Monthly Subscription)
5. PhotoScape X
This is your all-in-one image editor that comes with countless features to create and edit the best photo on your Mac. For your social media posts, you can take any picture and remove the background. Although this one is a nasty trick, you should give credit to the original image source.
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One of the significant features of PhotoScape X is you can use this software in foreign languages like English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, etc.
Price: Free ( $39.99 for Pro)
6. Polarr Photo Editor
Whether you are a pro editor or a creative arts learner, Polarr has something to impress you. For novices, Polarr has auto-enhance tools and high-quality filters to go into details of photos. Pro users can explore layer support, curve tools, local adjustments, and other features.
If you compare Polarr with Photoshop, you will find the former more accessible and intuitive. By using watermark support, you can be the sole owner of your creation. Since it works offline, you don’t need a constant Internet connection.
Price: Free ($3.99 for Premium Monthly)
7. Affinity Photo
Here’s an app that pushes photo editing boundaries by providing pro-level capabilities in a simple-to-use package. It boasts a vast toolset mostly made for creative professionals. Edit and retouch images with ease, create multi-layered compositions, and more.
How to save a photo on macbook. It offers full support for unlimited layers, layer groups, adjustment layers, filter layers, and masks. Moreover, you can edit live filters, adjustments, effects, blend modes, and masks non-destructively so that your original photo is always available. Customize and save presets with ease!
Price: $49.99
8. Paint S
Paint S is arguably the best image editing tool for social media professionals, who frequently have to add text to images. Apart from adding text, you can also crop, rotate, and scale images quickly. The software’s ability to support layers allows you to re-edit your images freely.
This software’s notable feature is saving your images in several formats like TIFF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and many other popular formats. To make your photos more attractive, Paint S helps you select and remove unwanted elements.
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9. GIMP
For more than 20 years, GIMP has continuously been one of Mac’s best raw image editors. This GNU Image Manipulation Program was developed for Linux, but you can use its tools on your Mac computers since it is open-source. If you are in a creative field such as digital media and advertisement, you can use your imagination to create the most elegant images.
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This software supports multiple languages like C, C++, Perl, Python, Scheme, and others. Whether you are working for digital or printed media, you can always get high-fidelity color reproduction by using high-quality color management features.
Price: Free
10. Luminar
Check out this innovative editing app that makes it fun to create photo art. It’s got an intuitive interface and AI-powered tools that will speed up the editing process so that you can focus on what you love.
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You can quickly enhance your portrait shots with unique and revolutionary tools without any masking. Make dozens of essential adjustments in just a single move and instantly improve a photo with Accent AI to get impressive yet natural-looking results.
Price: Free (Monthly Subscription $8.99)
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11. Seashore
This is a completely free photo editing app for Mac that gives you most of the tools you need to edit your images to perfection. It’s easy to use but supports features like layers that give you greater control. Caesar slots android.
It’s open-source and will always remain free while providing the perfect balance of features and simplicity. You can get your editing done quickly without getting lost in the complexities of a full-blown editing app.
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Try These Best Photo Editing Apps For Mac
So, which of these Mac photo editing apps have you tried using? And which one worked best for you? Let us know in the comments below. You might also like to try the best cloud storage for photos to keep your images safe.
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I have been writing about tech for over 10 years now. I am passionate about helping people solve their tech problems with easy and practical solutions. At iGeeksBlog, I write and edit how-to guides and accessory reviews for all things Apple. My work has previously appeared in Live IT and Woman’s Era magazines. When not working, I love reading and traveling.
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