The lack of a great desktop search engine for files and outlook email on the Mac is the only reason why I still use Windows 7 under Parallels. I have all the file system on the OS X side, but I still use the X1 Desktop search to index the content of the files and the Outlook PST files. The lack of a great desktop search engine for files and outlook email on the Mac is the only reason why I still use Windows 7 under Parallels. I have all the file system on the OS X side, but I still use the X1 Desktop search to index the content of the files and the Outlook PST files. Next time, install EasyFind with 1-click Learn how MacUpdate Desktop can install apps on MacUpdate with the simple click of the icon. Plus, keep all your apps updated. This was by far the best search tool for the Mac of any option, far superior to Spotlight because it performed the search live rather than relying on a catalog file that might be out of date, and because it made it easy to find hidden or system files. In OS X Mountain Lion, Lion, and Snow Leopard, Network Utility is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. To learn more, open Network Utility.
Apple Macs are great devices for photo editing, especially for professionals. The Mac’s Retina display, coupled with powerful processors, make for a seamless image editing workflow.
No matter if you’re an amateur looking to enhance your family vacation photos or a professional photographer working under pressure, there are Mac image editors to suit your needs.
Here are the best free and paid image editors for Mac.
The Best Free Mac Image Editors
If you’re looking for a basic editor, you don’t need to buy a fully featured editing suite. A basic image editor is both easy to use and has all the features that you’d need to fix and enhance your personal photos.
1. Photoscape X
Photoscape X is a great basic image editor for Mac you’ve probably never heard of. It’s an all-in-one app that lets you edit RAW images, fix photos, add filters, and more. Using the brush tool you can quickly fix small issues with your photos. Photoscape has a batch mode that lets you resize and rename photos with just a click.
Download:Photoscape X (Free)
2. GIMP
GIMP is an open source project that’s been in active development for over twenty years. It’s often referred to as the best free photo editor. Thanks to its community-based development, it offers professional features that you only otherwise find in paid apps like Photoshop.
GIMP is laid out like a professional editing tool and has a steep learning curve. But it has all the basic and professional features you would expect from a graphic design suite. GIMP’s Layers feature is powerful and you can even use some Photoshop plugins with GIMP. If you’re new to GIMP, use our introductory guide to GIMPAn Introduction to GIMP Photo Editing: 9 Things You Need to KnowAn Introduction to GIMP Photo Editing: 9 Things You Need to KnowGIMP is the best free photo editing app available. Here's everything you need to know about editing photos in GIMP.Read More to learn the basics.
Download:GIMP (Free)
Mac Os X 10.11 Download
3. Photos
If all you’re looking for is a simple way to manage your photo library on Mac8 Starter Tips for Managing Your Photos Library on Mac8 Starter Tips for Managing Your Photos Library on MacAre your Mac photos a mess? Follow these beginner's tips to get them under control and improve your picture organization.Read More and perform some basics edits to fix or enhance your personal photos, the built-in Photos app will be more than enough.
The Photos app has a good auto-enhance tool, a crop tool, basic image editing, and filter support. Plus, it has a familiar user interface. If you feel comfortable editing photos in the iPhone Photos app, you’ll be right at home on the Mac version as well.
4. Pixlr X
Pixlr X runs smoothly on any modern web browser. If you only need to edit a couple of photos every now and then, it doesn’t make sense to download a feature-rich image editor. Instead, see if Pixlr’s web-based image editor is enough for you.
Pixlr X has all the basic image editing features you’d expect. You can crop, resize, add filters, and easily remove the background from any image. There are a couple of tools for adjusting the visual elements of the picture and you can add text and doodle over images. If you have a stock image, you can use Pixlr X to quickly create a poster or flyer as well.
Visit:Pixlr X (Free)
The Best Paid Mac Image Editors
If you’re serious about photo editing, you’ll need professional tools. A fully-featured photo editing suite will help improve the quality of your work. Because paid apps are designed for professionals from the ground up, you’ll end up saving a lot of time once you get used to the workflow.
1. Lightroom
Lightroom is the default photo editor for professional photographers. Lightroom’s workflow sets it apart. Other than the stellar photo editing features, it also has a simple yet robust image organization feature. And this is why a lot of professionals stick with Lightroom.
If you’re clicking thousands of photos for a project and you need to select a couple of dozen good ones, Lightroom makes the process easy for you. You can skim through thousands of RAW files, mark the important photos, move them to a different directory, edit them in a particular style, save that style as a preset, go back and apply it to other photos, and then finally export the images in multiple formats.
And once you’re done with the project, you can use Lightroom’s library to keep the important photos and back them up using your Adobe Cloud account. For professionals, this is what makes Lightroom’s $9.99/month starting price palatable.
Download:Adobe Lightroom ($9.99/month)
2. Photoshop
Photoshop is a different kind of photo editor. You can think of it as Lightroom’s bigger brother. Photoshop is designed specifically for image manipulation and enhancement. Photoshop is famous for its advanced selection tools, complex layer system, and infinitely customizable brushes.
You can use Lightroom to bring out all of the details from a RAW image file or to enhance an image aesthetically (to fix colors and saturation levels). Once you’re done with that, you can import the image in Photoshop to kick things up a notch. In fact, you can’t edit RAW images in Photoshop without the Camera RAW plugin.
Photoshop is a massive, complex application with over two decades of consistent updates. It has way too many features, but once you master the basics, Photoshop gives you the tools to turn your imagination into reality.
Using Photoshop, you can merge multiple images together, completely change the color palette of an image, and fix parts of an image to make them better (particularly portraits).
Download:Adobe Photoshop ($9.99/month)
3. Affinity Photo
You can think of Affinity Photo as a lightweight version of Photoshop. It has the most common features from Photoshop like the advanced selection tools, brushes, and layer support. Affinity Photos weighs in at 350 MB instead of the 2GB behemoth that is Photoshop. Affinity Photo is also much faster than Photoshop, especially on Macs without a dedicated graphics card.
Plus, unlike Photoshop, you can buy Affinity Photo outright for $49.99. If you don’t like Adobe’s shift towards subscription pricing and increasing dependence on cloud syncing, take a look at Affinity Photo. If you’ve already learned the basics of Photoshop (you can open PSD files in Affinity Photo), it will be much easier to pick up Affinity Photo.
Download:Affinity Photo ($49.99)
4. Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro is a powerful image editing app that’s designed to be easy to use. It’s an all-in-one tool for image manipulation. Pixelmator Pro is a mix of Lightroom, Photoshop, and Illustrator. It has basic features from all three apps.
You can use it to edit RAW images, enhance photos, fix parts of images, and create posters by adding beautiful text and other elements. Pixelmator Pro can stretch itself from being a basic photo editing app to a graphic design suite, depending on your needs and skillset.
Download:Pixelmator Pro ($39.99)
Other Great Mac Apps Worth Using
There’s something for everyone in the apps listed above. We recommend most people start with Pixlr X and see if that does the trick. However, if you’re looking for a fast, beautiful, and feature-rich photo editor that’s designed for the Mac, Affinity Photo is a great choice.
There are many more great Mac apps out there just waiting to be explored. Take a look at our list of the best macOS appsThe Best Mac Apps to Install on Your MacBook or iMacThe Best Mac Apps to Install on Your MacBook or iMacLooking for the best apps for your MacBook or iMac? Here's our comprehensive list of the best apps for macOS.Read More to discover some of the apps you should be installing on your Mac.
Explore more about: Adobe Photoshop, Batch Image Editing, Image Editor, Photography.
I would definitely add Luminar - https://macphun.com/luminar
It was initially developed for Mac, but they had announced the open Windows Beta just today.
For Mac, it has really useful and effective tools, even 'AI' enhancement filter, which is a prototype of the legendary 'Make it awesome' button everyone was looking for.
Take a look at it, you won't regret it!For RAW images editing i would like to recommend 'Raw Therapee', pretty full featured free software, very simular to Adobe Lightroom.
Affinity for the Mac is my choice, that is just my opinion. The one time cost
is well worth it. The app has the 'apple feel', almost intuitive. Apple-Mac
architecture is not for every one but this paring is a winner.
There is a tutorial, that is only basic or go to the Tube.
How about 'Affinity Movie'?I think PhotoScape X is more full-featured than Fotor.
Pinta is a worthy mention. I prefer it's UI over GIMP and GIMPShop. It's the cross platform version to Paint.NET. http://pinta-project.com
Adobe sales Photoshop CC plus Lightroom for $9.99 a month. Not $19.99.
Really! Agreed. Where does the author derive his opinions from?! Affinity is not only excellent as a standalone application, they also have extensions in support of Apple's Photos as well.
Agreed. Affinity is very powerful and one of the best looking app to work with :)
No Affinity Photo? Really? Where do you live?
Where does the time go? Find out with these Mac time trackers.
Whether you’re trying to work out how much time you waste online5 Tools to Track How Much Time You Waste While Online5 Tools to Track How Much Time You Waste While OnlineRead More or just want a way to track projects so you can bill clients, there’s a Mac timer out there for you. Here are some of the best ones out there, broken down by category.
For Finding Where Your Time Went: Rescuetime (Free or $9/month)
Does your time ever just disappear? RescueTime is a cross-platform app that monitors everything you do on your computer, then reports back to you. If you want to know exactly what it is you’ve been doing on your Mac in order to find out which distractions to avoid and which projects are taking up too much time, this is the app to install.
We called this system web-based time management for geeks9 Best Time Management Tools for Staying Organized9 Best Time Management Tools for Staying OrganizedThe time management tools shown here will assist you with making the most of your days. Suitable for any business or personal situation. This is the time to organize your life!Read More way back in 2007, and more recently noted that it’s a great way to accurately keep track of what you do you on your computerAccurately Keep Track of What You Do on the Computer and for How Long With RescueTimeAccurately Keep Track of What You Do on the Computer and for How Long With RescueTimeIf you spend a considerable amount of time working at your computer with no Corporate Big Brother to monitor what you're doing, you may find yourself spending a bit more time than you should be...Read More. It’s been around a long time, and is much loved for its in-depth reporting.
You can spend a lot of time tweaking, letting Rescuetime know which sites or apps are and are not distracting for you. This really can vary: your boss might not love it if you spend all day on MakeUseOf, but for me it’s literally my job.
For Tracking Projects: Toggl (Free or $5/user/month)
If you’re a freelancer, you need to keep track of how much time you’re spending on various projects for billing purposes. If you want a no-nonsense tool for doing that with all kinds of reporting features, I recommend checking out Toggl first.
The Mac app stays out of your way: just tell it what you’re working on, and which project that’s related to it, and it’ll do its job. You can check out full reports over at the Toggl website. You’ll need an account to get started, but it doesn’t take long.
Of course, there are a number of alternative apps worth checking out; here are a few:
- TimeTracker Mac is an open source alternative.
- Harvest for Mac is, like Toggl, tied to a web service that offers a premium version.
- Klok is a similar system built on Adobe Air. So it’s not native, but many users love the features.
If your favourite business-oriented time tracker isn’t here, fill me in using the comments at the end of the article!
For The Pomodoro Method: Pomodoro One (Free)
The Pomodoro Method is one of those tricks that takes the stress out of productivity4 Ways To Take The Stress Out Of Productivity4 Ways To Take The Stress Out Of ProductivityWith a few well-targeted changes, you can boost your productivity by leaps and bounds. Apply these simple methods to your life and the result is what you would expect -- better work with lesser effort.Read More. Basically, you work 25 minutes uninterrupted, then take a 5 minute break. There are a plethora of different Mac Pomodoro timers out there, but the first one you should check out is Pomodoro One.
This free tool is both attractive and functional – just click “Play” when you’re ready to get started. The app lets you know when your five minute break has started, then starts counting automatically – it’s not going to wait for you. This is good: putting off your break (or your working period) defeats the point of the Pomodoro Method.
Just in case you disagree on that point, there are so many alternative Pomodoro timers out there:
Best Search Tool For Linux
- Focus ($20) is an app that blocks distracting websitesCan't Get Anything Done? Block Distractions With Focus For MacCan't Get Anything Done? Block Distractions With Focus For MacForce yourself to work instead of browsing. Focus is a Mac app that blocks distracting sites that shows you an inspirations quote when you try to visit a site you shouldn't.Read More and also features a built-in Pomodoro timer.
- Pomodoro Time: is similar to Pomodoro One, but includes a to-do list. Ideal if you’re not already using some other todo list.
There are a lot of Pomodoro apps out there and everyone has a favorite, so let fellow readers know about your favorites in the comments below.
Also: as longtime Pomodoro fan, here’s a tip: use Lego to track your time betterHow To Use LEGOs To Manage Your Time BetterHow To Use LEGOs To Manage Your Time BetterI think I've found the ultimate productivity tool: LEGOs. Don't leave! Let me explain.Read More. Seriously.
For Quick Countdowns: Menubar Countdown [No Longer Available]
When I want a simple countdown, I prefer Menubar Countdown – a timer that talks to you. Yes, using the speech is a gimmick, but it’s such a fun one – your computer can remind you, out loud, what you intended to do later in the day.
There are other apps out there, of course:
- Thyme is an open source app.
- TeaTimer is cool if you still use the Dashboard: it’s a simple widget you can use to make countdowns.
- Timer for Mac ($25) is a combination stopwatch, timer and alarm that you can program to do just about anything when time runs out.
- Speaking of programing timers to do things: you can also use timers to schedule system shutdownsSchedule A Shutdown In OS X With These Tools [Mac]Schedule A Shutdown In OS X With These Tools [Mac]Computers often pose a dilemma of power consumption. You'd like to do batch jobs like downloading, system repair or back-ups at night, when you aren't bothered by it. Then again, it seems a bit wasteful...Read More.
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What Are Your Favorite Mac Timers?
I’ve tried out a lot of different Mac timers over the years; the above are my favorites. But you might — as a Mac user — be know to think differently.
So I’m asking: which timers did we miss? Add your favourites in the comments below, because I’m always excited to learn about new apps.
Explore more about: Business Technology, Invoice, Productivity, Time Management, Timer Software.
Thanks for sharing this toolkit!
You've asked what timers did you, miss - in my opinion, TimeCamp should be included here. My company has used it since last June and we're satisfied with the results. It's much easier now to stay organized and disciplined.
KathyAlso, is there any similar article about linux time tracking software?
IMO, Toggl is the best
Ha, you are probably an employer this company, are you :)?
I recommend TimeCamp.