Photography Editing - Best Apps in 2018

Photography Editing - Best Apps in 2018

Snapseed (Android & iOS)

First and foremost my personal favourite and go-to app for all of my photography edits, Snapseed. Available on both iOS and Android, Snapseed offers professional level photo editing with an intuitive interface that’s simple to use but doesn’t compromise on functionality.

Featuring dozens of tools to modify and edit your images, with all the standard adjustable settings from brightness to highlights. Snapseed also has advanced brush tools to precisely adjust specific areas of your photographs. Perhaps you want to saturate those red sneakers or sharpen the details in the skyscrapers, Snapseed can do it. You can truly transform your photographs and give them a professional finish. Also available is a wide array of filters, lens blur, HDR and healing settings.

Snapseed offers a versatile photo editing app for mobile, my personal first choice to edit photographs before they’re uploaded to Instagram and best of all it’s free!

           

VSCO (Android & iOS)

A hugely popular photo editing app amongst Instagram users, VSCO is more than just photo editing, it offers a community for photographers to connect and create. Simply searching the Hashtag #VSCO on Instagram will reveal the huge community of photographers and casual users that use VSCO every day, a testament to the app’s popularity.

VSCO houses all the tools you’d expect from a favourable photo editing app; saturation, highlights, temperature and vignette can all be adjusted alongside many other settings. VSCO also offers a built in camera with advanced controls, allowing you to capture the perfect shot, edit and save, all without leaving the app, an A for convenience. Filters are also a huge feature for VSCO, with the option to buy filter packs each with their own distinctive styles and tones, very popular amongst users of the app.

VSCO offers a unique user experience, encompassing the creative energy of photography, a sleek interface and a huge community of photographers to connect and create with. Highly recommended for those wanting evolve their Instagram to the next level.

               

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Android & iOS)

Adobe’s suite of photography software has cemented itself overtime as one of the best on the market, and is a staple for many professional photographers. It’s no surprise then to see an Adobe mobile app make the list.

This entry on our list is probably more suited to those who have a real passion for photography and want an editing app that provides advanced editing functionality on the go. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom provides a lightweight adaptation of what you will find on the desktop version, allowing you to truly transform standard mobile images into stunning works of photography. The app comes stacked with tons of tools giving you the ability to change almost every single detail in an image, and of course preset filters are readily available. The app also houses a built in camera, with a pro mode that gives you control over settings such as Shutter Speed, White Balance and ISO. One of the unique features of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is the Creative Cloud Photography plan, essentially a monthly subscription with Adobe, providing benefits such as; access your media anywhere, sync photo edits across all devices, Photoshop CC and much more.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom app is a must have for those who take the art of photography seriously, or even for those who want to learn more about photo editing. Simply playing around with the app for a few hours and you’ll pick up new skills and techniques to up your photography game.

         

Prisma (Android & iOS)

Prisma is a relatively new and upcoming photo editing app and it has already proved to be very popular. It’s simple, easy to use and rather addictive!

Prisma turns your standard photos into awesome art works through the use of filters. However these are not your average Lo-fi and Valencia—esque filters. The ‘Modern Art Filters’ that come preloaded with Prisma will mimic the artistry of painters such as Van Gogh and Picasso or even the famous compositions of Mondrian. You can completely change the aesthetics of an image to spice up your Instagram feed. Recently a social feature was also added, giving users the ability to create a profile and connect with friends. At the moment there are around 40 or so filters, but this number will likely increase given the app’s success.

An easy to use app with a simple interface Prisma is fun, free and very cool, you’ll be surprised on how addictive it can be to give your selfies an anime makeover!

          

Afterlight (Android, iOS & Windows 10)

The only paid app on our list, Afterlight definitely earns its keep. The quality and simplicity of the app makes it a joy to use and the functionality is also second to none. Afterlight comes built in with all the standard editing tools you’d expect from a high calibre app; Saturation, Contrast, Exposure and even RBG Shadow tones can be adjusted, but thats not all.

Afterlight really shines (pun not intended!) when it comes to filters, the app offers dozens and dozens of filters that offer a different aesthetic appeal than what is found as standard on Instagram, you can stack filters and add a variety of frames. This combined with the fine editing tools and the ability to export photos in high resolution, can really make for beautiful compositions. One of my favourite features on Afterlight is the textured filters, in particular the light leaks. The filters very high quality and used on the right photo, it can make the light flares seem organic. Every filter and effect in Afterlight is fully adjustable giving you complete control over the final production.
If you want your Instagram pictures to stand out from the rest, Afterlight is definitely worth the $0.99 app store price.