
Not only offering a full suite of tools, but also several powerful AI processing tools. Luminar – While relatively new in the photo-editing business, Luminar has brought many innovations that other companies are still trying to catch up with.

Visit his Youtube channel for free tutorials and live streams: Walter Rowe Photography My friend and fellow professional photographer is also a moderator and educator for many Capture One communities. This includes updates to the editing engine so large workflows and complex edits are a breeze and lightning-fast. The developer is committed to professionals and has a large community that translates into regular updates with new features and tweaks. Offering extremely powerful editing tools, unparalleled raw processing, and a robust tethering capability. It doesn’t offer the smooth workflow and features that a professional photographer would need, so I wouldn’t recommend this for them.Ĭapture One – This is the application of choice among professionals. It packs in a robust photo-management capability, stacking, hdr, panorama, and other tools to help you make creative photo albums and more. It offers all of the features any photographer would need, from beginners to advanced, for a one-time payment. It’s actually the first real photo editor that I started with myself. Photoshop Elements – This is often my recommendation for beginners. They have also recently expanded with new AI features and creative tools.

It’s not hard to see why this is so popular from its data asset management, extensive raw camera support, and native stacking, hdr, and panorama features. Used by professionals for decades, there is no other software out there that can really compete when taken as a whole. Lightroom/Photoshop CC (subscription) – Even though this is priced on a subscription basis, it is still the most robust and feature-packed photo editing software package available. Until then, they have a great selection of videos and tutorials on their site to help you.

Coming soon, I will be doing my own beginner tutorials to help you get started. There is no import feature, but it does have rudimentary photo management features for organizing and searching. However, it doesn’t offer a stacking feature, hdr, or panorama, so I recommend you also purchase Affinity Photo to complement this.

Advanced photographers will immediately appreciate the DXO optics modules, Deep Prime Noise reduction, and Lens sharpening tools. For beginners, there is a learning curve but there are some presets already built-in that will fix up your photos quickly. The raw image processing, AI tools, and noise reduction are better than everything below – in my humble opinion. PhotoLab 4 Elite – This is my preferred and personal photo editing software.
