By the end of 2022, the image editing industry is predicted to be worth over $1 trillion, and by 2028 this figure is estimated to rise to $1.5 trillion. When you consider the rapid uptake of smartphone-based photography, it’s no wonder that image editing has never been so popular. After all, it’s never been easier to take and modify photos.
So, if you’re looking for the perfect image editing app for your project, this article’s for you. Today, we’ll cover the best apps, their uses, and where you can get your hands on them.
Types of Image Editing
The type of app you’ll need mainly depends on what you want from the editing process. So, with that said, let’s explore some of the different types of image editing.
Graphic Design and Marketing
Let’s say you’ve got an idea for the perfect flier, newsletter, or social media promo slide. You’ve taken some great pictures to showcase your product, but now you need to pull it all together.
While most image editing apps enable you to refine your photos, designers and marketers need something geared more toward the complete product. By this, we mean access to typography libraries, templates, clipart, stock images, etc.
Photography
Capturing the perfect group shot or selfie is often easier said than done. Fortunately, this is where a little editing magic comes in handy. From retro filters to color correction and overlays, the perfect photo editor should empower you to produce a clean-looking social media-ready photo.
But it’s not just facing you can use these apps to tinker with. Typically, apps with a photography focus also enable you to edit light levels, contrast, and color balance. These tools are especially handy for refining the landscapes you’ve captured.
Illustration
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that some apps come with drawing tools, layers, and text. So, you can turn your images into comics and beautiful illustrations.
So, with all that in mind, let’s delve into our top picks.
1. Design the Ideal Social Media Post with Canva
Canva is a desktop and mobile app packed with robust graphic design and marketing tools. It comes with a vast library of templates to help you create high-quality marketing materials.
You can upload multiple images and drag and drop them into the template of your choice. You can also browse through their wealth of stock images, fonts, and icons. Not to mention, you can edit your image’s light, size, and color with just a few clicks and even add sound or animation.
All in all, it’s a one-stop shop for marketers and graphic designers alike. You can find it free in the Google Play and Apple App Store.
2. Color Correct Your Landscapes with Snapseed
Snapseed is a great editor for sophisticated photographers looking for an easy way to edit images on the go. With color filters and light balancing tools, you can easily highlight the mood and ambiance of your photos. In addition, it offers a range of preset filters, frames, overlays, and sizing tools.
One of this app’s most notable features is that you can use the select tool to tackle different elements of your image, such as its tone, light, and focus.
If you want to check out the Snapseed app, you can download it for free from either Google Play or the Apple App Store.
3. Perfect Your Selfies with Facetune by Lightricks
Facetune is the ultimate selfie companion. It’s a photo editing app designed for tweaking and enhancing your natural features.
Its powerful tools make portrait editing fun and easy. From changing your hair color and makeup to even replacing your facial expression, there are hundreds of ways to experiment.
Another remarkable aspect of this app is that you can remove or add different backgrounds, filters, and overlays. Plus, you can use light, color, and various styles to get your snaps Instagram-ready in just a few clicks. The new “presets” feature makes this even easier.
Moreover, it’s free and easy to download from Google Play or the Apple App Store.
4. Edit and Organize Your Snaps with Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom comes with a library of preset filters designed to manage and create vivid images. This tool is used by professionals and beginners alike. You can make advanced edits to your image’s light, color, tone, and contrast values.
Lightroom also uses AI to help you manage and organize your photos on the cloud. It’s perfect for those who have multiple pictures or edits to make.
The basic app is free to use on desktop and mobile, but you can purchase extra features from the Adobe Creative Cloud. Like the aforementioned apps, you can also find Lightroom on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
5. Get Creative with Picsart
Picsart is an image-editing app for social media creators and marketers. It’s an all-in-one collage and sticker maker that doubles as a tool for creating promo images and basic graphic design. With a wealth of filters and custom photo effects and overlays, there are lots you can do with this app.
Plus, you can create memes, cartoons, and even illustrations. It also has a library of fonts, photo templates, and retouching tools.
As a bonus, it also comes with a video editor to help create social media reels and slideshows – and a library of stock music to seal the deal.
You can install and use the app on Android and iOS devices, as well as Windows. There’s a free forever version, but for the full-featured Gold plan, you’ll receive a seven-day free trial, after which you pay $12 per month.
6. Bring Your Doodles to Life with ibisPaint
ibisPaint has so many features that it’s hard to believe it’s free. You get a huge library of overlays, backgrounds, and drawing tools to help you create your own comic and edit your drawings. From light and color filters to a massive selection of fonts, there are lots you can do with ibisPaint.
While the app is geared towards illustration, you can just as easily create marketing materials and get creative with graphic design. If you check out YouTube, you’ll find a series of tutorials explaining all the tools included with the app and get some fun project ideas to boot.
You can download for Apple and Google Play stores. A free, slightly limited version is available, and the full app costs just over $10. That said, you can also unlock all of ibisPrint’s features for up to 18 hours when you watch a few ads.
7. Create Instant Collages with Pixlr
Pixlr is a comprehensive tool with a vast library of stock content, overlays, stickers, and text. From creating marketing materials to editing your snaps, there’s a plethora of filters, brushes, and AI features designed to help you bring your creative vision to life.
You can assemble fantastic collages, remove backgrounds, and add special effects with just a few clicks. Plus, Pixlr has plenty of tutorials and an online help center you can turn to get the most out of the app.
Pixlr is free to download for iOS and Android devices, and there are web app and Windows versions as well. However, you’ll have to pay around $8 per month to unlock all its premium features.
Are You Ready to Start Editing Your Snaps?
More than half of professional photographers prefer using their phones for personal photos rather than a professional camera. With the ease of image editing apps like the ones listed above, you’ll soon be able to streamline color-correcting, add filters, and create professional-looking snaps in just a few clicks.
