

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.
#PICASA FOR MAC VS IPHOTO FULL#
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.
#PICASA FOR MAC VS IPHOTO SOFTWARE#
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.
#PICASA FOR MAC VS IPHOTO FREE#
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. In addition, Picasa also provides you with a Side by side editing feature that helps you compare two different photos or the original with the edited version within the same window, while you’re working on it.Īs an added bonus, Picasa makes it easy to preview video files, rapidly upload them to your YouTube account, take quick snapshots and export them to any location of your choice.Apple Photos. You also have access to numerous image effects that can be used to further transform your images, as well as a wide variety of tools for fixing and adjusting your photos. Built-in photo editing tools with side by side image editing and comparisonįurthermore, Picasa’s built-in image editor helps you crop your pictures, retouch them, add text and remove red-eyes from the image. Thanks to the Picasa Web Album service, you can also get up to 1 GB of your photos online for simple and straightforward sharing. While using Picasa, you will be able to scan your Mac's hard disk for images and videos and effortlessly and rapidly organize them according to various criteria like creation date, containing folder, user rating and more. Moreover, the Picasa application comes with a user-oriented interface from which you can easily browse and preview your entire video and photo collection, once you’ve added them to your library using the Import toolĪfter you’ve added them to Picasa’s library, your pictures can be rated, geo-tagged, edited and shared with your friends and family via e-mail or your Google+ profile.


Picasa is a clean styled and powerful OS X application designed to provide you with a long list of tools and features that can help you organize, edit, adjust and share your photos and videos with ease.
