F or a long time, Photoshop was considered the definitive professional photo editor, and still is by many photographers. But when it’s compared with other software around today, its specialist focus and limitations become apparent. Photoshop may still be the best for in-depth photo editing, manipulation and compositing, but it’s really designed for working in depth on individual images. Lightroom, for example, is much better suited to handling busy professional photography, where it can quickly display, organize and enhance whole batches of images.
While Photoshop might be the ‘best’ in some respects, other programs offer organizing tools, effects presets and inspiration that Photoshop doesn’t. The fact that both Photoshop and Lightroom are both included in the Adobe Photography Plan makes them a great double-act that fills any gaps left by the other – but that still doesn’t make Adobe’s solution the best for everyone. Let’s take a closer look at the options…
The contenders
1 ACDSee Photo Suite 2023 £124/$150 or £7.99/$8.90/month
2 Adobe Lightroom Classic + Lightroom £9.98/$9.99/month
3 Adobe Photoshop 2023 £9.98/$9.99/month
4 Adobe Photoshop Elements £86.56/$99.99
5 Affinity Photo 2 £59.99/$69.99
6 Capture One 23 £299/$299 or £179/$179/year
7 DxO PhotoLab 5 Elite £199/$219
8 Exposure X7 £134/$129
9 Nikon NX Studio Free
10 ON1 Photo RAW 2023 £103.20/$99.99 or £8/$8/month
11 Radiant Photo £159/$159
12 Skylum Luminar AI £129/$149 or £7/$8.25/month
What to look for…
Everyone’s editing needs are different. Here are some things to think about
Organizing tools
It’s one thing being able to edit your photos, but you also need to manage and organize them – and the more pictures you take, the more there is to organize. Some people can manage perfectly well using a folder-based filing system and image browsing tool like Adobe Bridge (included with the Photography Plan), but for many photographers a more advanced cataloguing tool is needed. Adobe Lightroom is the most popular solution, but there are some very good rivals, notably Capture One. ON1 Photo RAW, Exposure X7 and others have cataloguing tools too, though perhaps not quite in the same league.
Raw processing
Photographers shoot Raw files to achieve the best possible quality, but it’s wrong to assume that a Raw file is
