Best photo editing software for beginners and pros

Photo editing software. One of my favorite things to talk about and something I didn’t realize how important it was. I’m going to talk about editing software and programs that professionals and amateurs use daily in their photography journey.

I was absolutely clueless when I first started out. I didn’t know what software to use or what different file types were. Once I started mastering advanced editing, it completely leveled up my photography business.

I want you to feel just as confident in your journey.

Using a program like Lightroom or Photoshop allows you to edit and render RAW images, which really confused and scared me in the beginning. I only photographed in JPEG and was really afraid to make the jump to RAW. I’m so glad I finally switched, and I will never, ever go back to photographing in JPEG.

Editing photos on your phone with Lightroom Mobile

My favorite way to edit photos on my phone is with Lightroom Mobile. You’ll find *most* professional photographers use Lightroom to edit so I love that they have a mobile version that anyone can use. This is how I edit my iPhone photos, which I think is an awesome way to spruce up your mobile photos.

I love that you can sync it to your desktop computer, your laptop, iPad, and iPhone so they all sync to each other. One minute I’m editing on my desktop, and the next, I’m at a doctor’s appointment culling my images while waiting for the doctor.

If you don’t know where to start or don’t shoot in RAW yet, try editing your JPEG image in Lighroom Mobile! It’s a great place to start for beginners.

Professional photographers editing program

Diving more into the professional side of things, there are a handful of programs that photographers use.

1. Lightroom CC

The first program we’re going to talk about is Lightroom, probably the most popular among photographers, from professionals to beginners. I personally use it daily in my editing workflow. There are various versions, from the free mobile version (which I highly recommend anyone downloading) to the paid option, which is what I use.

2. Photoshop

The next program we’re going to talk about is Photoshop. I started with Photoshop, editing every single individual image. Photoshop is a more artistic photo editing program with lots of special effects and features. Many boudoir or other artistic photographers love using Photoshop for the advanced techniques you can apply to each image.

I find Lightroom has everything I need, like denoise, masking, color correcting, and object removal. I only bring a photo into Photoshop if it’s a big job that Lightroom can’t do.

If you want to edit or alter your images a lot, then Photoshop is likely for you.

3. Capture One

Capture One is a similar editing program to Lightroom and its biggest competitor. They relatively do the same job and both are great options to consider for editing your photos as a professional. It seems since Lightroom made the latest big updates with AI, that Lightroom has been winning in the competition.

Of course both software will have different features that another may excel at. Capture One has better photo tethering capabilities than Lightroom. So if you’re a studio photographer and that’s an option you’re looking for, you might gravitate more towards Capture One. If you have no idea what that means, maybe start at the beginning with Lightroom.

4. Adobe Bridge

A less popular editing option is another Adobe program, Adobe Bridge. I’ve seen photographers use Bridge for culling their images as well as editing and color correcting. I still find Adobe Lightroom works best for me, but I encourage you to try out different workflows to see what fits!