• January 02, 2021
• 18 min to read

1. Best Free Photo Management Software Mac Download
2. Photo Library Software Mac
3. Photo Management Software
4. Apple Photo Management Software
5. Best Free Photo Management Software Mac 2019
6. Best Free Photo Management Software Mac 2021

Most free photo editors available on the App Store are quite basic, offering just a limited number of filters and allowing you to easily and quickly liven up your photos before posting them on social media.

But if you’re an aspiring or professional photographer, you probably need a more powerful app with a broader set of tools to use your creativity to the fullest. Besides, you probably use your Mac for photo editing because working on a large screen makes it possible to adjust the slightest details.

1. Apple’s Photos (Built-in app)

GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) is the best free photo editor around. It's packed with the kind of image-enhancing tools you'd find in premium software, and more are being added every day. In result, photo management has become a new challenge. In this article, we are going to identify and display the best 10 iPhone photo manager software for you. IPhone Photo Manager. Part 1: Best 5 professional photo managers. A professional photo manager usually provides a variety of pro-level features and integrates AI and other advanced.

Apple’s Photos app is included for free on all recently released Macs. It does a good job at organizing your photos, but its collection of photo enhancement tools leaves much to be desired. Hopefully, our selection of the best free programs for photo editing on Mac will help you choose the right app to suit all your creative needs.

2. Luminar (7 days trial)

Luminar is another full-featured photo editor that’s popular with both Mac and Windows users. It can work as a standalone app as well as a plugin for such popular programs as Apple Photos.

Luminar uses Artificial Intelligence to enable sophisticated yet quick photo enhancements. Among these AI features are Sky Enhancer, which adds more depth and detail to the sky in your photos while leaving other areas untouched; Accent AI, which analyzes a photo and automatically applies the best combination of different effects to enhance your image; and Sun Rays, which allows you to place an artificial sun and adjust the lighting to your liking or make the sun rays already in your photo look even more incredible.

• Mylio is a free photo organizer for Mac that should consolidate your pictures in a single place for years. This app offers to manage your local photos, those on an external drive, and images on your social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. After importing photos, Mylio will organize them into multiple views and categories.
• This is the reason behind it being called as one of the best photo management software that is available for Mac users. Adobe Photoshop Elements 15. Photoshop 15 is one of that software that allows you to work magic as you separate and segregate your photos as per your convenience. The software allows one to curate photos with ease.
• Whether you need open source photo viewer software or a fast RAW image viewer, you can always find the best image viewers from the article. The initial choice to update the photo viewers should be the open-source photo viewers or free photo viewers. There are many free Windows image viewers and Android photo viewers, but few for Mac.

Luminar has over 60 filters you can apply to your photos to enhance them in a moment. Luminar also provides a set of powerful tools for cropping, transforming, cloning, erasing, and stamping, along with layers, brushes, and many more incredible features. Luminar supports the Touch Bar on the latest MacBook Pro, making photo editing even more effortless and pleasing.

3. Photolemur 3 (Free Version with watermark)

Photolemur is a relative newcomer on the photo editing market but it has all the chances to win the favor of beginner photographers and hobbyists. Running on Artificial Intelligence, Photolemur is a completely automatic photo enhancer, meaning that it does all the editing for you in no time. It has the simplest interface, with only a few buttons and sliders to adjust the enhancement to your liking and view the before and after results.

All you need to do is choose a photo (or a few) that you want to improve, drag and drop or import them using the Import button, and let the program make enhancements. After it’s done, you can compare the edited version with the original image by using the before–after slider and, if you want, adjust the skin tone or even enlarge the eyes using additional sliders. Pretty easy, huh?

Photolemur also offers a number of impressive styles to touch up your photos and give them a sophisticated and professional look. With this app, you don’t need to stuff your head with photo editing nuances and terms. Just run Photolemur and watch the magic happen!

4. Aurora HDR (14 days trial) Mac taskbar for windows 7 free download.

As you probably can tell from the name, Aurora HDR is designed to help photographers enhance their HDR photos, making them even more detailed and beautiful. It’s an ideal tool for editing your photos, with an extensive collection of more than 20 tools including details, tone, mapping, color, glow, and vignette. Each tool has its unique selection of controls to adjust its effects.

Aurora HDR enables you to work with brushes, layers, and masks, and provides a number of automatic AI tools for recognizing and removing noise, enhancing colors, lighting, and details, improving clarity, and adding contrast to dull areas while leaving other areas untouched.

Aurora HDR does a great job dealing with difficult lighting situations and creating full-of-life images while being easy to use.

5. Pixelmator (Trial 30 Days)

Pixelmator is a photo enhancer beloved by many Mac users, as it offers a good combination of a modern and simple interface, the ability to work on multiple layers, and powerful features that take photo editing to a whole new level. With so many editing tools, brushes, and effects, you can enhance your photos to your liking. You can choose between two versions of Pixelmator – standard and pro – depending on your needs. The standard version is great for basic photo editing with its selection of essential tools and filters, while the pro version is packed with extra brushes, tools, and effects that let you push your creativity to new boundaries. You can decide which version is suitable for you according to what features you’re looking for in a photo editing app.

6. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2021 (Trial link)

Photoshop Elements isn’t as affordable as other photo enhancers for beginner photographers. But luckily there’s a trial version available, so you can check it out before deciding whether this app is worthy of your money. Photoshop Elements acquired many powerful features from Photoshop, only Elements is simplified for amateur photographers and enthusiasts. It includes a good number of effects and filters, plus automated editing options for improving lighting, color balance, and exposure, and even opening closed eyes and reducing the effects of camera shake.

In addition to all of these awesome features, Photoshop also offers editing modes for beginners, intermediate users, and experts. Beginners will probably prefer Quick mode, as it focuses on essential tools to quickly enhance your photos by improving color, lighting, and other basic settings. Guided mode provides intermediate users with step-by-step guidance with more professional features like artistic effects, skin tone correction, and background replacement. Expert mode gives you full access to the app’s really powerful editing features and is ideal for creating stunning images.

7. Affinity Photo (Free Trial)

Affinity Photo’s interface may seem overwhelming at first, especially for novices, but when you come to grips with it you’ll find that the app is just what you’ve been looking for. Its numerous professional tools, effects, and filters encourage you to get creative with your photos. Among the coolest features Affinity Photo has to offer is a before and after view to compare the original photo with its edited version.

Affinity Photo works with 15 file types, including common ones like PDF, PSD, JPG, and GIF as well as some less popular ones. The app amazes with its abundance of basic and top-notch editing tools, allowing you to tweak your photos using all possible kinds of instruments. Affinity Photo allows you to edit HDR photos, apply artistic filters and effects, play with masks and layers, and create breathtaking compositions by combining several images in one. If you find its interface a bit much and are afraid of getting lost in all those advanced tools, you should probably look for something more suitable for your level. But Affinity Photo is worth mastering.

8. Google Photos

Google Photos is a popular cloud storage service for photos and videos. It can’t boast countless masterly tools like other photo enhancers that we review in this article, but it includes some fundamental features like filters, color adjustment sliders, and transformation tools.

Although Google Photos may not be that helpful when it comes to editing photos, it does a pretty good job at storing high-resolution images and videos with 15GB of free online storage, compared to iCloud’s mere 5GB (which you can upgrade to 50GB for a monthly fee). If you’re planning to go on a trip and take plenty of photos, then it might be smart to sign up for Google Photos to use that extra storage space when you come back.

9. PhotoScape X (Free)

A relatively new photo editing app, PhotoScape X has been gaining popularity with many Mac and PC users since its release in 2008. Its interface is simple but unconventional, with a number of tabs running along the top of the window. Each is responsible for a specific stage of editing. The Viewer tab allows you to browse and organize your photos. After you pick a photo, you can switch to the Editor tab, which includes a broad set of instruments, filters, and effects and a useful feature that enables you to compare the adjusted photo with the original.

The next tabs, including the Batch tab, mainly concentrate on editing and renaming multiple photos at once. The GIF tab allows you to easily create an animated GIF from a group of selected photos.

The downside of PhotoScape X is a lack of selection tools, so all changes are applied to the whole image rather than to a selected part.

10. Gimp (Free)

Gimp is a free open-source photo editing app that has been on the market for over 22 years and is available for Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Unlike many free apps, Gimp doesn’t have any ads or in-app purchases. Its grey interface might seem a little old-fashioned and it may be a bit sluggish when it comes to complex effects, though.

Gimp offers a vast collection of advanced tools that hardly any free photo editor can boast. It has numerous enhancement options such as clone and heal brushes, layers and channels, accurate selection tools, a number of transformation instruments, and, of course, color adjustment controls. Gimp is one of the most powerful tools for enhancing photos and is beloved by so many users for its price (free) and versatility. But if you can’t come to grips with Gimp’s interface, it may be worth paying some cash for a more user-friendly program.

Every Mac comes pre-installed with a wonderful photo management tool — Photos from Apple. This app is an excellent choice for most people when it comes to organizing and viewing photos from the many macOS and iOS devices you may have. Nevertheless, there are times when you find Photos to be quite underperforming and not up to the professional mark.

In other words, Photos may not be the best photo management software for everyone. Depending on your profession and how often you click photos, you may need a variety of sub-modules and features. We faced the same issue before, and we set out to find some of the best options in the market. So, here they are the best of the photo management software for Mac in 2020.

If you are using a Windows computer, you can use the best photo management software for Windows.

Quick Summary

• Movavi Photo Manager is our top recommendation for most macOS users out there. The tool comes with several filtering utilities, backup options, and automatic content creation. For those who want to organize their memories in a better way, Movavi has the best suite.
• CyberLink PhotoDirector is a more professional take towards photo management on Mac. This is a complete solution for those who want to arrange their photography files, edit and make compelling content. This can be a resource-consuming app, though.
• ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac is another powerful yet easy-to-use photo organizer software for Mac. This one brings a bundle of impressive features and an intuitive User Interface. When it comes to resource consumption, it takes the middle ground.

What is Photo Management Software for Mac?

A photo management software is a dedicated app that lets you access and organize your photo gallery. This is a way more effective method than using Finder to sort all your photographs. Depending on the exact type of photo management tool you pick up, you may have advanced options for sorting and management.

For instance, you can use facial recognition technology to sort someone’s photos from a vast collection. In the same way, Geolocation filters allow you to sort photography collections based on location data. The crux of the idea is that photo management software makes life easier. You don’t have to do this manually. How do i unlock my old samsung phone.

These tools can help professional photographers and regular users alike. As a photographer, you can use photo management tools for making sorting easier. For regular users, however, these tools give an option to arrange and access memories in a better way.

We should also mention that a lot of photo management tools are coming in bundles. For instance, you can use the same tool to organize photographs but also create videos, slideshows, and other content. You may have to pay extra for these, but many such bundles are quite popular.

Who Should Get A Photo Management Software for Mac?

You may want to get a photo management software for Mac if,

• You take a lot of photographs, but you also hate sorting all of them manually. In this case, a dedicated photo management software is the best for you.
• You have thousands of photos in your library, and you want to organize them effectively. This includes removing duplicates as well.
• You want to create slideshows and videos using photos as the source. But you don’t want the hassle of professional video editors.
• Last but not least, you need a better level of control over your photo library.

Also, you may want to check for an alternative if you find Photos to be insufficient. Please keep in mind that we are talking about photo organizing software and not photo editors. That is why we have not included options like Photoshop, Lightroom, or Luminar in the list.

How We Tested and Picked the Best Photo Management Software for Mac in 2020

Here are a few factors that we prioritized while choosing the best photo management software for Mac. As we said, we have included tools that are primarily organizing tools while leaving photo editors for another, dedicated article.

• Ease of Use — We always prioritize this aspect while reviewing software products for macOS. In the case of photo management software, an easy-to-use UI is the most critical factor.
• Filtering Options — Filtering options can make your lives easier while using a photo organizer tool for Mac. The program should have multiple filtering options based on name, size, location, etc.
• Advanced Filtering — Advanced filtering options come in handy as well. We are talking about some extra features for finding duplicates and removing similar photos.
• Performance — A photo management software for Mac should be able to compete with the level of performance that is native to the macOS system.
• Pricing — Not everyone wants to spend money on photo management software. So, in addition to providing you options from each budget bracket, we have included open-source alternatives as well.

Now that we both know the basics, shall we check out the app coverage?

Our Picks: Best Photo Management Software for Mac in 2020

1. Movavi Photo Manager

As we said earlier, Movavi Photo Manager is your best shot at organizing photos on your Mac with ease. It’s one of the most popular tools and packs so many features inside. From tag-based filtering to finding pictures based on location and similarity, there are a lot of features we loved.

Getting started with the Movavi Photo Manager is an easy task. Once you have finished the installation and opened the program, you can see the main UI and the sidebar. You can simply drag and drop the photos you want to manage to begin the process.

As you can see, just after you uploaded the photos, the tool automatically arranges them by date. On the sidebar of the UI, though, you can see a variety of options. For instance, you can sort photos based on the location, persons in the picture, and by creating custom albums.

There are so many customization options within the main User Interface. For instance, you can change the size of thumbnails and change the way how photos are being sorted. There are also options to search for photos and find photos by providing a date range. These are quite helpful when you have a vast library.

Coming to advanced features, Movavi Photo Manager offers so many. One of the most impressive features is the Similar Photos finder. Once you have uploaded photos to the tool, it will automatically find similar and duplicate photos to help you save time and space.

Album-based management is also easy with this photo organizer tool. By clicking on Albums, you can create and manage multiple photo albums on the device. Besides, using the simple toolbar above, you can add individual/group of photos to specific collections.

Movavi Photo Manager also packs some standard editing features such as auto enhancement, resizing and renaming. These come in handy when you have to explore the photographs to another platform. We also loved the minimal yet functional photo editing features for individual clicks.

Movavi Photo Manager is available for $39.95, but you can check out the free trial for three days.

2. CyberLink PhotoDirector

CyberLink PhotoDirector is considered one of the most professional photo management software out there. However, the package is more than just organizing your photographs. That is, you can use this single tool to create content, such as videos and slideshows.

First things first, this isn’t a simple tool. It takes up more than 1GB of space from your Mac and will consume a considerable amount of resources as well. You should keep this in mind if you are planning to use the tool regularly. You also have to register an account and sign in before you can use this program.

There are multiple modes in CyberLink PhotoDirector that you can use. The Full Mode launches a complete User Interface while the Express Mode is an easier way to create content. You may have to spend some time with the program to master the UI, though.

As you can see, there are multiple panes and modules within the program. You can use each of the modules to arrange and render content quickly. You may also have noted the different tabs such as “Adjustment,” “Edit,” “Guided,” “Create,” and “Print.” So, with CyberLink PhotoDirector, you can do it all.

Instead of becoming another regular photo management program, CyberLink PhotoDirector is a complete suite for photo editing. One thing we noted is that you can create an entire workflow with this program. In this single interface, you can manage all aspects of the photo collection.

As we go further, we can see the advanced sections like “Edit” and “Create.” In “Edit,” you can make several changes to the photograph, including layer-based edits. In the “Create” section, you can make stunning videos using the photos.

You should also keep in mind that CyberLink PhotoDirector works in sync with other CyberLink products. For instance, if you use PowerDirector for making movies, you can have a smooth experience with this tool for photo management.

CyberLink PhotoDirector Ultra 11 is available for $69.99, but you can check out the free trial before.

3. ACDSee Photo Studio 6

As we mentioned, ACDSee Photo Studio 6 brings the best of both worlds in a simple package. Compared to both the other top picks, this photo manager tool has a simple UI but a reasonable amount of features. Not just professional photographers but also Pro users love this package.

The first thing we loved in ACDSee Photo Studio 6 is the wonderful UI. Although it requires you to create an account and sign in, the process is relatively more straightforward. As soon as you launch the program, it will showcase all the photographs in the default folder.

Using the explorer pane on the left side, you can explore other folders and check out what is inside each of your directories. This interface is quite easier than importing folders individually, primarily if your library is spread across different areas of the device.

On the right side of the window, you have the organization options. As you can see, you can filter photos based on several aspects such as the date taken, given ratings, albums they belong to, and labels. Such a multi-stage filtration process provides so much control for most people.

Compared to other programs, ACDSee Photo Studio 6 is not bulky. This, in turn, helps us to have a better viewing experience. It feels comparatively easy to navigate between directories and photos inside. The tool also comes with gesture support, making things way more comfortable.

Unlike the other tools, the editing features in the ACDSee Photo Studio 6 package are not comprehensive per se. You cannot find layer-based editing or filters. However, in the Develop tab of the program, you can make advanced changes to the image.

We would call ACDSee Photo Studio 6 as a Photos app on steroids to start with. The speed the tool provides throughout the process is impressive, and you don’t have to worry about snappiness issues. The UI does not require expertise either.

ACDSee Photo Studio 6 costs $49.95, but it offers a fully-functional free trial.

4. Adobe Bridge CC

Best Free Photo Management Software Mac Download

Bridge CC is the official asset management solution from Adobe. As you can guess, this is a professional tool that you can use alongside other Adobe products like Photoshop and Lightroom. However, even if you decide to use it in standalone mode, you won’t be disappointed.

Compared to other tools in the list, the User Interface in Adobe Bridge CC is pretty simple. Arranged in three different sections, you can explore the file system, individual files, and some basic options. However, when it comes to organizing content, you have many options.

Photo Library Software Mac

For instance, you can filter all your photographs based on factors like keywords, labels, and other metrics. It also packs an enhanced metadata search option onboard. Of course, you can perform all these actions in a bulk form as well.

Photo Management Software

Some of the other impressive features in Adobe Bridge CC include native PDF module and advanced import and export options. As we said earlier, you can share the libraries with other Adobe applications for a better workflow as well. It won’t do much help if you’re not in the Adobe ecosystem, though.

Adobe Bridge CC comes with the Creative Cloud subscription from Adobe.

Apple Photo Management Software

5. digiKam Photo Manager

digiKam Photo Manager is probably the best free photo organizing software for Mac. As it happens, it’s one of those advanced development environments as well. So that you know, this product is entirely open-source and is frequently updated.

First things first, it takes a considerable amount of time to download and install digiKam on your device. You will have to download a huge package and select the preferences even before you open the tool. While this provides a comprehensive experience from the beginning, it can scare inexperienced users.

Once we get into the main User Interface, however, things are easy. The program does not look so rich when it comes to toolbars. However, you can click on the tabs to enter each section and deal with the photographs. As expected, there are also multiple options for classification.

As you can see, the entirety of digiKam Photo Manager is optimized for professional users. If you happen to deal with multiple images and want to do that with care, you can count on this program. It also helps that you don’t have to pay for anything.

Best Free Photo Management Software Mac 2019

digiKam Photo Manager is completely free to use.

6. Gemini

Gemini is a different take on photo management. While it’s not a dedicated photo management software for Mac, you can use it for removing duplicate photos and finding similar images. Gemini, by the way, is a duplicate file finder for Mac.

Using Gemini is an easy task, thanks to the beautiful UI. You can either scan your entire home folder or pick a folder that you want to scan. In either case, Gemini would find all the potential duplicate files. And, once you have chosen the Photos-only mode, you are good to go.

In the upcoming window, you can not only see but also compare the duplicates of a file. While this section helps you remove unwanted photos and free up space, the Similar files section is where all the magic takes place.

Gemini can intelligently find similar photos and present you with the details. Then, depending on your needs and preferences, you can keep or delete these files. Of course, because it’s a duplicate finder, you cannot expect any album-based organization features from the package.

Gemini is available for free download, but the full version costs $19.95.

Best Free Photo Management Software Mac 2021

The Bottom Line

We believe these six best photo management software for Mac will help you to have a better photo library in a few minutes. Regardless of the tool you choose, you have to spend a considerable amount of time with each software to accustom yourself to it.

If you are a professional, you need something like CyberLink PowerDirector or Adobe Bridge. However, for most people, we would be recommending the Movavi Photo Editor, which packs almost every feature we need while organizing a photo library.