Finding the best free photo editor for MAC devices can be tricky. You could use photo editing software that costs a one-off fee, or a monthly subscription.
But what if your budget is limited? What if you can’t afford to purchase software? What if you simply enjoy photography as a hobby and want to try your hand at photo editing? This is where free photo editing software for MAC computers can help.
There are a plethora of superb programs available. These programs have excellent features and run like a dream on MAC computers.
When choosing free photo editing software for MAC computers, you must understand what to look for. This type of program has a myriad of useful features that are essential if you want to effectively edit your photos:
- Ability to edit RAW photos
- Full control over basic image elements such as contrast and exposure
- Transformation tools like crop and straighten
- Ability to make local adjustments or use layers
- Option to export in a plethora of file types
As you can see, you have many considerations when choosing a suitable photo editor for MAC. To make things easier, we have listed 10 of the best online photo editor programs that can be installed on MAC devices including:
1. Apple Photos
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Ability to upload photos to iCloud storage
Apple Photos is installed as default on MAC devices. It serves as one of the best free photo editor programs simply because you get it with your computer. Apple Photos is simple and easy to use. Furthermore, layout and performance are fantastic. Users can easily load their photos and logically organize them.
Moreover, the photo management features extend to iCloud. If you have an iCloud account, photos from this program will automatically sync. This means you can access your images from anywhere.
In terms of editing, Apple Photos allows users to manipulate many image types including RAW files. A series of smart sliders allows minute details of an image to be changed.
Sliders include exposure, highlights, shadows, brightness, and contrast. In addition to this, this free photo editor provides retouch features like red-eye removal and lens distortion correction.
If you want to be creative, there is also some cools features such as selective color and pre-set filters. Examples of filters include vivid, dramatic, mono, and silvertone. This is certainly one of the best free photo editing software choices available for MAC users. Don’t forget that images can also be shared via chat messages with other Apple users.
2. Luminar 3 (Free Trial 7 Days)
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Accent AI 2.0 enhancement filter
Luminar 3 remains one of the best online photo editor programs for MAC devices. Skylum continues to refine this product and add some epic artificial intelligent tools. If you want quick and effective editing, Luminar 3 is the top choice.
This program offers unparalleled ease of use. Moreover, users can edit their photos in lightning-fast speeds using AI filters. There is also a feature called adjustment sync – this allows edit settings to be duplicated onto other photos, thus speeding up the editing process.
To start with, Luminar 3 has a myriad of simple editing functions. Manipulate brightness, clarity, and highlights using this photo editor for MAC. Edits are applied in real-time and there is no processing lag. Moreover, choose from over 70 different pre-set filters. Make photos pop with stylish looks such as 5th Avenue, Fashionable, and Classic B&W.
Where this photo editing software for MAC excels, however, is automatic editing. Sky Enhancer, Foliage Enhancer, and Accent AI 2.0 are three powerful AI-driven filters.
Sky Enhancer, and Foliage enhancers, for example automatically improve the sky and foliage. Accent AI 2.0, on the other hand, is a fully-fledged AI filter that boosts your whole image to perfection. We recommend trying this superb program today for free.
3. Pixelmator
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Image templates to mimic different screen sizes
Pixelmator is a top photo editor for MAC computers. The free trial version gives users access to the full set of features. Users love the simple, and easy to use interface – the toolbars are clear and the different tools straightforward to use. Furthermore, the program runs fantastically on MAC devices – even large RAW files are handled with ease.
One of the best features is the complex layers function. Users can create multiple layers to allow detailed editing. Moreover, layers can be renamed and organized into groups. For high-detail photos, this feature offers excellent control.
All the basic editing parameters are available using sliders. Edit contrast, clarity, saturation, and exposure, for example with a few clicks. Moreover, Pixelmator provides an excellent choice of photo effects. Transform images into masterpieces with such effects as motion blur, sharpen, and bokeh. These effects can also be applied using sliders.
Aside from the above, this online photo editor also offers retouching tools. For portrait shots, this toolset is phenomenal. Users can clone, heal, and desaturate, for example. Furthermore, the repair tool and repair selections tool allow the removal of unwanted objects from photos. This combination of features and performance make Pixelmator a super online image editor.
4. GIMP
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Automatically fix perspective distortion
GIMP is both an online photo editor, and a raster graphics creation tool. It was created using open source technology and is completely free. This program is available on Windows, MAC, and Linux devices.
Moreover, the extensive community ensures the software is modernized, and bugs are fixed. It has remained one of the best free photo editing software for MAC for years.
This online image editor has some powerful enhancement tools. Users can fix lens distortion using the perspective distortion tool. Moreover, the channel mixer allows reduced saturation, and awesome black and white photos to be created.
In addition to this, tools like the clone stamper and healing brush enable users to remove imperfections and unwanted items from their photos.
GIMP also has support for a myriad of image types including RAW, PSD, PNG, GIF, and TIFF. In addition to this, this best free photo editor has a customizable layout. Users can alter the layout to their preference.
Whilst users have full control over photo editing, they can also create raster graphics too. This is a fantastic program if you want to edit photos for marketing or business usage. It’s this duality that makes GIMP one of the top free photo editing software for mac computers.
5. Photoscape X
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Various batch processing tools
Photoscape X has been rated one of the best free photo editing software for MAC on numerous occasions. This program is available for both MAC and Windows devices.
Moreover, it is completely free, but there are optional in-program purchases too. The program is marketed as a photo editor that also provides collage creation, screen capture, and photo management.
First, we should mention the batch tools. If you have large volumes of photos to process, Photoscape X can help. It has a myriad of batch processing tools that greatly speed up editing. For example, users can batch resize, rename, and export. Moreover, changes to image parameters can also be made to multiple photos at once.
In addition to these useful batch tools, Photoscape X also features excellent retouching tools. Examples include blemish removal, spot healing, mole removal, red-eye correction, and dehaze. The dehaze tool, for example, allows users to remove unwanted haze from landscape photography. Each tool is easy to use and gives the user fantastic control.
Finally, this best free image editor allows the creation of beautiful collages. Different images, stickers, and graphics can be overlaid onto your photos. The creativity is fantastic, and the quality is also brilliant.
6. Pixlr
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Advanced layer controls
Pixlr is the first web browser entry for best photo editing software for MAC computers in this list. There is a full downloadable version, but the browser version is adequate. The interface is simple to use. All you need is a modern web browser with Flash player enabled. Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Edge are suitable choices.
This editor is predominantly a raster graphics tool. It features many graphics tools such as brushes, fill tool, gradients, and text. The toolbar is not too dissimilar from Adobe Photoshop. Moreover, there is also a detailed navigator, layers panel, and history box. Any change can be undone – the editing is non-destructible.
The top menu features photo editing tools – namely layer, adjustments, and filters. Adjustments contain different parameters users change such as contrast, saturation, and tone.
Filters, on the other hand, has a myriad of pre-set image filters such as mosaic, and black and white. In addition to this, users can also make image transformations and change phot crop. Pixlr is undoubtedly the best free photo editor for MAC in the browser category.
7. Photolemur (Free Trial 7 Days)
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Automatic enhancements for easy editing
Skylum has created another fantastic program and an exceptional online photo editor. Whilst Luminar 3 offers a heap of advanced features, Photolemur offers simplicity and speed. Skylum understands the importance of artificial intelligence. Many of the features contained within this program are used to automatically enhance images.
First, Photolemur has a myriad of awesome styles. These are pre-set edits that mimic different photo styles. Examples include Apollo, evolve, fall, mono, and spirited. Evolve, for example, gives an image a fantastic retro look – as if it were a scene from an old film. These edits can be applied with a single click and customized afterward.
Second, this program also has face finish technology. This is a superb addition to portrait photography. Simply click the face finish filter, and portrait shots will automatically be improved. Blemishes removed, skin smoothed, and teeth whitened, for example. If you have a large bulk of portrait photography, this simple filter works wonders.
Finally, Photolemur also features a range of features present in Luminar 3. Sky Enhance and Foliage Enhance are both available. Furthermore, there is also a brilliant cover recovery tool. If you have a series of dull photos, color recovery can boost saturation, and make the photos pop.
Why not try this photo editing software for MAC and see what automatic edits you can make?
8. Affinity Photo
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Panorama Stitching
Affinity is a fantastic series of computer programs including publisher, designer, and photo. Affinity Photo is one of the best free photo editing software available. It combines a powerful processing engine, together with a multitude of epic editing features. Try Affinity Photo for free and see what the latest version 1.7 has to offer.
This program has won numerous awards such as Apple App of the Year, and Best Photography Software from Photography News. The features available include full RAW editing, HDR merge, focus stacking, panorama stitching, 360 image editing, and batch processing. These are all superb tools and give users excellent creative opportunities.
Aside from the special features, Affinity Photo offers excellent power and performance. The interface operates smoothly – when zooming on photos and scrolling through thumbnails the performance is amazing. Moreover, large files such as RAW and PSD formats are handled with ease. The program can cope with photos up to 100mb in size.
Affinity Photo also features the basic editing tools you would expect. Take full control of your images and alter parameters such as temperature, contrast, shadows, and hue. Finally, as one of the best free photo editor programs available, Affinity also offers high-quality retouching tools.
9. Paint.net
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Unlimited editing history
Paint.net is one of the longest standing editing programs available. It is quite basic in appearance, but it still has a great set of features. This program has numerous features that allow it to perform fantastically. It can easily handle different phototypes, even RAW images, and large files. Moreover, the layout and toolbars are easy to use.
In terms of photo editing, Paint.net has a great set of features. Users can easily control different image aspects such as clarity, brightness, noise, and color tones. Moreover, the editing is non-destructive – the program maintains an unlimited history that users can switch back too if errors are made. The history is practically unlimited and depends on your available HDD space.
In addition to this, the program has a great range of special effects. Users can add awesome effects to their images such as motion blur, swirl, and pixilation.
As one of the best free photo editing software for MAC, Paint.net benefits because it is open source. It has a great community of followers and developers. There is a myriad of tutorials available, and the program has fantastic support. If you want a simple photo editor for MAC, Paint.net is a fantastic choice.
10. Photo Pos Pro
- RAW Editing – Yes
- Notable Feature – Extensive graphic tools
Photo Pos Pro is a fantastic program with an extensive range of features. This program can handle RAW files and has support for hundreds of different camera models and lens types.
Using Photo Pos Pro, users can automatically correct different distortion such as lens distortion and chromatic aberration. Moreover, users have full control over basic editing – exposure, brightness, and temperate, for example, can all be adjusted.
Not only does Photo Pos Pro offer basic editing, but users can also make collages and graphics. There is a range of advanced photo effects, borders, and frames for example. Moreover, users can easily replace and remove unwanted images.
There are tools to remove backgrounds from photos. In addition to this, the program has advanced eraser tools to remove objects and place them in new photos. As a top photo editing software for MAC, this program is certainly up there with the best online photo editor choices.
Look at all that choice! 10 amazing photo editing software for MAC computers. Luminar 3 and Apple Photos are two excellent choices – why not try Luminar 3 today?
This program can also be used as a plugin, as well as a standalone product. If you pick any one of these editing programs, you will be able to turn your photos into pieces of art!
