Read more: Adobe Photoshop CC review | Adobe Lightroom Classic review | Adobe Lightroom review

Lightroom Classic is the best option for regular 'desktop' editing, and while Lightroom offers cloud-based storage to make all your images available everywhere, on any device, it needs 1TB cloud storage, which doubles the cost of the Photography Plan. Lightroom, meanwhile, takes care of all your image organizing, non-destructive editing, raw processing and preset effects. Despite its reputation for complexity, Photoshop actually offers a very clean, slick interface. Its support for selections, masks and layers is unmatched, making it the tool of choice for complex composite images, and the latest October 2021 updates bring smart new Neural Filters and auto masking – and its AI sky replacement is steadily improving and now rivals Luminar's. that can match them for features but for a one-off fee are bound to be strong rivals.ĭespite its immense power and constant steady improvements, Photoshop is slick and straightforward to use. Adobe's subscription plans are still a deal-breaker for many, so any alternatives. And for crazy AI-driven reality distortion (and some rather good portrait enhancement tools), Luminar AI might be the tool you need. If you want advanced black and white effects, retro/analog filters, HDR merging or one of dozen other specialised 'looks', you're often better off using a custom-made plug-in or a different application. You can get lots of different profiles and presets for Lightroom, but nothing to match the scope and invention of those in the DxO Nik Collection, Exposure X7 or ON1 Photo RAW 2022, for example. Adobe's Photography Plan, of course, includes Photoshop and Lightroom, which cover a lot more ground between them – but there are still plenty of non-Adobe rivals that can match their scope. It doesn't take long to figure out that one application alone is unlikely to meet all those needs, or that Photoshop barely manages one or two.

Best professional mac photo software