Photo Editing on Mac : What options do you have?

Mac comes with great tools, like Quick Time and iMovie that let users Edit videos, convert Video to Audio, etc. However, what can you do on Mac as far as Photo Editing is concerned? I am not referring to any third-party app installation or using a website to edit photos, but the apps that you already have on your Mac.

Apps on Mac that works as Photo Editor

Preview App

You already know about this App. When you double-click on any image, it is opened with the Preview app. You can click on the tool icon to edit a photo.

Explanation of Tools (Left to right)

• Smart or Manual Cropping: The first 2 tools on the left let you Crop image. You can use smart selection or manual selection to crop an image. You can crop a square area, round area, or even custom area from any part of the image.
• Drawing: The 3rd tool (pencil icon) lets you draw anywhere on the image, you can change the color and thickness using the 3rd and 4th tools (from the right).
• Highlighter: The 4th tool with the circle and square icon let you make a Circle, Straight/Askew Line, Square, Arrow, Star Sign, Messaging sign, etc. This tool can also be used to Put a magnifier or highlighter on the image.
•  Text on Image: The 5th tool with the T icon let you write text anywhere on the image. Text Color, Border, Background, Font Size, etc. can be changed using the first three tools (from the right).
• Signature: The 6th tool from the left can be used to sign. You get the option to sign using the trackpad or can use the camera to capture the signature from a White Paper.
• Adjust Color: The 7th tool lets you adjust image color
• Change Resolution and Image Quality: This option let you change the height and width of an image, and you can also increase or decrease its Resolution (DPI)
• The last four tools don’t work alone. They are used to edit text, its color, format, etc., increase or decrease the thickness or line or drawing, Change the Border & Background color, etc.

ColorSync Utility

ColorSync Utility allows changing the picture’s height & Width, its quality, and DPI. It can also be used to adjust the picture’s color or make it black & white. Here is how to use Color SyncUtility to Edit an image on Mac;

• Right Click on any image, select Open With and click ColorSync Utility.

• Now the image will be opened in ColorSync Utility app, and you can start editing.
• Click on the small image icon to resize the image, change its quality & DPI (Dots Per Inch).

• If you want to adjust color, like Contrast, Brightness, Sharpness, Sepia, Gamma, Exposure, etc., Click on the Settings icon, and then a new window will pop up with some options. Now you can play with the sliders to adjust color. If you make mistake, click on the Reset Sliders button, and do it again.

• Don’t close the color adjustment window before saving the file. Click on the File option in the menu bar, and then select the Save option. Please note that clicking on the Save option will replace the original image with the edited one. If you don’t want this to happen, choose Save As an option or take a screenshot. In the case of the screenshot, but the brightness adjustment window aside by dragging it, and then capture the screen.

iMovie App

• Launch iMovie App, Select the Media tab, click on the Down Arrow icon to add an image.

• Now you get some options to edit images or apply filters. For example, to apply a new filter on the image, click on the filter icon (icon with 3 round circles), then click the Clip Filter option, and now you can select any of the available filters to apply to your image.

• You can move pictures from a different angle or crop them using the Crop tool within the iMovie app. Crop Tool is located on the right side of the video camera icon (check the screenshot).
• There are some more tools that you can use to adjust color.
• Once you are ready to save the file, click on the arrow icon on the top right corner, and click the Image option, Name your file, select the destination folder, and click Save

Keynote App

Keynote is primarily used to create presentations, but it is a great alternative to photo editing apps for Mac. You can add style to your image via the Keynote app.

• Dim an Image: Keynote let you dim an image. It’s kind of making the picture transparent.
• Add Border, Reflection, Pin, Frame, adjust color, etc. The images that you see in this article have been made in Keynote. Have a look at their edges, Keynote gave the image a little 3D effect with shadow.
• You can use the Keynote app to combine 2 images. The pages app on Mac also allows combining images on Mac.

To learn more, please read our dedicated article; Photo editing with Keynote.