Can anyone tell me what software is the best for editing photos? I am a new Mac user and used iPhoto but it doesn't give me enough options to enhance the photo..just basics unless I am missing something. I was only able to touch up, color saturation, etc but I would like to sharpen, focus etc. Thanks
Best Photo Editing software
- Thread starter pupkiss
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2007
- Messages
- 847
- Reaction score
- 20
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Claremont, Ca
- Your Mac's Specs
- iPod Nano 4gb, 20" 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of ram, ATI HD 2600 pro
All depends on what you define "best" as, there are many different products that people say are the best for editing photos. My personal two favorites are photoshop and lightroom.
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2008
- Messages
- 6,003
- Reaction score
- 125
- Points
- 63
- Your Mac's Specs
- MBP 2.3 Ghz 4GB RAM 860 GB SSD, iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7 32GB RAM, Fusion Drive 1TB
Adobe Photoshop is pretty much what most people use. However there are other low cost and free applications that are just as good.
Gimp is free, and my personal favorite for the mac would be Pixelmator ($59 USD).
Gimp is free, and my personal favorite for the mac would be Pixelmator ($59 USD).
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,343
- Reaction score
- 213
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Forest Hills, NYC
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15-inch Early 2008; Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 10.7.5
What kind of "editing" will you be doing ? I'd not recommend Photoshop unless you need some really specific tools for professional production work in advertising or something similar. I only use PS very sparingly, but on occasion there are filters I like which only PS is able to give me. I also use other filters from other software as a plug in to Lightroom, but you should understand what you need first.
Lightroom, Aperture, Capture NX are all extremely capable editing programs, and I'd even go so far as to say that I could actually live without Photoshop and only ever use Lightroom. Of course, this means being conscious of photo composition, because your options are limited in terms of cloning things out of a photo such as power lines or garbage cans etc... But then, that's really getting into another area which is more along the lines of being a purist or a total digital cowboy etc...
So, where do you stand with respect to how much editing you need to do ?
Doug
Lightroom, Aperture, Capture NX are all extremely capable editing programs, and I'd even go so far as to say that I could actually live without Photoshop and only ever use Lightroom. Of course, this means being conscious of photo composition, because your options are limited in terms of cloning things out of a photo such as power lines or garbage cans etc... But then, that's really getting into another area which is more along the lines of being a purist or a total digital cowboy etc...
So, where do you stand with respect to how much editing you need to do ?
Doug
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2010
- Messages
- 120
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Long Island, New York
- Your Mac's Specs
- MBP 17"(2.8 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB mem), 21.5" Imac, 15" MBP (2.4 ghz) all running ML
As a new MAC user myself, I had the same question. I had been using Adobe Elements in windows but I have read that it's not easy to install on OS X. Someone on these forums suggested pixelmator and I downloaded the free trial. So far it seems to be what I'm looking for.
Give the free trial a chance. You may like it enough to buy the license.
Give the free trial a chance. You may like it enough to buy the license.
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2007
- Messages
- 847
- Reaction score
- 20
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Claremont, Ca
- Your Mac's Specs
- iPod Nano 4gb, 20" 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of ram, ATI HD 2600 pro
Oh yeah I forgot about Photoshop elements, its what I actually have been using (PC side.) and I really like it.
I use aperture to get it close then I do 95% of my editing using the NIK software tools complete package. Viveza lets me do edits of particular areas of a photo without having to work with masks like in photoshop. Color Efex Pro & Silver Efex have great color & b&w effects that are easy to use and control. The NIK toolkit also includes tools for noise reduction and sharpening that work very well and are easy to use. If you have Aperture or Lightroom you can get the complete NIK toolkit for 200 bucks at B&H photo.
Unless I need to do some real fancy insertion/removal work such as masking in a sky from another photo I usually won't use photoshop.
I really can't recommend the NIK tools enough for the price.
Unless I need to do some real fancy insertion/removal work such as masking in a sky from another photo I usually won't use photoshop.
I really can't recommend the NIK tools enough for the price.
Thank you for all the great recommendations and I sat back as Doug suggested and decided that I am going to try out Aperture as it seems to be all I would really need. There is a 30 day trial and that should give me a good idea of if it satisfies my photo editing needs.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,343
- Reaction score
- 213
- Points
- 63
- Location
- Forest Hills, NYC
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15-inch Early 2008; Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 10.7.5
And just so you know, Lightroom also offers a free 30 day evaluation. They just released LR 3 and as much as I thought Lightroom 2 blew everything out of the water, LR 3 is even better.. much better in fact. Lens correction tools, and hands down a superior noise reduction tool which makes a camera with noisy ISO 3200 shots VERY usable.
I did try Aperture a number of times, and wound up not liking how much of a dog it was with the resources it consumed. Wasted a lot of my time with beach balls. The interface is a bit more slick vs LR, but not by very much IMO, and the tools available are every bit as good as those in LR if not better, depending on which ones you use.
I'd give them both a whirl if I were you. But that's only my opinion.
Doug
I did try Aperture a number of times, and wound up not liking how much of a dog it was with the resources it consumed. Wasted a lot of my time with beach balls. The interface is a bit more slick vs LR, but not by very much IMO, and the tools available are every bit as good as those in LR if not better, depending on which ones you use.
I'd give them both a whirl if I were you. But that's only my opinion.
Doug
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2010
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
I use and highly recommend Photoshop Elements for the Mac. It is pretty powerful yet pretty inexpensive.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 8,303
- Reaction score
- 242
- Points
- 63
- Location
- In Denial
- Your Mac's Specs
- 16Gb Mac Mini 2018, 15" MacBook Pro 2012 1 TB SSD
I use Aperture 3.0, but I got Photoshop Elements v6.0 for Mac with my Epson Scanner and have that set up as an external editor for Aperture.
BTW (someone correct me if I'm wrong because I don't have the reference in front of me to check) but I believe you can do the same thing with iPhoto.
BTW (someone correct me if I'm wrong because I don't have the reference in front of me to check) but I believe you can do the same thing with iPhoto.
Download the free trials of Aperture, Lightroom ans photoshop elements ans see what you like best. If you're already using iphoto then Aperture will feel more familiar.
iphoto is actually ok for the real basic stuff.
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2008
- Messages
- 497
- Reaction score
- 12
- Points
- 18
- Location
- Camp Hill, Pa
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15in MBP - 27in iMac - iPhone
I use Light Room 3 and Photoshop CS5.
I've heard great things about the latest version of Aperture.
I've heard great things about the latest version of Aperture.
C
chas_m
Guest
No there aren't. If this were true, Photoshop wouldn't be the market leader by a looooooong way. And they are.
These are nice little programs, but to compare them to full Photoshop is like comparing a sports car to a tank. Both are nice in their own way, but I know which one I want when I feel like doing some memorable damage.
C
chas_m
Guest
It's also worth mentioning that iPhoto (which came with your Mac) has some surprisingly good (if basic) editing tools. Probably all that your average non-hobbyist shutterbug needs.
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.