Welcome to the exciting world of photo editing! Today you will learn how to edit photos using the most popular tools available for Mac, from the simplicity of the application. Apple Photos to powerful professional software like Adobe Photoshop.
But before we dive into the details, let's take a tour of what photo editing entails and why it's so important.
What exactly does it mean to edit photos?
If you are a Mac user looking to improve your skills in the field of photo editing, you have come to the right place.
Editing photos is much more than just adjusting contrast or removing red-eye. It is an art form that can transform an ordinary photo into something extraordinary. By editing your photos, you can improve lighting, adjust colors, remove unwanted elements and much more.
Ultimately, photo editing allows you to have full control over how your image is presented to the world.
Now that we've covered the essential basics of photo editing, let's look at some of the best photo editing software available for Mac.
Apple Photos to edit photos
We will start with the most basic. The Photos app that comes pre-installed on your Mac is more powerful than you might think at first glance. Although its interface is simple and easy to use, it is packed with features that allow you to make basic and medium adjustments to your photos.
To start edit a photo in the Photos app, simply select the image you want to edit and click the “Edit” button in the top right corner. Here, you'll find a variety of tools that allow you to adjust light, color, sharpness, and other features. You can also crop and rotate the image, and apply a variety of filters to give your photo a unique look.
While Apple Photos It's great for quick and easy edits, if you're looking for more flexibility and a more advanced set of tools, you'll probably want to consider a third-party photo editing app.
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are two of the most popular and powerful photo editing programs available for Mac. While Lightroom focuses on photo editing and handling, Photoshop offers a broader range of editing and design tools.
Lightroom it's ideal for editing large numbers of photos at once, adjusting exposure and color, and keeping your photos organized. Photoshop, on the other hand, is the tool of choice for professional photographers and graphic designers, offering more advanced features like layered editing, masks and selections, and a wide range of filters and effects.
To start editing a photo in Lightroom, you'll first need to import your photos into the app. From there, you can use the “Develop” module to make adjustments to your photos. In Photoshop you can open a photo and use the many tools and panels to make more detailed and complex adjustments.
A little more about Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop
To get the most out of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop it's important to understand some of their more advanced features.
Lightroom provides a set of non-destructive tools. This means that any changes you make to a photo can be undone at any time, without altering the original image. Among its most outstanding functions are the presets and the synchronization of settings. Presets let you apply the same settings to multiple photos with a single click. Adjustment sync, meanwhile, allows you to copy and paste adjustments from one photo to another, which can be a huge time saver.
Additionally, Lightroom offers robust digital asset management. You can organize your photos into collections, add keywords to your photos to make them easier to find, and rate and tag your photos to keep them organized.
Photoshop, on the other hand, is known for its layered editing capabilities.. This allows you to work on different parts of an image individually, without affecting the rest of the image. For example, you could adjust the colors in one part of the photo without changing the colors in the other parts.
Photoshop also offers a wide range of brushes and drawing tools, allowing you to create and edit graphics and designs directly within the application. Additionally, Photoshop is known for its powerful image manipulation engine, which allows you to do things like resize an image without losing quality, remove unwanted elements from a photo, or even combine multiple photos into a single image.
Affinity Photo
Now let's talk about a third program that has been gaining popularity among Mac users: Affinity Photo. Powered by Serif, this program offers a robust set of photo editing tools at a more affordable price than Adobe.
Like Photoshop, Affinity Photo offers layered editing, which allows you to make adjustments and modifications to specific parts of your image without affecting the rest. It also offers a number of filters and effects in real time, which means you can see how they will affect your image before applying them.
One of the most unique features of Affinity Photo is its «Persona«. Instead of having all the tools available in a single workspace, Affinity Photo divides its tools into different "Personas", each dedicated to a specific type of editing. For example, the "Development Persona" is where you'll find all the tools for RAW photo editing, while the "Liquify Persona" allows you to distort and manipulate your images in creative ways.
Pixelator Pro
Finally, let's talk about Pixelator Pro, another incredibly powerful and easy-to-use photo editing tool designed specifically for Mac. It offers a wide range of non-destructive editing tools that allow you to modify and adjust images without affecting the original.
With Pixelmator Pro you can do all the basics: crop, resize, adjust color and exposure. But where it really shines is in its more advanced features. For example, its repair engine allows you to quickly and easily remove unwanted elements from your photos. It also comes with a variety of preset effects and styles that you can apply to your photos with just one click.
One of the most impressive aspects of Pixelmator Pro is its support for RAW photo editing. This means you can edit high-quality photos right from your camera without first having to convert them to another format.
Furthermore, its interface is intuitive and easy to use, making photo editing an enjoyable experience, even for beginners.
Editing photos is a skill that takes time and practice to perfect. Do not despair if your first editions do not turn out as expected. With patience and practice, you'll soon be able to edit your photos like a pro. At the end of the day, photo editing is a form of personal expression. There are no fixed rules or standards to follow. It's all about what you find attractive and how you can convey your ideas and emotions through your images.
As you know, there are many options available to edit photos on your Mac. Each program has its own strengths and weaknesses, and the best one for you will depend on your specific needs and skill level. So don't be afraid to experiment and find the program that works best for you!
Now, why don't you try one of these tools and share your creations with us? We'd love to see what you can do!