The best photo editing software

Best photo editing software
(Image credit: Adobe / Skylum / Capture One)

Finding the best photo editing software is vital for any serious photographer. Post-processing workflow is an essential component of digital photography, with modern software enabling powerful and precise adjustments to get your images looking exactly the way you want them.

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✅ We are solely focused on what creatives need
✅ Benchmark tests based on real workflows
✅ We consult actual photographers and creative pros
✅ Every program we recommend fully tested and reviewed

Beren Neale headshot
Beren Neale

Beren has worked on creative tech magazines and websites at Future Publishing for over 13 years. One of our key testers, he worked and played with all the major (and some minor) photo softwares, to help digital creatives get the best deals on the tools they need.

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Subscription model

★★★★

Ease of use

Challenging

★★★★

Features

Full array of fantastic features, including AI

★★★★★

Our expert says
Paul Hatton, a photo of a smiling man
Our expert says
Paul Hatton

"I would definitely recommend Photoshop's latest upgrade to photo editors. I found it to be stable and the new features will be immediately helpful."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Great value option.

★★★★★

Ease of use

Lacks polish, but fine

★★★

Features

Solid AI tools, weak smart tools.

★★★

Our expert says
Jason Parnell-Brookes author shot
Our expert says
Jason Parnell-Brookes

"As subscription models go PhotoDirector 365 is one of the cheapest around. It's good image-editing software let down by a few issues, but it runs fast and works reliably."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Affordable, customizable plans.

★★★★★

Ease of use

Very user-friendly

★★★★

Features

Solid AI tools, decent editing chops.

★★★½

Our expert says
Paul Hatton, a photo of a smiling man
Our expert says
Paul Hatton

"Skylum Luminar's generative AI tools are are easy to use and integrate seamlessly into the existing toolset."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Pricey, but nice student discounts

★★★★

Ease of use

Useful batch editing tool

★★★★

Features

Great workflow features

★★★★

Our expert says
A headshot of Jacob Little
Our expert says
Jacob Little

"This is a piece of software going after a different crowd to the likes of Lightroom, and it’s all the better for it. If you’re looking to learn a professional piece of kit as a photographer this year, make it Capture One."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Pricey, but good value for the results.

★★★★

Ease of use

Very easy to use and intuitive.

★★★★

Features

Solid feature set with AI tools.

★★★★

Our expert says
Paul Hatton, a photo of a smiling man
Our expert says
Paul Hatton

"I really like Photo AI 3. It’s got a super simple interface that makes working with it an absolute joy. If you remove noise and upscale images on a regular basis, there's no better tool out there."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

One-off purchase, and good value.

★★★★★

Ease of use

Difficult for newbies, but fine.

★★★★

Features

Professional-standard

★★★

Our expert says
Ian Evenden profile shot
Our expert says
Ian Evenden

"While it's not an app for absolute beginners, being able to dip into Affinity Photo 2 and learn without an ongoing subscription is hugely valuable."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Decent value, but subscription-based

★★★★

Ease of use

A learning curve, but intuitive.

★★★★

Features

Great for multi-device use.

★★★★★

Our expert says
Jason Parnell-Brookes author shot
Our expert says
Jason Parnell-Brookes

"Yes, you should get Lightroom. That is, if you’re looking for powerful image editing tools that flexibly control tone and colour as well as sharpening and image noise. It’s hard to find image editing software better than this."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Expensive, but pays for itself thanks to subscription-free model

★★★★

Ease of use

Still not for newbies, but Adobe-esque.

★★★★

Features

Great set of features, but some go overboard.

★★★★

Our expert says
A headshot of Jacob Little
Our expert says
Jacob Little

"I was very impressed with DxO PhotoLab's intuitive layout and operation, a competent set of features which often I thought provided better outputs than Lightroom in many situations."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Great, approachable price point.

★★★★★

Ease of use

Broadly intuitive and responsive

★★★★

Features

Limited feature set, but great retouching.

★★★★

Our expert says
Paul Hatton, a photo of a smiling man
Our expert says
Paul Hatton

"This application will appeal for all types of portrait photography, including wedding photographers and studio portraiture. Those wanting maximum flexibility in post will be drawn to PortraitPro."

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Test results

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Pricing

Free to use

★★★★★

Ease of use

Difficult user interface, steep learning curve.

★★★

Features

Pretty well-rounded, but lacking advanced tools.

★★★★

Our expert says
man in a brown jacket taking a selfie
Our expert says
Lance Evans

"Even with a kludgy interface and slower productivity than Photoshop, GIMP is still worth a bit of your attention. It is vastly capable, and can save you from buying an annual subscription."

CanvaRead our 4-star review

Canva
While Canva isn't one of the heavyweights on our list for photo editing, it has some extremely useful tools. The photo-editor focuses on bringing simplicity to time-consuming tasks, for example the one-click background remover and auto-enhance and retouch. However, you will need the Pro version to access these tools (currently $9.95/£8.99 a month).
Read our 4-star review

Photoshop ElementsRead our 4-star review

Photoshop Elements
If you're just getting started with image editing, full Photoshop may be a bit too much of a learning curve. Instead, you'd be better off with Photoshop Elements; a more basic alternative to Photoshop. Its handy Quick and Guided Edit modes make it great for beginners. The 2024 version includes even more power-up from Adobe's Sensei AI.
Read our 4-star review

Corel PaintShop ProFind out more

Corel PaintShop Pro
Corel PaintShop Pro has been the budget alternative to Photoshop for Windows users for more than two decades. Supporting layers and allowing you to edit in both raster and vector image formats, it apes Photoshop's more advanced capabilities such as content-aware move, gradients, and filters.
Find out more

inPixio Photo StudioFind out more

inPixio Photo Studio
InPixio Photo Studio is another middleweight photo editing software that's easy to use, and features some clever AI. Currently on version 12, its background eraser and cutout tool are particularly well designed, and there's also a cool sky replacement tool, although the results are not always the most realistic.
Find out more

Pixlr X / Pixlr EFind out more

Pixlr X / Pixlr E
Want to make edits right in your web browser? We recommend Pixlr X and its sister app Pixlr E. Both are very easy to use, and there's nothing to download. The free plan is perfect if you just want to use these tools occasionally; alternatively, subscribe to a paid plan and all of the limitations disappear.
Find out more

Beren Neale
Ecom Editor

Beren has worked on creative titles at Future Publishing for over 13 years. Cutting his teeth as Staff Writer on the digital art magazine ImagineFX, he moved on to edit several creative titles, and is currently the Ecommerce Editor on the most effective creative website in the world. When he's not testing and reviewing the best ergonomic office chairs, phones, laptops, TVs, monitors and various types of storage, he can be found finding and comparing the best deals on the tech that creatives value the most.

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