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Taking photos is one of the most common activities performed on smartphones and computers. Whether it’s capturing beautiful moments with friends and family or capturing beautiful scenery on vacation, we often want the best possible keep sakes to look back on. But what do you do when the photo doesn’t quite turn out the way you like it? Perhaps it’s too dark, too blurry, too bright or just boring? This is where photo enhancing software comes into play. With various photo enhancing software available in the market, you can elevate your photos in a snap. In this blog, we will cover the top 7 picture enhancers for Windows that are worth your time and money.
Video Tutorial:
What Picture Enhancers Can Do?
Before we dive into our list of top picture enhancers, let’s discuss briefly what these software can do. Picture enhancers are designed to help users enhance and manipulate their digital images, typically by making it brighter, sharper, removing unwanted objects, adjusting color, and adding filters or effects. Additionally, these software can provide more advanced features such as batch-processing, photo restoration, and face touch-up. Overall, these photo enhancing software make it easy for you to achieve the type of photo editing, so let’s find out which ones are the best options.
What Factors Should Be Considered While Choosing Picture Enhancing Software?
When it comes to picture enhancing software, you want to choose a product that fulfills your specific needs. So, here are a few factors you should consider when choosing picture enhancing software:
User Interface:
A picture enhancer with a user-friendly interface offers a better working experience, saving you time and effort during your editing process.
Features:
It is important to choose a picture enhancer with the features you need to accomplish your editing goals.
Price:
You don’t necessarily have to spend a fortune on photo enhancing software, but it is important to choose a product that provides the best value for your money.
Customer Support:
Look for picture enhancers from vendors that offer excellent customer support so you can quickly resolve any issues you may encounter during your editing process.
With these factors in mind, let’s explore the top 7 picture enhancers for Windows.
Top 7 Picture Enhancers for Windows
Top 1: Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Lightroom is one of the most powerful and popular picture enhancers on the market. It is a complete photo organization and editing solution that provides a wide range of features. Adobe Lightroom comes with an intuitive interface and seamless integration with other Adobe products. It also provides customizable presets, which you can easily apply to your pictures to enhance colors and tones. Additionally, the software’s cloud-based storage lets you synchronize your photos easily across all your devices.
Pros:
- Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- Advanced features for enhancing photos
- Seamless integration with other Adobe products
- Customizable presets
Cons:
- High-priced for its full feature set
- Limited option for retouching photos
Top 2: Skylum Luminar
Skylum Luminar is another fantastic picture enhancer that is affordable and offers a broad range of features and presets. It has a user-friendly interface and a comprehensive toolkit for enhancing your photos, especially in regards to color, lighting, and effects. Furthermore, Skylum Luminar allows the use of layers and masks for advanced editing. Overall, Skylum Luminar is an excellent option for those looking for ease of use and robust photo enhancement tools.
Pros:
- Affordable pricing
- User-friendly interface
- Comprehensive toolkit for photo enhancing
- Layers and Masks for advanced editing
Cons:
- Some features are slower than other software
- Does not support batch processing on Windows
Top 3: Corel PaintShop Pro
Corel PaintShop is another popular picture enhancer that is designed specifically for Windows users. It offers a wide variety of features, including photo editing, designing, and illustrating tools. The software’s interface is user-friendly and provides a lot of options for advanced editing. Additionally, the software is affordable while offering powerful editing tools compared to other products in the market.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Comprehensive toolkit
- Affordable
- Support Vector editing capabilities
Cons:
- Requires a high-performance computer for efficient working
- Some features could be improved for more options and versatility.
- Limited cloud storage options
Top 4: ON1 Photo RAW
ON1 Photo RAW is a complete solution specifically designed for photography enthusiasts. The software comes with a range of image-editing tools, with specific tools to add text, crop, remove dust, and spot healing, as well as robust color correction tools. The software also offers batch processing, alongside RAW image editing. Furthermore, ON1 photo RAW has great integration with third-party plugins.
Pros:
- User-friendly Interface
- Comprehensive toolkit for photo editing.
- Offers batch image processing
- Excellent support for third-party plugins and integrations.
Cons:
- Can be slow for optimizing large sets of photos.
- Some adjustment tools can be confusing to use.
Top 5: ACDSee PhotoStudio Ultimate
ACDSee PhotoStudio Ultimate is another picture enhancer designed specifically for photographers and supports a variety of image formats, including RAW. It offers an intuitive interface that supports HDR and layers. ACDSee also provides a wide range of features like facial recognition, color separation, batch processing, and additional photo editing tools that help walk users through the editing experience.
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Supports a wide range of image formats.
- Range of advanced editing features
- Affordable
Cons:
- Some adjustment tools can be confusing to use.
- Some occasional lags when processing larger images.
- No artificial intelligence for auto-enhancing photos.
Top 6: Serif Affinity Photo
Serif Affinity Photo is another powerful picture enhancer designed for both Windows and Macs with a wealth of professional-grade features. This software offers a seamless interface, offers everything from basic photo retouching to advanced image transformation. Importantly, the software allows users to use layers, enjoys full 16-bit editing, and allows advanced image processing through several filters and brushes.
Pros:
- Wide range of advanced editing tools
- Intuitive interface
- Wide selection of filters, brushes, and effects
- Supports batch-processing for adding effects across multiple images.
Cons:
- Can be overwhelming with multiple menus and options while editing.
- Retroactive adjustment functionality is limited.
Top 7: Photolemur
Photolemur stands out because this software uses artificial intelligence to adjust and enhance photos. The software takes care of color grading and exposure adjustments for automatic processing. Photolemur requires no work on the user’s end, is an affordable option for those looking to improve their photos without a large learning curve. With simple drag-and-drop functionality and excellent processing options, Photolemur is for users looking for decent photo enhancers.
Pros:
- Software utilization of artificial intelligence to enhance images.
- Simple and straightforward drag-and-drop functionality for processing.
- Affordable pricing
- Satisfactory quality of results for automatic processing.
Cons:
- Limited range of adjustment options compared to other products.
- Results can be too uniform and unnatural looking for some users.
Comprehensive Comparison of Each Software:
Here’s a quick and easy-to-understand comparison of each photo enhancing software:
| Photo Enhancer | Free Trial | Price | Ease-of-Use | Value for Money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Lightroom | 7-days | $9.99/month | Easy to use for beginners and advanced users | Excellent value for money as part of Adobe Creative Suite |
| Skylum Luminar | 7-days | $79.00/purchase | User-friendly interface for beginners | Affordable in comparison to other photo enhancing software |
| Corel PaintShop Pro | 30-days | $79.99/purchase | User-friendly interface with comprehensive editing options for advanced users | Affordable and represents good value for money |
| ON1 Photo RAW | 14-days | $99.99/purchase | User-friendly interface with comprehensive editing options for advanced users | Offers a range of features for its price point |
| ACDSee PhotoStudio Ultimate | 30-days | $89.99/purchase | User-friendly interface with comprehensive features for advanced users | Affordable and fair priced compared to similar software |
| Serif Affinity Photo | Unlimited Trial | $49.99/purchase | User-friendly interface with comprehensive features for advanced users | Affordable and affordable while providing advanced features. |
| Photolemur | Unlimited Trial | $35.00/purchase | Very beginner-friendly drag-and-drop, with automated processing | Affordable and excellent for beginners or those who need quick results. |
Our Thoughts on Picture Enhancers
In conclusion, all of the picture enhancing software presented above provides excellent features for enhancing your photos. While some are more suited to demanding users, beginners should not overlook them, as many of them have intuitive interfaces that provide excellent ease of use. Which one you choose depends on your personal preference and the features that suit you best.
FAQ
Q1: Can these software be used for photo restoration?
A: Yes. Many of the above picture enhancers have a variety of in-built tools for photo restoration, such as removing scratches, color correction, and texture enhancement.
Q2: Are these software easy to learn?
A: Although advanced features are available in each product, the programs are generally quite intuitive and user-friendly. Each software on our list of the top 7 picture enhancing software has a range of built-in tools to help you explore each feature efficiently.
Q3: Are there free alternatives to the picture enhancers listed on your article?
A: Yes, there are certainly free photo enhancing software out there! But, often, they are not as full-feature or are not as developed as these products detailed in our article.
Q4: What exactly does artificial intelligence do to my photo when using Photolemur?
A: Photolemur uses a myriad of algorithms to detect and adjust several different aspects of your photos, much like a human’s eye would. Contrast, saturation, brightness, noise reduction, and color balance can all be adjusted in Photolemur using AI technology for a more natural-looking results compared to other editing software.
Q5: How often do I need to upgrade software?
A: How often you upgrade your photo enhancing software is up to you. Basic editing software isn’t routinely updated as tools like Adobe Lightroom, Corel PaintShop, and Skylum Luminar, which are all continuously improving and expanding. It’s better to research every product update and see its new features to determine if it’s worth updating or not.
Final Words
Choosing the best picture enhancer means selecting software that not only fits your budget but also meets your specific photo-enhancement needs. Each software listed above provides unique functionalities and features to satisfy users with varying requirements. Our recommendation? Spend some time testing each of these products’ free trials since it is the best way to determine which of them caters to your specific photo enhancing needs. Enjoy a better, more personalized experience with your photos with our carefully curated list of the best picture enhancers for Windows.