When you first open Photos, you get a grid view of all of your photos. Editing on a desktop or laptop gives you a more extensive toolset and finer controls. Note also that similar, but not as powerful, tools can be found in the Photos app for iPhone and iPad. Personally, I use Lightroom to manage my photos and, as I recall, I had to stop the Photos app from automatically adding all my shots to it, in addition to Lightroom.

I believe the defaults on a Mac are set to automatically add all photos to the Photo app. One of the benefits is that Photos syncs your photographs between all your devices through iCloud. Note first that Apple wants you to store all your photos in the Photos app. However, the tools are hidden and you could be (like I was, prior to researching this article) completely unaware of them. For many casual, or even semi-advanced photographers who are invested in the Apple ecosystem, this might be all you need. It houses a fairly robust set of editing tools that do many of the tasks in Lightroom’s Develop Module or Photoshop’s Camera RAW. After they shut down Aperture in 2015, the Photos app on a Mac might be Apple’s best kept secret. Photos is the built-in editor that comes with your Mac. So, what are some options? Apple’s Photos And some of the alternatives have things Lightroom doesn’t. Even where alternatives offer some of the catalog features, like keywording or star ratings, they don’t replicate the full range of functionality in the Lightroom Catalog. Lightroom’s catalogue system is unique and one of the reasons many photographers use it. Let’s also recognize that no single software package duplicates everything another does. So, be aware: you may find yourself on your own if you run into a problem. While they often have good online tutorials, these alternatives don’t have the breadth and depth of free (and pay) tutorials by photographers that you’ll find with Lightroom or Photoshop.

Many of these alternative applications have developed good sized user bases, but you might not have anyone teaching them in your area or anyone local you can turn to should you encounter an issue or have a question. What are the best, free alternatives to Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop if you’re using a Mac? If you’re just starting out in photography, or don’t have much money to drop on buying software, are there options that do many, or most, of the things Lightroom and Photoshop (or Capture One or On1) do?ĭon't have a Mac but curious about free photo editors for Windows? Check out my article on photo editors for PCs.

Double clicking to enlarge the photo gives you access to the tools on the top right.

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