In a rapidly evolving digital world, finding the ideal photography and editing app can seem overwhelming. Professional photographers and brand and marketing image experts have weighed in on this topic to lend their expertise. This article kicks off with insights about Lightroom CC, essential for photographers, and wraps up with a game-changing review of EVOTO for portrait photographers. Discover these and other expert-recommended apps, totalling eight invaluable insights, to enhance your images in 2025.
- Lightroom CC: Essential for Photographers
- InShot: Effortless Editing on the Go
- Photoshop: Unbeatable for Professional Editing
- Adobe Lightroom: Best for All Skill Levels
- Evoto: Intuitive AI-Powered Editing
- Snapseed: Professional-Grade and User-Friendly
- Capture One Pro: Powerful with AI Updates
- EVOTO: Game Changer for Portrait Photographers
Lightroom CC: Essential for Photographers
For me, the single best app for photography and editing in 2025 is Lightroom CC. It’s a tool I absolutely can’t live without as a photographer. Over the years, it has become an integral part of my creative process, from organising my images into collections that help me stay on top of projects to creating presets that bring consistency and soul to my work. Lightroom is an essential pillar in my workflow, from concept to final image.
One of the things I truly appreciate about Lightroom CC is its ability to evolve with the latest advancements while staying true to its core focus: photography. The AI tools for masking and enhancements are incredibly helpful, but they never feel like they take over; they just make my workflow smoother. Lightroom is more than just software—it’s the space where I bring my photos to life.
Karin van Mierlo, Photographer / Photography Educator, Photography Playground
InShot: Effortless Editing on the Go
InShot is an excellent choice for everyday photography and video editing. I’ve personally used it for editing quick photos and creating polished social media content, and it never disappoints.
The app’s interface is straightforward, making it easy to crop, adjust brightness, and apply filters to photos or videos. What I love most about InShot is its ability to enhance photos with just a few taps—whether I’m adjusting the background blur for a portrait or adding text overlays to highlight key details in a picture.
One time, I had to create a promotional video for a client’s event, and InShot made it simple to combine clips, add transitions, and fine-tune the colors, all on my phone. It’s also great for resising images to fit various social media platforms, saving a lot of time.
The app offers a variety of creative tools, including stickers, music, and effects, which make editing fun and engaging. For someone who needs quick yet professional-quality edits on the go, InShot is a must-have app that I rely on daily.
Aseem Jha, Founder, Legal Consulting Pro
Photoshop: Unbeatable for Professional Editing
When it comes to photo editing, Photoshop is unbeatable. It’s the most powerful and versatile platform available, and any expert will know how to use its nondestructive layers and creative overlays effectively. However, not everyone has access to Photoshop, which is where Canva’s basic photo editing tools come in handy.
Canva offers sliders to adjust brightness, color, shadows, and more, along with creative filters. Keep in mind, though, that these filters may not be as refined as those in Photoshop. For instance, Canva’s background remover is useful for eliminating backgrounds, but it also removes floor shadows, which can make the subject appear to be floating.
There are workarounds for this issue. When using the background remover, I suggest making a copy of your photo with the background removed and placing it on top of your original layer. This way, you can keep the natural shadows from the original image while adding text or graphics behind the top layer for a creative effect.
In summary, if you want professional image editing with a natural feel, Photoshop is the best option. However, if you need something quick and user-friendly, Canva is a great alternative. Just remember to think creatively about your overall image!
Amber Andrews, Brand & Marketing Image Expert, Andrews Artistry
Adobe Lightroom: Best for All Skill Levels
If I had to choose one photography and editing app to enhance images in 2025, Adobe Lightroom is hands down my pick. Whether you’re just getting started or a seasoned pro, Lightroom’s tools bring out the best in every shot without feeling overwhelming.
Lightroom’s standout feature is its ability to make detailed edits—like adjusting exposure, contrast, and colors—while keeping your original image intact. This means you can play with the lighting or experiment with colors and still go back to the original image anytime. Plus, its AI-powered “Adaptive Presets” can give you that perfect look with just a click, which is a huge time-saver, especially when you’re trying to get images just right for clients.
On the practical side, Lightroom’s organisation tools keep everything accessible. It automatically sorts photos by faces, locations, and keywords, which makes finding that one golden shot a breeze. And because Lightroom syncs across all devices, you can shoot on your camera, edit on your laptop, and make final tweaks on your phone—keeping the workflow smooth no matter where you are.
Lightroom may have a monthly subscription, but it’s worth it for the powerful editing tools and the way it keeps your photos organised and accessible. For me, Lightroom is that trusted partner in making each image feel true to the moment it captured.
Brian Holstein, Photographer & Business Owner, Scenic Vows
Evoto: Intuitive AI-Powered Editing
Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked with a variety of popular editing software, including ACR, Lightroom, and Photoshop. Recently, I’ve added Evoto to my workflow—a highly intuitive AI-powered editing program. It’s particularly impressive for portrait retouching, as it significantly speeds up my editing process. You can edit your subject once, and the software automatically applies the same adjustments across all related images. As an outdoor photographer, I also appreciate its sky replacement and stray hair removal tools, which make refining my images even easier.
Nina Mace, Photographer, Trainer & Mentor, Nina Mace Photography
Snapseed: Professional-Grade and User-Friendly
It is one of the photography and editing apps that stands out by its professional-grade features and user-friendly design. For us, Snapseed is used for the editing of social media visuals, such that they reflect our brand’s quality and vibrancy. Selective is one of its key tools which enables you to make selective adjustment on brightness, contrast, and saturation in specific areas. Its ability to elevate ordinary photos into polished content mirrors our commitment to excellence. Snapseed is a broad tool that is invaluable for professionals and casual users alike.
Tornike Asatiani, CEO, Edumentors
Capture One Pro: Powerful with AI Updates
As someone who works with various software daily, I’ve found Capture One Pro to be the most powerful photo editing tool, especially after their 2025 AI updates. Being a developer myself, I’m impressed by how their new AI-powered Style Engine can match editing styles across multiple photos while maintaining natural skin tones and lighting. Though it’s pricier than alternatives at $24/month, I believe the professional-grade tools and tethered shooting capabilities make it worth the investment for serious photographers.
Christian Marin, CEO, Freezenova
EVOTO: Game Changer for Portrait Photographers
As a portrait photographer specialising in professional headshots, EVOTO has been the biggest game changer in 2025 for me. Launched in 2020, the AI-based software has been constantly evolving and taking feedback from its users to offer a one-stop solution, from tethered shooting to raw processing and full retouching. My favourite features include: skin shine removal, glass reflection removal, blemish removal, hair tidying, and clothes de-wrinkling. All the changes are slider-based, very intuitive, and can be easily reverted.
Best of all, like in Lightroom, the changes can be synced in seconds across a whole selection of images. The pricing is moving towards a subscription model with credits, with a price per image in the region of 6 cents, making it very affordable, although there is a hefty minimum spend.
Stephanie Belton, Photographer, Stephanie Belton Photography Ltd
