Top 7 Photo Editors for Computer

Movavi Photo Editor

Movavi Photo Editor is an advanced image editor with an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that works wonders with your photos both manually and automatically. The tools and usability of the editor deserve the highest marks.

Movavi Photo Editor features

• Adjust brightness, contrast, saturation, and white balance;
• Replacing the background, removing unnecessary objects from a photo with a few tools;
• Adjusting lighting, color rendition, and gamma colors;
• Application of various effects and filters;
• Retouching – treatment of skin, eyes, hair, mouth on the photo;
• Colorization of black and white photos;
• Saving the image in a project that you can easily return to at any time;
• Cropping an image by preset or manually;
• Add text, rotate and flip objects;
• Selecting and pasting and resizing;
• Preview in “before and after” mode;
• Save in all current formats.

Advantages

• Support for “editing history” – the ability to go back to any earlier version of an image;
• Convenient selection and application of actions during photo processing;
• Availability of histogram, tools “magic wand”, “stamp” to select single-tone elements, “lasso”, a variety of brushes;
• Algorithms are able to automatically conduct a real improvement of image quality;
• A huge number of graphic effects in 13 categories;
• The function of painless deletion of marked objects of similar color palette, necessary for many users;
• Low system requirements, including full support for Windows XP;
• Democratic pricing policy of the developer;
• Support for popular image formats such as BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF, JPEG + JPEG 2000, JPEG-LS, LJPEG, as well as profile DPX, EXR, PAM, PBM, PCX, PGM, PPM, PTX, SGI, Sun Rasterfile, Truevision Targa, network WebP, XBM, XFace, XWD.

Disadvantages

• The trial version of Movavi Photo Editor does not support file saving and does not allow you to make screenshots in all known ways.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is a useful tool for processing images and your photos. The utility facilitates the extraction of content from cameras, quality viewing pictures in normal and slideshow modes, as well as helping to send materials to print or to the expanses of the World Wide Web.

Features Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

• Flexible settings for professional photographers, a lot of filters and effects;
• Allows you to create and catalog photoarchives, process files in a batch;
• Publish projects on social networks in one click, the program works directly with printers;
• Import photos from smartphones, digital cameras and other devices;
• Editing materials of different extensions, including RAW format;
• Creation of slide shows with music, photo books, collages, as well as the formation of personal albums;
• A large number of adjustment elements, there is an extensive set of tools;
• Presets to quickly improve the quality of photos, retouching by template automatically;
• Storage of image collections and settings in the database and on the server;
• Adding watermarks and logos.

Advantages

• The new version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC is optimized with Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 as well as Mac OS;
• Compatible with the mobile version of the editor;
• Easy sorting of files in the user’s Lightroom archive;
• Ability to work with photos with presets;
• The Russian language of the interface is present;
• Support for DSLR video files and statistical formats;
• Easy installation via Creative Cloud;
• The official website of Adobe provides stable updates;
• High performance of the Lightroom Classic CC photo editor;
• The powerful and functional Photoshop Lightroom has received the ability to connect modules by subscription;
• Edit the color balance, brightness, adjust other parameters of frames can be batch;
• Availability of restoring brush, adjustable chromatic aberrations, new alignment, noise reduction and radical gradient features.

Disadvantages

• Rather high system requirements, RAM from 2 GB;
• You can download a trial version of Lightroom for 30 days, then you will need to buy a license.

Photoscape

Photoscape is an image editing program that is very useful for those who are new to graphics editing. It is a whole package of specific editors and tools that perform one or another role. For example, you can view your photos with the Viewer, and apply effects, filters, and blurring in the editor. It is also where the photos are cropped, glued, scaled and so on. There is a difference between the normal editor and the batch one. There are also tools for screen capturing, GIF creation and more.

Photoscape features

• Create animated GIFs from multiple photos with the ability to adjust the tempo, looping, resizing, brightness, sharpness, etc;
• Features photo editing and viewing with a separate “viewer”;
• “Glue” or compose several images into a single whole, e.g., in tile form or according to other templates;
• Arrangement in a simple vertical or horizontal position;
• Print the finished work or/and other photos, send to social networks;
• The main features of the program involve dividing a photo into several parts, a large number of filters, screen captures;
• Conversion of RAW, JPG, GIF files and others.

Advantages

• Distributed as a free program from the official website;
• Batch processing of materials;
• Set of tools includes adding text, working with layers, cropping filters for whole portraits and parts
• Translated interface in Russian;
• You control a lot of different functions: from removing red-eye effect and changing contrast or color saturation to creating slideshows and animated files;
• Nice and clear interface with built-in explorer, tabs and “toolbar”.

Disadvantages

• The latest version of the program has not been properly optimized with Windows 10;
• The application only accesses various sites using Internet Explorer, despite the fact that a different browser is installed by default.

Zoner Photo Studio

The program Zoner Photo Studio is a powerful digital photo editor that can quickly give your images a host of special effects and filters.

Zoner Photo Studio features

• A wide range of tools for photo processing;
• Built-in option for color manipulation;
• Support for all common formats;
• Create 3D photos without having a special digital camera;
• Publish your pictures on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks;
• Create panoramas, calendars, and postcards;
• Ability to remove the red-eye effect;
• Possibility of batch processing of images;
• Removing photos from the clipboard;
• Change the size and improve the quality of the picture.

Advantages

• The latest version of the universal photo editor supports Windows 10;
• Outputs detailed information about the photo, including EXIF and IPTC metadata;
• Adjusting the color, sharpness and contrast of materials;
• Convenient sorting of photos in automatic mode;
• There is a mobile app Zoner Photo Studio for Android;
• Sending projects by e-mail or publishing them on the Internet;
• Pleasant interface, user-friendly desktop;
• You can add text to pictures;
• The presence of a built-in file manager;
• Ability to use the gallery ZoneRama;
• Basic tools include: tonal compression, horizon leveling, white balance adjustment, etc.

Disadvantages

• The free version of Zoner Photo Studio Free is only valid for 30 days;
• Does not support Windows XP and Vista.

PixBuilder Studio

The program PixBuilder Studio is a graphic editor for processing digital photos with simple filters and drawing tools. Here you can slightly change the color balance or cut or blur your desired object in the picture. It doesn’t stand out from other similar programs – the same simplicity, the usual tools on the side, layer windows, palettes, history of actions and so on. All in all, it’s another little copy of Adobe Photoshop, though it’s free.

The features of PixBuilder Studio

• Working with layers;
• Changing the brightness, contrast;
• You can use gradient masks;
• Image resizing;
• Work with color channels;
• Multi-level undo, allowing you to restore your project to its original appearance;
• Flexible selection, transformation of certain areas or objects.

Advantages

• Built-in blur, filter and dithering effects;
• You can work with PNG, BMP, JPG, GIF, TIFF, TGA, ICO, PSD formats, and program association with them;
• Support of hot keys.

Disadvantages

• Errors and distortions when opening images with CMYK;
• Limited tools, there will be no professional results.

Artweaver

The Artweaver graphics editor, can be used to draw and edit bitmap graphics. You will have all the tools at your disposal to create a new masterpiece: brushes, pencils, chalk, airbrush, acrylic paint and more. You can add finishing touches to a “raw” project through filters, color correction, adding noise or blurring. Artweaver works in perfect harmony with Adobe Photoshop, or more precisely, its PSD format, which means that any unfinished work can be transferred into Artweaver and finished there.

Features of Artweaver

• Create, convert digital images and photos in PCX, BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, TGA, and like Photoshop, Artweaver has its own AWD format;
• Rollback of recent actions applied to a project;
• Support for graphics tablets;
• Installation of separate plug-ins that add new features;
• Support for multiple layers, including text layers, separate work with each – changing transparency and mode;
• Application of filters, blurring, masking, stains and reliefs;
• Fill colors, different ways of selection, eraser, etc.

Advantages

• Artweaver is a free program;
• Imitation of many drawing tools;
• Work with many formats;
• Compatible with PSD format.

Disadvantages

• After version 1.0, the program goes to the conditional free license;
• The default interface language is German or English, the file with the Russian language must be installed independently;
• Formats BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG does not support layers.

ACDSee

ACDSee Photo Manager – a free program for viewing and organizing image files in a huge number of formats (over 100).  In addition to viewing, the program is able to work with the extensions of audio. 

ACDSee features.

• ACDSee is free, but as it’s not free, you might be asked to pay the creators unobtrusively;
• conversion options;
• availability of a large number of the most popular formats;
• photo organization;
• the ability to view archived images in ZIP and LHA formats;
• support for photos in RAW formats;
• creation of animations and presentations;
• automatic protection for data transfer via the Internet;
• creating HTML-albums;
• support of external devices (digital cameras, scanners, printers, cell phones) and the ability to write data to CD/DVD-carriers;
• image batch processing

Advantages

• Quick search panel;
• Color depth control capability;
• recording and reading directly from the media;
• photo editing and connection of third-party editors;
• ability to view archived photos;
• conversion;
• creating web galleries;
• setting the interest.

Disadvantages

• The trial license expires after 30 days.

You can find dozens of powerful digital imaging programs with unlimited possibilities on our site, so it’s hard to determine the unambiguously best one. Let’s briefly describe the advantages of popular solutions to make the choice easier.

Movavi Photo Editor – favorites for photography lovers and advanced users. With them you can quickly edit any pictures, apply effects, changing the color and composition, remove unnecessary objects, background and even change the makeup of the heroes of the picture. The functions are extensive, the controls are easy, and a lifetime license costs less than lunch at the cafe. If you’re not processing 5 photo shoots a day, this is the best solution.

Home Photo Studio is also designed for amateurs, but already supports a lot of professional “chips” to give your photos a special entourage. The developers also added support for layers, full editing functions, print wizard, collage creation and other interesting features.

Of the free software, it’s worth noting Photoscape. Utilities are lightweight, high quality, do not grab the stars from the sky, but a domestic level of processing guarantee. Given the large number of fan resources, you can easily find add-ons and tutorials for them.

PixBuilder Studio and Artweaver are difficult to evaluate, since the products are frankly “raw. They are positioned as a good replacement for Photoshop and Corel Dro, but so far do not provide even half the features and quality, which shows eminent colleagues.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and ACDSee Pro are indispensable software for professional photographers. Processing, correction, cropping, cataloging, support for dozens of formats, cloud synchronization and no improvements in a couple of clicks: all these are typical features of Lightroom and ACDSee.