15 best photo processing applications

Practically from the very invention of photography as such, perhaps from the first “serial” shots, there was a conscious need to process photos — to eliminate defects, increase expressiveness, improve quality, add graphic artifacts and inscriptions. During the whole process of photo evolution, photo processing facilities also developed in the same way. Nowadays, this is already a huge industry and a separate serious genre of art. The photo almost completely flowed into the “figure”, and the software market was filled with a variety of applications for working with raster images. The best of them will be discussed in today's issue. The editors of expert.bigbadmole.com/en/en/ prepared for you a special rating of the best photo processing and editing applications.

15 best photo processing applications

Nomination	a place	Name of product	rating
Top paid photo processing apps	1	Adobe Photoshop	5.0
	2	ACDSee	4.9
	3	Movavi Photo Editor	4.8
	4	Pixlr	4.7
	5	PhotoInstrument	4.6
	6	Open canvas	4.5
Best Free Photo Processing Applications	1	Photoscape	5.0
	2	Gimp	4.9
	3	Picasa	4.8
	4	PixBuilder Studio	4.7
	5	Artweaver	4.6
	6	Krita	4.5
Best Photo Processing Apps for MacOS	1	Krita	5.0
	2	Luminar	4.9
	3	Fotor	4.8

Top paid photo processing apps

The first nomination presents applications that are mostly used in the Windows operating system environment. Some of them are multi-platform, that is, they can also work under MacOS or Linux, and we will specify this option, but our experts have selected applications for Apple computers into a separate nomination.

Adobe Photoshop

Rating: 5.0

Let's start with the legendary application that spawned a whole folklore and a kind of subculture. The term "photoshop" for a long time in popular culture means not only and not so much a software product for processing raster graphics, as the result itself - a processed photo or collage.

The very first version of Photoshop was released back in 1990, and has since rapidly developed, quickly taking the lead in the photo processing industry. Over time, the distance between Photoshop and its closest competitors only increased. As of March 2019, the most current version of the application for the Windows OS is CC 2019. There is also a full version for MacOS and all sorts of variations for mobile platforms.

Photoshop has the richest set of features when compared to any other photo processing application. Everything that was invented in this industry was almost 100% likely implemented by Adobe developers either in the base package or as part of numerous plug-ins and add-ons.

The program provides a comprehensive set of tools and tools for changing the basic properties of an image (brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance, etc.), applying various effects and filters, improving the quality and correcting flaws, adding all sorts of graphic artifacts and inscriptions.

Using the convenient "proprietary" toolbar, you can manually paint a photo, cut out individual sections, arbitrarily transform the image.For making collages in the application, a convenient and intuitive layer system with simple and obvious controls is implemented. Typical repetitive actions can be simply “recorded” in a script format and then batch processing a large number of photos literally in a couple of mouse clicks.

One of the most important characteristics of Photoshop is the best to date implementation of compliance with the requirements of the modern field of printing. Photoshop and a number of other specialized Adobe software products (Illustrator, InDesign, and others) are the actual industry standard in the field of prepress printing products.

Adobe for licensed distribution Photoshop uses several business models at once, including subscription access, which makes this outstanding application accessible to almost everyone involved in professional photo processing and willing to work in a single environment without restrictions.

ACDSee

Rating: 4.9

The super best-selling ACDSee program from a Canadian developer of the same name continues to rank the best photo-processing applications for expert.bigbadmole.com/en/en/. Initially, the program appeared as a shareware, fast and extremely convenient application for viewing photos, organizing albums and minimal editing. With lightning speed having gained popularity among users all over the world, ACDSee just as quickly and consistently evolved into a full-fledged and powerful enough photo editor, simultaneously switching to a completely commercial basis.

Currently, the application comes in several versions of the content - the basic version, professional, maximum with some variations. The basic assembly remains in many ways an excellent image storage organizer and a means of conveniently viewing photo albums. Already starting with the Pro-version, the application has been expanded with a huge set of various effects, tools for improving the expressiveness of images, eliminating defects, and versatile photo conversion in both manual and batch modes.

The application supports many raster graphics formats, including RAW, which not all photo processing programs can boast. There is also support for a fairly wide range of vector graphics formats. A separate great feature is the ability to recognize faces in a photo.

With the help of ACDSee, you can view photo archives on the fly, create presentations and animated objects, albums in HTML format, process photos using a given template in batch mode.

A slightly unpleasant moment in this application is a flawless optimization. As the program evolved, it overgrown with new additions and add-ons, and the development team could not keep up with its own actions. Therefore, cases of fairly slow work of a tool or module are not rare here. However, this affects the universal recognition and popularity of the application quite insignificantly.

Movavi Photo Editor

Rating: 4.8

Now consider an interesting software solution of domestic production. This is a simple, fast, original and at the same time extremely stylish and pleasant photo editing editor - Movavi Photo Editor.The application is an amazing combination of simplicity, functionality, convenience and successful implementation of a truly original approaches to photo processing.

Movavi is positioned by the developers themselves as a "family" photo editor, not claiming to be professional ambitions. This is its charm and a significant advantage - working in Movavi is easy and pleasant, while getting far from trivial result. The application, for all its simplicity and accessibility, has a fairly rich arsenal of expressive means of photo editing and retouching portrait photos, applying various effects and filters (a huge selection, sorted into 13 categories), manual color correction, elimination of flaws, etc.

A noticeable advantage of Movavi is the ability to effectively improve the quality of not quite successful photos in automatic mode. This is due to the talented programmers of the developer, who managed to embed surprisingly "intelligent" artificial intelligence, capable of amazingly precise what needs to be changed during the photo processing.

The fact that it is beyond the power of the built-in AI application is easy to complete on your own with minimal effort. So, Movavi allows you to remove unwanted objects from a photo in just a few steps, without leaving even the slightest trace of their past presence.

To get acquainted with the features of the application, you can use the free trial period. The cost of a one-time license is available to almost everyone - the pricing policy of the creators is extremely democratic.

Pixlr

Rating: 4.7

Further in our rating follows an interesting photo processing application with a no less interesting implementation. The developers have done everything so that from a technical point of view, anyone can use Pixlr. So, there are versions of the application for different platforms, paid and free assemblies, and even a web application that runs directly in the browser online.

In addition to comprehensive multi-platform, Pixlr provides the user with a very rich functionality, user-friendly interface, and very good optimization. The interface is well developed, so that anyone who has already dealt with at least some other photo processing applications will instantly figure it out.

In addition to standard functions and a wide range of filters and effects, an automated algorithm for changing the focus point is qualitatively implemented in this application. The developers emphasize the fact that the total number of filters and effects in the full range of combinations give about two million (!) Unique combinations.

The lion’s share of real users of Pixlr is enough functionality of free assemblies. Those who need all the tools of the Pro-version can purchase a monthly subscription, which is worth a few dollars.

In general, this editor for photo processing is all good, as if at its level, the only not quite pleasant moment - it does not understand the RAW format. But the project is actively developing, and perhaps this gap will be eliminated in the very near future.

PhotoInstrument

Rating: 4.6

Now, as part of our rating, we will make a conscious transition from multifunctional photo processing applications to one of the most elementary - PhotoInstrument. Our experts specifically included this interesting program into the review in order to satisfy the request of users who have minimal knowledge in editing bitmaps, or who do not have them at all.

There are quite a few simple photo processing applications, but few can provide a truly valuable basic experience from scratch, and PhotoInstrument is one of them. The interface is intentionally made with a certain margin of availability - large buttons, clear labels, tooltips everywhere and everywhere.

With all the external limitations, the application has everything you need for more or less high-quality editing of raster images, in a form accessible to beginners and even older people. Using PhotoInstrument, you can change key image parameters (brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance, etc.), apply filters, add effects, produce scaling and geometric changes, draw using virtual tools and fixtures.

The application also implements integrated tools with elements of intelligent recognition in the form factor of template filters. With their help, you can easily get rid of the red-eye effect, make a perfect selfie (clear skin, put on “glamor”), eliminate defects, get rid of unwanted objects, etc.

What's more remarkable is that this simple application can work well with layers, in some places it is not worse than much more advanced programs. It is also possible to install third-party plug-ins.

Open canvas

Rating: 4.5

Completing the selection of the rating of the best paid video processing applications is a special program, which stands out against the above solutions. The thing is that this program is more focused on digital painting. But at the same time, it perfectly perceives the PSD format native to Adobe Photoshop, has full-fledged tools for fine work with layers, has a set of filters, due to which it is applicable for detailed elaboration of individual areas in the photo.

Open Canvas is one of the most popular applications among anime artists, and this is natural, because the program was created by the Japanese. The creators managed to achieve an amazing combination of compatibility with raster formats, a set of vector tools, built-in stylistic techniques and schemes. So, based on a photo of a beautiful landscape or interior, taking advantage of a rich set of virtual art gadgets, fans of the genre create real works of art.

It is also noteworthy that the application has a built-in recorder that captures every step of the user. Upon completion of photo processing and creating a picture, you can literally watch a “documentary” with a detailed reproduction of the entire process.

Open Canvas is distributed under a one-time license, which is quite inexpensive. In addition, a record long 120-day free trial period will allow you to make an informed decision even to the most meticulous and skeptical user.

Best Free Photo Processing Applications

The second nomination in our rating includes the best, according to experts at expert.bigbadmole.com/en/, photo processing applications from among the free ones. Experts identified six of the most prominent solutions from a variety of software studios. These applications for a long time retain their free status, and this gives reason to believe that they will not suddenly become paid, as is often the case with new applications promoted by young startups.

Photoscape

Rating: 5.0

The nomination is opened by a free photo processing application that may seem very simple at a quick glance, but this is a deceptive impression due to the conciseness of the interface. In fact, Photoscape has a rather impressive arsenal of tools and tools for working with raster graphics.

The application contains a very voluminous set of effects and filters, a convenient collage editor, has a pleasant intuitive interface and decent Russian localization. The functionality includes all the basic functions of setting up image parameters, tools for creating GIF-animations from a set of photos with a variety of settings, convenient tools for layout, screen capture and more. The whole arsenal of tools can be expanded by installing add-ons.

Auxiliary and service tools allow you to process photos in semi-automatic batch mode. The application understands all popular formats, including RAW. A separate module is responsible for tight integration with well-known social networks, so you can post photos after processing in streaming mode, almost without being distracted. In Photoscape competently implemented full work with layers, like professional applications for high-level photo processing.

The Photoscape application was created to work in the OS environment of the Windows family and up to the G7 new versions were released on the old time-tested engine. With the release of Windows, the program had problems optimizing for a fresh OS, and the developers practically rewritten it again. This is how Photoscape X appeared for 32 and 64-bit Windows 10 systems, as well as for MacOS.

Gimp

Rating: 4.9

This collection of rating is continued by an interesting and quite powerful in terms of functionality photo processing application - GIMP. The abbreviation stands for the GNU Image Manipulation Program, and this phrase clearly emphasizes the relevance of the application to the open source ideology and free distribution. The first versions began to appear in the mid-90s, and the idea was to create a decent free alternative to the very expensive Adobe Photoshop at that time. The project was successful and continues to actively develop.

The application is very, very multifunctional even whatever its free-status. It supports all popular formats, supports full-fledged work with layers, there is a rich set of virtual tools for retouching, adding objects, color correction, various manipulations and transformations of raster graphics. Implemented convenient photo batch processing.

In addition to the internal tools for simple drawing, GIMP can also work correctly with graphics tablets and other input devices that are applicable for working with graphics.

More advanced users and even professionals will be pleasantly surprised by the presence in GIMP of tools of fine and flexible settings for working with layers and masks, as well as the ability to change the RGB channels for more sophisticated photo processing. Even the application interface can be flexibly configured - its elements can be adapted to individual needs.The program correctly opens the source in PSD format, previously created in Adobe Photoshop with all the attributes.

All the listed features are already included in the basic package of the application. Photo processing options in GIMP are expanded many times by installing any of the many free plug-ins.

The application is localized in dozens of languages, including Russian. It is supplied as a package for installation, and a portable version that does not require installation.

Picasa

Rating: 4.8

The rating continues to the well-known and widely used Picasa photo processing application from Google. For the first time the program was published in 2002 - then the studio was engaged in its development Lifescape. The startup was so successful that two years later Picasa bought the search giant, and the project has been actively developing for 12 years. Unfortunately, in 2016 the development of the project was discontinued, but Picasa still remains one of the most popular free photo processing applications.

Initially, the Picasa application was created as a convenient and fast means of viewing photos, organizing, sorting and minimal editing. During the development of the project, more and more new functions appeared in the application: special effects, tools for retouching and removing typical defects, quality improvement, color correction. The program can record geodata in the processed image, allows you to easily and easily create slide shows and screensavers.

In Picasa, a strong emphasis is placed on close integration with photo and video hosting services and popular social networks. The application also works closely with its own photohosting of the same name.

The application “weighs” a little, works quickly and stably, is well developed in terms of the interface logic and is perfectly localized for the Russian-speaking audience.

PixBuilder Studio

Rating: 4.7

Further, in our rating follows a simple application for processing photos without claims to professionalism, but with sufficiently rich functionality to cover most of the amateur-level conditions. Its microscopic size and excellent optimization make it comfortable to work with raster graphics on computers with the most modest hardware.

The application has a built-in set of basic and advanced photo processing tools by juggling with key parameters (brightness, contrast, saturation, color balance, etc.), using simple filters, tools for correcting individual sections, retouching. There is a standard set of hand drawing tools.

Advanced photo processing tools pleasantly surprise against the background of the microscopic scale of the application as a whole. So, full-fledged work with layers, full-fledged use of gradient masks, flexible selection, various transformations of objects and selected raster areas are implemented here. The application remembers absolutely all user actions from the very beginning of working with photos, and if desired, all changes can be rolled back to the original state of the image.

The program is well implemented support for hot keys, high-quality optimization allows high-speed processing of images with high resolution. The interface is translated into several languages, including Russian. The standard installation package has a portable version.

The application supports many popular formats, including even PSD, but it is distressing the lack of compatibility with the RAW format. This does not allow the program to fully interact with modern digital cameras and wearable gadgets.

Artweaver

Rating: 4.6

Now we will place in our rating a place for a program that has a pronounced bias in digital painting, in addition to photo processing. This is actually the author's work of the German developer Boris Erich. Made, without exaggeration, with love, for which she deserved a lot of fans.

The application has an exhaustive set of tools for adjusting the basic characteristics of the raster image, as well as a set of the most popular types of filters, effects and tools: blurry, masking, mosaic, blur, etc. Full-featured work with layers and transparencies. The program is compatible with most popular formats, including PSD, and also has its own working format - AWD. Unfortunately, like the previous solution, Artweaver does not understand the RAW format.

One of the most interesting features of Artweaver is the emulation of specialized effects that create a distinctive natural look to works of art: imitation of oil painting, acrylic paint, airbrushing, pastel design and many other styles of fine art.

Standard tools allow you to easily and easily correct individual sections of the photo, remove flaws, defects and unwanted objects that fall into the frame. The application supports the connection of third-party plug-ins. For the Russification of the interface, you must add the appropriate language file, while the translation may be not perfect, but not critical.

Krita

Rating: 4.5

And at the end of the selection of the rating of the best free photo-processing applications according to expert.bigbadmole.com/en/en/, we will consider another raster image editor with digital painting as a second specialization. In terms of drawing, this program is much more powerful than the previous one, and even in photo processing, too, but Artweaver has its own charm and advantages, so these solutions do not intersect with each other in terms of competition.

The idea of ​​the developers was to create an application for drawing on a digital canvas with unlimited sizes. This was done, but over time Krita developed, overgrown with new functions and extensions, and eventually became a full-fledged editor for processing photos with artistic specialization.

The application recognizes a wide range of raster graphics file formats, and not only - unlike the two previous solutions, Krita understands the RAW format. As standard, there are many tools for editing photos in different color spaces, retouching, applying dynamic filters, imitating canvas materials, and drawing by hand with many virtual tools, each of which can be customized.

Krita supports interaction with graphics tablets, without problems and delays, mirrors and rotates a conditionally infinite canvas, correctly uses different color models.Fresh versions of the application are well optimized to work in the Windows 10 environment - both 32-bit and 64-bit. The interface is in many ways similar to the well-recognized arrangement of windows and tools in Photoshop and translated into many languages, including Russian.

Best Photo Processing Apps for MacOS

The third nomination in the ranking of the best photo processing applications according to expert.bigbadmole.com/en/en/ includes a selection of three photo editors designed specifically for MacOS. Recall that some of the above software products have versions adapted for Apple computers, but here we will focus on applications that were originally designed for these systems and which are more organically associated with them.

Pixelmator

Rating: 5.0

Let's start with a bright and ambitious project in a good sense, which was originally conceived as a worthy competitor to Adobe Photoshop, which already at that time had a version for MacOS and actively captured the preferences of Mac users. Lithuanian developers for the most part managed to realize their plans and take the high bar.

The updated, advanced version of Pixelmator with the Pro prefix paradoxically appeared with a radically simplified interface, and this bold developer step played to the benefit of the project. If the “regular” Pixelmator was distinguished by the scattering of windows, windows and other large and small workspaces, then in the Pro-version everything is assembled strictly in a single window and no longer scares novice users.

As for the functionality, the application is definitely pleased with the possibilities. In the basic configuration, everything that may be needed for a complete photo processing is collected: color correction, effects, filters, color models, transformation tools, drawing tools, working with layers and masks and much more.

On the implementation of working with layers in Pixelmator Pro it is worth saying a few words separately. These tools are managed by a special neural network, which, if you add content from external files, automatically classifies the layer and gives it a name. Also, the concept of neural networks has found a successful application for selection tools - the application with remarkable accuracy and thoroughness finds the real boundaries of objects, thereby ensuring flawless processing quality. "Smart selection" works with complete clarity - any movement of the mouse in the image highlights the areas that this tool recognizes as "candidates" for selection.

Typical settings that are to be applied without changes to many photos can be saved as so-called recipes and then applied with one click. Each of them when you hover shows a preview of the photo, how it will look after applying the recipe.

In general, the toolkit, constructive approaches and innovations of Pixelmator, namely the Pro-version is a real breakthrough in the field of photo processing. The application supports the 64-bit architecture now and continues to evolve. You can get acquainted with its capabilities for free during the 30-day trial period.

Luminar

Rating: 4.9

The second number in this rating nomination is another powerful photo processing application in MacOS produced by a well-known company Macphun (later renamed Skylum), which specializes in developing software for working with digital photos and other raster images. If the above solution is seen by many as a replacement for Photoshop, many professionals have called Luminar a worthy replacement for another Adobe product - Lightroom.

In the newest configuration as of spring 2019, Luminar is a powerful photo editor and multifunctional digital asset manager. The basic photo processing toolkit is present here in its fullest form, and we will not dwell on it in detail because of obviousness. Much more interest are innovations and original solutions.

So, Luminar introduced a set of new filters that use powerful algorithms built-in artificial intelligence, deeply developed optimization allows you to handle even heavyweight high-resolution graphics with amazing speed.

Great interest of users is caused by such innovations as the elimination of noise in real time, support for LUT (Lookup Table), intelligent filtering of the sun's rays. Achievements in the field of artificial intelligence are used in Luminar even in the organization of working space - the application automatically adapts the space according to the style of shooting, creating lightning speed for the user to create the most comfortable working conditions.

Fotor

Rating: 4.8

And at the end of the rating we will consider a good software solution for photo processing, which is optimal for those who do not want to pay real money for software. Due to the free nature of this application, you should not expect professional-level opportunities, but Fotor was created, in fact, not for this.

Initially, Fotor was an online photo processing application. Over time, the creators decided to release a separate stand-alone product - an application for Mac. The solution was mostly met by very enthusiastic feedback from users, and soon the program was scaled to the Windows platform.

The application consists of two separate modules. One is specialized in photo processing, the other is in creating collages. When you start the program, the user is prompted to choose what exactly he will do with the image. This, by the way, is the most controversial moment in the program, causing a polar user reaction.

As part of photo processing in Fotor, the automatic correction feature is very well implemented. Most of the flaws and unwanted artifacts in the photo can be eliminated in just a few clicks. Here, intelligent algorithms and automatic correction scenarios manifest themselves in the best way, which change the photo parameters depending on the shooting conditions - sunny day, night, beach, flash, landscape, etc.

There is in the application a rich set of filters for artistic photo processing. With their help, you can artificially age a photo, apply trendy “hipster” effects and transform the image in every possible way.

The processed image can be saved in any of the popular formats or immediately published in any popular social network or photo hosting.

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Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.