5 Best Free Photo Editing Apps for iOS

Here’s What We Think are the 5 Best Free Photo Editing Apps for iOS

Every day more than 350 million Facebook photos and 95 million Instagram photos are shared. These numbers are bound to go up as smartphone giants churning out new phones with better cameras that their counterparts like crazy. And when we share photos with our family and friends, we want them to look good. This is why apps that allow you to edit photos have become very popular.

iPhone

Image Credit: iPhoneized.com

There are many choices of apps that have photo editing tools such as filters, brightness, vignette and cropping, but it can be a challenge deciding which ones are the best. Last week, we shared our top 5 picks for the best photo editing apps for android. And in this post, (we share what we think) are 5 best free photo editing apps for iOS that you should consider downloading.

Snapseed

Snapseed

Snapseed. Image Credit: iPhone Photography School

Snapseed is one of the most popular photo editing apps for the iPhone, and for good reason. It’s incredibly easy to use, but at the same time it offers a powerful collection of tools.

This app excels in all basic photo processing techniques, including exposure, color, sharpening, cropping and straightening. It also offers advanced editing features such as selective adjustments and a healing tool for removing unwanted objects.

In addition to these, there’s a great selection of creative filters that you can use to convert your photos to black and white, apply textures, add blur effects, and otherwise enhance the mood of your images.

If you’re new to iPhone photography, this really should be one of the first apps you download and learn.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express. Image Credit: Practical Ecommerce

Adobe Photoshop Express is probably one of the best image editing application for Apple devices When it comes to photo editing software, nobody does it better than Adobe. Though the mobile version of their renowned desktop software offers a smaller work space than most apps, it’s still one of the most capable after-effects programs you can download. You can adjust the image contrast, exposure, brightness, add effects, borders and more. It’s easy to understand user interface and this is actually what made me choose it over Photoshop Touch. This application costs nothing, it’s totally free. Unfortunately, many features are locked behind in-app purchases, so be ready to spend some dough if Express is your photo editor of choice. But, it is definitely worth the investment.

VSCO

VSCO

VSCO. Image Credit: iPhone Photography School

VSCO (pronounced visco) is another very popular photo editing app. While this app also functions as a camera app and photo sharing platform, it’s the rich collection of filters and user-friendly editing tools that really make it stand out.

Unlike other apps where the filters can be garish and overpowering, VSCO’s presets are designed to emulate classic and modern analog films. Many of the filters feature a soft, slightly faded look that’s quickly become very popular on Instagram.

The strength of every filter can be adjusted to suit your taste, and the app also features a number of highly-effective editing and adjustment tools for fine-tuning your image.

VSCO is FREE on the App Store and comes with a basic collection of presets to get you started. You can then download additional preset bundles if you wish – some are free while others must be purchased.

Lens Distortions

Lens Distortions

Lens Distortions. Image Credit: iPhone Photography School

There are many apps that allow you to add lighting effects and textures to your iPhone photos, but Lens Distortions is one of the best.

What really sets Lens Distortions apart from other similar apps is that all of the filters/overlays are created from actual photos of those same elements, including actual sunlight (Light Hits collection), haze (Fog collection), fragments of glass (Legacy collection), as well as a unique “Shimmer” collection.

Adding these elements to your photos is remarkably easy and intuitive, and it’s great fun playing around in this app to see what sort of new creations you can come up with.

Frame your shots with beautiful shards of glass. Draw your viewer’s eye with organic light hits. Or create atmospheric depth with glistening particles of light or fog.

Lens Distortions is available for FREE from the App Store, but it only comes with a basic collection of effects. Additional effects are available as in-app purchases, and they’re definitely worth it.

Instagram

Instagram

Instagram. Image Credit: blankgenerationblog

Finally, did you really think I was going to leave this off the list? Instagram is easy to dismiss as a basic filter app — but it’s come a long, long way since those early days. If you’ve not used it in a while, it’s definitely worth revisiting. As well as increased filters, Instagram now offers some pretty impressive photo editing tools, as well.

5 Best Free Photo Editing Apps for iOS: Conclusion

Whether you’re brand new to iPhone photography or simply looking for a new app to add to your “camera bag,” hopefully this list has given you some inspiration for new apps to try out.

The key to successful post-processing is to just use a handful of the best photo editing apps, and learn to use them to their full potential. That way you can quickly and easily enhance your iPhone photos using the best tools available for the job.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that no amount of editing can turn a bad photo into a good one. So always start out with the best image possible.

Are there any apps you love that we missed? Tell us about it in the comments section.

Reference: iPhone Photography School

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