In an era when everyone likes selfies and taking photos, in addition to free photo recovery, there comes another ravishing feature i.e., photo editing. Luckily, there are a number of free photo editing software for laptop and desktop users, which can optimize an ordinary picture into a breath-taking panorama, and help people out with more photo editing phenomena, including restoring old image.
This article is straight forward, jargon-free advice on what to think about when buying a computer for photo editing. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis, you are in the wrong place. If you are looking to upgrade your current computer, but are unsure of how to spend your cash wisely, then this article will be a great starting point. If you are wondering which Mac is best for photo editing, or why you should use a Mac for photo editing, we can help Photography can be a demanding art, with modern cameras producing huge files. Acorn 6 Image Editor is a Mac PC program which helps people to edit photos on the Mac system laptop and computers. This image editor software allows you to change the background of your photos and you can clone the images using this program.
With the best photo editing software free application, any newbie can easily covert their simple images into Instagram styled stills. Resizing, cropping, filter application and reconstructing the images are some of the features that a photo editing tool holds, but you can expect more from the following best 17 free photo editing software for Windows & Mac.
1. GIMP – Best Open-Source Free Photo Editing Software for Windows 10
GIMP is an open source free software that is compatible with Windows 10. It is incredible in functioning and gives you flawless results. Adorned with power pack photo editing tools, it has an interface similar to Photoshop. Healing tools, custom brushes, clone stamps are ravishing tools in the toolbar. Selection of isolated areas and editing them to become perfect is what the application offers further. One can eliminate the flaws and makes it up to a picture-perfect standard. Update: GIMP for macOS is also available on its official website with similar features.
- Open source and totally free.
- Similar functionality to Photoshop.
- Cost a little longer time to get familiar with the operation.
- Support RAW image only after installing RAW loader
2. Paint.net – Best Free Photo Editing Software for Beginners with Windows 10
The functionality of Paint.net makes it easy to use and simplicity becomes a main selling point (It is actually free). The application carries fine manual control along with accessible interface. Used for trivial tasks, it is there to turn your picture into something wonderful. The toolbar carries the options of layers, undo history, filters, plugins and 3D rotate/zoom function.
- Easy to use for beginners
- With minimal options but able to complete almost all tasks
- Poor support for RAW image
3. Photo Pos Pro – Best Free Photo Editing Software for Both Beginners and Experts
With an interface more accessible than GIMP, Photo Pos Pro carries two modes. For experts, it plays as a role close to Photoshop. For beginners, it provides a lot of preset templates, filter effects and auto fix function. Accompanied with advanced photo editing tools, there is an optional “novice” layout. While the advanced layout carries both i.e. layers and layer masks. It can remove the flaws with brushes to eliminate blemishes and carry scripts to save time and refine the photo to maximum.
- Friendly to both beginners and experts
- Rich templates and presets
- Good support for RAW image, though not for all. See how to preview RAW image.
4. PhotoScape – Best Free All-in-One Photo Editing Software for Windows 10
Packed with advanced tools, PhotoScape is absolutely free and compatible with Windows 10. A beginner can easily use it to reform the images and feel the change. The filters incorporated in the app are outstanding. The features include raw conversion, photo splitting and merging, animated GIF creation. The images are going to get a new and outlook with this amazing application.
- Limited editing functions
- Not only a photo editor but also photo viewer, batch editor, RAW convertor, GIF maker and printer.
- Poor support for RAW image editing
5. Fotor – Best Free Online Photo Editor for Windows 10
Fotor is getting limelight with a ravishing feature of online accessing and fashion elements. Users can easily upload and save images from/to cloud, like Dropbox, Facebook and its own cloud database, as well as Windows 10 computer. The images can be redesigned with ravishing filters and healing tools. You can feed a pile of images at once and the software is going to edit them simultaneously. At the end you are going to get a candid still that is worth saving.
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- Upload and save photos from/to cloud
- Eye-pleasant UI
- Fashion and various automatic beauty functions, effects and stickers.
- Poor support RAW image
6. Pixlr
Pixlr is a world-class photo editor with a lot of newly optimized features to provide excellent finishing to the edited photos and videos. It is available for Android, iOS, and computer browsers for the users. If you want to do simple editing with the photos and videos on your device, then the basic free version of Pixlr is enough to meet your demands. And if you want to edit the photos professionally, then the Pro version of this app is available for you. The simple to use interface of this software is pretty much appealing for the users. That’s why Pixlr is having a lot of fans without any doubt. The total installation size of this software is also not so big, which is indeed the best part of it. So, definitely, we would suggest you Pixlr software for your PC to accomplish your task of editing photos and videos hassle-free.
7. Picasa (Predecessor of Google Photos)
Picasa is yet another very brilliant choice for the users which is certainly having one of the fascinating editing tools for the users. Picasa software is compatible both with Windows and Mac OS. This free online editing tool was launched by tech giant Google way back in the year 2002. That’s why Picasa is having a lot of popularity among the PC users because tech giant Google itself certifies this software. Picasa is having one of the finest photo and video editing tools in it, which are very useful for the users. Additionally, you can also add customized features in this software online which you can use to edit your photos and videos hassle-free. Users can also add some of the latest launched video and photo effects like Super MO video mode, Live Focus mode, Ultra-wide-angle mode, Hyper lapse mode, Panorama, etc. Because this editing software is Google certified software, that’s why there is no doubt that it will deliver the best possible stuff to its users. The edited videos and photos can be shared directly from Picasa using the Google Plus file sharing feature. So, definitely, Picasa is a great choice for the users as an excellent photo editing tool.
8. Pic Monkey
Pic Monkey is another trendy choice for the users as an excellent photo editing software. You will get all the editing tools and features in a single editing window, which is an excellent feature for sure. The output edited file can be downloaded in a variety of different file formats. Some new and latest themes and effects are also added in this software by its developers, making it look more attractive. Overall, Pic Monkey software is a fantastic option for the users, which is delivering the quality stuff in the way it was meant to be. The quick-to-learn feature of this software will help you out to learn about the basics and working of the Pic Monkey software.
9. BeFunky
The only positive about this photo editing software, which makes it unique from other online photo editing software packages, is its intuitive graphic user-interface. The easy to use interface of BeFunky software is very well developed and maintained by the developers and due to this compatibility feature, BeFunky software become a great choice of all time for the users. Users will get all the basic photo editing features right on the first launch window of this software. The advanced and newly released photo editing features can be browsed in the Pro version of this software, which is not very costly like other software packages are. The graphic user-interface of BeFunky software is very well developed by the developers of this photo editing software. Moreover, this software is also compatible with almost all devices without any restrictions. So definitely, BeFunky is a good option as an excellent photo editor tool for sure. You can use this software on your PC according to our recommendation, and we hope that you will get satisfactory results for sure.
10. PhotoCat
Another very decent kind of Photo editing software for the users developed with a lot of optimized photo editing tools. Inside the preview window in this software, you can apply as many filters and themes on the photos to make a preview of them. Moreover, several other basic editing features like photo cropping, exposure, composure, and insertion of the text can be experienced in this software as well. The graphic user-interface of this software is also pretty much decent, which is easy to use and understand as well. Some newly launched and optimized photo editing tools can be used experience in the Pro version of this photo editing software. There are a lot of different insertion tools available in PhotoCat software, which can be very handy for the users. Most of the reviews regarding this software are positive, and we too hope that you will like the features and functioning of this software after installing it on your PC. Though it is not so easy to use, once you learn about its functioning, then you will surely get satisfactory results.
11. SumoPaint
Basically, SumoPaint is not a typical online photo editor. There are very few basic photo editing tools available on this software that can be accessed offline as well. The overall interface of the website is pretty much decent. Once you click on the URL of the SumoPaint website, the website will launch in a fraction of seconds, which shows the optimization power of the SumoPaint website. Furthermore, if you want to experience some more editing features/tools apart from basic features, then you may switch to the premium version of this software. To purchase the premium subscription, you have to spend 4USD per month. You will get login credentials which you can use to login to this website for an excellent editing experience like a professional.
12. DarkTable
DarkTable is another absolute stunner performer of this list, which is certainly one of the best photo editing software for the users. The main reason why this software is so popular is that this software is compatible with all three major Operating systems of PC, which are Windows, Mac, and Linux OS. Furthermore, this software is open-source software, which means that any user can use this software hassle-free without any charges. DarkTable software is pretty much similar to Lightroom photo editing software, which is another trendy choice for the users. However, DarkTable is having the edge over the Lightroom software because the overall features provided by DarkTable is more than Lightroom. The graphic user-interface of DarkTable is also more attractive than Lightroom, and that’s why majority of the users uses the former in their PC’s. The editing tools available on this software are excellent in their respective fields.
13. Picktorial
If you want a photo editing software which is only compatible with Mac OS, then there is no other choice better than Picktorial software. The enhanced features with which this software was developed are just magnificent for the users. Picktorial has a decent rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 stars, which is a very awesome part. Picktorial is very much popular among users from all around the world. The main downside of this software is that it is a bit more expensive than other premium photo editing tools of this segment. The annual premium subscription of PickTorial software will cost you around 60$. Picktorial software is a good choice for users with a lot of incredible features and editing tools in it.
14. InPixio Free Photo Editor
InPixio photo editor is another incredible choice for the users, which is having impeccable features to attract the users in large numbers. There are more than 100 different themes and photo effects available on this software which users can use to edit photos and videos hassle-free. As per our thinking, InPixio is a beginner level photo editor which is ideal for all the beginners in this photo editing industry. The graphic user-interface of InPixio is also pretty much enhanced and developed. The overall layout and texture of this software justify that InPixio is an excellent choice for the users whatsoever the reviews and ratings are. If you seriously want to learn most of the basic photo editing techniques, then you must get switched to InPixio free Photo Editor tool. You will surely observe that you are making the most out of this software.
15. Capture One Express
Capture One is another big name in the industry, which is having some excellent stuff for the users. This editing software is not having too much popularity, probably due to the professionalism for digital camera users. There are separate editions for Sony and Fujifilm cameras.
16. Snapseed
Another very advanced and optimized photo editing tool available for both iOS and Android users. Snapseed is one of the most significant kinds of photo editing software that can provide some excellent results to the users for free. Moreover, any user can use this software for editing purposes. It does not matter whether you are a beginner, intermediate, or expert. You can use this software to accomplish editing purposes hassle-free without any problem. There is a wide array of filters and themes present in this software which makes edited photos and videos to look more attractive, composed and beautiful as well. Snapseed is going to be your next sure shot choice for sure.
17. Photoshop Express Mix/Fix
Last but not the least, Photoshop Express Mix becomes our last choice to end this great list of top photo editor software packages for PC users. This excellent photo editing software offers a lot of exciting photo editing features to its users who are adorable for many reasons. The customizable settings of this software will surely let you feel that you are editing photos and videos like a professional. The main advantage of installing and using this software on your PC is that you will get to experience a great kind of graphic user-interface with a brilliant layout and graphics as well. However, to use this software, you need to login to this software using any of your social media apps like Facebook or Twitter, etc. So, it is up to you whether you are going to use this software on your PC or not because it requires a login process to be done.
So, what are you waiting for? The list is out for you to enjoy best free photo editing software for Windows & Mac computer. Now you can modify your images on your desktop and give a new life to the stills, then convert images to video.
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Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.Why would you want to build your own PC and why did a life long Apple user like myself build a custom PC? There are several excellent benefits to building your own custom PC. The cost to performance ratio is significantly better if you build a PC yourself. You can also customize your build using components that will provide much greater performance for the specific tasks you do every day. You can also build your PC to the form factor that best suits your work space and add aesthetic touches as well. In this article I’ll share my own experience researching and building a custom PC specifically tailored for Photo and Video editing. I also want this to be a primer for anyone who might be curious about building their own PC. Included at the end is a parts list for the system I would build in 2021.
History:
What led me to want to build my own PC, and why not another Mac? I’ve been an Apple computer enthusiast since I was a teenager. I still prefer the Mac OS to Windows, but windows and a custom PC offer customization and upgradability that apple computers do not. I was always frustrated by the lack of choice in components when ordering an Apple desktop computer. You usually have almost no choice in graphics cards, and your RAM and hard drive options are quite limited and expensive. It’s also difficult to upgrade apple desktops. In the custom PC world, I can use any components I want to. I can also upgrade those components in the future to make them last longer. One of the biggest advantages of building a custom PC is the price. I was able to build my custom PC for half the price of an equivalently specced Mac Pro. I also like that I can customize how my PC looks. There are so many amazing custom PC builds out there that are stunningly gorgeous and original. I didn’t go too crazy with my most recent build, but I probably will with my next build.
When I started noticing significantly slower performance during photo and video editing sessions, I started researching my upgrade options, both Mac and PC. I decided to build my own custom PC based on the previously mentioned reasons. I still love my old Mac Pro tower (the black trashcan model) I currently use dual monitors, one connected to my Mac and on to the PC, sometimes I run a dual monitor setup on the PC. All my photo editing is done on the new PC, everything is very responsive, smooth, and quick. Video editing is still done on the Mac, but that’s only because I know Final Cut Pro really well and it’s already paid for. Eventually this will also be done exclusively on the much faster PC. Email, web browsing as well as watching Netflix and YouTube I do on the Mac. The dual system is working out really well so far. I may even upgrade to another Mac down the line.
Research and build plan:
Evaluate your computing needs:
What kind of computer user are you? Are you a power user churning out videos and photos every day, a home professional using multiple professional media editing applications fairly often, or a more casual photo editor who dabbles in video editing, or plays PC games? What kind of user you are will determine what parts will provide you with the right cost to performance ratio.
Form factor:
For instance, I have decent amount of room in my home office, that allowed me to choose a large premium PC case that offers excellent air flow and room to build in. If you are more limited on space, there are many options to help build a much smaller computer. There are small form factor cases, mini and micro ATX motherboards and small form factor graphics cards that allow for very small custom builds.
Parts list:
What components, or computer parts are going to provide the best performance for the money for your intended use? I’ll go over the key components that determine the performance of a PC.
Processor (CPU): The CPU, or central processing unit is the main engine of your PC. The CPU is what performs all of the computations that run the software on your PC. It is the single most important component when considering performance of applications like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and Premier. Consider how you use your PC. If you are a power user producing new videos and photos every day, you would benefit greatly from a CPU with a ton of cores such as a Threadripper CPU. Photo and video editing are very system intensive tasks, meaning they utilize a lot of your available CPU cores, RAM storage capacity and system bandwidth. These monster CPUs are essentially home super computers, they can have up to 30+ processing cores taking advantage of multithreading technology and crushing through video renders at blazing speed. To get the best performance out of this kind of CPU you also need a large amount of fast RAM, I’ll touch on this a little later.
On the other hand, if you are more like me who processes photos fairly often and works on video projects occasionally, you would be better off with something like the 12 core Ryzen 5900x, or the 10 core Intel core i9 10900k. These processors have less cores, but much faster clock speeds. Photoshop in particular performs faster with faster core clock speed. Both of these are still very high end components and have enough cores to run several professional media editing applications at the same time.
If you only do photo editing, or some light video editing occasionally, or you play PC games, you would benefit most from something like a 6 core Ryzen 5600x, or a 6 core Intel i5 10600k. These both still have very high core clock speeds, but less processing cores. They will provide the same performance in applications like Photoshop and Lightroom, as well as any PC games, but don’t have the same multi-core performance that can run several applications simultaneously, or render videos quickly.
Motherboard:
After you choose your CPU, you can choose a compatible motherboard. The motherboard holds the main components together, delivers power to them and allows them to communicate with each other. The main thing to think about when choosing a motherboard is compatibility, but there are some features of more expensive boards that provide performance advantages, such as better power delivery, or fast communication speeds. There are different sizes as well. I chose a regular ATX size mother board to have lots of room during the build process and maximum air flow inside to keep components cool. There are also mini ATX and micro ATX if you want to build a smaller computer. Motherboards have different sockets to accept specific CPUs. There are separate boards for AMD and Intel CPUs. Sometimes there are different socketed boards for newer families of CPUs as well. Make sure your motherboard is compatible with your CPU. I use the website pcpartpicker.com to do a virtual build first, it has a compatibility checker that will alert you if there are any compatibility issues. I’ll talk more about this tool in a later section. You can learn more about what motherboard might be best for you in the YouTube links at the end of the article.
Ram:
RAM is also important and will affect the performance of your computer. RAM, or random access memory is located right next to your CPU on the motherboard. Data can’t be accessed by the CPU until it’s loaded into RAM. For instance, when you startup Photoshop, the program files are loaded from your storage hard drive into the RAM. When you want to edit a photo, the photo file is also loaded from your storage hard drive into RAM so the CPU can do all the photo editing computations you ask it to. I chose to use 64 gigabytes of 3600 speed RAM. Most users like myself could probably get away with 32 gigs of RAM, but even now I’ll use more than 32 gigs when running several programs at the same time and my computer tasks will only get more demanding in the future. If you don’t have enough RAM installed, your computer will have to access the data from your much slower hard drive first and you will experience lag and sluggish performance. Generally, you want the fastest and highest quality ram you can afford. AMD Ryzen CPUs in particular benefit from faster RAM.
Fast storage and media storage drives:
I built my system with super fast M.2 PCI based hard drives. Windows and all my applications are stored on these drives for fast load speeds. For my media storage drives I use all solid state drives for quick read and write speeds when loading and saving large files. I also use some external drives that are formatted as exfat for backing up media and sharing media files between my PC and Mac.
Graphics card:
A dedicated graphics card, or GPU is important, but you don’t need to go overboard and spend a fortune on one. Lightroom, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and Premier do utilize your graphics card to help render on the fly. You definitely see better performance if you are working with 4k or higher resolution video footage. PC games benefit the most from a high end graphics card. The 3080 I have listed in my recommended build is probably overkill, but there is a serious shortage of graphics cards right now. If you can find an older generation Nvidia 2080, 2070, or 2060, or the equivalent AMD graphics cards for a decent price, they are fine options.
Power Supply:
A PSU, or power supply unit delivers power to the motherboard and all the components in your system. It’s a crucial and important part of your computer. Generally you want a high quality PSU with enough capacity to power all your components and have some head room in case of any spikey power consumption, or in case you upgrade components in the future.
Case:
There are a ton of case options available. This is where you can get creative with the look of your computer or choose a specific form factor if you have limited space. I went with a larger case, partly because I really liked the aesthetics, but it also has a lot of room for extra hard drives, airflow and my CPU cooler radiator. You can see the case I would recommend in the parts list below.
CPU Cooler
I chose a liquid cooler with a large 3 fan radiator for my build, but this was more of an aesthetic choice. A quality air cooler is more reliable, just as quiet and will cool the CPU just as well. Some CPUs come with a CPU cooler, but if your CPU gets too hot, your system will throttle the CPU performance to maintain a reasonable temperature. An aftermarket air, or liquid cooler will ensure maximum performance by dissipating heat more efficiently away from the CPU. The Dark Rock 4 is what I would use if I were building now. You can find it in the parts list below.
Fans:
Airflow is important. Your computer will run faster if the components stay cool. I used a total of 6 fans in my build and I never have any issues with performance throttling due to temperature. Generally having at least a few intake fans and 1 or more exhaust fans is sufficient. When I built a computer for my daughter I was able to use only 3 fans with no thermal issues.
Lighting:
If you want to personalize your build, there are a ton of addressable lighting options you can add. This is purely aesthetic and will make setup a little more complicated.
Plan your build using PC part picker:
Top Photo Editing For Mac
Pcpartpicker.com is an amazing resource that lets you build a custom PC part list virtually. It will alert you if there are compatibility issues and it will find the lowest price for each part online. I used it for both computers I built this past year. They also have several builds they recommend, although mainly focused on gaming performance. Below is a link to a build that I would recommend in 2021. Last Fall, new CPUs and GPUs that we released, and if you can get your hands on them, it’s a great time to build a custom PC.
Purchase parts:
Pcpartpicker.com was invaluable once again when it came time to order all the parts on my list. I only had one problem when it came time to order parts. With so many people being stuck at home working and remote learning, many people decided to buy and build computers this year. Some parts took me weeks to track down and I had to pay a little more than I wanted just to secure the parts. Other than that I had no issues at all.
The Build:
I had a lot of fun researching and learning how to build PCs. There were challenges along the way, but with the help of many YouTube videos and online articles I was able to build my dream editing machine and a computer for my daughter and her remote learning this year. Below is a link to a helpful video walking you through a standard build. I’ve included a few photos from my build as well.
Setup:
This YouTube video will walk you through everything you need to do to setup a new PC after building, including Installing windows from a thumb drive and running updates, setting up the bios and getting the computer up and running.
YouTube Resources:
These are the three YouTube channels that helped me the most.
Location: Bend, OR
Best Photo Editing Software For Mac
Website: www.zschnepf.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/zschnepf77
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zackschnepf/
Zack is an award winning photographer specializing in fine art landscape photography and post processing. “Art is in my blood. My father is a well known poster artist and painter. My mom was a painter, and print maker and my brother is an art director at Facebook. Art is a way of life for my family, and I will hopefully pass it on to my children as well.”
“The love of nature is also something that my family and I are passionate about. I’ve been hiking, biking, rock climbing and backpacking since I was little. From an early age, I learned to appreciate the beauty in nature.”