Once the purview of photographers and graphic design professionals, photo editing is something most of us now do on a daily basis. Whether it’s applying a filter to a selfie in Instagram or cropping out an unwanted photo-bomber before posting a pic to Facebook, we’re all amateur photo editors these days.
But what if you want to make those photos you snapped on your phone really sing or you’re a budding photographer with a DSLR camera with aspirations of becoming a professional shutterbug? Then you’re probably going to want to invest in photo editing software.
PhotoDirector 365
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Starting at $3.17 per month
Windows and Mac (iOS and Android available)
Free version available
A.I. makes routine fixes and corrects imperfections
Glitch, Light Rays, Dispersion, Photo Animation, and other effects
Free access to a royalty-free premium Shutterstock photo & video library
PhotoDirector 365 began life as a workflow program, but
CyberLink
has made numerous upgrades to position it as a viable (and cheaper) alternative to Adobe Photoshop. It has introduced A.I.-powered abilities such as masking and sky replacement along with style effects such as adding brushstrokes and routine fixes for correcting imperfections. It comes with a palette of effects, light rays, glitch, and dispersion, and it can easily bring your photos to life using its animation features. It even has a body-slimming feature to prep your photos for Tinder. Plus, you get access to Shutterstock’s world-class library of stock images. A subscription to PhotoDirector 365 normally costs $55 a year ($4.58 per month) but is currently on sale for just $38 for a year ($3.17 per month).
has long been the gold standard for working with digital images. Its rich and extensive palette of customizable tools has made it indispensable in any graphic designer’s arsenal, especially when used in tandem with Adobe’s other industry-leading graphic design software, InDesign and Illustrator. It has A.I. features like sky replacement and Super Resolution, which doubles your image’s resolution. But Photoshop’s capabilities aren’t limited to still images. It comes with video editing tools as well as the ability to work with 3D images. Plus, you can use Photoshop on multiple devices — including your iPad — and sync your presets to use them no matter what device you are using or where you might be.
Photoshop subscriptions are available with or without Lightroom (Adobe’s photography-focused image manipulation software) along with varying amounts of cloud storage. It also comes as part of an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, which might be the best option for graphic designers using Adobe’s other software.
PaintShop Pro 2021
Starting at $55 per month
Windows compatible (Aftershot Pro available for Mac)
Free trial available
A.I. powered
Supports RAW files
Time-saving scripts and One-click corrections
If you’re looking for an inexpensive, non-subscription-based photo editor and happen to be running a Windows machine, then Corel’s
PaintShop Pro
is a worthy choice. It starts at $55 and comes with ParticleShop and the Artistic Effects Script Bundle thrown in for free (a $110 value), so you get a lot of bang for your buck. It has a suite of A.I.-powered tools like Upsampling, Artifact Removal, Smart Photo Fix, and Denoise and has an enhanced workspace with a split screen so you can compare your original photograph with the work you’ve done. You can also record a series of tasks that you perform often as a script for use as an automated action. It has a palette of editing tools and effects that should be more than ample for most users.
Luminar
Starting at $67 per year
Windows and Mac
No subscription required
Intuitive with A.I. tools
Comes with pre-installed object images
Now in its fourth iteration, Skylum’s
Luminar
is available both as a standalone editor and as a plugin for Photoshop and MacOS Photos. Given its capabilities, though, we’re not sure why you would pay for both Luminar and Photoshop, but it’s a nice option nevertheless. It comes with several easy-to-use A.I.-powered tools: Sky Replacement, Augmented Sky, Skin Enhancer, Portrait Enhancer, a Structure slider that detects areas for enhancement, and an Accent tool that makes focal points pop with one click. Other features, like Smart Contrast, Landscape Enhancer, and the Erase tool, are very intuitive, letting non-design professionals create pro-level images.
is a powerful photo editing tool at a fraction of the price of its Adobe competitor. Though it has the feel of a mobile app, which makes sense given that it’s always made its iPad version a priority, this award-winning software has a long list of features. It has all the retouching tools you would expect of a pro-level editor plus a huge library of brushes, an ample palette of effects, and an unlimited number of layers available. It also features HDR merge and 360 image editing. Even better, it supports RAW files, and you can even use it to edit PSD files! And if you’re using the iPad version, it works with your Apple Pencil.
Movavi Picverse
One-Time payment of $60
Windows and Mac (iOS and Android available)
Free trial available
Automated A.I. tasks
Noise reduction
AI Restoration of Old Photos
Movavi’s
Picverse photo editor
combines ease of use with pro-like results. Available in both Mac and PC versions, this software is packed with A.I. technology for automatically adjusting color and contrast or doing more complicated tasks like repairing scans of old photos. It has more than 100 preloaded filters and is compatible with RAW files. In addition to object removal and custom sharpness tools Movavi Picverse AI helps restore old photos hiding creases, scratches, stains, and even adding color.
is a robust photo editor meant to appeal to photographers and rival Photoshop. It was developed with input from experienced film photographers to create a library of film looks, while its extensive selection of tools allows exacting alterations, especially when it comes to color correction. It allows you to add realistic film grain as well as choose from a huge number of textures, light effects, and borders. It has more than 500 customizable presets and features, advanced masking tools, and one-click automatic adjustments. Previous versions of Exposure already boasted fast processing speeds, but X6 now supports GPU processing for even better performance (depending on your GPU, of course).
is a top-rated MacOS photo editor. It has a simple, streamlined design that makes it super easy to use, and though it may not have as many features as some of the other programs on this list, it does have advanced features like nondestructive layers, RAW file support, and a slew of brushes and retouching tools. Even more impressive, Pixelmator’s machine learning enhancements allow you to make many adjustments automatically. Plus, at only $40, this software certainly won’t break the bank.
With so many great photo editors to choose from be sure to find the photo editing software that suits your needs. Free trials are available through most software or you can download one of the many photo editors or photo editing apps that provide free options.
Proton VPN vs. Mullvad: Which is the best open-source VPN?
Open-source software is exploding in popularity and even virtual private networks (VPNs) share code for transparency. With over 100 million open-source developers contributing to the community, there’s an improved chance to find bugs and patch vulnerabilities.
Proton VPN and Mullvad are among the best VPNs available, and both are open-source solutions. You can browse the code used in Proton VPN and Mullvad on GitHub to check that there isn’t any secret logging or undisclosed data collection.
At basically $105, the Ryzen 5 7600X is the best gaming CPU to buy right now
I don't usually get my hopes up for Black Friday CPU deals, but I found one that's just too good to pass up. Right now, you can get the Ryzen 5 7600X -- still one of the best processors for value-focused gaming -- for basically $105. No, that's not the actual price listed on Newegg where you'll find the deal, but there's a lot going on with this sale.
For starters, the CPU itself is marked down by 24%, bringing the $299 list price down to $225. Not a great deal for a last-gen chip. However, you can save an additional $30 by using the promo code BFEDY2A33, and more importantly, you'll get a free Kingston NV3 1TB hard drive with the order. That's a PCIe 4.0 SSD that normally costs $90.
The 7 best gaming monitors you can buy, according to our reviewers
You need more than a high refresh rate to earn a spot among the best gaming monitors. There's no shortage of displays that want to hop on the gaming monitor bandwagon, but you shouldn't pick up any display that slaps "gaming" on its product packaging. From budget showstoppers to the latest high-end OLED options, we're hear to help you navigate the sometimes murky waters of gaming monitors.
We didn't just look at a couple of displays and throw them into a list. Testing gaming displays involves dozens of hours of testing, validation, and comparison to other options, and that's before digging into additional features. Not only have we reviewed countless gaming monitors over the years, we've also used them day in and day out to see if they hold up over time.
