If you’re putting out a lot of content photos, it’s important to edit them professionally. It’s now easier than ever to edit photos directly from your phone. There are a multitude of editing apps on the market, but we’ve narrowed it down to a couple of our favorite (paid) photo editing apps.
Afterlight 2
Afterlight 2 is an iOS-only photo editing app. Available in the App Store for $2.99, the creators emphasize that you will only pay that price one time – no hidden fees, in-app purchases, or paid content updates; everything is included in the one-time app purchase. It’s a great deal for all you’re getting.
Afterlight 2 Features:
- Upload from your camera roll.
There is a built-in camera with many photo-taking options such as shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. But for pre-existing content photos, the camera roll feature is a great addition to the app. As soon as you open Afterlight 2, it defaults to opening your camera roll. Additionally, the app supports importing raw images and allows you to export in HEIC (high efficiency image compression) format.
- Custom filters with the “Fusion” feature.
While the app has over 130 pre-existing filters, Afterlight has added the “fusion” feature which allows you to change or combine filters. When you fuse filters, Afterlight records the edits you make and saves them; that way, you can apply the same customized edit in the future.
- Light and exposure effects.
For certain projects, light leaks or double exposure can really enhance your photo. Selecting the icon with two overlapping circles will bring you to the “effects” page with many different enhancements for your photo. These may not fit every photo, but it’s reassuring to know that they’re available whenever you choose.
- Text and frames.
Finally, if you so desire, Afterlight allows you to add text or frames when editing your photos. This is a great tool when you’re editing a cover photo to include your company’s information or advertising for an event.
Overall, Afterlight 2 has tons of tools to play with, and with its customizable features, it’s a fantastic app for creating professionally-edited content photos for a very small price!
Adobe Lightroom
As part of the Adobe Cloud series, it’s nearly impossible to talk about photo editing without mentioning Lightroom. With a price tag of $119.88/year, it’s a bit of a financial commitment, but the payoff is absolutely breathtaking.
Lightroom Features:
- Create preset filters.
After you’ve spent time figuring out exactly how you like your photos to be edited, Lightroom allows you to save those edits for the future. This will help develop your style, and for content photos, this feature allows you to maintain that consistency.
- Transfer edits between similar photos.
If you’re editing multiple photos at a time, Lightroom has simplified the process in a huge way. After you’ve edited one photo in the set, you can open the next photo and press the “previous” button. This will apply all the edits from your last photo, making your photos coherent and beautiful.
- Tools to enhance your creativity.
You can truly unleash your inner artist on Lightroom with their creative adjustment tools. The adjustment brush allows you to enhance specific areas of your photo as if you’re painting. You can also choose to add a graduated filter, which puts a gradient-type effect on your photo. If you’re wanting to increase your creativity while editing, Lightroom is absolutely the place to do so.
- Share directly to Facebook or Flickr.
For content photos, the ability to share is huge. Lightroom allows you to share your edited photos directly to your business’s Facebook page.
It can take a bit of adjustment to figure out what you like and don’t like while editing. However, with an easy-to-use interface on your computer, phone, or tablet, you don’t need a degree to master the beauty of Lightroom.
If you prefer high-quality photo editing apps that don’t cost anything, be sure to check out our favorite free photo editing apps. If you’d rather let someone else edit and post your content for you, trust us – you’ve come to the right place. Contact us here at Blackwood – we’re pros at growing businesses through social media content.
