If you're looking for the best photo editing software of 2020, you've come to the right place. Photo editors have become more and more common, especially on mobile devices for basic photo editing. However, if you're a design professional, you'll need top-of-the-line photo editing software, which means something much more advanced than most general users will normally use. There are a number of professional photo editing suites available, and Photoshop has long been considered the market leader. However, while Photoshop offers a complete set of tools for manipulating photos, it doesn't offer other features like cataloging your image library to fuel your creative ideas, that other packages can offer. . Additionally, Photoshop is no longer so much a standalone toolkit but part of a larger creative cloud offering that also ships with other Adobe products. Meanwhile, competitors have created alternatives that may provide better tools, better organization, better inspiration, or simply better value. Our list of top photo editor options is in no particular order, as each program has its own strengths, so be sure to continue to the bottom of the list as there's something here for everyone. world. However, we don't think you stop with the best photo editor, but you will also need other software and hardware tools to help you. So, you can also check out the following guides: In the meantime, here are the best photo editing options that we think are currently available.
Best photo editor 2020 - at a glance
1. Adobe Photoshop CC
It's the most powerful photo editing app in the world and sometimes nothing else can doPlatform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: No | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: No | Image Layers: Yes | Plug-in version: no Complex layer-based editing Powerful pro features Lots of tutorials Lightroom option No listing Subscription required Photoshop remains the essential image-editing tool for artists, illustrators, and designers. Photoshop's layering, masking, and editing tools are still the standard by which all others are judged, but it's designed for painstaking work on single images or composites of multiple layers, rather than quick daily editing. However, instead of a standalone platform, it's now available through the Adobe Cloud photography plan, which offers Lightroom as an add-on option. The two work well together, with Photoshop handling complex images based on layers, while Lightroom takes care of organizing and enhancing your photos. Adobe's photography plan offers great tools at a good value and requires some hits. However, for many, the idea of paying a subscription to use software is too hard to swallow, so we'll quickly move on to the rest of our list.
2. Capture One Pro
Expensive but beautiful, Capture One is a direct rival to Lightroom and is firmly aimed at professionals.Platform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: Yes | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: Yes | Image Layers: No | Plug-in version: No Raw processing Professional-grade closure Expensive Capture One Pro covers almost exactly the same territory as Adobe Lightroom Classic, offering cataloging tools, transparent raw processing, manual image enhancement tools, as well as preset effects and a non-destructive workflow that allows you to review your settings at any time. Its raw conversions are sharper and quieter than Adobe's, but it doesn't support as wide a range of raw camera formats or as large a number of lens correction profiles. It also doesn't have mobile apps or Adobe's online sync options, but it does offer professional-grade connection tools for studio photographers shooting images via a computer. Capture One Pro also has a better system for applying local adjustments, using adjustment layers and masks. It's expensive, but very, very good.
3. Affinity photo
If you want Photoshop but don't want Adobe's subscription plan, here's the answer!Platform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: No | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: No | Image Layers: Yes | Pluggable Version: No Rival to Powerful Photoshop Excellent HDR Tone Mapping No Instant Effect Preset No Cataloging Serif built its reputation on low-cost Windows versions of professional graphics tools, but with its new Affinity range, it's definitely shaken up your budgetary past. Affinity Photo may be affordable, but it's a complete rival to Photoshop for professionals, who can even teach its Adobe equivalent a trick or two. Its layering, masking, and editing tools are as powerful as Photoshop, its filter effects can be applied "live," and its HDR toning and working tone mapping tools are excellent. However, like Photoshop, it only focuses on deep technical image manipulation. It doesn't have its own browsing and cataloging tools and doesn't have instant preset effects. Affinity Photo will bring the tools, but you must bring the vision.
4. Exposure X5
Are you trying to pick up the romance of analog images? The X3 exhibition combines a retro look and a regular assemblyPlatform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: Yes | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: Yes | Image Layers: No | Plug-in version: yes Wide range of effects. Good image adjustment controls Unable to blend images No thumbnail import preview Exposure X5 offers blends of old analog styles with contemporary photo enhancement tools. It has a large catalog of vintage and modern film effects that simulate fade, cross-processing, grain, light leaks, vignettes, borders, and a wide range of traditional film and processing techniques. All of these are created using tools that can also be used for regular image enhancements, including curves, color adjustments, and more. But even if you offer adjustment layers for stacking and blending corrections, you can't blend the images. However, what you get is a fast and efficient folder navigation system to organize your photos with all the power of filtering and keyword searches without having to import them into a catalog.
5. Luminaire 4
Now with libraries to organize images, Luminar is growing rapidlyPlatform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: Yes | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: Yes | Image Layers: Yes | Plug-in version: yes Fast instant 'looks' Custom workspaces Now with libraries Raw processing could be better Luminar takes an interesting approach to photo editing, offering a collection of preset effects organized into categories for those who just want to apply a Instant look. These are done using a collection of filters that you can combine at will to create your own presets. It also introduces the idea of custom workspaces that you can set up for specific types of images, like black and white or portraits. The raw conversions don't match the quality of the big three, Adobe Capture One, DxO, but they get the job done and are backed by great editing tools. Luminar supports adjustment layers and image layers, so you can create Photoshop-style composite images. The good news is that Luminar offers image cataloging tools via libraries and fully non-destructive editing so you can go back and change any edit at any time.
6. ON1 RAW Photo
An all-in-one tool that does almost everything. Like Luminar and Exposure X3, it has come a long way, very fastPlatform: Mac and PC | Image editing: yes | Cataloging: Yes | Gross conversion: yes | Preset Effects: Yes | Image Layers: Yes | Plug-in version: Yes Neat all-in-one solution Great value Built-in image layers Raw processing could be better ON1 Photo RAW started out as ON1 Perfect Suite and quickly became a more modern built-in program rather than a collection of plugins. It can still work as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop, where you can explore the huge library of preset effects and manually adjusted filters to create 'looks' that host programs can't, but ON1 Photo RAW also works as a program, complete with its own image browsing / cataloging tools. In fact, this might be the only photo-editing tool you'll ever need, though the interface text is quite small and the raw conversions don't match the quality you get from Capture One and DxO PhotoLab. However, for power, value and spectacle, ON1 Photo RAW is excellent, and recent versions have added AI-powered image masking and cropping.