BEST SUBSCRIPTION PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE
Adobe Photoshop At a glance
⬤ Photo editing and graphics program
⬤ Windows and Mac
⬤ £9.98 monthly with Lightroom (20GB storage), or
£19.97 monthly (1TB storage)
⬤ adobe.com
Adobe Photoshop is a superb piece of photo-editing software. Whether you need to clone out distractions, rescue blown-out highlights, convert to monochrome, process raw files (via the Camera Raw plug-in) or perform any of the other myriad tasks that might befall a photo editor, Photoshop will be well equipped. We reviewed the most recent version of Adobe Photoshop, and its ability to clean up and declutter images has been made faster than ever thanks to new AI-powered object-selection tools.
Newer versions of Photoshop have come loaded with powerful generative AI tools such as Generative Fill and Generative Expand, which allow you to radically transform images with generative content.
The full version of Photoshop is subscription-only. The popular Photography bundle, where you get it together with Lightroom for $9.99/£9.98 per month, is at least decent value – though be warned that cancellation is a more complex affair than you might think. Adobe is infamous for its sneaky ‘cancellation fees’ that hit users who have the temerity to not want to give them money any more.
Bear in mind that if you do want Photoshop without a subscription, you can get it in the slimmed-down Photoshop Elements package, which is a one-time purchase.
Pros and Cons
+ Powerful image editor equipped for basically any task
+ Smart AI-powered selection tools + Neural filters can restore old photos – AI emphasis won’t appeal to everyone – Subscription only –
Cancellation fees
Adobe Lightroom At a glance
⬤ Workflow, image management and editing
program
⬤ Windows and Mac
⬤ £9.98 monthly with Photoshop (20GB storage),
or £19.97 monthly (1TB storage)
⬤ adobe.com
If you’re subscribed to Photoshop, chances are good that you’ve got Lightroom too, as the most cost-efficient subscription gives you access to both. While Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom programs share many features, the key appeal of Lightroom lies in its extensive cataloguing and image-management features. These allow you to use keywording and rating to organise your images and single out the keepers. If you’re regularly sifting through large numbers of files, it is an enormous timesaver.
Lightroom is also no slouch when it comes to photo editing. While Photoshop is the more powerful program with a more comprehensive suite of options, Lightroom is still excellent, and many photographers use Lightroom exclusively. Its image-repair and enhancement tools are precise and intuitive, and the highly fine-tunable masking function can be immensely useful. You can also easily copy your changes to multiple images for speedy batch-editing.
Pros and Cons
+ Unmatched image-organisation features + Powerful, efficient editing tools + Excellent noise reduction from Denoise AI – Subscription only –
No Layers functionality
Zoner Photo Studio X At a glance
⬤ Raw converter, image editor and organiser
⬤ Windows only
⬤ $59 per year / $5.99 per month
⬤ zoner.com
This Windows-only software is designed to be the complete package when it comes to photo editing – so it’s also a raw processor, an image organiser and even a photobook designer. It offers plenty of Photoshop-like tools, including Layer adjustments, and the interface is well designed. The program includes plenty of camera and lens correction profiles too, with the option to upload more if needed. This latest version also runs much better than previous iterations of the software, with plenty of bug fixes and performance enhancements having been introduced.
ZPS X doesn’t have Adobe’s ultraadvanced features like Neural Filters, and its corrections aren’t as good as those you’d find in the likes of Photoshop or DxO PhotoLab. However, as a start-to-finish photo-editing program, it does a very good job indeed and is definitely a credible option for those looking for a solid Photoshop alternative.
Pros and Cons
+ All-in-one software
+ Useful modes for creating photobooks and calendars –
Lacks some high-end modern features – Windows only