Photo retouching is an art that everyone doesn’t possess, right? Even though we regularly edit our selfies and smartphone photography but professional Photo editing is different altogether.  If you are a layman with no photo retouching know-how, the output of your photo retouching and a pro photo retoucher will differ considerably.

But it’s not a big deal if you as a layman don’t have the knack for image retouching. You can surely get your photography touched up through a pro photo retouching service provider or by an online photo retouching Tool.

However, if you are a pro photographer, you may wish to enhance your photography of any genre yourself, if not always, sometimes. This is where you have to be familiar with the photo retouching software. For top-notch image enhancement, you have to avail yourself of top-quality photo retouching software.

To familiarize photographers with the top rated image editing software, we have rounded up the 8 best photo retouching software for photographers. Needless to say, all the photographers don’t belong to the same level. Some are beginners, some belong to the intermediate level while others fall under the advanced level.

But from this collection, every type of photographer can get their preferred photo editing software. This collection is even suitable for photographers of any genre. No matter whether you are a product photographer, fashion photographer, wedding photographer, or any other type of photographer, the blog has substance to cater to you.

Let’s get cracking…..

Top 8 Image Retouching Software you should Know

If you explore online, you will find legions of image editing software. Some of them are online tools while others are offline tools. You have to deploy them downloading and then installing your device. But all these image editing tools don’t promise premium quality.

From this write-up, you will get to know which software exactly you should leverage to get desired output. Without further ado, let’s check the top 8 photo retouching software for photographers that you should rely on-

Adobe Photoshop

Spotting Photoshop right at the top, you aren’t stunned surely as it deserves the no.1 position. This is because Photoshop enables you to perform an array of photo retouching tasks. If you are a photographer, you can’t but skip Photoshop.

Photoshop lets you execute tasks, right from simple to advanced levels. Whether it’s a selection, masking, or any other action, Photoshop is unmatched by its peers. Earlier, all the Photoshop editing tasks were manually performed but lately, Photoshop has integrated many AI-based features into its latest versions.

Some of these killer features deserve to be mentioned like sky replacement, neural filters, select and mask, version history, quick actions, live shapes, and pattern preview. Due to its wide range of features, Photoshop is still the no.1 choice for photo editors, designers, and artists.

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Key Features:

• The best in business for selection and masking
• Able to perform non-destructive editing through its local adjustment layer
• Supports all types of file formats like JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and raw files
• Enables quick editing even for larger images
• Comes with advanced AI features and a retouching ability
• Comes bundled with 100GB of creative cloud storage

Price: Free Trial available for 1^st 7 days. Yearly plan costs $20.99/month (For Yearly Plan)

Adobe Lightroom

In our ranking, the 2^nd spot is claimed by another Adobe product, Adobe Lightroom. Compared to Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom is more beginner-friendly, giving photographers more flexibility. It has a super-simple interface with a clean and easy workspace, letting you focus on your image.

Lightroom comes with a whole lot of editing features that photographers can utilize to get optimum results. It boasts a number of filters and effects to get you started if you are unsure of what to do. With Lightroom, you can make localized adjustments to your images along with editing raw files.

Due to Lightroom’s tons of photo editing tools and wide range of image editing abilities, other image enhancement tools are failing to match its standard. If you are a pro photographer, you should hone your Lightroom photo editing skills.

Suggested Article- Adobe Photoshop Vs Lightroom: Compare & Contrast.

Key Features:

• Face detection ability for photo organization
• Able to sync with multiple devices
• Advanced filters and countless presets
• Camera and lens-based image correction
• Cloud-based storage available with a capacity of 1TB

Pricing:  Free Trial available for 1^st 7 days. Yearly plan costs $9.99/month (For Yearly Plan)

Skylum Luminar AI

If you are more eager about the final result of your raw images instead of the process, Luminar AI is the go-to tool for you. Skylum’s Luminar AI is an AI-powered photo editing tool that has everything that you would normally crave for editing your photography.

Luminar AI is a very simple and intuitive image retouching tool that you can leverage without any hassle. You don’t have to learn scores of things to work on it. All you have to do is import the image you want to edit and that’s it! AI-powered templates will suggest edits depending on the content of your image.

Additionally, you can do further AI-powered edits or take complete control with regular tools. You can also get a masking option to add or remove effects. This photo retouching will let you slim a subject’s torso, modify eye color, add fog to landscape, etc. with just a few clicks of mouse.

Key Features:

• Powered by artificial intelligence
• Contains advanced filters like Sunrays filter and Orton filter
• Comes with presets for dedicated DJI drone photos
• Enables non-destructive workflow
• Provides customizable workspaces

Pricing: Free Trial available for 1^st 7 days. Regular price- $79 for lifetime (For 1 Computer). Currently on offer costing $47 bundled with other tools.

Corel PaintShop Pro

Known as Photoshop’s alternative, Corel PaintShop Pro has everything to take your photography to the next level without breaking the bank. If you are looking for a simple and straightforward photo retouching tool to upgrade your photos, PaintShop Pro is the answer for you.

Corel PaintShop Pro doesn’t feature a monthly subscription fee, but rather asks you to pay a one-time fee. It’s inexpensive and gives you access to dozens of textures, backgrounds, and brushes. The latest version of PaintShop pro contains a photography workspace, designed for photographers.

This simple workspace improves your edit workflow providing the best photo editing tools in a simple format. The tool is touch-ready, letting you edit your photography on tablet. Overall, PaintShop Pro is a cracking option for basic but effective image editing.

 Key Features:

• Layers and Masks available
• Comes with SmartClone technology
• Allows 360° photo editing
• AI-powered presets available
• Able to perform raw image processing

Pricing: Free trial available for 30 days. Full version costs $99.99 for lifetime.

ON1 Photo Raw

ON1 Photo Raw is offered both as a standalone photo editing tool and a plugin for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Apple photos. The latest version of this image editing tool incorporates various AI-powered features, making your edits easy and smooth.

Some of these AI-powered features include Sky Swap AI, Time-Lapse Creation, Integration of ON1 NoNoise AI, Photoshop Plugin Support, Line Mask Tool, Backup and Restore, Favorites in Browse, Customizable Thumbnails, etc.

Like Photoshop and Luminar, ON1 Photo Raw comes with layers, blending modes, and masking. Other features include full integration with Apple Photos, the ability to add text to an image, HDR, panorama photo merging, and so on.

Key Features:

• Stackable filters available
• Comes with live adjustments and previews
• Can be downloaded on any device
• Each and every editing step is viewable through in Edit History feature
• Offers custom presets

Pricing: Costs $99.99 for lifetime (Full License + Bonuses). Currently, it’s on offer costing $79.99 for a lifetime (Full License + Bonuses).

DxO PhotoLab

DxO PhotoLab is best known for its raw image conversion to JPG image smoothly. But it can also carry out noise reduction and sharpening with full of perfection. The photo editor is compatible with both Mac and Windows operating systems.

DxO PhotoLab comes with customizable interface options, presets, color protection, and multiple export formats to let you accomplish all your tasks in one place. Once you import your images into the software, you can take advantage of its advanced rating system, add keywords, and search for other files that you deem fit.

This image editor no doubt is a cracking one for the photographers. With this tool, photographers can turn a nice landscape image into an extraordinary landscape image. The interface is like a lab as the name suggests and contains tons of real-time adjustments.

Key Features:

• Advance photo editor with bottomless functionalities
• Comes with manual and automatic modes
• Available with multiple optical corrections
• Offers excellent lens corrections
• Boasts customizable workspace

Pricing: Costs $139 for Essential package and $219 for Elite package

GIMP

GNU image manipulation program, yeah, that’s what it means when expanded. It’s a very well-known image editor that you can easily download and install on your pc. The great thing about this tool is it’s free of cost but offers pro features, handy for your photo editing projects.

With this amazing tool, you can execute photo retouching, photo composition, image enhancement, and whatnot. The key aspect of GIMP is it suits both newbies and pro photographers as they would fancy using its customizable interface to create ideal editing environment.

GIMP lets you perform plenty of adjustments to your images. You can even use 3^rd party plugins with it to create an unparalleled editing platform. GIMP is a charming tool to create artistic images with perfect lighting, exposure, and contrast through a variety of unique graphic design elements and effects.

Key Features:

• Comes with clone and touch-up tools
• Boasts support for multiple plugins
• Offers hardware support input devices including drawing tablet
• Provides efficient image retouching and restoring option
• Comes with file management and optimization modes

Pricing: Entirely free to use

PicMonkey

If you are hunting for a complete graphic design package, PicMonkey is the right choice for you. The tool will let you edit as well as retouch photos, make collages, batch-edit a massive collection of your photography, and many more.

PicMonkey will offer elements and tools to convert your photography into marvel works! Even though you can carry out basic photo edits with this fascinating image editor but it stands out when deployed to add graphic elements like fonts, logos, presets, and brand colors. Crazy, right?

So, if you are just starting out, PicMonkey can be a perfect choice to brush up on your photo editing skills. The program’s user interface is simple and stunning, giving an alternative option to those overwhelmed by other heavyweight photo retouching tools.

Key Features:

• Comes with a good selection of templates and collaboration features
• Provides sophisticated graphic design tools to create images for online publishing
• Simple and easy to use
• Automatic sizing for social media
• Offers addition of features and tools with constant updates

Pricing: Offers 7 day free trial. Basic plan starts at $7.99/Month, Pro plan starts $12.99/Month, and Team plan starts at $33.99/Month

Over to you…

That’s all we had in this comprehensive write-up rounding up the best 8 photo retouching tools. We have focused on multiple factors to rank these 8 image retouching tools- price, quality, features, and many other things.

Some of them will suit any type of photographer, no matter whether they are beginner or pro while some may suit only beginner or pro. Considering all the aspects, we would always recommend Adobe Photoshop for professional photography works.

However, you can also opt for others as well, depending on your budget, features, and requirements. With that, we hope that you would make the right choice for your next photography project after going through the write-up.

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