Top 20 Must-Have Photo Editing Tools for Aspiring Photographers in 2025

Corel PaintShop Pro is a versatile and budget-friendly photo editing software option. Some photographers suggest it as an alternative to Photoshop, though it doesn’t include some of Photoshop’s advanced features like Camera Shake Reduction, 3D modeling, Faces Liquefy, or detailed typography.

Nonetheless, Corel PaintShop Pro remains a solid choice for users seeking straightforward yet effective image editing tools. Its interface is user-friendly, resembling Photoshop, making it accessible even for beginners. Advanced users can benefit from its powerful filters, effects, and RAW image support, which allows for high-quality edits. The software also includes a rich library of gradients, colors, photo tubes, and design templates to inspire creativity.

For those familiar with Photoshop, the similar interface makes it easier to adapt to PaintShop Pro. Beginners will find the tutorials helpful for learning the program quickly. Its features enable applying various filters and effects to enhance images and photographs. The latest version, PaintShop Pro 2022, is priced at $79.99 and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, it is only available for Windows—no Mac version exists. Recent updates have improved functionality, such as fixing language display issues in AI Style Transfer and ensuring proper image conversion with the Color Depth feature.

Overall, PaintShop Pro offers an excellent combination of usability and advanced features for Windows users looking for an affordable and capable photo editing solution.Skylum Luminar.

Top Choice for HDR Imaging and Photo Filters for Professionals.

Skylum Luminar AI has become a popular alternative to Adobe Lightroom, especially among photographers seeking powerful editing tools combined with affordability. Its latest version, Luminar 4, offers faster performance and a seamless integration of features similar to both Lightroom and Photoshop, providing a comprehensive editing experience within a single application.

Key Features:

The cloud-based photo editing software provides smooth editing across mobile devices, web, and desktop through a single subscription. The annual Basic plan starts at about $125.87 and can go up to $251.87 for a storage capacity of 1 TB in the cloud.

What I like about Adobe Lightroom is its ability to enable advanced editing, allowing you to drastically alter the mood and appearance of your photos. Its smart suggestions and presets simplify the editing process, helping you achieve great results without guesswork. On the downside, Lightroom offers fewer editing features compared to other photo editing platforms. The lack of layers or blend modes restricts users from creating highly complex graphics like they could with more advanced graphic design tools.

Recent updates include features that let you automatically select and edit specific parts of images, such as subjects or skies, with new masking tools. These enhancements give users more control and precision for non-destructive editing. You can start using Adobe Lightroom by visiting the official link.

For those interested in high dynamic range (HDR) photography, Skylum Aurora HDR is described as the most sophisticated HDR editor available on both Mac and Windows platforms. It offers an intuitive interface along with powerful tools to merge multiple images, resulting in natural-looking, striking final photos.

Expert advice suggests that if you want an HDR editor that elevates your photography style with ease and efficiency, Aurora HDR is an excellent choice. Its user-friendly design and robust editing features make complex image merging straightforward, ensuring your final shots are vibrant and professional-looking.

The platform’s pricing starts at $99, making it accessible for most photographers seeking a high-quality HDR tool. Additionally, there are discounts available for annual subscriptions, providing savings for regular users.

Skylum Aurora HDR allows users to efficiently combine multiple images to produce stunning, natural-looking HDR photographs. It works as a standalone application and can also be integrated with editing tools like Adobe Photoshop.

Additionally, it can be used as an extension within Apple Photos. Unlike traditional HDR creation methods, Aurora can generate HDR images from a single photo using its AI-powered neural network, making the process faster and more accessible for photographers.

Aurora HDR significantly enhances HDR photography with a suite of advanced features designed to produce professional-quality images. Key highlights include over 20 editing tools to craft stunning HDR photos, intelligent noise reduction combined with detail and depth enhancement, an HDR clarity function that improves contrast and local details, and a collection of 80 unique presets to convert RAW files into artistic images quickly. Users also have the option to manually adjust settings for maximum control.

The visual difference between images edited with Aurora HDR and those without is immediately apparent. The software offers an extensive range of features and presets, making it straightforward for both beginners and experienced photographers to achieve professional-looking results effortlessly.

The software is priced at approximately $99 and comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, making it accessible to both hobbyists and professionals.

Likes:

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Get started with Skylum Aurora HDR.Canva.

The top choice for professional templates and visual designs.

Canva is a widely-used platform designed to help users craft eye-catching photo templates and graphics with ease. Its straightforward interface has empowered millions to modify and create visuals without needing advanced technical skills. The drag-and-drop editor enables layering of multiple elements onto your images, making customization simple. Additionally, you can add varied fonts and graphics effortlessly, making it ideal for social media posts or website content. While numerous alternatives aim to mimic Canva’s user experience, mastering this tool offers significant advantages in ease of use and design quality.

Canva is especially popular among professionals seeking quick and attractive visual content for websites, social media, flyers, brochures, or marketing materials. Its core features include a mobile app for editing on the go, a library of over 8,000 templates, photos, icons, and design elements for easy creation. The platform supports basic editing functions such as image cropping and straightening, offers a speech bubble maker for fun dialogues, and operates fully online, compatible with decent computers and laptops. It provides access to a vast library of images and designs and stores your projects securely in the cloud, ensuring easy access from anywhere.

Canva operates on a freemium model, offering basic features for free. The paid Pro plan is available for $12.99 per month, providing additional tools and resources. Teams can opt for a quote-based enterprise plan tailored to their needs. Start creating with Canva today.

An excellent choice for beginners with no prior graphic design experience ($9/month).

Stencil is an intuitive online graphic and photo editing platform designed for those with no prior design experience. It helps users quickly craft images for social media and websites, making it perfect for small business owners, bloggers, and marketing professionals. It facilitates quick creation of social media assets like banners, headers, profile pictures, and posts. Key features include instant image resizing, storage for multiple logos, and seamless integration with browsers via dedicated extensions for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Users can also identify safe content areas, share directly to social media, and organize their favorite icons and images for fast access.

It boasts a library of over 5 million high-quality, royalty-free images and more than 1,400 templates for designing quotes, banners, and more. With access to over 3,300 Google fonts and the option to upload custom fonts, users have extensive options for personalization. Additional elements include over 3 million icons for commercial and personal use and 140+ preset sizes for different design needs.It also provides the ability to create images with custom dimensions. Once you have set the final size, you can preview your design to visualize how the finished product will appear.

In addition, Stencil includes a variety of filters to enhance the visual appeal of your images, allowing you to download high-resolution copies. You can also share your creations via Bit.ly links across different platforms.

Integration with popular social media services enables you to directly post images to channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Buffer, and more. Furthermore, it supports scheduling posts through Buffer.

Pricing options include three subscription tiers:

All paid plans come with a full refund policy within 7 days. To save even more, use promo code SecretSauce10 for a 10% discount on any plan.

What about PicMonkey? This tool is highly recommended for creating social media posts and online advertisements. It features a wide range of editing tools including touch-ups, cropping, and collage creation, making it ideal for beginners seeking to improve their design and editing skills. You can try it out with a free trial before committing to a paid plan.

Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible for users who may find other professional editing software complicated. Key features include a variety of templates, advanced retouching options, frequent updates adding new tools, and a mobile app compatible with both iPhone and Android devices, making editing easy on the go. Additionally, PicMonkey offers powerful graphic design tools to prepare images for online publishing.

Pricing starts with a 7-day free trial, after which the Basic plan costs $7.99 per month, the Pro plan is $12.99, and the Team plan is $33.99.

For more advanced editing, Capture One is considered one of the top tools, especially suited for professional photographers working with RAW images. Developed by Phase One, this software offers a sophisticated set of features tailored for high-end image processing. Although it appears similar to other RAW editors, it stands out with its unique options.

If you primarily focus on RAW photo enhancement, Capture One is a preferred alternative to Adobe Lightroom. Its extensive features simplify the editing process, making it easier for users to achieve professional results. Some of its notable capabilities include advanced masking techniques and powerful raw image processing, turning complex edits into straightforward tasks.- Eliminates the need to use Photoshop.
– Provides faster and smoother performance even when handling large images.
– Offers advanced color editing tools that give greater control over color adjustments and white balance.
– Allows for interface customization according to user preferences.
– Supports multiple adjustments on each layer without causing slowdowns.

Pricing:
Monthly subscriptions start at $24 per month. You also have the option to buy a one-time license for $299, which supports over 500 camera models. An annual plan is available for $179.

Cons:
– Exported images are watermarked unless processed to remove the watermark.
– Lacks a Dehaze tool.
– Does not offer cloud storage options.

10. DesignWizard
The best resource for a broad library of image templates.
DesignWizard features thousands of pre-made templates suitable for social media posts, YouTube channel art, greeting cards, and gift certificates. It includes a vast library of over one million images, high-quality videos, graphics, and illustrations—all licensed for commercial use. Users can instantly share their creations on social media. It also offers marketing templates such as Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, sale posters, and loyalty cards. The platform features a simple editor to resize images, add text, or logos.

Pricing:
DesignWizard offers both free and paid plans at $9.99 and $49.99 per month. The free plan allows browsing the entire library, but each image or design download costs $1. Users can upload custom images and fonts. The basic paid plan includes up to 60 downloads monthly, whereas the Business Plan at $49.99/month offers unlimited downloads and full video features, including uploading, editing, and adding text or logos.

Overall, DesignWizard is a solid choice for those seeking a wide variety of templates suitable for personal or business projects, especially if they need regular access to a large image library or video features.

11. ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate
The top choice for creative photo editing features.

ACDSee Photo Studio has been a trusted name in photo editing software for many years.

This versatile editing program provides a range of powerful features, making it a strong alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It’s also very beginner-friendly because of its intuitive interface.

The latest version, ACDSee Photo Studio Ultimate, includes advanced tools and new features to enhance your editing experience. It offers a balance of professional capabilities and ease of use, catering to both novice and experienced users.

Discover what sets this photo editing software apart with some of its notable features:

A single lifetime license costs $79.95, which includes a year of free updates and technical support to help you stay current with the latest features.

Ideal Software with Educational Content Included

Photo RAW is a popular choice among photographers because it offers state-of-the-art editing features at no cost.

The software provides a free trial for 30 days, with options to upgrade later. It’s suitable for photographers looking to craft stunning images without extensive time spent editing. You can use it as both a photo organizer and editing tool, making it flexible for different workflows.

Some features make Photo RAW stand out from other editing programs. It has a dual-mode interface that allows users to browse or edit within the same environment. The Edit History feature tracks every change made, providing full control over edits. Its integration with Apple Photos ensures complete RAW data support for impressive results, and live adjustments and previews make editing more interactive. The software is compatible across devices and easy to access from anywhere.

Pricing for On1 Photo RAW is $99.99 for new users and $79.99 for existing customers who have used any On1 product before. The package includes options for monthly or annual plans, such as Photo RAW 2022.1 + All Plugins + Cloud Sync.

The Best Easy-to-Use Online Photo Editor

Pixlr Editor is an online photo editing tool that rivals many desktop applications in functionality.

Pixlr provides a comprehensive editing environment accessible directly from your browser, featuring extensive customization options and an intuitive interface. Although it runs on the web, it allows users to perform basic edits from any location without installing software.

Key Features:

Pricing:
Pixlr offers a free plan that includes advertisements, which some users might find disruptive. Currently, there are discounts on its professional plans, with monthly subscriptions costing $5 and quarterly plans $12.

CONS:

The Best Free and Open-Source Photo Editing Program

Gimp stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. This open-source tool offers professional-grade features that empower users to craft impressive images.

It enables developers to modify the source code and distribute customized versions, making it highly adaptable. Geared towards designers, illustrators, and photographers at beginner or intermediate levels, Gimp provides a robust platform for editing and creative projects.

Key Features:

Pricing:
Completely free to use.

CONS:

The Top Choice for Professional RAW Photo Editing

Alien Skin Exposure offers a powerful suite of tools designed for professional photo editing. It is often regarded as merging the best qualities of Photoshop and Lightroom CC, providing a versatile platform that caters to advanced editing needs.

It features a broad array of tools, including support for layers and masks, along with numerous one-click presets, making complex editing tasks more accessible. Its interface is clean and user-friendly, helping professionals and enthusiasts achieve their desired photo effects efficiently.

Pricing options include purchasing Exposure X7 for approximately $129 or opting for the full Exposure X7 Bundle at about $149.

The top beginner-friendly image editing software for PCs.

You can purchase Adobe Photoshop Elements for about $99.99, or get the combined Photoshop & Premiere Elements bundle for $149.99.

The ideal tool for creating quick online graphics.

Snappa is an online graphic design and photo editing tool tailored for both professionals and casual users. It is ideal for creating visuals for social media, marketing campaigns, or personal projects, fulfilling the needs of those who require quick and attractive visuals.

This cloud-based platform collaborates with various professionals to help accelerate project completion. Its intuitive interface allows photographers and designers to effortlessly transform their images into eye-catching art, adding special effects and creative elements to elevate their visuals.

Snappa offers a suite of features that enable professional-level photo editing. Users can manipulate images easily with a drag-and-drop editor, start editing using pre-designed templates optimized for social media and blogs, access thousands of free stock photos for creative projects, and share their finished designs directly to social networks. The platform boasts quick, responsive editing tools and supports uploading custom fonts for personalized designs.

Snappa operates on a freemium model, offering users five free image designs per month. To unlock more features, a monthly subscription for individual users costs $10. For team plans, the subscription is priced at $20 per month, supporting up to five users. Both options are billed annually.

The Top Portrait Editing Software.

PortraitPro stands out as one of the best tools for professional portrait editing. Designed specifically for portrait photographers, it offers powerful features to enhance facial features and skin tone. Users can easily correct skin blemishes, remove wrinkles, fix sagging cheeks, and even add eye makeup.

The software also helps in correcting poor lighting conditions, making portraits look more polished. Its advanced features allow for detailed manual edits, layer adjustments, and real-time processing, enabling users to achieve high-quality results quickly.

The software comes with sophisticated tools to ensure excellent portraits. It provides options for manual adjustments to nearly every facial detail, an advanced layering system, and makeup tools to enhance facial features. Skin smoothing and wrinkle removal are built-in features that help produce flawless portraits, all while operating smoothly without lag in real time.

Currently, PortraitPro is offering a special deal with a 50% discount, reducing the price to $54.95.

The Best All-in-One Editing ToolCollage Maker and Designer

Fotor is an excellent choice for both amateurs and casual users interested in photo editing. This online tool also offers a desktop version for more comprehensive editing needs. It supports RAW photo formats, making it a versatile free software option for photographers. Fotor provides various tools to improve images, including filters, frames, and effects, all accessible through a user-friendly interface that allows for quick one-click enhancements.

Key features of Fotor include an array of filters such as portrait, landscape, sunset, and theatrical filters that help improve image quality. Users can add borders or frames and apply special effects to make photos stand out. Its intuitive collage maker allows for the quick creation of collages, saving time compared to traditional editing methods. Supporting RAW formats and an enhanced tilt-shift feature, Fotor’s free version is free from intrusive ads.

When considering the price, Fotor Pro costs $39.99 annually, while Fotor Pro+ is priced at $89.99 per year. However, it’s worth noting that the software isn’t as feature-rich as professional editing programs and isn’t the best for creating artwork from scratch.

Inkscape

Best for Linux users and vector graphics creation.

Inkscape is primarily aimed at vector illustration and is available as a free download. It’s an ideal tool for emerging designers and illustrators who want powerful features without the cost of premium software. Being open-source, Inkscape can be further developed and customized by coders, adding new features over time.

While offering many advanced features such as bitmap-to-vector conversion, multiple text options, and a rich extension system, Inkscape’s interface might feel outdated. It functions across Windows, MacOS, and Linux, providing flexible cross-platform use. Its tools for object placement and path editing are comparable to those found in professional design software, and users can select or omit tools based on their project needs.

Although totally free, Inkscape does have some limitations. Its interoperability with other software can be weak, and the learning curve is quite steep, especially for Mac users. The interface may feel dated, and some text formatting tools could be improved. Overall, Inkscape remains a highly valuable free resource with a robust community supporting its ongoing development.

Other notable photo editing software includes Affinity Photo, DXO Photolab, Cyberlink PhotoDirector, and more.

What is Photo Editing Software?

Photo editing software refers to computer programs designed for editing and manipulating digital images. Photographers and hobbyists alike use these tools to enhance colors, adjust brightness and contrast, sharpen details, and apply creative effects to their photos.

Photo editing software enables users to perform intricate adjustments and creative edits. These include cropping images, combining multiple photos through blending, retouching to remove blemishes or imperfections, adding text or graphic overlays, creating photo collages, and applying various special effects to achieve artistic results. Such tools provide a broad range of possibilities for enhancing and transforming images.

People often utilize photo editing software for a range of applications, including simple edits like adjusting brightness, contrast, or color balance. More advanced users—such as professional photographers—use the software’s layering, masking, and compositing features to craft highly detailed and polished images.

One advantage of photo editing software is that it enables users to work directly with digital images and make quick adjustments without degrading the original image quality or resolution.

Thanks to AI-powered photo editing tools, it’s now possible to automate many corrections and enhancements, saving time and freeing creators to focus more on their creative ideas.

Many applications include batch processing features, allowing users to edit numerous images simultaneously—particularly useful for large projects like wedding albums or family collections, where minor tweaks are needed before printing or sharing online.

Furthermore, modern photo editors are equipped with advanced editing capabilities that let users modify specific parts of an image independently of the rest. This makes them ideal for creating seamless composites or retouching high-end magazine advertisements quickly and efficiently.

All the tools discussed above have their strengths and unique features. The right choice depends on your preferences, budget, and level of expertise. For example, GIMP might be the best fit for professionals needing a powerful free tool, while beginners might lean toward more user-friendly options like Photoshop or Lightroom.Looking for a powerful photo editing tool that doesn’t cost a dime?

While there are many options available, I recommend choosing from my top picks for the best free photo editors:

– Adobe Photoshop (more details at Adobe Photoshop)
– Corel PaintShop Pro 2020 (see this at Corel Paintshop Pro 2020)
– Skylum Luminar (check it out at Skylum Luminar)

What photo editing software did you end up choosing? Feel free to share your experience in the comments below! Since most of these tools offer free trial plans, you can experiment with a few options before settling on the best one for you.

For more in-depth insights, visit StepThroughThePortal.com to read reviews about the top video editing software and animation software. These resources are great for testing your editing, animation, and design skills.

Also, take a look at my GIMP versus Photoshop comparison to learn about the features available in each application.