Individuals seeking ways to produce photos and images with high quality effects will need to purchase an advanced create photo editing software system. There are hundreds of photo editing programs out there, some very basic, and others with more advanced and specific purposes. Check out the top five software options for adding effects to photos in order to get a better understanding of the differences between these programs.
1. Nik Software Complete Edition
Nik Software’s compete version will cost users around $500, but creative or professional individuals looking for a program to do it all should definitely invest in Nik. This program can work as a standalone photo editing system or in conjunction with Photoshop, Aperture, and Lightroom. It contains tools that can reduce noise, sharpen and tweak light, and create black and white images.
Color Efex Pro (included in this bundle) comes with over 50 photographic filters and over 200 effects to choose from. So many options, however, can overwhelm users, particularly beginners.
2. PhotoPlus
Produced by Serif, PhotoPlus, retailing at $90, contains all of the most important photo editing and effects essentials. It offers plenty of filters, artistic adjustments, and repair tools. PhotoPlus also comes with RAW support and HDR merging.
This software is relatively easy for users of all levels. The main con with this photo-enhancing software is that it’s not as advanced as some of its competitors, and as a result users may not get the depth they’re seeking with this product.
3. Topaz Star Effect
Users interested in manipulating or enhancing lighting should seek out Topaz Star Effects photo editing software for $30. This software can help users produce stronger light sources in photos and add or tweak numerous lighting-based details in their images.
The options in this software are neatly laid out and fairly simple for even beginners to use and quickly master. However, it is easy for users to go overboard with the lighting effects listed in this software and ultimately over-enhance a photo.
4. OnOne Software Perfect Photo Suite
For $300, users can purchase Perfect Photo Suite, a software program that can help users expertly retouch, edit, enhance, and fine-tune photography images. This program has one of the best masking tools and library of photographic effects to choose from. Best of all, users can resize images up to 1,000% with enhancements without losing any detail or pixelating the image.
- This program is ideal for advanced users familiar with enhancement and editing software, and can be difficult for beginners to navigate.
5. Digital Heavens Smooth Skins
Costing around $40, Digital Heavens Smooth Skins photo editing software is one of the best programs users can use to enhance skin in photographs. This program contains several features for smoothing skin tones and correcting any skin imperfections, without rendering the image quality. Color intensities and filters can also be tweaked and easily perfected. This program specifically is targeted towards correcting skin tones, and thus is not as detailed for other photo enhancements.
Enhancing photos in a way that makes the image still look true and believable is an important aspect that all of these top photo-enhancing software programs provide. Users should choose a program that best suits their individual needs as well as skill level.