Photo editing software is an essential tool for organizing, optimizing, and editing digital pictures. There was a time when it was only used by professional photographers and photo editors. However, today, it is even used by casual users who merely take photographs with their smartphones.
No matter what your reason is, we bring you the 20 best photo editing software that you can use on your PC to edit your digital photos, organize them, select the best ones, and print or share them on the desired platforms. Let’s begin with various photo editing programs and then we’ll discuss which one is right for you.
Top 18 Photo Editing Software for PC
Here are some of the best choices in photo editors for laptops or desktops.
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Adobe Lightroom CC
Best known for: Color correction and batch editing
Adobe Lightroom CC works best as a graphic editor and can enable users to carry out batch photo editing and color correction with just a single click. If you’re looking for a simple alternative to Photoshop, then this is the one. It is user-friendly and easy to learn.
Pros:
- Automatic source-file saving
- Multiple presets
- Professional color correction ability
- Enables working simultaneously with several albums and pictures
Cons:
- Not best for professional image retouching
- Inconvenient catalog system
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Adobe Photoshop CC
Best known for: Standard photo editing
Adobe Photoshop is the best software for photographers and designers. It contains all the necessary tools to carry out varied image editing tasks, such as photo retouching, image restoration, color correction, digital drawing, designing, etc.
Pros:
- Multiple file format support
- Multiple filters, brushes, actions, textures, overlays, etc.
- Forums and active technical support
- A large number of photo fixing tools
Cons:
- Complex user interface
- Tools don’t have a progress indicator
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Skylum Luminar 4
Best known for: User-friendliness and in-depth color correction ability
This feature-rich image editing software for PC contains a lot of tools that can help you with advanced image post-processing. The developers also recently released the updated version that consists of excellent tools for color correction.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- RAW file editing
- Enables editing in layers
- Can be used as a plugin for Photoshop and Lightroom
Cons:
- Requires time to master Healing and Cloning tools
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GIMP
Best known for: Free photo editing
It is a powerful photo editing software that can be downloaded free of cost. One of the best advantages of using this software is that it supports working with RAW image files. It is an open-source photo editor for PC, thereby enabling you to change the program according to your use.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Works with multiple file types
- Variety of features and tools
- Supports changing functionality
Cons:
- The new version may have bugs
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Capture One Pro
Best known for: All-in-one image editing features
It’s a great alternative to Lightroom and has features similar to that of Photoshop. It is primarily used for professional photo retouching and color correction. Some of the tools that it contains can even offer better results than Photoshop.
Pros:
- Well-developed masks and layers
- A large set of tools and functions
- Availability of cloud storage
- Quick importing and exporting of files
Cons:
- Can be a bit expensive
- Needs good PC configuration
- Has a difficult interface
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PhotoWorks
Best known for: Different options to work with colors
This easy-to-learn and powerful image editor can be used by both beginners and professionals. It consists of three versions, i.e., Standard, Delux, and Pro, which users can select and employ depending on the complexity of their work.
Pros:
- Enables creating excellent landscapes within seconds
- Availability of watermarks and captions
- One-click effect addition
- Portrait retouching with a top-graded toolset
Cons:
- Doesn’t have layers
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InPixio
Best known for: High-quality color correction and photo organizing
It boasts numerous features that can help you handle top-grade projects, like real estate image editing or product photo editing. Aside from organization and advanced photo editing capabilities, it can also allow you to add special effects to your pictures.
Pros:
- Professional clone stamp
- Background cut out in different clicks
- Semi-automatic color correction
- Convenient perspective correction
Cons:
- Doesn’t support batch photo editing
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Photodiva