Long gone are the days when a professional photographer was required for you to get good photos. Fortunately, nowadays our mobile phones are perfectly capable of getting great photos. Photography is getting more and more popular throughout the population with both professional and amateur photographers.
It takes a long time to take the perfect photograph, you need to look for the perfect setting and find the right perspective and framing. Once you have finally taken your photo you will need to edit it. Currently, there is a large number of totally free apps for both for Android and IOS that you can download to your phone. That said, finding the right photo editing app for your needs can be difficult so we have made this list of the 10 most popular editing apps to help you.
Adobe Lightroom
There are two versions of this app, Lightroom CC and Lightroom Classic CC with the latter being the most popular of the two due to its simpler interface and the fact that you can sync it to the Adobe cloud servers. Features include photo management and editing, exposure adjustments and watermarking, as well as support for RAW files. The premium version gives you access to additional photo editing tools and the ability to synchronise with as many devices as you like.
Snapseed
Edit photos professionally using this app designed by Google. Snapseed comes with a wide variety of options that allow you to adjust the blur and temperature of a photo amongst other things. Perhaps the main feature of the app however, is the editor where you can apply various effects to your photos, making editing even easier.
VSCO
Both free and paid versions of this app feature simple, intuitive editing tools for your photos making VSCO suitable for both professional and new photographers. This app has become so popular that over the past few years communities like VSCO Boys and VSCO Girls have sprung up where users show off their looks by sharing photos.
Afterlight
For photography aficionados, this app is perhaps the most useful as it includes all the basic editing tools and it also allows you to edit RAW files. The app also has a variety of different filters to choose from, however you can also create your own. These features will allow you to edit your photos in a simpler, more personalised way and are especially useful if you want your photos to follow a common theme. Although the basic app is free, you can access the full subscription for just €3.50 per month.
Lens Distortions
In addition to the basic editing tools, this app offers original distortion tools including colour filters, overlay effects and even lighting options. Similar to most apps, there is a free version and a paid version, with a the subscription version you will have acess to over 200 effects.
PicsArt
A popular app all over the world, PicsArt can be described as a combination between Photoshop and Paint. Because of this, you can edit your photos in pretty much any way in addition to creating collages. Similar to VSCO, PicsArt has a very active community of users who regularly share their photos, this is made even easier by the fact that they can upload them directly to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
A Colour Story
For most users, this app is mainly used to edit Instagram stories. Simple yet powerful, this app is perfect if you are just getting into editing your own photos. Amongst all of the app’s features, the main highlights are the lighting tools, colour and contrasting along with various useful filters.
Polarr
Polarr is another photo editing app that allows you to create your own totally personalised filters. With this app you can share your creations with other users with a QR code. In terms of its features, the filters are excellent and are slicker than the ones offered by VSCO. In addition to the mobile app, you can also download the free version for your computer as well.
Englight
A simple digital photography app which offers basic editing tools. This app stands out for its different artistic photo montages and its intuitiveness. Different to the other apps on this list, Enlight is only available on IOS operating systems.
Photo Collage
This app has a more specific use than the other apps on this list, in that it is mainly used for creating photo collages. Because of this, the app only comes with basic lighting and shadow tools, though it makes up with this shortcoming by including thousands of different collage designs for whatever your needs are.
In summary, when choosing an app, you should consider exactly what you need to edit and what photographic result you are looking for. If you are just starting out in the world of photo editing, we recommend that you first try out the applications with the most basic tools and gradually use their different functions to familiarise yourself with them. With enough time and practice, you can become a great professional photographer!