Top Photo Editors for Macintosh

Comments

November 27, 2006 at 12:06 pm

(1) JanC says:

I’ve been using Graphic Converter for a couple years. You can use it for free or pay the $35 which is well worth it. I don’t use half the features that it offers. I would recommend it for all Mac users.

January 25, 2007 at 12:20 am

(2) Dave Hagelberg says:

Hi -

Have you looked at GIMPshop? It is an opensource (free) application for Macs that looks a lot like PhotoShop. Should be about as easy to use, with a few simple adjustments, I suppose. In the past this sort of stuff has been too complicated for many of us, but I think at this point it is pretty straightforward.

-Dave H

January 27, 2007 at 6:39 pm

(3) Sue Chastain says:

The GIMP is in my list (http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/imageediting/tp/budgetphotoedm.htm) and since GIMPshop is just a modified layout of THe GIMP I don’t list it separately. I have written about it (http://graphicssoft.about.com/b/a/219224.htm) and I’m planning to give it try one of these days.

April 15, 2007 at 11:38 pm

(4) Harriet Meltzer says:

I was looking over your list of
freeware editing programs for the Mac.
I went to the site which developed “Future Paint” and I noted that they have developed a newer and what seems like a much more sophisticated program called “Compositor.” It is shareware and is a free download for 35 days. Thought you might be interested.

June 11, 2007 at 11:51 am

(5) Warren Jones says:

Actually, I’m only interested in compressing picture files so as to make it easier and quicker to download them. I assume that all of your recommended choices can do this, but I wonder if there are easier and cheaper programs with which I could do this.

June 11, 2007 at 12:04 pm

(6) Sue Chastain says:

Warren: Some of the choices here might meet your needs:
Batch Resize and Crop Photos

Also check out ImageWell, a very handy free program for Mac.
ImageWell for Mac Screen Shot and Mini-Review

June 11, 2007 at 1:15 pm

(7) Warren Jones says:

Thanks for your comprehensive and speedy reply, Sue. It’s more than I had a right to expect.. In fact, it’s so much that I’m bookmarking it so that I can review and digest it later. Thanks again. I wonder why no one mentioned GraphicsConverter? Other people have recommended it. Oh, well, I have enough to review for now.

July 20, 2007 at 7:50 pm

(8) Per A J Andersson says:

Hi!
I’m sure wondering why GraphicConverter isn’t on your list. For every new release GC gets even better as a photo studio application. My use of it goes back to at least 1996, an nowadays I almost never feel the need to look further (read: towards Adobe Photoshop).

August 14, 2007 at 12:07 am

(9) Vinay says:

Hi –
Thanks for this very helpful article. I’m wondering what the fundamental differences are between Photoline and Elements, for Mac users. I have only minimal experience with editing software, but would like to get into it in a bigger way. What would you recommend? I would be working almost exclusively with JPEGS.
Thanks,
Vinay

August 15, 2007 at 10:53 am

(10) Sue Chastain says:

Vinay: I have not personally used Photoline, but it is not going to have the user base that a retail product like Elements has, so you will be less likely to find help and tutorials and user groups online. I would recommend downloading both and taking them for a trial run before you decide what to buy.

December 16, 2007 at 1:48 pm

(11) Rita M. Regnier-Yvarra says:

I’m always surprised we never hear about Compositor at artlythere.com. I believe it’s Mac only; now updated for Intel. And dirt cheap. I’ve been using it for years and recently became impressed with how much the author has improved it and provided more guidance. It’s specialty is highly unusual special effects, creating artwork out of photos or other images, lots of preset actions and automatically creating your own, to name the best. It has some definitely serious limitations, but they can be worked around — only one undo/redo, tho’ a tool called something like Fade, plus revert. Very few brush options, etc.yet I still like painting with it. Selection presets plus you save yours. I suggest doing the more mechanical editing work in Elements then moving your image to Compositor to turn it into something totally unique, particularly if you want something on the “weird” side or with tons of punch and even surrealism. There’s special blend modes & ways of using them; effects/filters/actions easily accessible. Many things I’ve never seen elsewhere. For every deficiency, there’s something special or done unlike and/or better than anywhere else. It’s the most unusual image editor for creative work I’ve seen or heard about. Shouldn’t be overlooked.

December 17, 2007 at 11:40 pm

(12) Sue Chastain says:

Hi Rita. Thanks for the suggestion. Compositor is in my budget editors list: http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/pixelbasedfreemac/tp/budgetphotoedm.htm

December 18, 2007 at 4:07 pm

(13) Garrett Brown says:

Chocoflop is a great freeware photo editing program

http://www.chocoflop.com

April 30, 2008 at 9:55 pm

(14) Melissa says:

I think GIMP is the best free software out there for photo editing. This website packages it with the necessary plug-ins for Mac: http://darwingimp.sourceforge.net/download.html

It rivals Adobe Photoshop in it features. It’s not exactly very intuitive but it has the types of features you don’t usually find in freeware and you can also download a user guide.

October 30, 2008 at 9:39 am

(15) Bev Mascara says:

I am interested in learning more about Shoe Box. Do you have any tutorials or info on this new browser for MAC’s

October 30, 2008 at 10:44 am

(16) Sue Chastain says:

Bev: I have nothing on Shoebox at the moment. I hope to review it one of these days, but I’m always overloaded, so who knows when it might happen!

January 2, 2009 at 8:54 pm

(17) Vicki says:

Hey,

I’d really like some software that is capable of some fairly simple things like removing red eye and is also capable of altering the original file. I know iphoto can edit but it doesnt overwrite original files as far as I can tell.
Can you help?