Mac comes with a built-in photo editor you already own

The fastest way to edit a photo on Mac is to use the Photos app that came with your computer. Open Photos, find the image you want to change, click Edit in the top right, and you can crop, rotate, adjust brightness and color, and explore filters without leaving the app or paying anything extra. The changes save automatically to your library.

If you need something more powerful — layers, precise selection tools, or the ability to work with text and shapes — Preview (also built in) handles basic edits and can open files that Photos cannot. For serious photo work, you will need to buy software like Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo, or Pixelmator Pro, but most people do not.

Key Takeaways

  • Photos app on Mac lets you crop, rotate, adjust exposure and color, and add filters without buying anything.
  • Preview can open and edit more file types than Photos, including PDFs and some raw camera files.
  • Paid options like Affinity Photo and Pixelmator Pro cost between $50 and $80 one time and offer layers, masks, and advanced tools.
  • Adobe Photoshop requires a monthly subscription and is the industry standard for professional work, but overkill for most home projects.
  • For quick fixes — straightening, brightness, removing red-eye — Photos app is faster than opening anything else.

Editing in the Photos app for common fixes

Open the Photos app (in your Applications folder or Dock), find the photo you want to edit, and double-click it to open it full-screen. Click the Edit button in the top right corner. You will see a toolbar with icons for crop, rotate, and filters.

The Light panel lets you adjust exposure (how bright or dark the image is), highlights (the brightest parts), shadows (the darkest parts), and contrast. The Color panel controls saturation (how vivid the colors are), hue (the actual color tone), and warmth. Drag each slider left or right to see the change in real time. If you go too far, click the reset arrow next to the slider name to start over for just that setting.

The Crop tool lets you change the frame of the image. Click the crop icon, then drag the corners or edges to resize. You can also rotate the image by dragging the dial in the corner. When you are done, click Done and the changes save to your library automatically — there is no separate save step.

Using Preview for files Photos cannot open

Preview is the app Mac uses to open PDFs, images, and some other file types. It is faster than Photos for a single quick edit and can handle file formats that Photos will not recognize. Right-click any image file, choose Open With, and select Preview.

Once the image is open, go to Tools in the menu bar and you will see Adjust Color, Rotate, Crop, and Annotate. Adjust Color gives you sliders for brightness, contrast, saturation, and temperature — similar to Photos but in a different layout. When you are done, press Command+S to save. Preview will ask whether you want to save over the original or create a new file with a different name.

Preview also has a markup toolbar (the toolbox icon in the top right) that lets you draw, add text, and add shapes directly to the image. This is useful if you need to point out something in a screenshot or add a label, but it is not a full design tool.

When to buy Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro

If you find yourself doing the same edits over and over, or if you need to work with layers (separate editable parts of an image stacked on top of each other), the built-in tools will start to feel slow. Affinity Photo costs $70 one time and Pixelmator Pro costs $40 one time. Both run on Mac and let you work with layers, masks, and more advanced color controls than Photos or Preview offer.

Affinity Photo is closer to Photoshop in how it works — if you have used Photoshop before, the interface will feel familiar. Pixelmator Pro is simpler and faster for most home projects. Both have free trials so you can test them before you buy. Neither requires a subscription, so you own the software permanently once you pay.

You do not need either one unless you are regularly combining multiple images, removing unwanted objects from photos, or doing detailed color correction. For straightening, cropping, and adjusting brightness, Photos is genuinely all you need.

Adobe Photoshop and when it makes sense

Photoshop is the industry standard for professional photo and graphic design work. It costs $23 per month (as of 2024, though this varies by region and promotion) and requires a subscription — you never own it outright. It has more tools, more precision, and more community support than any other option.

Most people do not need Photoshop. It is overkill for editing family photos, resizing images for social media, or making straightforward graphics. It is the right choice if you are doing this work professionally, if you need to match a specific workflow your team uses, or if you are learning photo editing as a skill and want access to the most resources and tutorials.

If you are considering Photoshop, start with the free trial and see whether you actually use the features that make it different from Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro. Many people pay for Photoshop and use only the crop and brightness tools — in which case you are paying $276 per year for something Photos does for free.

Organizing your edits so you do not lose the original

Photos app keeps both your original image and your edits. If you change your mind later, open the photo, click Edit, and then click Revert to Original in the top left. This undoes every change you made and brings back the original file. You can edit the same photo multiple times and always go back.

Preview and the paid apps (Affinity Photo, Pixelmator Pro, Photoshop) work differently — they edit the file directly unless you save it with a new name. Before you make big changes in Preview, go to File and choose Duplicate. This creates a copy with "copy" in the filename. Edit the copy instead of the original, so if something goes wrong you still have the original to start over from.

If you are working with layers in Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro, save your work as a project file (not as a final image) while you are still editing. This keeps all your layers separate so you can go back and change individual parts later. When you are happy with the result, export it as a JPG or PNG for sharing or printing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I edit a photo directly from my iPhone on my Mac?

Yes. If you have iCloud Photos turned on, your iPhone photos appear in the Photos app on your Mac. Edit them the same way you would edit any other photo — the changes sync back to your iPhone automatically. You can also use AirDrop to send a photo from your iPhone to your Mac, edit it there, and send it back.

What file types can Photos edit?

Photos works with JPG, PNG, HEIC (the default format on newer iPhones), and GIF. If you have a raw file from a camera (like CR2 from Canon or NEF from Nikon), Photos will not let you edit it — use Preview or open it in Affinity Photo or Pixelmator Pro instead.

How do I make a photo smaller in file size?

In Photos, edit the image, then go to File and choose Export. A dialog will appear where you can choose the file type (JPG is smallest), the quality (lower quality means smaller file), and the size in pixels. For web use, 1200 pixels wide is usually enough. For printing, 300 pixels per inch is the standard.

Can I undo an edit after I close the photo?

In Photos, yes — open the photo again, click Edit, and click Revert to Original to undo all changes. In Preview, only if you have not closed the file yet. In Affinity Photo and Pixelmator Pro, only if you saved the project file (not the final image) and reopen it.

Is there a free alternative to Photoshop for Mac?

GIMP is free and open-source, but it is harder to learn and slower than Photoshop or Affinity Photo. For most people, Affinity Photo at $70 one time is a better choice than paying for Photoshop, and Photos or Preview is better than either if you only need basic edits.