Photoshop Alternatives for Mac – 10 Excellent Photo Editors to Make Your Photos Perfect
Last Updated on June 15, 2021 by Peter Wood
What should be the best Photoshop alternatives for Mac? Photoshop is an excellent photo editor to touch up and polish images. But as for beginners, it should be too complicated to get the desired effects. Moreover, you have to subscribe the service with US$9.99 to edit the limited photos.
Is there a Photoshop alternative for Mac to polish the photos easily with a competitive price? The article shares 10 best photos editors for your MacBook, you can learn more about the features and choose the desired one according to your requirements.
Part 1: 6 Best Paid Alternatives of Photoshop for Mac
Top 1: WidsMob Portrait Pro
Price: $39.99
When you want to polish the portrait images and selfie, or even have virtual makeup, WidsMob Portrait Pro is an all-in-one portrait and avatar editor as the Photoshop alternative for Mac. The program also exports the photos in different formats, sizes and more other parameters. It enables you to manage the skin area, enhance the portrait, and have virtual makeup. Moreover, you can also apply and customize the presets for a series of filters.
Pros:
- Manage the skin area, optimize face, and even adjust the skin color.
- Customize and apply presets with a series of portrait filters in one click.
- Provide different presets, colors, themes, and colors for all the options.
- Batch process to export portrait images in desired size, format, and more.
Cons:
- Cannot remove the background of the portrait image.
- Does not have the plugin version for Photoshop or Lightroom.
Top 2: WidsMob Retoucher
Price: $25.99
WidsMob Retoucher is a versatile photo editor of Photoshop alternative for Mac. It provides different filters, such as the color parameters, remove the photo noise, apply the LOMO effects, polish the portrait, or even add film pack filters. Moreover, you can tweak the color opacity, vignette, and more other parameters. Just combine the different parameters to get the desired photo according to your requirement.
Pros:
- Adjust the saturation, contrast, brightness, temperature, tint, and more.
- Polish the portrait images, such as skin smoothing and skin whitening.
- Remove the photo noise with luminance, chrominance and sharpness.
- Tweak the color rendition profile, color modes, and film grain.
Cons:
- Limited parameters to tweak the different options for landscapes.
- Cannot use the program with Photos, Photoshop and Lightroom.
Top 3: Pixelmator Pro
Price: $59.99
As a long-standing Photoshop alternative for Mac, Pixelmator is popular among Mac users. The developer has updated the user interface and many new improvements into the Pro version. On top of the list, it also boasts non-destructive image editing. It not only offers basic photo editing features, but also includes split view and a hidden interface that allows you to view your images without any distractions.
Pros
- Support non-destructive photo editing.
- Enhance photos with machine learning.
- Quickly select and repair specific area.
- Include flexible RAW editing.
Cons
- The export options are limited.
- Some features are inflexible.
Top 4: Affinity Photo
Price: $49.99
Affinity Photo is not only a plugin for Photoshop, but also a professional alternative to Photoshop for Mac. It does almost everything Photoshop does but for an affordable price, such as non-destructive editing, adjustment layers, cloning, perspective, liquefy, etc. You'll be pleased to locate the keyboard shortcuts you used work in Affinity Photo too.
Pros
- Support RAW camera files.
- Include advanced features, like panorama, HDR, etc.
- Edit photos on layers.
- Select and edit certain area with brush.
Cons
- It cannot batch process multiple photos.
- Lack photo management tools.
Top 5: Acorn
Price: $29.99
When you are looking for Photoshop alternative for your Mac, Acorn should be another excellent photo editor you cannot miss. It is a cost-effective solution and can meet your basic and advanced needs on photo editing. What makes it appearing on the top list is that it is quick, enjoyable to use and offers useful features include non-destructive filters, custom brushes, layer styles to mention only a few, etc.
Pros
- Easy to use and offer tutorials for beginners.
- Supports layers, masks, alphas, etc.
- Update frequently and introduce new features.
Cons
- The social sharing options need improvement.
- There is no local help system.
Top 6: Skylum Luminar
Price: $89
Luminar 4 is another fantasia Photoshop alternative for Mac with advanced AI capabilities. It lures potential Photoshop convertibles. The design of the program is to help users spend less time messing with endless editing options since AI will enhance and adjust photos. The price is higher than other editors with a 30 days money-back guarantee.
Pros
- Automatic fix photos.
- Include a lot of filters.
- Work with a pleasing interface.
Cons
- There is no face recognition.
- Some features will slow down your Mac.
Part 2: Top 4 Free Photoshop Alternatives for Mac
Top 1: GIMP
GIMP is the free Photoshop alternative for your MacBook. It offers powerful photo manipulation and editing capability. It is one of the most popular open-source photo editors around the world. It is designed for high-quality photo editing, such as retouching images and photo restorations. It also works as a graphic editor to create original artwork.
Pros
- Open-source and free for full features.
- Receive regular updates for free.
- Extensible with plugins and scripts.
Cons
- The interface looks outdated.
- The features are hidden in menus and submenus.
- There is no tutorial for beginners.
Top 2: Autodesk Pixlr
Autodesk Pixlr is a web-based alternative to Photoshop on Mac. You can access the photo editor in any browsers, sign up an account, and then start editing your photos without installing anything else. It provides a similar interface to Photoshop. There are some basic editing features in this online app, like layers, masks, brush, selection and more.
Pros
- Edit photos online for free.
- Share your photos to Facebook or Instagram directly.
- Easy to learn for beginners.
Cons
- It requires a good Internet connection for photo editing.
- You have to sign up an account with your information.
Top 3: Sumopaint
Sumopaint is the Photoshop alternative for Mac that offers both a free and paid version with different options. If you just need to retouch your photos with basic features, like rotate, crop, or adjustment, the free version is enough. But the advanced functionalities, like edit image online or offline, non-destructive filters and more, are only available to the paid version.
Pros
- Easy to use with all tools.
- Work on both website and desktop.
- Offer studio-grade tools.
Cons
- You need to install Flash if use the online version.
- Some features lag and crash.
Top 4: Apple Photos
The last but not least free Photoshop alternative for Mac is Apple’s Photos app. It is built-in almost all Mac computers and works well with other Apple apps. You can find the plugins for Photos as Photoshop and Lightroom. Moreover, it is able to sync photos between Mac and iOS, which makes it easy to manage your photos crossing platforms.
Pros
- Free and intuitive to use.
- Support face recognition.
- Auto-correct your photos.
Cons
- The photo editing features are limited.
- Sharing limited to Apple ecosystem.
Part 3: FAQs about Mac Photoshop Alternative
This is the title
Photoshop is the biggest name in photo editing, but it does not mean it is the only option to edit and refine photos. When you have to use graphic design options mixed in, Photoshop is an excellent choice. When you have a simple photo editor, you should choose Photoshop alternative for Mac.
You can no longer purchase perpetual licenses for Adobe Photoshop. It is only subscription licenses are available now, which you can pay monthly or annually. Perpetual licenses are still available only for Light Room 6, Acrobat Pro, Photoshop and Premiere Elements.
Since the new release of iOS, you can use most the Photoshop alternatives for Mac on your iPad, here are more others you can take into consideration, such as Procreate, Polarr, Canva, ReplayThat, Photopea, and more others. You can design the photos on your iPad within clicks.
Conclusion
Based on the sharing above, you should learn the top 10 best Photoshop alternatives to Mac. The top-notch screens on MacBook and iMac make for fine palettes when viewing and editing digital photos. Mac users have plentiful excellent choices when it comes to Photoshop alternative photo editors. Just learn their benefits and disadvantages according to the review.