The best photo editing software for Mac: 10 top picks

Last year, I taught myself some graphics design and photo editing skills. I needed photo editing software for Mac (I’m an iSheep). So, I turned to Google for some good photo editing apps. I needed a tool that’s easy to use, fits my budget, and offers a good selection of features. 

Ughhh… I was bombarded with so many suggestions, reviews, comparison articles, and much more that I felt overwhelmed. But after spending a few days scrolling, testing, and second-guessing, I finally found one. 

I created this article to narrow readers’ search options so you can save time and easily find a paid or free photo editor Mac that covers all your needs.

Let’s review together.

How to pick the best photo editing software for Mac: My approach

Photo editing tools for macOS differ wildly in their features, learning curve, ease of use, speed, and pricing. Here's what I recommend looking into when choosing photo editors:

• Your purpose: Do you need a basic photo editing app for cropping, resizing, and enhancing some images? Are you a professional looking for advanced software with enterprise-level functionalities? Choose a tool that best suits your needs.
• Price: What is your budget? Are you looking for a free or paid tool? Maybe you’re willing to pay a nominal price for an excellent set of image editing features. 
• Features: Think of the most common use cases your photo editor should cover for you. It doesn't matter which bells and whistles an app offers if it can't satisfy your primary needs. 
• Learning curve: You might need a day off to master professional tools like Adobe Photoshop. Make sure you're aware of the learning curve.

Now, let’s talk about the apps I’ve picked for you.

Photo editing apps for Mac

I put together a handy table that covers everything you need to know about the different editing apps out there. Luckily, there are tons of options to pick from:

Let’s compare!	Best for	Top Features	Free/Paid
TouchRetouch	Photo retouching in one click	Line removals like telephone wires or power lines; photo retouching of selected area;	Available on Setapp from $9.99/month, along with 250+ other apps, + 7-day free trial
Luminar Neo	AI photo enhancing	AI photo-fixing tools; preset library for portrait and landscape photography;	Available on Setapp from $9.99/month, along with 250+ other apps, + 7-day free trial
Adobe Photoshop	Highly professional image editing capabilities	Large selection of photo correction and manipulation tools; generative AI; raw camera file support	From $22.99/month + 7-day free trial
CameraBag Pro	Photo and video editing	Intuitive photo & video editing; AI denoising and upscaling;	Available on Setapp from $9.99/month, along with 250+ other apps, + 7-day free trial
Adobe Lightroom	Comprehensive photo editing	Auto masking for local adjustments; geo-tagging support;	From $11.99/month + 7-day free trial
Preview	Basic quick editing on Mac	Various file format support; easy conversion between file formats;	Free
Apple Photos	Basic quick editing on Mac and iPhone	Auto enhance feature; AI cleanup tool	Free
PhotoBulk	Bulk photo editing	Hundreds of images edited at a time; reactive preview; multiple watermark applications;	Available on Setapp from $9.99/month, along with 250+ other apps, + 7-day free trial
Pixelmator Pro	Vector graphic editing	Vector file format support; AI-powered template editing;	$49.99 single purchase plan + 7-day free trial
PhotosRevive	Improving and colorizing old photos	Black-and-white photos enhancement; photo scanner	Available on Setapp from $9.99/month, along with 250+ other apps, + 7-day free trial

Best photo editing apps for Mac: free and paid

I’ve personally used all the tools listed below and spoken to some professional graphic designers who use them daily. So, let’s discuss their best features, pros, and cons.

TouchRetouch: Edit photos quickly

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

TouchRetouch is the master of one trade because it lets you remove any unwanted object from your image. It gives images a clean look by removing tiny details, whether it is retouching your face lines or background objects. The best part is the new innovative AI feature, which effortlessly removes power lines, linear objects, or shadows.

It is the best tool to naturally erase pimples, glares, tattoos, skin blemishes, and wrinkles. The advanced background editor lest you blur the background or make it transparent. Manual retouching is the best feature of TouchRetouch, allowing minute details of your image. The latest features, like smart mess removal and object-aware retouching, are the best for fixing your favorite images.

Wins:

• Offers quick results and fast object removal
• Magic color correction tool
• Ideal for minor fixes and removing unwanted people or objects

Woes:

• Limitation for large objects and complex backgrounds
• No feature for fine-tuning

Luminar Neo: Edit photos with AI

Best for: Amateurs and pros looking for fun AI tools to enhance photos.

Luminar Neo is one of the best AI photo editors, with a surprisingly large selection of adjustments, filters, and effects. You can remove powerlines, dust spots, and other unwanted blemishes from the background of your photos.

In addition to standard and AI editing tools, you also get layer support with a catalog of overlays and textures. The Relight tool lets you correctly expose subjects against very dark or bright surfaces, giving excellent results in a short time. When importing finished images, you can sort them by date, keyword, and location. You can even flag or reject images. Neo even works as a plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop. Recent additions to the tool include Mask AI and a histogram tool, with bug fixes.

Wins:

• Unique AI photo-fixing features
• Quick learning curve
• Excellent selection of adjustment tools, filters, and effects

Woes:

• No face recognition or keyword tagging
• Some features work slow compared to more advanced software like Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop: Edit photos like a pro

Best for: Pros looking for highly professional image editing capabilities.

Adobe Photoshop is the best graphics manipulation tool and has long been the industry standard for graphic designers and photographers. It’s a comprehensive suite of photo editing tools, filters, effects, and other state-of-the-art features required for professional results. With this layer-based image editor, you can include photos, graphics, and text to mask and blend together for exceptional outcomes.

Photoshop’s latest version features neutral filters powered by Adobe Sensei AI machine and other automated tools that can save time and effort while improving workflow. I love the Sky Replacement tool, which gives many options to update the sky in photos easily and quickly. 

Source: adobe.com

Wins:

• Large collection of photo correction and manipulation tools
• Advanced generative AI features
• Mobile and web design capabilities
• RAW file support

Woes:

• Steep learning curve
• Runs multiple background processes
• Overkill due to its complex interface and excessive features

CameraBag Pro: Edit photos & videos with AI-powered tools

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

CameraBag Pro is an award-winning photo and video editing app that is simple to use and powerful at work. Professional Photographer Magazine titled it a revolution for photo editing, and Apple ranked it the #2 Mac App of the Year. So, you can imagine the editor’s capabilities.

With just a few clicks, you can take your images and videos to the next level thanks to 200+ professional filters created by photographers, videographers, and designers. Complicated layer lists are replaced with simple retouching tiles. 

Unlike many slow enterprise software, CameraBag Pro is ultra-fast. It uses 96-bit analog processing with 32 bits/channel and 4K video with RED support. With simple drag-and-drop functionality, the editor can process RAW photos and remove dead pixels. What’s more, you can edit multiple photos at a time, configuring and applying presets, filters, and adjustments all in one go. 

Wins:

• 200+ professionally created filters
• Quick and easy batch changes
• RAW file support

Woes:

• A little hard to navigate
• It may lack advanced features as found in enterprise software like Photoshop

Adobe Lightroom: Edit your photoshoots like a photographer

Best for: Beginners and professionals.

Adobe Lightroom is a great photo editing tool for professional photographers and retouchers. It works across multiple platforms, including macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. What I like the most about it is the non-destructive editing workflow, which means it doesn’t change the original file when editing an image. 

There are a number of tools available, from edit exposure, color balance, contrast, tones, and saturation to other advanced features such as noise reduction, lens correction, and gradient filters. Moreover, its integration with Adobe Camera RAW allows you to edit RAW files while giving access to maximum image data and detail. This tool also helps organize and manage your 

With Lens BlurIt, you can produce a bokeh effect by simulating the shallow depth of field of a wide-aperture lens using the AI feature of Lightroom.  To speed up the organizing process, it has powerful AI tools like like face recognition and auto-tagging.

Wins:

• Built-in and custom presets available
• Edit photos without altering original files
• Supports RAW files
• Easily syncs with mobile and cloud

Woes:

• Fewer advanced editing tools compared to Photoshop
• Doesn’t support layers

Preview: Edit photos for basic needs

Best for: macOS users who want quick editing.

Preview is the default image reader on macOS. Surprisingly, it can edit photos too. While not as advanced as other photo editing tools like Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop, it can make little adjustments without opening a separate editing program. Quickly adjust the exposure, contrast, temperature, saturation, and shadows of the photo. 

This default app supports many image file formats, such as JPG, PNG, TIFF, and RAW. Using this, you can crop, rotate, resize, and annotate the images. In addition, it allows users to add text and shapes to photos. Isn’t it amazing? 

Furthermore, Preview offers easy conversion between file formats and some basic markup tools, such as drawing lines or highlighting sections. Simply open an image and start editing. That is it!

Wins:

• Easy to use for everyone
• Straightforward interface
• Allow easy conversion between different formats

Woes:

• Lack of advanced photo editing features
• Not suitable for professional editing

Apple Photos: Edit your photos from your photo gallery

Best for: Beginners who want to start photo editing.

If you just want to make a few quick edits in photos, then Apple Photos is a great option. It is a versatile photo editing app for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS users.  Easily adjust the light, red eye, curves, levels, and sharpness of the photo in no time. It lets you tweak the exposure, brilliance, highlights, shadows, contrast, brightness, vibrancy, definition, and noise reduction. But there are no pen or brush-based tools in the Edit toolkit of Apple Photos. 

Sharpen or blur the parts of an image, like adding brightness or darkness in regions of the photo. For quick editing, there is an Auto Enhance icon that adjusts color and contrast to make the photo look brighter and more colorful. 

You can also use it to organize your photos using albums, smart folders, and collections. Find specific photos and edit them using the app’s AI-driven features, such as face recognition.

Wins:

• Quick photo editing
• Zero learning curve

Woes:

• Not fit for advanced editing
• No RAW file support

PhotoBulk: Edit photos in bulk (literally) 

Best for: Mac users looking for extensive image editing.

I discovered PhotoBulk for Mac when I was working on a project that required me to capture photos of my surroundings and edit them. Initially, I was using MS-Paint and a couple of apps from the list below. But editing 40-50 photos one by one would take FOREVER. That’s when my research landed me on PhotoBulk — an awesome bulk photo editing app for Mac. PhotoBulk lets you process and edit hundreds of images at a time. Yes, 100s of images in a few clicks. 

It uses simple image drop functions to choose a variety of watermarks for JPEG and PNG images. Additionally, you can easily customize its size, opacity, rotation, and position.  Also, this image editor from Mac can convert TIFF, GIF, and HEIC into other formats on macOS 10.13.

Wins:

• Watermarks in high-resolution
• Bulk image editing and renaming
• Different file format conversion

Woes:

• Limited availability of features
• Not suitable for complex editing

Pixelmator Pro: Edit photos with extensive collection of tools

Best for: Professionals looking for feature-packed editing too:l

Pixelmator Pro excels at editing powerful professional images from over 750 digital cameras. This exceptional tool allows direct editing of RAW photos without conversions or processing. 

What’s more? It makes your shots look picture-perfect by magically removing all unwanted objects. Use easy brushstrokes to clone parts of the image and lighten or darken a selected area. Pixelmator Pro is a whole image editing package offering over 50 tools. It offers a user-friendly interface for simple reshaping, drawing, adjusting colors, styles, texts, arranging elements, and much more.

Thanks to the brand-new features, you can now experience AI-powered template editing with smart replacements. Pixelmator Pro resolves the problem of creativity by offering 200+ templates. These are perfect for social media, print, video, logo, personal brand, resume, and business.

Source: pixelmator.com

Wins:

• Readily available presets and templates
• Compatible with Mac environment
• Offers latest AI features

Woes:

• Harder to use for non-graphic professionals
• Can struggle with large files or images with a high number of layers.

PhotosRevive: Colorize and edit old photos

Best for: Beginners or professionals looking to revive colorless images.

PhotosRevive makes the revival of old pictures easier than ever before. This AI-powered editing tool can quickly add colors to black-and-white images. Using this, users can restore damaged or faded images in no time. Simply upload the photo, and with one click, you can add colors to desired pictures. It uses advanced algorithms to automatically repair color loss, scratches, and other degradations in photographs.

You can also manually adjust the color points, brightness, contrast, shadows, and more to ensure accuracy and personalization. This easy-to-use photo editing tool integrates seamlessly with the native Photos app, which means you can colorize images within your existing photo library without switching apps.

Wins:

• Restore old photos quickly
• AI-powered colorizer tool
• Photo apps integration

Woes:

• Not fit for advanced photo editing
• May not support all image file formats, especially older or uncommon formats

Photo editing tools for macOS: Verdict

Pre-installed tools like Preview and Apple Photos are free but offer basic features like cropping, resizing, and annotating. Tools like Photoshop and Lightroom are suited for enterprise-level work but are expensive. 

CameraBag Pro, PhotoBulk, PhotosRevive, Luminar Neo, and TouchRetouch are affordable and powerful, offering features for professional work. In my opinion, it’s worth paying a little for the tool you’re going to use every day. You can find these apps on Setapp, a subscription-based platform that gives access to 250+ apps for your Mac and iPhone, all for a single monthly fee. With a 7-day free trial, you can explore Setapp to the fullest.