Verdict: Openshot is an open source Mac video editing software. It may remind iMovie with its easy to use drag-and-drop interface. However, Openshot contains more features than iMovie, including an unlimited number of layers and sound mixing. This free video editor for Mac offers a good balance between advanced features and a simple interface. Some are free trials of paid programs, and others are genuine, no-strings-attached free photo editors. Choose any of the options on this list and you’ll have yourself one of the best photo editors for your next project. Free photo editing software for Mac: 11 of our favorites. Apple Photos; Luminar; Adobe Photoshop Elements; darktable; Pixelmator; GIMP; Fotor. Best Free Code Editors for Windows & Mac 1) Notepad Notepad is a popular free to use code editor written in C. It uses pure win32 API which offers greater execution speed and small program size.
- January 02, 2020
- 18 min to read
Most free photo editors available on the App Store are quite basic, offering just a limited number of filters and allowing you to easily and quickly liven up your photos before posting them on social media.
But if you’re an aspiring or professional photographer, you probably need a more powerful app with a broader set of tools to use your creativity to the fullest. Besides, you probably use your Mac for photo editing because working on a large screen makes it possible to adjust the slightest details.
1. Apple’s Photos (Built-in app)
Apple’s Photos app is included for free on all recently released Macs. It does a good job at organizing your photos, but its collection of photo enhancement tools leaves much to be desired. Hopefully, our selection of the best free programs for photo editing on Mac will help you choose the right app to suit all your creative needs.
2. Luminar (7 days trial)
Best Video Editor For Mac Free
Luminar is another full-featured photo editor that’s popular with both Mac and Windows users. It can work as a standalone app as well as a plugin for such popular programs as Apple Photos.
Luminar uses Artificial Intelligence to enable sophisticated yet quick photo enhancements. Among these AI features are Sky Enhancer, which adds more depth and detail to the sky in your photos while leaving other areas untouched; Accent AI, which analyzes a photo and automatically applies the best combination of different effects to enhance your image; and Sun Rays, which allows you to place an artificial sun and adjust the lighting to your liking or make the sun rays already in your photo look even more incredible.
Luminar has over 60 filters you can apply to your photos to enhance them in a moment. Luminar also provides a set of powerful tools for cropping, transforming, cloning, erasing, and stamping, along with layers, brushes, and many more incredible features. Luminar supports the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, making photo editing even more effortless and pleasing.
3. Photolemur 3 (Free Version with watermark)
Photolemur is a relative newcomer on the photo editing market but it has all the chances to win the favor of beginner photographers and hobbyists. Running on Artificial Intelligence, Photolemur is a completely automatic photo enhancer, meaning that it does all the editing for you in no time. It has the simplest interface, with only a few buttons and sliders to adjust the enhancement to your liking and view the before and after results.
All you need to do is choose a photo (or a few) that you want to improve, drag and drop or import them using the Import button, and let the program make enhancements. After it’s done, you can compare the edited version with the original image by using the before–after slider and, if you want, adjust the skin tone or even enlarge the eyes using additional sliders. Pretty easy, huh?
Photolemur also offers a number of impressive styles to touch up your photos and give them a sophisticated and professional look. With this app, you don’t need to stuff your head with photo editing nuances and terms. Just run Photolemur and watch the magic happen!
4. Aurora HDR (14 days trial)
As you probably can tell from the name, Aurora HDR is designed to help photographers enhance their HDR photos, making them even more detailed and beautiful. It’s an ideal tool for editing your photos, with an extensive collection of more than 20 tools including details, tone, mapping, color, glow, and vignette. Each tool has its unique selection of controls to adjust its effects.
Aurora HDR enables you to work with brushes, layers, and masks, and provides a number of automatic AI tools for recognizing and removing noise, enhancing colors, lighting, and details, improving clarity, and adding contrast to dull areas while leaving other areas untouched.
Aurora HDR does a great job dealing with difficult lighting situations and creating full-of-life images while being easy to use.
5. Pixelmator (Trial 30 Days)
Pixelmator is a photo enhancer beloved by many Mac users, as it offers a good combination of a modern and simple interface, the ability to work on multiple layers, and powerful features that take photo editing to a whole new level. With so many editing tools, brushes, and effects, you can enhance your photos to your liking. You can choose between two versions of Pixelmator – standard and pro – depending on your needs. The standard version is great for basic photo editing with its selection of essential tools and filters, while the pro version is packed with extra brushes, tools, and effects that let you push your creativity to new boundaries. You can decide which version is suitable for you according to what features you’re looking for in a photo editing app.
6. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2020 (Trial link)
Photoshop Elements isn’t as affordable as other photo enhancers for beginner photographers. But luckily there’s a trial version available, so you can check it out before deciding whether this app is worthy of your money. Photoshop Elements acquired many powerful features from Photoshop, only Elements is simplified for amateur photographers and enthusiasts. It includes a good number of effects and filters, plus automated editing options for improving lighting, color balance, and exposure, and even opening closed eyes and reducing the effects of camera shake.
In addition to all of these awesome features, Photoshop also offers editing modes for beginners, intermediate users, and experts. Beginners will probably prefer Quick mode, as it focuses on essential tools to quickly enhance your photos by improving color, lighting, and other basic settings. Guided mode provides intermediate users with step-by-step guidance with more professional features like artistic effects, skin tone correction, and background replacement. Expert mode gives you full access to the app’s really powerful editing features and is ideal for creating stunning images.
7. Affinity Photo (Free Trial)
Affinity Photo’s interface may seem overwhelming at first, especially for novices, but when you come to grips with it you’ll find that the app is just what you’ve been looking for. Its numerous professional tools, effects, and filters encourage you to get creative with your photos. Among the coolest features Affinity Photo has to offer is a before and after view to compare the original photo with its edited version.
Affinity Photo works with 15 file types, including common ones like PDF, PSD, JPG, and GIF as well as some less popular ones. The app amazes with its abundance of basic and top-notch editing tools, allowing you to tweak your photos using all possible kinds of instruments. Affinity Photo allows you to edit HDR photos, apply artistic filters and effects, play with masks and layers, and create breathtaking compositions by combining several images in one. If you find its interface a bit much and are afraid of getting lost in all those advanced tools, you should probably look for something more suitable for your level. But Affinity Photo is worth mastering.
8. Google Photos
Google Photos is a popular cloud storage service for photos and videos. It can’t boast countless masterly tools like other photo enhancers that we review in this article, but it includes some fundamental features like filters, color adjustment sliders, and transformation tools.
Although Google Photos may not be that helpful when it comes to editing photos, it does a pretty good job at storing high-resolution images and videos with 15GB of free online storage, compared to iCloud’s mere 5GB (which you can upgrade to 50GB for a monthly fee). If you’re planning to go on a trip and take plenty of photos, then it might be smart to sign up for Google Photos to use that extra storage space when you come back.
9. PhotoScape X (Free)
A relatively new photo editing app, PhotoScape X has been gaining popularity with many Mac and PC users since its release in 2008. Its interface is simple but unconventional, with a number of tabs running along the top of the window. Each is responsible for a specific stage of editing. The Viewer tab allows you to browse and organize your photos. After you pick a photo, you can switch to the Editor tab, which includes a broad set of instruments, filters, and effects and a useful feature that enables you to compare the adjusted photo with the original.
The next tabs, including the Batch tab, mainly concentrate on editing and renaming multiple photos at once. The GIF tab allows you to easily create an animated GIF from a group of selected photos.
The downside of PhotoScape X is a lack of selection tools, so all changes are applied to the whole image rather than to a selected part.
10. Gimp (Free)
Gimp is a free open-source photo editing app that has been on the market for over 22 years and is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Unlike many free apps, Gimp doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. Its grey interface might seem a little old-fashioned and it may be a bit sluggish when it comes to complex effects, though.
Gimp offers a vast collection of advanced tools that hardly any free photo editor can boast. It has numerous enhancement options such as clone and heal brushes, layers and channels, accurate selection tools, a number of transformation instruments, and, of course, color adjustment controls. Gimp is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing photos and is beloved by so many users for its price (free) and versatility. But if you can’t come to grips with Gimp’s interface, it may be worth paying some cash for a more user-friendly program.
Have you wondered often how to find the best PDF editors for Mac? When it comes to Mac systems, it is often a bit challenging to find apps that can work best for your Macbook.
So, here we are with the best & free PDF solution for Mac in our blog that can help you easily read and edit your PDFs, fill up PDF forms, and do countless other tasks effortlessly.
Create, convert, combine, split, and export text as well as pages to process and manage them better with the help of a PDF file editor.
11 Best Free PDF Editor Software For Mac in 2020:
So, let’s find out the 11 best PDF file editors for Mac computers in 2020.
1. Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is one of the most well-renowned PDF file editor software that offers the best desktop PDF solution including a mobile version to fill, sign, and share PDFs from any device.
It comes with an attractive UI with touch functionality. There is an option for trying the tool for free for 7-days before purchasing it.
You can edit files anytime anywhere with Acrobat. The tool does support lots of advanced features; however, it is slightly complex for beginners.
Key Features:
- Compares documents swiftly.
- Recognizes form fields automatically.
- Transform MS Office files effortlessly into PDF.
- Supports automatic formatting.
- Includes an in-built spellcheck.
- Add digital signatures with this tool.
Read More: How To Convert PDF To Excel (Online & Offline)
2. PDFelement
Another excellent PDF file editor software is PDFelement. With this program, you can easily edit and convert files in PDF format. Additionally, it also supports OCR, annotation, form processing, and digital signature features.
It is an amazing one-stop solution for Mac systems and gives a competitive edge to other software products in this category owing to its data extraction technology.
Key Features:
- Edit PDFs smoothly with superior annotation tools and editing features.
- Convert and create PDFs easily.
- Simple design and user interface.
- Supports OCR and batch processing tools.
3. Skim
Skim is a free Mac PDF editor that has an easy design. Read PDFs effortlessly in addition to editing PDFs and creating as well as converting texts. You can even improve the text of a PDF with the superb editing feature.
It offers a note-taking tool, text highlight feature, magnification tool, and a lot more. Let’s look at the prime features in detail below:
Key Features:
- Add bookmarks easily with this tool.
- Take screenshots of the PDF files for future reference.
- Supports Apple Remote Control.
- Extensively supports AppleScript.
4. Preview
When it comes to discussing the best Mac PDF editing software, then how can we leave behind Preview which is the in-built free application of Mac?
Mac Preview opens a plethora of possibilities to edit PDF files. Wondering what you can do with the Preview app?
Using this program you can merge PDfs, split it, zoom the PDFs as well as secure your PDFs. The best features of this app are mentioned below:
Key Features:
- Supports text highlighting feature.
- Easily export your PDF file to other formats.
- Add a digital signature to the PDFs with this app.
- Read a PDF quickly with this app.
5. PDF Buddy
Our next pick is PDF Buddy that is an online tool for editing PDFs. All you need to do is drag and drop a PDF file in the tool and begin editing the PDF. Sounds pretty simple, right?
It is indeed simple and absolutely safe to edit PDFs with this tool. You can utilize extensive features of this app to edit a PDF according to your choice. Here are some of the important features of this app:
Key Features:
- The tool comes with SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) and AES-256-bit encryption to protect the PDF files.
- You can edit upto 3 PDFs each month with this tool for free.
- This tool is accessible from everywhere.
Read More: How to Convert PDF into Word
6. Master PDF Editor For Mac
If you want to explore more PDF editor apps for macOS, then you can look forward to picking Master PDF Editor as it allows you to smartly convert PDF files to multiple file formats.
You can also edit any portion of your PDF file with the help of this tool; however, it has a slightly complex interface. Although a free version is available, yet it has a limited scope of functions and features.
Key Features:
- It is compatible with Linux based systems.
- It allows you to edit both texts and images in a PDF file.
- The tool is also enabled with OCR, scanning, and printing abilities.
- Comes with powerful annotation tools like Sticky Note, Strikethrough, Measuring tools, etc.
7. PDFescape
Did you know that PDFescape is compatible with all major web browsers, which is why we have included this tool in our list of best PDF editors for Mac computers?
This application is a free PDF editor for Mac that helps to create PDF forms and perform a myriad of actions with its compelling features. It’s a completely online tool and to get started you just need to hit the free online button on the web app.
Key Features:
- Read and edit PDFs.
- Various tools to add text, rotate a PDF view, zoom a file, etc.
- You can even password protect your PDF files.
- This app also lets you share PDFs easily.
8. Smallpdf
This is another online tool for editing PDFs. This cross-platform tool lets you add texts and fill forms. With a simplified interface, you can easily modify PDFs.
Dwg Editor Free For Mac
All you have to do is drag and drop your files or browse and select the file from your Macbook, Dropbox, or Google Drive to get started with the editing process. Here are some important features of this app:
Key Features:
- Does not require installation or registration.
- Convert a PDF into various file formats.
- With state-of-the-art SSL encryption, it secures your PDF.
9. PDFpenPro
PDFpenPro is another Mac PDF editor that can be used for professional purposes. Similar to the Preview app, this tool has a simple UI and is therefore great for beginners.
Key Features:
- Has intuitive annotation properties.
- Helps to convert PDFs to Word, Excel, Powerpoint formats.
- Enabled to perform OCR on scanned documents.
10. PDF Expert
Our next pick is PDF Expert that is undoubtedly another best PDF editor for Mac. It’s a fast, robust and beautiful PDF editor that has been recognized as the “App of the Year” in the Mac App Store.
With this app, you can enjoy advanced reading experience as it facilitates smooth scrolling function, fast search, and many interesting layouts. It comes with a state-of-the-art Search feature. Other interesting features include:
Key Features:
- Add annotations to documents.
- Merge files and split view with this app.
- Fill PDF files and include digital signatures.
- Reduce the size of the file too with this app.
Read More: How To Remove Password From PDF
11. PDF Editor Mac
Edit PDF content easily with this application. This can be designated as a good Mac PDF editing software as it is completely compatible with the macOS. You can easily add text and images, rotate PDF files, erase unwanted content, and watermark PDF files with this tool.
Key Features:
Audio Editor Free For Mac
- Permanently save an edited PDF.
- Draw lines easily for annotation purposes.
How to Edit a PDF file?
Video Editor For Mac Free
Here is an overview of how to edit PDF files with the help of Adobe Acrobat tool:
- Open the file with the Acrobat DC tool.
- Then, click on the “Edit PDF” option that you can find in the right-hand side pane.
- After this, you can add or edit text, images, paragraphs, etc.
- Several additional tools available are “Link,” “Header and Footers,” “Watermark,” and “Background” for further editing purposes.
- Finally, rename your file and save it.
Wrapping Up
Pdf Editor For Mac Free
With this, we come to the concluding point of this article. Hopefully, you have found the best PDF editor for Mac from this article. Edit your PDFs easily now with an ideal tool.
Good Free Advanced Mac Editing Software
Do share your thoughts by leaving a comment in the comments section below.