- Quick list
- Best photo editing app for astro
- Best editing app overall
- Best for large projects
- Best for powerful editing tools
- Best for speedy editing
- Best for amateurs
- Best for noise reduction
- Best for beginners
- Best for learning techniques
- Best for all skill levels
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How we test
1. The list in brief ↴
2. Best photo editing app for astro
3. Best editing app overall
4. Best for large projects
5. Best for powerful editing tools
6. Best for speedy editing
7. Best for amateurs
8. Best for noise reduction
9. Best for beginners
10. Best for learning techniques
11. Best for all skill levels
12. Best photo editing apps FAQs
13. How we test
You'll want one of the best photo editing apps if you want to take your astrophotography seriously. Sure, some photos might look amazing straight out of the camera, but most of the time, photographers will want (and need) to edit their images in suitable software to get the desired results. Even NASA uses image editing software to produce their most stunning shots!
When shooting astrophotography, a good editing app is more important than ever. The low-light conditions of shooting the night sky can prove a challenge for even the most seasoned photographer — and a good software suite can help reduce any noise, balance light and enhance colors. Photo editing apps are useful for correcting other issues too, like vignetting and barrelling. They'll lift your best images to the next level and can even turn the most unremarkable images from your shoot into works of art.
With such a wide range of photo editing apps to choose from, our reviewers have narrowed down your options and reviewed all the pros and cons of each app on this list so you can make an informed choice. If you're looking to upgrade the rest of your gear, we have guides to the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography, along with the best telescopes for seeing planets and best telescopes for deep space. You can also check out our list of the best stargazing apps to help you plan your next big shoot.
Remember that Amazon Prime Day is coming up next month and while you're unlikely to be able to buy any of our recommended photo editing apps from Amazon, it may be a good time to stock up on any other photography gear you're in the market for. Prime Day is Amazon's annual major sale, offering big discounts to its Prime members across thousands of products.
Last year, we saw big savings on cameras (like $500 off the Sony A7 III) and lenses (a huge $585 saving on the Sony FE 24/70mm 2.8 GM, for example), so it's worth staying tuned in. We'll be covering all the best photography deals right here, so be sure to visit in the run up to Prime Day.
The quick list
Best photo editing app for astro
This app enables you to stack various types of calibration frames and comes with a powerful AI editing tool — but it does lack a library.
Best editing app overall
With extensive image editing and organization features, everyone you know uses Lightroom.
Best for large projects
A powerful image editor that can handle almost anything you throw at it — but it has a very steep learning curve.
Best for powerful editing tools
An app aimed primarily at professionals, its specialty is tethering — although the mobile app is a more accessible option.
Best for speedy editing
For quick edits, this reasonably-priced software will do the job nicely. It has many one-click editing features to simplify your workflow and a clean interface combined with AI tools to make your experience seamless.
Best for amateurs
For an introduction to Photoshop with just the basic features, this is a good option — but there's no subscription option.
Load the next 4 products ↴
Best for noise reduction
The DeepPrime XD was the best noise-removal tool we've tested — but other apps are hot on their heels and offer other features too.
Best for beginners
This user-friendly software packs in lots of social media-friendly features, but not much for seasoned pros.
Best for learning techniques
Corel PaintShop Pro 2022 is a great app for beginners working at a slower pace. It has powerful AI tools that allow for easy, one-click edits and it's good for astro stacking — but the downside is it's only available on Windows.
Best for all skill levels
It has fast processing times and offers all-in-one editing for batch and layer edits, but it's let down by the interface and price.
Best photo editing apps for astrophotography 2024
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Best photo editing app for astro
✅ You specialize in astrophotography: Overall we were really impressed with the extensive astrophotography stacking persona, and there are a ton of astro macros to speed up your workflow.
✅ You like to own the software: There's no option to subscribe to Affinity Photo, so once you buy the software, you own it.
❌ You want in-built organization: We'd love to see them adopt some kind of library system, as currently it relies on the folders on your computer.
🔎 Affinity Photo 2 The best app for astrophotography, its astrophotography stack persona is like no other, although it has a way to go in other areas to live up to Adobe. That said, it's affordable and fairly user-friendly, and has a bunch of useful features once you delve in. ★★★★½
In late 2022, 7 years after the original software was released, Serif launched the latest version of Affinity Photo, packed with fantastic new tools for editing and manipulating your photos. We particularly love the masks, which now work as well as those you'd find in Lightroom or Photoshop. They also added non-destructive RAW development, meaning your original photos remain untouched no matter how much you edit them. The live mesh warping feature and layers panel also make the software even more powerful than before.
None of these upgrades have been specifically designed for astrophotography, it's worth saying. But that doesn't mean you won't benefit from them in your astro work — at the very least, they make Affinity Photo much more capable and user-friendly than it's ever been before.
Affinity Photo 2 is split up into five different workspace areas, known as 'personas'. Each persona of the app is designated to a specific part of the editing process, and so it's reasonable that you might make use of every one of the different personas as you go through one editing job. The personas are Photo, Liquify, Develop, Tone Mapping and Export.
The Develop and Photo personas are where you make your initial edits, much like in Lightroom or in Photoshop's Camera RAW. The Liquify persona is to warp or distort your images, Tone Mapping is most typically used for 32-bit HDR files and the Export persona is self-explanatory. During our Affinity Photo 2 review, we spent most of our time in the Develop and Photo Personas.
There is a dedicated 'Astrophotography Stack' function and we were very intrigued to see how it compared to Photoshop, which we found wanting in that department. To put it simply, astrophotography stacking in Affinity Photo 2 is an easy way to combine your calibration and light frames.
With just a few clicks, you can import these frames and let the software stack them automatically. In our testing, we were very impressed with its performance, especially in aligning the stars — they came out perfectly. However, when we tried to stack an image that included a foreground, it struggled and only aligned the stars, which is the opposite of what we found in Photoshop. It's a non-issue if your focus is solely on capturing images of the sky without any foreground, such as the Milky Way, nebulas or constellations, and many astrophotographers often replace the foreground entirely anyway. In terms of stacking capabilities, we think Affinity Photo 2 is the one to beat.
Another Astro-friendly function we enjoyed is the 'Remove Background' filter. AI helps to restore the dark sky around the stars back to its original dark color and removes color casts that may have crept into your images — particularly useful if you live in an urban area.
Affinity Photo 2 is now available as part of their universal license — you pay a one-off fee of $164.99 for Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher and Affinity Designer. If you don't need these, you can still purchase Affinity Photo 2 individually for a one-off payment of $69.99, or $18.49 for the iPad version.
- Read our full Affinity Photo 2 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Subscription free. |
| User interface | Split into five different personas. |
| Key features | Non destructive RAW editing. |
| Astro features | Impressive astrophotography stacking tools. |
Best editing app overall
✅ You want an all-in-one image editor and catalog: Lightroom excels in both image editing and organization, making it hard for many other editing apps to beat.
✅ You want excellent noise reduction: Lightroom introduced an AI noise reduction tool in 2023, which we think is very impressive, albeit a bit slow.
❌ You want to stack or create composites: One feature lacking is the ability to blend layers and create composites which are often used in astrophotography.
🔎 Adobe Lightroom If you're looking for image editing software to rule them all, you won't be disappointed with Lightroom. It has unrivaled catalog organization and all the editing tools you need to create stunning images. ★★★★★
Lightroom used to be used solely by professionals, but in recent years it's become a popular choice for hobbyists and amateur photographers. It's an editing app that's not as dense to learn as something like Photoshop, making it more appealing to casual users — but that doesn't mean it isn't robust and capable enough to deal with most tasks.
You'll find many features in Lightroom designed to streamline your workflow and simplify your post-processing. One of its major selling points is how well it can organize and catalog your library, and it also excels at handling RAW images. That alone is a big bonus as shooting in RAW will give you much better color depth and detail in your images.
It's quick and easy to import your images to Lightroom after a photo session, and you can create a database of all the shots from that day, including geotags and facial recognition. Then, you can use flags, stars and colors to organize and rate the files, keeping the best photos and getting rid of the ones you don't want in your library.
The organization tools in Lightroom make it stand out from other editing apps, although some apps are starting to offer similar features, especially since the recent advancements of AI. Photographers who shoot events and weddings will find these tools especially helpful, as they often have to wade through thousands of images from each shoot.
The editing toolkit is also very extensive and, in our opinion, the best out there in terms of capabilities and layout. When you're editing in Lightroom, you have complete creative control over many aspects of the image, including contrast, brightness, texture, clarity, color hue and saturation. You also have the option to smooth out any distortion and lens idiosyncrasies.
You can create and save presets, edit with masks and heal any unwanted dust spots or distractions in your images. Then, once you've finished editing, a high-quality JPEG image can be watermarked, exported and shared, all while keeping your original RAW file intact. And as Lightroom's workflow is completely non-destructive, you can go back and make edits whenever you like, as often as you like, without touching the original file. It's only when you choose to export an edited image that any changes become permanent, and even in that case, the edited file is saved separately.
Shortly after we published our Adobe Lightroom review, an AI denoise tool was introduced, which is great news for astrophotographers. With just a click of a button, it'll intelligently remove unwanted noise from your image based on the percentage you set. We've found that it works incredibly well and rivals DxO's deepPrime tool, but the bigger the file and more noise reduction you do on a particular image, the longer it takes — sometimes it can take up to 5 or 6 minutes per image, and again, it'll depend on the speed of your computer.
Lightroom also excels at batch processing photos so you can import all of your images at once, batch edit (essentially copying and pasting the same editing settings onto each image), and then export them to another app for stacking. If there was one photo editing app to rule them all, it's Lightroom.
- Read our full Adobe Lightroom 2023 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Subscription only, but included in good value Photography bundle. |
| User interface | Not a very exciting layout, but simple to understand. |
| Key features | Unrivalled cataloging and organization. |
| Astro features | New AI-based denoise proves a hit with astrophotography. |
Best for large projects
✅ You want one app that can do it all: Photoshop can do pretty much anything you want, so you won't need multiple different apps that all do different things.
❌ You need good organization: Organization and cataloging aren't what Photoshop is known for — for that, you'll want Lightroom.
❌ You're a purist: If you don't believe in manipulating images or creating composites, you likely won't make use of the majority of Photoshop's features.
🔎 Adobe Photoshop Photoshop has been the industry standard for a long time, and with the introduction of AI, we don't see that changing any time soon. Available on subscription only, but it's included in a good value Photography bundle along with Lightroom. ★★★★★
Like Lightroom, Photoshop is an image-editing app that has inspired the design of many other image-editing tools. Although Photoshop can be intimidating to get to grips with at first, it's an incredible tool for astrophotographers and is considered the go-to photo editing app used by professionals worldwide — even NASA uses Photoshop to enhance the detail in their images.
We looked at all the pros and cons of this powerful software in our Adobe Photoshop 2023 review. It can be pretty daunting to figure out how to use Photoshop if you're a complete beginner as it has such an extensive toolset, but there are plenty of online tutorials on how to do pretty much anything and everything, so if you have the time and patience to put into it, having a Photoshop skillset is very desirable.
Photoshop employs selections and layers in its editing process — a feature that Lightroom, among other apps, has also since adopted. With layers, you can edit specific parts of a photo (like just a fire hydrant or the color of someone's sweater) without changing the rest of the image. This is handy for complex edits because if you mess up, you can simply adjust or remove that particular layer instead of starting over with the entire image. You can also label your layers to keep things organized while you edit.
Layers are an essential tool that lets you stack different elements on top of each other. This flexibility allows you to move, merge, paint, hide or even cut holes in these layers, enabling you to create complex effects. Astrophotographers can utilize layers to enhance the soft glow of nebulas or produce stunning star trail images by combining multiple photos. Adobe Sensei, a cloud AI technology, can even automatically identify selections for you, making the process even easier.
Perhaps the main downside of Adobe Photoshop is that it's geared towards heavy photo manipulation. If you simply want to make colors pop, adjust the contrast and make smaller tweaks, you're not going to be getting the full power of the software. If, however, you want to be able to get fully creative with your images, or create something like composite images — stacking together two or more images to use parts of each to create one finished piece — then Photoshop is a great option.
Plans from Adobe are decently priced considering the variety of tools you have access to. For $19.99 a month, you can purchase a Photoshop and Lightroom subscription together, which is an excellent deal if you regularly use both apps — especially considering Photoshop is $20.99 on its own. If you don't want the full-fat version of Photoshop, you may find Photoshop Elements a bit easier to navigate — it's a little further down in this buying guide and might be more suited to your needs.
- Read our full Adobe Photoshop 2023 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Subscription only, but included in good value Photography bundle. |
| User interface | Substantial learning curve, but fine once you know it. |
| Key features | Great features for all skill levels. |
| Astro features | Auto-align and auto-blend for astro images. |
Best for powerful editing tools
✅ You're a studio professional: Capture One Pro is definitely aimed more at professional photographers who will make use of its tethering capabilities.
✅ You want to tether to a tablet/smartphone: The mobile version is actually quite affordable, so if you want to do on-location portrait photography and want to tether straight to a tablet and edit on the go, this would be a great option.
❌ You don't want to spend loads: No matter whether you pay monthly or for a one-off subscription, it's expensive software.
🔎 Capture One Pro 23 A professional-level editing app that specializes in color and tethering, this software is not for beginners, nor is it priced as such. The mobile app, however, is very reasonably priced and could prove useful for on-the-go shooting. Sadly, it doesn't offer any dedicated astro features. ★★★★½
Capture One Pro is a photo editing app that has taken a leaf from Lightroom's approach to editing rather than Photoshop. In other words, it's designed to streamline editing and photo management rather than heavy and creating editing tasks.
Particularly popular with professionals for how well it performs with studio photography, Capture One Pro has fantastic RAW image decoding which guarantees excellent results. It also supports a huge range of image types (including the HEIC files you'll get on newer iPhones), which makes it a valuable tool for photographers.
Capture One Pro excels in almost every aspect, particularly in fine-tuning colors, offering a wide array of editing and color-grading tools. It could be an excellent option for enhancing colors in deep sky images of nebulas and cosmic dust clouds, bringing out vibrant pinks and blues to create stunning visuals. In our Capture One Pro 23 review, we loved its ability to accurately color grade images and how well it manipulated colors in the image, as well as maintaining accurate skin tones.
Capture One Pro is a remarkably robust software that combines the best aspects of Lightroom and Photoshop, although it has been designed with professionals in mind. It does include a useful 'learn' feature with in-camera tutorials, which can make it more beginner-friendly for those just getting started with the software. However, if you're new to photo editing altogether, we wouldn't necessarily recommend starting with Capture One Pro unless you're ready to delve into its full range of capabilities.
Once you become familiar with the basics, the software provides a unique and robust set of tools that will elevate your editing skills to new heights. It's a fantastic choice for experienced photographers who need advanced editing capabilities and a comprehensive all-in-one solution.
Although Capture One Pro is a fantastic tool for improving workflow, many of its most recent changes appear to be more focused on photo organization than editing, making it better for photographers who photograph people or events and need to sort through a high number of images quickly — taking a leaf out of Lightroom's book.
The downside? Capture One Pro is expensive whichever way you slice it. Monthly subscriptions are $24/m, annual is $179/y and a one-off payment for the license is $299. You could get two or more of the other apps for the same price so it's probably not worth it unless you are a studio pro and use tethering as a regular part of your workflow.
- Read our Capture One Pro 23 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Expensive, but multiple ways to pay. |
| User interface | Clean, customizable layout. |
| Key features | Specializes in tethering. |
| Astro features | No dedicated astro features. |
Best for speedy editing
✅ You want to edit quickly: Neo features a lot of one-click editing tools that speed up workflow, especially with the use of AI tools.
❌ You want decent cataloging: Organization and cataloging aren't Luminar's strong suit, so you'd be better off opting for another editing app.
🔎 Luminar Neo This software uses a lot of AI-based tools to help create polished and professional-looking images, although it's not the best for astrophotography alone. It excels in speedy editing, although some users have reported that it can be buggy and slow. ★★★★
We've previously recommended Luminar AI in this guide until it was discontinued in 2022. In our Luminar AI review, we found it to be great for applying Instagram-friendly filters and creative edits to images. However, it may not be the best choice solely for astrophotography, as each astro image typically has unique needs that vary significantly from other types of general photography. If you're an astrophotographer looking for conventional image-editing tools, we recommend considering their newer software — Luminar Neo.
Neo now takes center stage as Luminar's flagship product. Sporting a new editing engine and more capable than ever at creating polished and professional-looking images, it's been built from the ground-up rather than simply being a modernized iteration of Luminar AI.
If you liked AI, not all has been lost: you'll still find powerful one-click AI adjustments within Neo to help speed up your workflow if that's something you like to do. Like Photoshop, Luminar Neo lets you use layers in your editing process, and it includes a developer module similar to Lightroom's features.
However, we found Luminar Neo's cataloging abilities to be quite basic. You can only flag the images, so it might not be the best option if you need a robust system for organizing and managing your images, like professionals who may need comprehensive catalogs of all their shoots.
We've yet to do a full review of Luminar Neo, but keep your eyes peeled as we'll do one soon. Some users have reported the software being a little buggy, but hopefully, these will continue to be ironed out over time.
- Check out the Best cameras for astrophotography
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | You pay a one-off fee. |
| User interface | Clean interface. |
| Key features | Limited cataloging features. |
| Astro features | Some helpful AI tools for astro editing. |
Best for amateurs
✅ You're a novice: If you find the full version of Photoshop overwhelming, this could be a good introduction to all the basic tools in the software.
❌ You want the most affordable option: With the full version of Photoshop being available in the Adobe Photography bundle for a good price, you'd need a good reason to just go for Elements instead.
🔎 Adobe Photoshop Elements A good choice for beginners and enthusiasts who don't want the monthly subscription to the full version of Photoshop, but have all the essentials. It doesn't cater specifically to astrophotography, but you can do basic astro editing. ★★★★
Adobe Photoshop Elements is an all-rounder photo editing app that provides a slimmed down version of some of the features found in the full Adobe Photoshop. It's extremely beginner-friendly and would make a good choice for someone who feels daunted by the full version of Photoshop and just wants to be able to do some basic astrophotography edits without getting hooked into a subscription fee system.
The app comes split into three parts. You can use Quick Mode, which is a highly automated mode for fixing your photos in just a few clicks. Guided Mode offers more features and holds your hand while it takes you through the options step by step, making it a good way to learn more about what the app can do. Then Expert Mode is available for when you want to explore all the available features yourself.
In our Adobe Photoshop Elements review we particularly liked having the ability to flip between the modes on the same photo: This allows you to make some fixes in Quick Mode and then switch to Expert Mode to learn how the edits were made so you can replicate them yourself in the future. This makes it a great app to learn and grow with if you're just starting out with photo editing.
There are plenty of other features too, including some that have spilled over from the bigger, beefier standard Photoshop. You can make use of Artistic Effects for example, powered by Adobe's Sensei AI, which allows you to change colors in an image with just one click. You'll also find Photoshop's much-loved layering system in Elements, too, which is a great tool for astrophotographers as you can layer together multiple images to create a more detailed final image.
If you're an experienced photo editor, you may find Photoshop Elements rather limiting — and with Photoshop being affordable thanks to Adobe's Creative Cloud Photography plan, you'll likely be better suited there. But if you're a casual user, or you're thinking of jumping into editing properly for the first time, Elements is a good place to start.
- Read our full Photoshop Elements review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | You pay a one-off fee. |
| User interface | Simplified version, could do with updating. |
| Key features | Includes basic Photoshop features. |
| Astro features | Good for astro stacking. |
Best for noise reduction
✅ You want good denoise features: We were very impressed by the DeepPrime XD noise removal — at the time of our review, we actually thought it was better than Lightroom's AI denoise tool.
❌ You want to stack images: There aren't any image stacking capabilities in PhotoLab, so users will need a separate app to be able to do that.
🔎 DxO PhotoLab 7 Astrophotographers will love its impressive AI noise removal features, but many other programs are hot on their heels when it comes to AI. We thought it was brilliant for organization, with a customizable layout and the ability to create projects. ★★★★
DxO PhotoLab is known for its outstanding handling of RAW images and class-leading AI noise reduction technology, making it a strong competitor in the field of astrophotography photo editing. There are two versions available, Essential or Elite, but you'll need the Elite version if you're looking to benefit from the noise reduction and other advanced features.
It comes as a one-off purchase granting you lifetime access, and with DxO PhotoLab 7 having been released at the end of 2023, this is a great time to get the newest version. We have previously reviewed DxO PhotoLab 6 and rated it very highly, so whilst PhotoLab 7 is an attractive offering for newcomers, it probably doesn't warrant an upgrade if you already own PhotoLab 6.
It's similar in layout to Adobe's Lightroom, and in our DxO PhotoLab 7 review we remarked just how good the organization here is. It's super easy to find all of your images, and a bunch of extra features, like being able to add star ratings, labels and keywords to individual images is a seriously useful and underrated feature. We also like that there are various ways to display your images alongside their metadata and hologram.
If you opt for the Elite version of DxO Photolab 7, you'll find a couple of features that are simply fantastic for astrophotographers. ClearView Plus is the first, a tool that boosts contrast and clarity of an image with a single click — perfect for enhancing darker images of the night sky. The second is DeepPRIME XD, a noise reduction tool that we've found to be incredibly effective. The only thing we'd like to see is image stacking capabilities to make it an even better choice for astrophotographers.
- Read our full DxO PhotoLab 7 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | No subscription, but you can spread the cost. |
| User interface | Customizable layout. |
| Key features | ClearView Plus to boost clarity and contrast. |
| Astro features | Brilliant AI denoise feature, but no stacking options. |
Best for beginners
✅ You want AI editing tools: This app makes use of a lot of AI-based editing tools, from portrait editing to sky replacements.
✅ You're a beginner: While it does feature more advanced AI tools, we thought it was good for beginners due to its simplicity and ease of use.
❌ You specifically want astro tools: We found this app to be particularly lacking in this area, so astrophotographers will want to look elsewhere.
🔎 CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 A decent editing app overall, beginners would get on well with its simplicity and ease of use, but there's little to offer astrophotographers and serious photography. ★★★½
An AI-based photo editing tool, Cyberlink PhotoDirector 365 is a good choice for beginners, but it's a little lacking in astrophotography features. If you're completely new to photo editing, though, you'll undoubtedly appreciated how simple it is to get the hang of — but if you're already an expert, you'll benefit from a more advanced piece of software.
PhotoDirector 365 works with a layer-based workflow and it makes use of predesigned layers known as Express Layer Templates — these allow you to apply different filters quickly and easily to your images. Handily, it can also deal with RAW images, which is a great benefit, particularly to astrophotographers.
PhotoDirector 365 is available as both a subscription and a one-off purchase, but lifetime access to this app is only available on Windows Operating Systems. In our PhotoDirector 365 review we found the layout to be straightforward and intuitive enough for beginners, with a built-in library that allows you to assign colors, star ratings and flags to your images. It also offers guided and expert options to cater to users of any skill level.
The app makes use of a lot of AI editing tools, such as sky replacement which might be handy for landscape photographers who want to play around with different skies and foregrounds. Social media users may also enjoy the ability to add animations to images, such as making water or nebulas swirl around.
In terms of astrophotography, the main useful feature is the AI denoise tool, but it's no different to what you find on other apps like Lightroom, Photoshop or Affinity Photo 2 and there's no option for image stacking with this app. The app also seemed to lag a bit when dealing with bigger files, so it's likely to appeal more to beginners and casual users than serious photographers. For the price, we think most users could do better, and astrophotographers would certainly be better seeking out alternative apps.
- Read our full CyberLink PhotoDirector 365 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Expensive for what it is. |
| User interface | Basic but easy to navigate, good in-built library. |
| Key features | Lots of AI tools. |
| Astro features | Minimal astro features. |
Best for learning techniques
✅ You want to own the software: This app operates on a one-time purchase basis, so once you buy it, you own the software.
❌ You want future updates: As there's no subscription option, you need to pay for future updates when they become available.
❌ You have an Apple device: This app is Windows only, so Mac users need not apply.
🔎 Corel PaintShop Pro Great for beginners working at a slower pace, it has AI tools that allow for easy, one-click edits, saving time and effort — although it's only available on Windows ★★★½
Although Corel Paintshop Pro is geared towards beginners and hobbyists, its editing capabilities are not to be underestimated. It uses a layer-based approach, similar to Photoshop, providing flexibility in your edits. It also supports RAW images and is beginning to incorporate AI and content-aware technologies that can enhance your astrophotos significantly.
In our Corel Paintshop Pro review, we found that although it's a good tool for beginners, experienced users and anyone with a lot of photos to edit would probably get quickly frustrated with its performance, as it can be slow and sluggish even on faster machines — not ideal for anyone who shoots events or weddings and has a lot of images to wade through.
Paintshop Pro is separated into three different workspaces: there's Photography, which uses a full-screen environment and includes basic editing tools; Essentials, which is a stripped-back version still with good editing capabilities, and, finally, Complete; which is a more professional and comprehensive setup.
While Paintshop Pro isn't tailored specifically towards astrophotography, it does provide a range of tools to enhance your astro images. However, the software focuses more on specialized workspaces and custom editing tools for drone and underwater photos rather than night-sky images.
We also find Paintshop Pro's noise reduction capabilities a little lacking — a tool that astrophotographers will want to be as good as possible due to the typically high ISOs they'll be shooting at.
However, not all is lost for astrophotographers. The latest version of Paintshop Pro, 23, has a new focus stacking feature, which we think will be very helpful for shots of the night sky. It allows different images to be stacked together, so you could use different exposures for the sky and foreground.
- Read our full Corel PaintShop Pro 2022 review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | One-time purchase only, and future upgrades come at a cost. |
| User interface | Separated into three different workspaces. |
| Key features | Good list of standard photo editing tools. |
| Astro features | Can stack images, but not the best for noise reduction. |
Best for all skill levels
✅ You find it on offer: We thought that its competitors brought more to the table overall, but if you find it on offer it's worth giving it a go.
❌ You get overwhelmed by busy interfaces: We found the interface to be rather busy and a bit dull, so if you don't know what you're doing it may be an unpleasant experience.
🔎 ACDSee Photo Studio It has fast processing times and offers all-in-one editing for batch and layer edits, but it's let down by the interface and price ★★★
ACDSee is a versatile editing app, so if you're looking for a general purpose editor, it's an excellent choice. It's organized into several modules (much like Affinity Photo's personas) and features a catalog management interface that's largely similar to Lightroom's. There are several tools available to help you enhance your night sky photographs between the develop module, which decodes your RAW images, and the main edit module, which operates more like Photoshop.
There are different versions of ACDSee available depending on your skill level: Home, Professional and Ultimate. Home is the base model which is best suited to beginners, while Professional is for, well, professionals. Ultimate is the full-fat, beefy version that does everything. We'd recommend going for the Ultimate version to really get the most out of your astro images, as it's designed to be an all-in-one solution for non-destructive editing, organizing, storing and sharing your images.
ACDSee has plenty of functionality, as we talked about in our ACDSee Photo Studio 2022 review. It can process RAW images and, if you opt for the Ultimate version, you'll find a layers functionality similar to Photoshop. There's also an advanced lighting EQ tool that can be used selectively in shots — for astrophotography, it's useful in enhancing the subtle glow of the night sky, for instance.
The main downside of ACDSee, however, is that its interface is perhaps a little too busy. If you like a clean workspace, you might find this a bit too much, and it's difficult to learn your way around.
There's enhanced AI editing in the most recent 2023 version, like with many of the software updates in this guide, allowing you to do a lot more (such as replacing the sky in an image while maintaining the foreground image) with a single click.
- Read our ACDSee Photo Studio review
| Attributes | Notes |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Subscription and one-time purchase available. |
| User interface | Organized into modules, but interface is quite busy. |
| Key features | Enhanced AI editing. |
| Astro features | Ultimate version enables you to stack your night sky images. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best free photo editing app?
Cyberlink PhotoDirector 365 is the best budget photo editing app and, while not free, it's only $54.99 for an annual subscription license and is regularly discounted to around $39.99 which works out around $3.33 per month, about the price of a cup of coffee.
PhotoDirector 365 is an AI-heavy photo editing software with an in-built library and non-destructive workflow but it's not particularly suited to astrophotography.
What is the best photo editing app for Mac?
What is the best photo editing app for PC?
Affinity Photo 2 is the best photo editing app for astrophotography on Mac and on PC/Windows machines. We've rated it the best astrophotography editing software overall. That's because it has some powerful astrophotography editing features, is reasonably priced and processes quickly and efficiently. Plus, its user interface is straightforward, even for beginners.
What photo editor do most photographers use?
Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop are the photo editors of choice for many photographers around the globe. Reliable, available on multiple operating systems and mobile devices and with over 35 years of experience and development Adobe's software has become industry standard.
What is the best beginner photo editing software?
Cyberlink PhotoDirector 365 is the best beginner image editing app thanks to its affordability, strong AI-features and a good range of basic editing features.
How we test the best photo editing apps for astrophotography
To guarantee you're getting honest, up-to-date recommendations on the best photo editing apps to buy here at Space.com we make sure to put every photo editing app through a rigorous review to fully test each software. Each photo editing app is reviewed based on a multitude of aspects, from its layout and design, to how well it functions as an image editing software and its performance when processing still photos, especially astrophotography.
Each photo editing app is carefully tested by either our expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors who know their subject areas in depth. This ensures fair reviewing is backed by personal, hands-on experience with each editing app and is judged based on its price point, class and destined use. For example, comparing the image editing behemoth of Adobe Photoshop to a freeware image editing software wouldn’t be appropriate.
We look at how easy each image editing app is to operate, whether it contains the latest up-to-date imaging technology and file format compatibility. We'll also make suggestions if a particular image editor would benefit from any additional plug-ins to give you the best editing experience possible.
With complete editorial independence, Space.com is here to ensure you get the best buying advice on photo editing apps, whether you should purchase one or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.
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