Best Free Raw Photo Editor Mac

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Apr 23, 2020 It is the best free, open-source photo editor in general. Capture One Express for Sony and Fujifilm. If you are using a Sony or Fujifilm camera to click your RAW photo, then you should use Capture One Express to process your images. Capture One Express is the free version and has the full editor’s cataloging tools.

Jan 01, 2021 To help you out, we’ve put together this list of the best free photo editing software for Mac. Take a look and get those JPEGs and RAW files queued up. (Don’t worry, PC devotees — we won’t leave you high and dry when it comes to the best free image editors. Many of these will work for Windows, too. Download Darktable: Windows Mac (Free) RAW Therapee. Raw Therapee is a cross-platform raw photo processing system. The Adobe free alternative is designed for developing raw files from digital cameras. You can develop high quality images as it has 32-bit processing engine, advanced color, and detailed editing.


RawTherapee is a free RAW photo editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It provides high-quality images with high dynamic range and uses state-of-the-art demosaicing algorithms. Although it’s open-source software, RawTherapee supports most common RAW file formats, including those from Pentax and Sony. Fotor Photo Editor for Mac is also amongst the list of best free photo editing software for MAC. It can be used to edit photos on MAC, create collage, and perform batch actions. Fotor is optimized for retina displays to view the images in full resolution. Here you can choose the option to rotate images, zoom, crop, and perform several other.

Do you still use a high-end DSLR for clicking pictures and capturing mesmerizing moments? Well with the advancements of smartphones, now everyone can be a photographer. But in the curiosity to get that one perfect click will end up taking hundreds of shots.

In addition to the high-end camera of our smartphones, we still need a good photo editing software to edit and polish our dull shots, and make then Instagram suitable. Mac photo editing apps help you to fix and organize your pictures according to your taste and liking.

If you are looking for a professional photo editing tool to add meaning to your dull pictures and make them aesthetically pleasing then refer to our list of best mac photo editing apps. Learn How to Edit Photos on Your Mac to improve the overall quality and look of your picture.

Fortunately, the market is filled with an ocean of options but to help you pick the best tool in the lot, here we have compiled a well-researched list of some of the best photo editing apps and software for mac. Read ahead to find out the best option according to your needs.

12 Best Photo Editors For Mac in 2020:

1. Adobe Photoshop

By far the best photo editing apps for Mac and Windows devices. It is undeniably the most loved tool in the market and commonly known as a synonym to photo editing software.

Loaded with an ocean of features and high-end benefits it is highly popular amongst the fraternity of artists, photographers, designers, and illustrators. In addition to beginners, it is specifically built to suit the high-end requirements of professionals. The key features of this amazing tool listed below, you name it and Adobe Photoshop will have it.

  • It comes with incredible retouching capabilities and cloning.
  • It can polish your dull images in seconds including the large size images.
  • It includes a great list of selection and masking tools.
  • Adobe Photoshop can support images of multiple formats including PNG, JPG, GIF, and many more.
  • With this incredible tool, you get access to almost 360 editing tools and map support for HEIF files.
  • It uses a non-destructive editing mechanism to enhance the overall appearance and look of your images.

Read More: 15 Best Duplicate Photo Finder & Cleaner Software for Windows

2. Skylum Luminar 4

Known for its array of best filters and HDR, Skylum luminar 4 deserves a spot on our list of best batch photo editing apps. With its affordable pricing structure and image editing capabilities it has gained massive popularity in the last few years.

It is a perfect amalgamation of the features of both Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Some of the key features of this Mac photo editing tool are:

  • For better user experience it offers 24/7 sales and technical support.
  • It is powered with fast editing tools and functionalities.
  • Loaded with an array of adjustment masks and layers.
  • With its clever editing shortcuts and capabilities, you can effortlessly manage your photographs.
  • It comes with multiple viewing options including a single image view, filmstrip view, and gallery view.
  • Sun rays, AI-powered sky enhancers, and accidental AI are few of its other offerings.

Best Free Raw Photo Editor Machine

3. Adobe Lightroom

If you are looking for an online Mac photo editing app, then Adobe Lightroom can be a good pick to start with. With its cutting edge technology and photo editing abilities, it enjoys great popularity in the world of photo editing software. It is a cloud-based tool.

It comes with easy to use yet high-end editing features. In addition to this, its interface is quite user-friendly and simple to use.

  • Lightroom can easily sync with several devices.
  • It comes with customizable sliders along with brush adjustment tools and gradients.
  • You also get access to multiple preset filters and professional filters with it.
  • Fixing tools, lens-based correction capabilities, and blurring tools are few of its other offerings.
  • Manage your photo gallery more efficiently with its face detection feature.

4. Skylum Aurora HDR

Next on our list of image editing software for mac is Skylum Aurora HDR. It works well with Windows devices as well and can easily be integrated as an Apple photo extension. With its AI-based neural network, you can create HDR images within seconds.

  • It is loaded with an array of 20+ editing tools to create HDR images.
  • It offers a great way to polish your raw images and leverage their appearance with its 80 unique presets.
  • Enhance the clarity and optimize the contrast of your images with its HDR clarity feature.
  • It can add depth and details to your photo and can also clean noise.

5. Canva

If your search for the best apps for mac photo editing is still going on then Canva can help you. It is a great tool for designing photo templates for both business and personal use. It comes with a clean interface and easy to use editing tools and graphics.

Use it to add various fonts and graphics to your dull images and make them Instagram ready.

  • Works well on both computer system and smartphones,
  • It comes with image cropping, image straightening features along with a speech bubble maker.
  • It is packed with a massive library of graphic designs and images and also supports cloud storage.
  • With Canva you get access to over 8000+ photo templates, icons, photos and pre-designed cards to create visually stunning content.

Read More: 10 Best Photo/Image Viewers for Windows 10 in 2020

6. Vsco

Best Free Raw Photo Editor Mac Free

Next on our list of Mac photo editing apps is Vsco. Its advanced effects and stylish photo editing abilities make it highly popular amongst the fraternity of professional photographers.

Add life to your dull images with the help of its preset filters. Highlights, white balance, exposure are few of its editing tools with which you can adjust the color, exposure, and sharpness of your images.

7. DesignWizard

Are you still wondering what is the best photo editor for Mac users, then try DesignWizard. This feature-rich tool is packed with advanced controls and is well known for its high-end image design templates.

In addition to this, it also comes with a massive range of images, graphics, illustrations, and high-quality videos. Along with this you also get access to various marketing tools like sale posters, Linkedin Ads, Facebook Ads campaigns, and much more.

It comes with a clean and convenient interface and works seamlessly well with iOS devices.

8. Capture One

If you have been using Adobe Lightroom, then try Capture One now to enjoy a lot of other unique features. With this incredible photo editing software, you can polish your images within seconds.

Use it ‘s advanced color editing features and masking capabilities to add life to your images.

9. ON1 Photo Raw

Experience a completely new taste of photo editing with our next pick of Best Mac Photo Editing Apps, ON1 Photo Raw. Its cutting edge capabilities allow you to convert your raw clicks into stunning images without spending too much time and effort.

With its dual-mode feature, you can not only edit but also browse various images. Enjoy live adjustments and preview with this power-packer photo editor software.

Best Mac Photo Editing Software

Read More: 11 Best Free PDF Editors For Mac in 2020

10. GIMP

Also known as the GNU Image Manipulation Program. GIMP is an open-source mac photo editor app.

Best Photo Editor For Mac Free Download

Use it to retouch your dull images and create stunning pieces of the original artwork. Apart from this it also allows you to create pro-level graphic design elements. It is a free application and comes loaded with several pre-level editing features.

11. Adobe Photoshop Elements

If you are new to the world of photography and image editing. Choose Adobe Photoshop Elements . It comes with a clean interface and easy to use features.

It is powered with an advanced AI- capability. Use its Guided Edit feature to create memes, part-image sketches, and multi-photo texts.

12. PortraitPro

If you love portrait photography, then Portraitpro is a blessing for you. The software is loaded with all the essential features that you need to create stunning portrait pieces.

Use its Advanced makeup tool to efficiently transform dull faces. You can also try its wrinkle removing and skin smoothing features.

Apple Photo Editor

Wrapping Up

Dive in the world of photography with photo editing apps and software. Each Mac photo editing tool mentioned above has a unique feature to offer alongside the basic features.

Refer to our list and pick the best-suited tool for yourself depending on your need, photography skills, budget, and preferences.


While the stock Photos app on Mac packs a few photo editing tools, it is not meant to replace a robust and professional photo editing app. If you want your photos to look good, you need to start looking at third-party photo editors that offer more features and control. I understand that extensive photo editing is not for everyone as most of the people don’t want to spend hours editing their photos. But that’s the beauty of having options. You can choose as intensive or automatic photo editing app as you want. You can even get photo editing apps for Mac that can enhance your photos with a click. I have tested and collected a list of 8 best photo editing apps for mac, both free and paid to help you on your photo editing journey.

Best Photo Editing Software for Mac in 2021

Different people have different requirements when it comes to photo editing and not one app is the best for everyone. That’s why, to make things easier for my readers, I have divided the 8 photo editors into different sections. The sections are not totally exclusive because as these photo editing software come with a huge set of overlapping features. That being said, the sections will help you get a clear idea of what you are looking for.

  • Affinity Photo
  • Luminar 4
  • Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC
  • Pixelmator Pro
  • GIMP
  • Fotor Photo Editor
  • Photolemur
  • Aurora HDR
  • darktable
  • Photopea
  • Bonus: Photoscape X

Best Pro Photo Editors for Mac

1. Affinity Photo

The first photo editing app on our list is something that I am using for the last two years and is one of the two photo editing apps that rely upon. The app features professional tools and supports almost all the know file formats including JPG, TIFF, PNG, GIF,PDF, PSD, and RAW photos. It comes with all the basic photo editing tools that you can expect from a pro photo editing app such as red eye removal, cropping, selection, painting and drawing tools, color correction tools, masks, filters, layers, and more. It also features an uncluttered UI with clearly marked tools which are both easy to find and use. Affinity Photo also brings support for extensive keyboard shortcuts which makes the photo editing more enjoyable and fast once you put some time into learning the software.

While there is a bit of learning curve, which is understandable, the developers offer tons of written and video tutorials which is more than enough to get anyone started. I am also fond of its non-destructive photo editing approach which keeps the original photo intact until you manually override it with your edited photo. There’s also support for extensive history and users can easily undo/redo changes up to 8000 steps.

Finally, it also offers an Apple Photos plugin allowing you to do minor adjustments right inside the Photos app. The only missing feature here is a Digital Asset Management or DAM which means you can not use it as a photo repository, something Adobe Lightroom users will surely miss. If that’s not a concern for you, I can recommend this app without any hesitation.

Get Affinity Photo:Free trial, $49.99

2. Luminar 4

Luminar 4 is a full-fledged pro photo editing tool for Mac which is also the easiest to use. Since I switch from Affinity Photo to Luminar, I have more than halved the time I used to spend on photo editing without any drop in quality. That is a deal that I am going to take any day. The before and after photo that you can see in the Affinity Photo section took me around 5 minutes to edit, while the picture you are seeing below took me just one click. It is because Luminar 4 comes with a set of more than 60 filters, some of which even use artificial intelligence, to enhance your photos with just a click.

The filters use a set of pre-configured presets that change depending on the subject of the picture. In my experience Luminar 4 works best for portraits and scenic shots. Luminar 4 also lets you adjust the presets if you don’t like the results. You have access to all the photo editing tools such as masks, layers, gradients, color correction, and more. You can use them to make manual changes to your photo just as you do with any other pro photo editing app. The filters allows you to get quite near to your end result with just one click. From there, you can make the minute adjustments to get your perfect photo. One of my favorite features of Luminar 4 is its before and after slider. I can instantly visualize the changes that I have made and compare the edited image to the original image.

Luminar 4 also has a built-in DAM. You can organize, rate, browse, and sort photos just like you can do on Adobe Lightroom. Like Affinity Photo and other pro photo editing apps mentioned in this section, Luminar 4 is a beast when it comes to photo editing. However, it’s a beast that can be easily tamed and used to perfection without creating any problem for us. Whether you are a professional photo editor who needs to save time or an amateur who wants to learn professional photo editing, Luminar 4 is a great photo editing tool for either use-cases.

Get Luminar 4:$89.99

3. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC

No photo editing app list can be complete with mentioning Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC as it is one of the most powerful photo editing app that you can get on your Mac. Apart from the obvious photo editing features, the biggest benefit of using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC is that it comes with a fully functional Digital Asset Management or DAM which allows users to not only manage their entire photo catalogue but also upload it to cloud so they can access it from anywhere. That is one of the biggest strength of Adobe Lightroom and if that is something you want, currently, there’s no better app out there.

Coming back to the photo editing tools, the Adobe Lightroom CC is packed with them. It might not be as easy as Luminar but it doesn’t lag behind when it comes to power. You get access to all the usual tools including blend, blur, layers, color correction, color matching, and more.

I love its easy-to-use sliders that give users complete control over the light and color properties of their photos. It also lets you shift focus and sharpen your photos to highlight your subject or reduce distraction in the image. My biggest problem with Adobe Lightroom CC is its subscription-based pricing system which makes this only viable for people who are using this to earn money. If you are just using the app for yourself, both Affinity Photo and Luminar will serve you better as far as return of investment is concerned.

Get Adobe Photoshop Lightroom: $9.9/month

4. Pixelmator Pro

Pixelmator Pro is another pro photo editing tool for Mac which you should try. The app not only brings an extensive collection of tools for editing and retouching photos but it also allows you to paint, create graphics design, add effects, and do so much more. However, since we are focusing only on photo editing software for Mac here, we will keep our interested limited to those features only.

I used Pixelmator Pro for about a month and I found that it has everything that you might need from a photo editing software. In fact, the new 2.0 update of Pixelmator Pro also brings a ton of other features that you won’t find on most of the photo editing tools on this list. For example, it now supports Apple M1 Macs, multi GPUs (looking at you Mac Pro), and RAW editing workflows with the new Pro Display XDR.

Pixelmator Pro comes with a new ML-Enhance mode which uses artificial intelligence trained on a catalog of 20 million professional photos, to automatically fine-tune 37 individual color adjustments. Just like Luminar, this feature gives you a great starting point for making fine-tuned adjustments to your photos.

That said, the ML-Enhance, only has one pre-set and I like Luminar’s approach far better. I do like the new ML De-noise feature which removes noise and image compression artifacts from photos. Not many photo editing apps for Mac can boast of this feature. I quite enjoyed using Pixelmator Pro and if you don’t like any of the above-mentioned software, you should give a chance to Pixelmator Pro.

Get Pixelmator Pro:Free trial, $39.99

Mac

Best Free Open Source Photo Editing Apps for Mac

5. GIMP

GIMP is Adobe Photoshop for people who like open-source software. GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program is packed with features and allows you to make pro-level editing of your photos. Since it is an open-source app, it is completely free of charge. That said, GIMP also comes with the problems that most open-source app suffer from which is to say that it’s UI looks old and is not at all user friendly. In fact, GIMP is one of the hardest image editing apps you will find on this list. You will need to spend quite a bit of time in learning its ins and outs and only then will you be able to take full advantage of its potential.

I found GIMP to be too hard for my taste. I remember one time I mistakenly made a change to its workspace and it took me almost 15-20 minutes to get it back to the version I was familiar with. That being said, thousands and thousands of Mac owners are using GIMP everyday for their photo editing needs, so, I might be an anomaly here. Once you put in enough time to learn GIMP, you will find that it has all the features that you need now and might need in the future.

Get Gimp:Free

6. Fotor Photo Editor

If you are looking for a free yet accessible photo editing software, take a look at the Fotor Photo Editor. It might not be as powerful as GIMP but it is fairly easy to learn which makes this a great image editing app for beginners. The app supports importing and exporting of a wide range of image formats including TIFF, JPEG, and PNG, and even RAW files. When it comes to features, Fotor brings enough tools that you won’t find it dragging you down unless you are a pro user.

One of my favorite tool of Fotor is batch processing.It allows me to apply preset conditions to images in batches thereby saving me a lot of time. Other features of Fotor include effects, borders, the ability to create collages, tilt-shift, and more. To explain simply, Fotor is basically an easier and watered-down version of Lightroom, Luminar, or other pro image editing apps for Mac on this list. While the app is free, recently it has also released a Fotor Pro version which brings more features and costs $39.99/year. You can compare the free and paid version of Fotor by clicking on this link.

Get Fotor: Free

Best One-Click Photo Editing App for Mac

7. Photolemur 3

I thought long and hard whether I should include this app on the list or not as the app technically doesn’t allow you to edit photos. Still, I know that there are users who don’t want to spend time on editing photos but also want their photos to look decent. Well, if you are one of those people then this is the app for you. To use, Photolemur, all you need to do is drag and drop pictures on it. You can do it in batches or one by one. Once you drop images on it, it will apply AI to identify scenes, colors, and faces and enhance them automatically.

Remember, you will not have any control over the retouching what-so-ever. However, in my testing, the app produced respectable images in 90% of the cases, hence, it made the list. The one place it fails 100% of the times is when you already have high-contrast images with popping colors. Apart from that, it works fairly well. I will say it again, it’s not a photo editing app which you should use if you want total control. However, If you really don’t want to spend even a minute on learning to edit and editing your photos, this is your best option.

Best free photo editing programs

Get Photolemur 3:$35

Best HDR Photo Editors for Mac

8. Aurora HDR

If you work with HDR or High Dynamic Range photography, Aurora HDR is the best app you can get. For those who are not familiar, HDR combines multiple images (low exposure, medium exposure, and high exposure) to create an image with a better dynamic range. What it means is that your photos will have a better ratio of light and dark. Your iPhone already does this if you have this setting turned on while you are taking pictures. However, In a more traditional sense, a photographer takes three photos in different exposures and combines them in an HDR photo editing app to get the best results.

For that work, Aurora HDR is the best tool out there. Aurora HDR is made by the same developers who make Luminar and hence I found that both apps had more or less the same user interface with a focus on different photo editing styles. Remember, if you don’t work with HDR photos manually, you really don’t need to get this app. That being said, I used it with same photos that I use on other photo editing apps and the results were quite impressive. This app is definitely not for everyone, but some of you might enjoy using this.

Get AuroraHDR 2019:$99

Best Free Raw Photo Editing Apps for Mac

Best Free Raw Photo Editor Mac

9. darktable

If you read the article thoroughly, which I hope that you did, you will know that all the pro photo editing apps that I mentioned above, including Lightroom, Luminar, Affinity Photo, and Pixelmator Pro support RAW files so it wasn’t really necessary to create this section. Especially because if you are a professional who works only with RAW photos, you must be already using quite pricey RAW photo editor. Still, I was so impressed with this app that I didn’t, not want to include this on my list, especially when it’s completely free to use.

In fact, the description on its website articulate things about this app far better than I could so I will just post it here, “darktable is an open source photography workflow application and raw developer. A virtual light-table and darkroom for photographers. It manages your digital negatives in a database, lets you view them through a zoomable light-table, and enables you to develop raw images and enhance them.” If this is something you need, you should click on the link to download it right now.

Get darktable: Free

Best Online Photo Editor for Mac (Free Photoshop Alternative)

9. Photopea

Photopea is an excellent photo editor for Mac if you don’t want to use a native app. Photopea is a web app that brings almost all the features that Adobe Photoshop has for free. Standout features include content-aware fill, filters support, layers support, a huge selection for brushes, and more.

Best Free Raw Photo Editor Mac

Raw

Raw Viewer Mac

The app also supports all popular image formats along with app-specific formats, including PSD, XD, Sketch, XCF, RAW, and more. If you have used Adobe Photoshop in the past but want to move on due to its high-cost, this is the perfect solution for you. It even supports most keyboard shortcuts that Photoshop uses.

It also has dozens of PSD templates that you can use to create thumbnails for videos, profile avatars, cards, and more. The only major drawback of this app is that the UI looks a bit dated. But for a free online photo editor, this rocks. If you are looking for a free Photoshop alternative, I urge you to give this app a try. If you find the app interesting, you can get started by visiting its learn page.

Bonus: Photoscape X

Photoscape X is another excellent free app for editing photos on the Mac. While the app does have a pro version that costs money, the free version is more than enough for most users. Apart from the usual tools like resize, crop, rotate, merge, and more, you also get access to pro tools such as color adjustments, filters, de-noising, batch editing, and more.

The interface of the app is functional. So, while it won’t win any design awards, you will find it easier to use. You get the main panels at the top. Here, you can choose between collage, edit, view, GIF, and more. I like that panels are separated depending on tasks. This helps in keeping the side panel, which hosts all your editing tools, clean.

The app supports most of the popular image formats, including RAW. I did find that the app took a bit more time to process large files, but overall, my experience was good enough to include this on the list.

Get Photoscape X:Free, in-app purchases

Best Image Editing Apps for Mac: Final Thoughts

While all these photo editing apps are good, you will find that some of them suit you better than the others. For me, Luminar and Affinity Photo work the best and hence I am still sticking to those two. But you should choose the one that fits your editing style and needs. If you find this article informative, comment below to tell us which photo editing app you found to be the best for you.