Best Photography Editing Software | 2024

The best photography editing software is going to have a huge impact on your images and your photographic process. In modern digital photography, the post-capture processing is a vital part of workflow, just as the darkroom was back in the days where film was king. Your typical edits might be fairly light, limited to a little cropping and tones management, or they may be more extensive. Either way, you need the right tool for the job.

Which program to choose? While you might assume that the most famous Adobe programs like Photoshop and Lightroom are the only games in town, there are also plenty of other options out there for photo editors. These range from completely free open-source programs right up to powerful RAW-processing software made for professionals.

Here are our picks, as selected by our team of photography experts. Read on the best photography editing software to download right now…

Our top picks

Adobe Lightroom 

Pros:

• Unbeatable image categorisation and cataloguing features
• Brilliant masking tools for localised adjustments
• Fast options for batch-editing

Cons:

• Subscription only
• Unasked-for AI features
  
  

While it’s officially the “lighter” version of Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom is a very powerful piece of editing software in its own right, to the point where many photographers (professional and amateur) use it exclusively for their editing. Lightroom is all about flow — its advanced image categorisation and cataloguing features make it a breeze to organise and navigate through your archive. Then, once you get into the edit suite itself, you can use the sophisticated masking tools to make localised adjustments to the areas of images that need attention. Editing your midtones, shadows and highlights is the work of moments, and if you have lots of images that need similar attentions, you can copy over edits for fast batch processing.

Lightroom isn’t perfect — the move to an exclusively subscription-based model for Adobe’s suite of programs remains controversial in some circles, with many photographers preferring the idea of paying once for a program, as opposed to paying monthly fees to Adobe in perpetuity. Also, with Adobe going all-in on generative AI features, the latest version of Lightroom really really wants you to do things like add an AI-created blur, or remove objects with a single click. 

Adobe Photoshop 

Pros:

• Incredibly powerful suite of editing tools
• Smart object-selection tools
• User-friendly interface with guides and tutorials

Cons:

• Subscription only
• Unasked-for AI features
  
  

The more powerful of Adobe’s photo-editing programs, Photoshop is still a one-stop shop for serious editors. Whether you want to process RAW files, touch up portraits or incorporate photographs into designs, Photoshop will get the job done. Its user interface is also much more intuitive than it used to be, with helpful tutorials and guide modes that’ll help you understand the various tools on offer. 

Once again, Photoshop is subscription only — most users get it as part of the Photography Bundle with Lightroom, available currently for £9.98 per month. If you want a one-time purchase then you can always pick up Adobe Photoshop Elements instead, though you won’t get advanced features like smart object selection — and to be honest, there are one-time-purchase programs that will give you much better bang for your buck, as we will see shortly. Also, once again you do have to put up with a lot of generative AI functionality being waved in your face.

Affinity Photo 2

Pros:

• One-time purchase with six-month free trial
• Non-destructive editing with layers
• Works seamlessly across Windows, Mac and iPad

Cons:

• Somewhat complex at first
• Lacks sophisticated organisational tools of rivals like Lightroom
  
  

The best subscription-free editing software? Affinity Photo 2 might just be it — this is a fantastic program for photo editors at all levels, from beginner to professional. With a six-month trial before you pay the one-time fee, there’s plenty of time to suss out whether you like it, and once you get into the Affinity Photo 2 interface you have all the sophisticated tools you’d expect, from smart object selection to dodging and burning. 

The program can handle RAW files and offers an impressive array of non-destructive editing tools for making them look as good as possible. The interface is split into different “Personas” for different tasks, which helps it feel a bit more user-friendly to newbies. It still takes a little getting to grips with, but is well worth it for anyone who hates the idea of eternal subscription payments. 

GIMP

Pros:

• Completely free
• Powerful editing tools
• Can be customised with plugins

Cons:

• Quite complicated to learn
• Limited image organisation features
  
  

While it’s unquestionably the best free photo editing program to download, GIMP (short for GNU Image Manipulation Program) does make some demands of you in terms of your time and patience. It’s not the easiest editing program to get to grips with, boasting none of Adobe’s slick tutorial functions. More than a few users over the years have ended up simply losing patience and opting for one of the programs with a price tag.

However, if you stick with it, GIMP puts an amazing amount of editing power at your fingertips. You can edit non-destructively using layers, add text to images, and tweak all the basic aspects of an image like the shadows and highlights, the exposure, the colours, etc. As GIMP is open-source software it also has a vast array of user-made plugins, which can be installed to customise your experience as you see fit (a good first priority would be to get a plugin like RawTherapee to open RAW files).

It should be said that efforts have been made to improve useability in recent versions of GIMP, and its interface is a lot less actively hostile than it used to be. Tools will even tell you what they are and what they do when you hover the cursor over them now, and believe us, that is a vast improvement. It still takes some learning, but it’s worth the effort.

Capture One Pro

Pros:

• Clever AI-powered masking tools
• Excellent tethering capabilities for studio shooting
• Speedy batch editing

Cons:

• Fairly expensive
• Subscription required for latest features
  
  

Arguably the best photography editing software for professionals, Capture One Pro combines excellent RAW processing performance with tons of sophisticated tools that help streamline a studio-based workflow. It’s a brilliant program for tethering — shooting via your computer in real-time, allowing for instant editing and cataloguing — and this makes it a favourite among studio photographers in particular. There are also plenty of clever batch-editing tools that help make life easier; edits that have been applied to one image can easily be copied over and applied to another. Again, this makes a lot of sense for studio shooting, where you’re in a controlled environment.

Capture One Pro can still be purchased as a perpetual licence — however, if you want the latest updates and features, you’ll have to move to the subscription model of payment. This is a little annoying, as for many hobbyist and enthusiast photographers who don’t need the tethering features, Adobe’s Photography Plan will likely offer much better value for money.

DxO PhotoLab

Pros:

• Class-leading noise reduction
• Tons of automatic camera/lens correction profiles
• No subscription required

Cons:

• Quite specifically optimised — you’ll probably want to use it in conjunction with other programs
  
  

For our money, this is the best RAW processing software to download right now. Dxo PhotoLab 7 is an absolutely brilliant program for getting the most out of your RAW files. The software offers a number of options for noise reduction, the most powerful of which is its DeepPrimeXD tool. It takes some time to work, but the level of detail recovery it is capable of is simply superb. Suddenly, the higher ISO settings on your camera look much more useable than they did before, putting challenging low-light shooting situations in play, as long as you’re willing to spend some time with the files afterwards. 

DxO PhotoLab lacks a few features that come as standard in other programs — there’s no panoramic stitching, for instance, and it lacks the kinds of sophisticated organisational features that make Lightroom so useful. You’re going to want to use it in conjunction with other editing software, and that does make the £209 price tag a little hard to swallow. Ultimately though, for professional-level RAW processing, this is currently as good as it gets, and well worth the outlay.

FAQs

What is the best photo editing software for beginners?

For beginners, you’ll want to look for photo editing software that offers an intuitive interface, easy-to-use tools, and tutorials to guide you through basic editing tasks like cropping, filters, and adjustments. Choose a program that balances simplicity with powerful features to help you grow your skills over time.

How can I edit photos like a professional?

You should start by mastering essential tools such as exposure, contrast, colour correction, and sharpening. Then use advanced features like layers and masks for precision and creativity. Over time, you’ll develop a workflow that suits your style, helping you achieve high-quality, professional results.

What features should I look for in a good photo editing software?

A good photo editing software should offer a variety of editing tools such as filters, adjustment layers, and retouching capabilities. Look for features like RAW file support, non-destructive editing, and batch processing, which can improve your efficiency and flexibility when working with multiple images.

Is free photo editing software as good as paid options?

Free photo editing software can provide excellent tools for basic edits like cropping, exposure adjustments, and filters. However, paid options typically offer more advanced features such as RAW editing, extensive filter libraries, and better support for high-resolution images. For professional-level work, paid software is usually a better investment.

Which photo editing software is best for social media content?

When editing photos for social media, look for software that offers easy resizing and cropping for various platforms, plus filters and effects that enhance images without overcomplicating the process. Many programs also include templates and optimised export settings specifically for sharing on social networks.