Best Free Simple Photo Editor For Mac 2017

The Best Free Software of 2017. Software is simple and free. You can be up and running in. Drive account so you can easily edit them later with any Windows or Mac or online text editor. The Best Photo Editing Software of 2018 Whether you shoot with a smartphone camera or a DSLR, you need software to get the most out of your images. Here's what you need to know to pick the best. Photopad Photo Editor is a simple photo editing tool for Mac. The software is available in a free version for non-commercial use. It has different features including crop, noise reduction tools, sharpening, photo effects, collage, filters to enhance your photos, add text and captions to photos and photo stitching to get the panorama effects. Best pro photo editors for Mac 2018 It's no longer the case that Adobe is king when it comes to image editing and manipulation. We take a look at the best Mac photo editors for creative professionals.

Edit Video on Your PC

Nothing makes an impression like moving pictures with sound. That's why digital video continues to grow in importance online. Couple that trend with the ever-increasing availability of devices capable of high-resolution video recording—phones, GoPros, DSLRs—and the case for ever-more powerful video editing software becomes clear. Further, the software must be usable by nonprofessionals, and it has to keep up with newer formats such as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) and 360-degree VR video, and it has to be able to handle 4K and higher resolution.

Increasingly, new capabilities trickle down from professional-level software to the consumer category. That's a good thing for nonprofessional movie editors, since the more consumer-oriented software tends to make easier procedures that can sometimes be pretty tricky in the pro-level software. Read on for a survey of the latest trends in video editing software along with our top picks in the field.

Multicam, Motion Tracking, and Yet More Motion

Advanced abilities continue to make their way into accessible, affordable, and consumer-friendly video editing software as each new generation of software is released. For example, multicam editing, which lets you switch among camera angles of the same scene shot with multiple video cameras, used to be a feature relegated to pro-level software. Now this and many other advanced effects are available in programs designed for use by nonprofessional enthusiasts.

Basic Photo Editor For Mac

Another impressive effect that has made its way into consumer-level video editing software is motion tracking, which lets you attach an object or effect to something moving in your video. You might use it to put a blur over the face of someone you don't want to show up in your video. You specify the target face, and the app takes care of the rest, tracking the face and moving the effect to follow it. This used to be the sole province of special effects software such as Adobe After Effects. Corel VideoStudio was the first of the consumer products to include motion tracking, and it still leads the pack in the depth and usability of its motion-tracking tool, though several others now include the capability.

The 4K Video Factor

Support for 4K video source content has become pretty standard in video editing software, but the support varies among the products. For example, some but not all of the applications can import Sony XAVC and XAVC-S formats, which are used by Sony's popular DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camcorders, and professional video cameras. The same holds true for the H.265 High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard. Most of the applications here now can import and export HEVC, though there are still a few holdouts.

360-Degree VR Support

Several of the products here (Adobe Premiere Elements is a notable exception) still support 3D video editing if that's your thing, though the this has been replaced by 360-degree VR footage like that shot by the Samsung Gear 360 as the current home-theater fad. As is often the case, our Editors' Choice, CyberLink PowerDirector was the first product in this group to offer support for this new kind of video media.

Other programs have jumped on board with 360 VR support, including Adobe Premiere, Apple Final Cut Pro X, and Magix Movie Edit Pro. Support varies, with some apps including 360-compatible titles, stabilization, and motion tracking. PowerDirector is notable for including those last two. Final Cut offers a useful tool that removes the camera and tripod from the image, often an issue with 360-degree footage.

Video Editing 101

Of course, none of the extras matter if an app can't do the most basic editing tasks. At this point, however, all of the products included here do a good job of letting you join, trim, and split video clips. They also let you make use of special effects such as animated transitions, picture-in-picture (PiP), chroma-key (the technique that lets you place a subject against any background, often known as green screening), and filters that enhance colors or apply creative effects and distortions. With most of them you can add a multitude of timeline tracks that can accommodate video clips, effects, audio, and text overlays.

A tool coming to the latest versions of video editing applications is support for seamless transitions. Picture a scene showing people at a beach, and suddenly the sky zooms in and your in Rome or Paris, but it looks like you're in the same place because the transition glued the two scenes together using the sky. There are plenty of other examples of seamless transition; this magnificent video shows a good selection of them, and is partly responsible for starting the trend.

Color, LUTs and CLUTs

One of the capabilities that has been making its way into consumer-level video editing software is more-detailed color grading. Color wheels, curves, and histograms give editors control over the intensity of every shade. Related to this is support for LUTs (lookup tables), also known as CLUTs (color lookup tables). This staple of pro-level software lets you quickly change the look of a video to give it a specific mood. For example, think of the dark blue look of thriller movies like The Revenant. You can download LUTs for free from several sites or use those included with some video software to give your video a specific look. One well-known LUT type is the kind that can make a daytime scene look like it was shot at night.

Where the Action Is

Many video editing apps now include tools that cater to users of action cameras such as the GoPro Hero7 Black. For example, several offer automated freeze-frame along with speedup, slowdown, and reverse time effects. CyberLink PowerDirector's Action Camera Center pulls together freeze frame with stabilization, slo-mo, and fish-eye correction, and color correction for underwater footage. Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium includes the third-party NewBlue ActionCam Package of effects. And Wondershare Filmora lets you subscribe to new effect packs on an ongoing basis.

Titles That Zing

I've been seeing a lot of attention paid to creating title effects in the applications over the past year. Apple Final Cut Pro X has added 3D title creation, which is pretty spiffy, letting you extrude 2D titles and rotate them on three axes. Corel VideoStudio in its latest version also adds 3D Titling, though not as powerful as Apple's. PowerDirector's Title Designer offers transparency, gradient color, border, blur level, and reflection in titles; Magix has impressive title templates, complete with animations. Premiere Elements offers a nifty title effect in which your video fills the text characters, and Corel recently followed suit in VideoStudio 2019. Look for an application that lets you edit titles in WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) mode, so that you can type, format, and time it right over the video preview.

Gathering Speed

Video editing is one of the most computing-intensive activities around, so you'll want the best laptop or desktop you can afford if you're serious about cutting your own movies. Most applications help speed up the editing process by creating a proxy file of lower resolution, so that normal editing and previewing aren't slowed down by the huge full-resolution files.

Particularly intensive is the process of rendering your finished product into a standard video file that will by playable on the target device of choice, be that an HDTV, a laptop, or a smartphone. Most of the software can take advantage of your computer's graphics processor to speed this up. Be sure to check the performance section in each review linked here to see how speedy or slow the application is. In rendering speed testing, CyberLink and Pinnacle have been my perennial champs.

Other measures of performance include startup time and simple stability. Again, video editing is a taxing activity for any computer, involving many components. In the past, video editing programs took longer than most other apps to start up, and unexpected shutdowns were unfortunately common, even in top apps from top developers such as Adobe and Apple. The stability situation has greatly improved, but the complexity of the process, which increases as more powerful effects are added, means crashes will likely never be fully eliminated, and they often raise their ugly heads after a program update, as I found with the latest version of Pinnacle Studio.

Free Video Editing Software

If you don't want to invest a lot of money and effort into your video editing exploits, there are a few free options. Of course, if you use a Mac, the excellent iMovie comes with it. For PC users, Windows 10's Photos app (as of the Fall Creators Update) lets you join, trim, and even add background music, 3D animated effects, and titles to video.

There are also some free video apps on the Windows Store, including Movie Moments, PowerDirector Mobile, Movie Maker, and Magix Movie Edit Touch. Some of these are quite basic, but the Magix app is fairly capable, with clip joining, transitions, and effects, in a very touch-friendly interface.

Free video editing software often comes with legal and technical limitations, however. Some widely used codecs require licensing fees on the part of the software maker, meaning they can't offer free software that can handle these standard file formats. That said, the impressive open-source Shotcut does a lot of the same things that the paid applications in this roundup do, including things like chroma-keying and picture-in-picture. Shotcut is completely open-source and free, while another free option, Lightworks has paid options that remove a 720p output resolution limit. Note also that both Shotcut and Lightworks run on Linux as well as Windows and Mac.

What About Apple?

Though Mac users don't have the sheer number of software choices available for PCs, Apple fans interested in editing video are well served, by four products in particular. At the entry level, the surprisingly capable and enjoyable-to-use iMovie comes free with every Mac sold since at least 2011. iMovie only offers two video tracks, but does good job with chroma-keying, and its Trailers feature makes it easy to produce slick, Hollywood-style productions.

In the midrange, there's Adobe Premiere Elements, which is cross-platform between Macs and PCs, and offers a lot more features and lots of help with creating effects. Professionals and prosumers have powerful, though pricey options in Final Cut Pro X and Adobe Premiere Pro. Final Cut is a deceptively simple application that resembles iMovie in its interface and ease of use, but it offers massively deep capabilities, and many third-party apps integrate with it for even more power. It also makes excellent use of the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, as shown in photo above. Premiere Pro uses a more traditional timeline and adds a large ecosystem of companion apps and plug-ins. It also excels in collaboration features.

Audio Editing

We still live in the days of talkies, so you want to be able to edit the audio in your digital moves as well as the images. Most of the products included here offer canned background music, and many, such as Pinnacle Studio, can even tailor the soundtrack to the exact length of your movie. All of these programs can separate audio and video tracks, and most can clean up background noise and add environmental audio effects such as concert hall reverb. A couple of the products have an auto-ducking feature, which lowers background music during dialog—a definite pro-level plus.

What's Not Here

There are more video editing software applications than we can fit into this roundup of the best options, which includes only software rated three stars and higher. The best known among them is probably Vegas Movie Studio, which was recently acquired by Magix from Sony. Sony's product used a very cluttered interface that more resembled high-end professional video editing software from the early days of the craft. Magix has made some progress in simplifying it and bringing it up to par with the competition, but more work is needed for it to be included here.

Another program, VSDC Video Editor Pro, simply has too outdated an interface, making common tasks difficult. Longtime pro video editors will note the absence of Avid Media Composer, which is simply too unwieldy for PCMag's primarily consumer audience. There are a couple of more interesting applications—NCH VideoPad and AVS Video Editor among them—that we simply haven't tested yet.

The Finish Line

The video editing application you choose depends on your budget, the equipment you're using, and how serious you are. Fortunately, you're spoiled for choice with the products available. Peruse our in-depth reviews of enthusiast-level video editing software reviews linked below to see which is the right one for you.

One final note about the features table at the top of this story: Check marks represent differentiating, above-the-call-of-duty features, rather than essential ones. So, just because Nero Video and Wondershare Filmora don't have any checks, it doesn't mean they're not good choices. In fact, both offer decent basic editing on a budget.

Best Video Editing Software Featured in This Roundup:

  • Adobe Premiere Pro CC Review


    MSRP: $19.99

    Pros: Clear, flexible interface. Lots of organizational tools. Responsive speed. Ultimate power in video editing. Rich ecosystem of video production apps. Excellent stabilization. Unlimited multi-cam angles.

    Cons: No keyword tagging for media. Some techniques require additional applications such as After Effects or SpeedGrade.

    Bottom Line: An expansive professional-level digital video editing program, Premiere Pro CC has everything today's pro video editor needs, particularly when it comes to collaboration.

    Read Review
  • CyberLink PowerDirector Review


    MSRP: $129.99

    Pros: Fast rendering. Clear interface. Loads of effects. The most 360-degree video capabilities of any video editor. Multicam editing. 3D and 4K capability. Motion tracking. Screen recording.

    Cons: No trimming in source panel. Number of options can make interface overwhelming. Weak color matching.

    Bottom Line: PowerDirector is one of the fastest and most capable consumer-level video editing apps for Windows around, and the first to support 360-degree VR footage.

    Read Review
  • Corel VideoStudio Ultimate Review


    MSRP: $99.99

    Pros: Wide selection of fun video-creation tools. Clear, simple interface. Fast rendering. Support for 360-degree VR, 4K Ultra HD, and 3D media. Multipoint Motion tracking. Multicam editing. HTML5 video page creation. Stop-motion tool.

    Cons: No keyword tagging for media.

    Bottom Line: Corel VideoStudio remains one of the most feature-packed consumer video editing packages around. The 2019 update adds powerful color-grading tools, seamless transitions, and text masks.

    Read Review
  • Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Review


    MSRP: $129.95

    Pros: Clear interface. Edits 360-degree VR content. Fast rendering performance in testing. Tons of effects. Multicam editing. 4K and H.265 support. Tagging and star ratings for media. Good audio tools.

    Cons: Motion tracking issues on one test PC. Occasional crashes in testing. Uneven 360-degree VR implementation.

    Bottom Line: Pinnacle Studio is a fast, full-featured, near-professional-level video-editing application with support for 360-degree VR, 3D, and multicam edits. New color grading and four-point editing make it even more appealing, though our testing uncovered some instabilities.

    Read Review
  • Magix Movie Edit Pro Premium Review


    MSRP: $129.99

    Pros: Lots of video effects. Multicam. Good titling tools. Trailer-like movie templates. Solid audio editing tools. Strong disc authoring. Fast rendering. Good stability. 360-degree media support.

    Cons: Not much help with difficult procedures. Lacks import and organization tools. Extra costs and coded downloads for some video formats.

    Bottom Line: Now with faster rendering, Movie Edit Pro offers solid stability, up-to-date support for 4K, 360-degree, and multicam editing, but it trails other video editing software in ease-of-use.

    Read Review
  • Adobe Premiere Elements Review


    MSRP: $99.99

    Pros: Clear, simple interface. Guided Edits ease basic and advanced projects. Lots of video effects. Solid text tools. Powerful Audio editing. Good control over stabilization. 4K support.

    Cons: No 360-degree VR or 3D editing. No multicam feature or screen recording capability. Slow rendering speeds. No HEVC support in Windows.

    Bottom Line: Adobe's consumer video editing app adds a new start page, Auto Creations, a redesigned quick-editing interface, and faster performance.

    Read Review
  • Wondershare Filmora Review


    MSRP: $59.99

    Pros: Pleasing interface. Inexpensive. Lots of effects and overlays. Good title tool.

    Cons: Action Cam and Cutter modes only allow one clip at a time. No search for effects or transitions. No motion tracking. No DVD menu or chapter authoring. Not a touch-friendly interface.

    Bottom Line: Wondershare's Filmora video editing software may not have multicam or the hottest new VR tools, but it does have a pleasing interface and lots of effects.

    Read Review
  • Apple Final Cut Pro X Review


    MSRP: $299.99

    Pros: Magnetic, trackless timeline. Superior organization tools, including libraries, ratings, tagging, auto analysis for faces, scenes. Support for 360-degree footage and HDR. Multicam support. Fast performance. MacBook Touch Bar support.

    Cons: Nontraditional timeline-editing may turn off longtime editors. Can't import projects from previous versions without a third-party plug-in. No stabilization or motion tracking for 360-degree video.

    Bottom Line: Apple's professional-level video editing software, Final Cut Pro X, brings a wealth of power in an interface simple for pros and consumers alike. Recent highlights include rich support for 360-degree content and improved stability.

    Read Review
  • Nero Video Review


    MSRP: $49.99

    Pros: Inexpensive. Plenty of video effects. Good audio tools. Solid file format support, including H.265. Compatible with 4K content. Burns DVD, Blu-ray, and AVCHD.

    Cons: Light on features. Outdated, unconventional interface. No 360 or 3D support. No motion tracking. No direct output to social networks.

    Bottom Line: For less money than the competition, Nero offers a wide array of enthusiast-level video editing capabilities, but the interface is dated and it trails in support for new formats and techniques.

    Read Review
  • Apple iMovie Review


    MSRP: $0.00

    Pros: Beautifully simple interface. Color matching for consistent movie looks. Classy themes. Great chroma-keying tool. Lots of audio tools. Theater feature shares movies to all your Apple gear.

    Cons: Not as flexible as some PC video editors. In the name of simplicity, some useful controls are missing. Does not support tagging. Lacks multicam or motion tracking capabilities. Limited to two video tracks.

    Bottom Line: Apple's excellent entry-level desktop video editing application can turn your footage and photos into impressive productions.

    Read Review
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Sep 06,2019• Proven solutions

Photo post-processing has becoming important in our daily life, whether you want to remove unwanted person, adjust the color correction, improve the saturation or add some filters, you may need an easy photo editing software to help you achieve that. There are so many photo editing software on the market, selection of best photo editing software can be a complicated task for beginners. If you are searching for the list of best photo editors for beginners then your search probably ends here. But before we take a review of all popular editing software, some of them are free while others may need to pay some money to remove watermark. Before we move on, let us define the criteria for selection of right photo editors for beginners:

  • Convenience: They offers one-click type editing tools, whether it's about reducing blur, resizing the photo, removing objects, restoring old photos, or fixing red eyes.
  • Interface: They need to be simple, intuitive and user friendly.
  • Price: Unlike complicated professional photo editors, these are either free or affordable paid versions with rich features.
  • Support: It'd better provide tutorials or customer support to reduce learning curve.

Best Free Simple Photo Editing For Mac 2017

Hence, we have done some research and found some of the best easy photo editors for beginners and here comes the list for you to have a quick check:

Software Best For Device Price Online Help

Remove background, unwanted objects, retouch and more

Win

Re-size

Win/Mac

Inpaint Remove watermarks stamps Win/Mac Purchase at 30% offCheck Online help
Photozoom Classic 7 Zoom without making your photo blurry Win/Mac Purchase at 30% offCheck Online help
Adobe photoshop element All Needs Win/Mac Check PriceCheck Online help
Affinity Photo Adjust color Win/Mac From $39.99Check Online help
Photopad All Needs Win/Mac Check PriceCheck Online help
GIMP Create some cool logos and other graphic design Win/Mac Free Check Online help
Google Photos Quickly prep their pictures for sharing Online Free Check Online help
ACDsee All Needs Win From $39.99Check Online help
Pixlr Re-touching your pictures on Facebook, Google+ and other social networks Online Free Check Online help
Paint.NET Design Logos Online Free Check Online help

In the following part, we will share with you the detailed information about these photo editors listed above from the following sections. For those who want to edit photos on iPhone or Android phones, check our picks of the best photo editing apps for iOS and Android in 2019.

Part 1: Best 7 Beginner Photo Editors for Beginners on Windows and Mac

1. Wondershare Fotophire: Best Easy Photo Editing Software for Beginners on Windows

This software can be used by Window users only, but is listed as one of the most affordable yet impressive editing tool. This tool not only offers over 200 photo effects including filters, frames and overlays; but can also intelligently remove the image background of your photo by analyzing few rough marks you make; and moreover, erase the watermark, remove unwanted objects or scratches from your photo without affecting the background.


2. Inpixio Maximizer

This software is very easy to use and in some instances you can increase the size of your photos by over 1000%. You may be thinking that you don't want to lose quality when you do this and with most software types, you will but with this one you don't have to worry about a thing. You can re-size your photos as much as you want and you will also find that it comes with a zoom function as well. On top of this, you can adjust your photos with clarity and the easy interface makes it incredibly easy to use when compared to other types of software that are on the market.

3. Photozoom Classic 7

Photozoom Classic 7 is the best in class solution for enlarging photos and graphics. Based on BenVista's award-winning S-Spline Max technology, it can expand your favorite pictures to any dimensions you choose, up to 300,000 x 300,000 pixels, all without sacrificing a single pixel. Edges, details, and shapes are perfectly preserved. Moreover, you can compare different resize methods at a glance in split screen view to easily select the best resize option for your image. With the simple interface, beginners should have no problems working with this program.

You may also like:Step by Step Resize Photo Tutorial >>

4. Inpaint

Inpaint is great if you want to Remove tourists, watermarks, date stamps, text or logo, and any other unwanted objects from your photos. Or you can also repair old photos, erase wrinkles and skin blemishes, digital facial retouching and more. This will only take you a couple of minutes and it is so easy to do as well. If you have never used any software like this before then you shouldn't have any problems either and it is a great way for you to get started on your road to becoming an excellent photo editor!

5. Adobe photoshop element

The extensive list of editing tools and all advanced features of Adobe photoshop element can assist beginners as well as professionals to transform photos into any impressive form. This software has won so many awards for its sharing capabilities and classic support system. It is rated as best entry level product on the basis of price point and interactive user interface. One most interesting feature of Adobe photoshop element is its camera shake reduction tool; it provides automatically noise reduction in captured images. The only con is that you need to access separate application as photo organizer for this platform but it is provided by Adobe itself.

Best free simple photo editor for mac 2017 shortcut

6. Affinity Photo

Affinity Pro photo editing software was earlier released only for Mac users but the latest update has covered the Window devices too. It consists of wide range of editing tools and extends support to almost 15 popular file formats. You can expect minimal complexity on this platform as the basic editing tool is user friendly. Users can easily make adjustments for drawing tools, painting, selection, cropping as well as for red eye effect removal. Some advanced tools included on Affinity Photo are lens distortion correction, font effects and batch processing capabilities.

7. Photopad

Beginners can easily learn the basic photo editing skills with this interactive software platform that possess wide range of editing tools. Users call it ‘uncluttered software’ that provides easy access to all features so that photos can be transformed to desired form within few minutes. It consists of basic and advanced editing tools that can be used to remove red eye effect and the colour management tool can easily enhance brightness levels. Batch processing is also enabled so that multiple photos can be edited with ease and the best part is that it supports about 250 fonts for easy editing.

8. GIMP

GIMP is an open source type image editing tool with advanced features. People love to use this software for development of graphic designs and logos. But it appears little heavier when you will install it for the very first time. Many users rate it as a useful alternative to Adobe Photoshop due to its classy look and simpler interface. The free graphic editing tools are best service provided by GIMP platform.

Part 2: Best 4 Online Photo Editors for Beginners

1. ACDsee

Here is the easiest and best photo editing software for beginners with standard editing features and highly personalized user interface. Although it does not support live chat feature and the phone support is also missing but you can access knowledge base and community forum easily. With purchase, users are able to avail 10GB free cloud storage space that assists in easy storage as well as efficient sharing of files. Beginners can prefer to start with 30 days free trial period to learn the basic features of this software and then complete tool can be accessed on onetime payment as well as on subscription basis.

2. Paint.NET

Best Free Simple Photo Editor For Mac 2017 Holiday

You will love to use this software application on your iPhone because it serves with one touch editing tool. The web based version is also user friendly with so many advanced and basic editing tools that can meet all needs of beginners as well as professionals. Those who need to update attractive photos on social media platforms like Google Plus and Facebook etc are advised to go for its web based version.


3. Google Photos

You might be aware of the name Picasa- it is other popular name of Google Photos software tool that is often found on most of Mac systems as well as desktop computers. The major reason behind its popularity is that it offers simplistic user interface where users need to spend just a few minutes to develop outstanding photo effects. The resulting files can be easily shared on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook etc.

4. Pixlr

iPhone lovers prefer to install Pixlr photo editor just because of its professional touch. The mobile application as well as web based software version, both are rated as user friendly and you can access for free. Pixlr is well known for its interactive file sharing feature that assists users to stay connected with Google Plus, Facebook and many other social media platforms with regular photo updates.

Why don't you have a look at some of these for yourself today to see how they could benefit you? You won't regret it and it has never been easier for you to get what you need, when you need it.

Easy-to-use and powerful video editor for all creators.


Bring up your video to a professional level with straightforward tools.


  • Choosing Video Editing Software
  • Video Editing Tips