Photo editing is a very effective technique when it comes to ecommerce marketing. It is all about making sure that users engaging with the products on your site have an enhanced experience. There are numerous ways to do this, and many different kinds of software and plugins you can use, so we’ve rounded up a list of what we feel are the best photo editing software for ecommerce – based on your needs.
As an ecommerce business, you need to stand out from the crowd. Photos are a great way of doing this. But, photos can be boring to look at and you don’t want that with your products. They also need to be edited professionally using the best photo editing software in order to bring out their full potential.
In this article, we’ll look at the best options for photo editing software that will help you create high-quality images for your ecommerce store. We’ll discuss some of the features to look for when choosing a photo editor, along with some free options that you may want to consider before investing in premium software.
If you are running an ecommerce website, then you must know about the importance of professional photos in product page for your business growth. Photos are the first visual representation of any product and more it’s attractive the more sale you will get from it. Some studies show that images can add up to 80% of all purchase decisions that a user makes in an ecommerce store. This means that if you have great images then you can get more sales under your belt.
Free Photo Editing Apps
Snapseed
Recommended for serious photographers and beginners alike, Google’s Snapseedis a powerful photo editor for iOS and Android. The app is free to download, has no ads and includes helpful tutorials.
Snapseed offers a wide range of filters and the option to save edits and apply them to other images.
Tools include text, frames, double exposure and a powerful healing brush which removes unwanted objects with the touch of your finger. Snapseed’s export menu facilitates easy sharing and saving of your photos.
Photoshop Express
Adobe describes its Photoshop Expressapp as “fun, fast and easy.” It offers multiple lens options and a wide array of presets to size photos for social media. Creating collages is straightforward and includes the ability to transfer styles between images.
Features include spot healing and watermark resizing. PSD files can be sent from the app to your desktop for more advanced Photoshop editing.
VSCO
VSCO bills itself as a creative community aimed at helping photographers reach their full potential. The free version of VSCO is a straightforward photo editor, with basic presets and standard editing tools.
You can purchase a VSCO membership for $1.67 per month and unlock advanced photo and video editing tools. The free seven-day trial membership will make it easy to decide if the upgrade satisfies your specific needs.
iPiccy
If you’re after straightforward photo editing, the iPiccy app will get the job done quickly and intuitively. Preset crop sizes and artistic filters make enhancement effortless. Standard editing tools like saturation, contrast and exposure are all easy to find and use.
If you’re searching for more functionality than the mobile version offers, there is a desktop version, as well.
Pixlr
The mobile offering from Pixlr is among the most intuitive photo editors around, making it a great starting point. With templates, standard tools, filters, borders and text capabilities, perfecting your photos is quick and painless.
A $1.99 per month subscription will not only turn off the adds that pop up in the free version but will aslo allow access to premium stickers, borders and fonts. The free trial period for the upgrade is three days.
If preparing for Zoom meetings is stressing you out, Crello can also help you create your own virtual background.
Crello
If you are looking to add life to your social media posts, Crello Video Story and Graphic Design Maker will help you animate like a pro. With templates for Facebook and Instagram video posts, Crello is particularly useful if you need to create a lot of content in a short time.
The free version of Crello offers tons of graphics and animated templates and allows you to upload your own fonts. If preparing for Zoom meetings is stressing you out, Crello can also help you create your own virtual background. Crello Pro offers additional templates, more images and collaboration capabilities. You can try it free for 14 days before signing up for the $7.99 per month upgrade.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Adobe Photoshop is arguably the biggest name on the photo editing market. Its free offering – Photoshop Express – is an online version that can also be downloaded as an app on your phone.
Industry experts have hailed Adobe Photoshop Express as an accessible and easy-to-navigate option for those in need of a basic editing tool. It has been described as a well-designed app that is free of distracting adverts. It’s also been championed for having a good colour correction facility.
Nevertheless, this free option has limitations to what it can do in comparison to the paid version of Adobe Photoshop. Image retouching is limited, which means it wouldn’t be a good option for those seeking to regularly use it as part of their professional photography business. Similarly, it only supports images up to 16 megapixels.
Adobe Photoshop (pay monthly)
In contrast to its free younger sibling, Adobe Photoshop’s pay monthly option is considered by many to be the best in the business. It’s got most, if not all, of the image editing tools necessary to get the best results. This, of course, comes at a premium cost. Monthly payments are possible as well as a one-off payment. Discounts are also available for students.
For those who are keen to invest in their business’ software, you can’t go far wrong with this industry standard tool. Whether you’re retouching fashion shots or perfecting your product photography, every tool you need is at your disposal.
However, it must be said that Adobe Photoshop takes some getting used to. Such is its capability, even experts say they don’t understand its full potential. Books have been written about its tools, so, if you’re in need of a quick and easy-to-use piece of kit, this isn’t necessarily for you. Photoshop is an investment, both economically and time-wise, that will pay dividends in the end.
Adobe Lightroom
If you’re in need of a cheaper alternative with a similar aspect to Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom is worth considering. It’s designed for professionals who deal with photographs in bulk, allowing you to edit shots in time-efficient batches.
Hailed as a fresh and clean-looking interface, Lightroom has been praised for its simplicity and attractive look for users. It’s also been praised for its quick upload speed and its capability to back up photographs to Adobe’s server. Another bonus with Lightroom CC is how it uses artificial intelligence to allow you to search your photographs for certain features. For example, you can search for ‘coffee’ and all of the photographs on your system that feature coffee will appear.
Despite all of the above, Lightroom does come with limitations. People have reported that it’s costly in comparison to other tools that offer the same service. Others have reported that while time efficient in comparison to older versions, Lightroom is still relatively slow.
Taler
Best free online photo editor with free graphic design templates
Taler is a scrappy new social design and photo editing tool that’s free forever and perfect for launching a new business, brand, or store. With Taler you can customize templates for Instagram Stories, t-shirt mock ups, and social banners for Facebook and YouTube.
New templates are being added every week, with more design sizes for all social platforms coming soon. Think of Taler as a sandbox for creating your digital branding with some great starter styles to help entrepreneurs grow their Shopify stores faster.
Features include:
- Hundreds of customizable design templates tailored to size requirements for Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and more.
- Drag-and-drop editor for easily customizing visual content to match your Shopify theme.
- Powerful suite of filters, overlays, and photo editing tools for carefully refining and adjusting your header template design.
- Text tools to move, resize, and color text to amplify your message.
- Over 17,000 high-resolution, royalty-free images to use in your design.
- Free stickers, shapes, emojis, and graphics.
Available for: iOS and Android
Price: Free
GIMP
Best open source online photo editor for pixel art and animation
GIMP is a free photo editor online that’s considered the best free Adobe Photoshop alternative. It comes packed with professional tools for image retouching and editing, free-form drawing, and converting different image formats.
Whether you’re a hobby photographer or learning how to take photos with a smartphone, GIMP gives you sophisticated tools for making your images standout. GIMP also has a full customizable interface and, since it’s open source, you can add your own filters and features.
Features include:
- Fully customizable interface for making changes to the photo editor that meet your needs.
- Powerful photo enhancement tools for fixing distort and imperfections.
- Digital retouching for getting rid of minor details quickly and easily.
- Hardware support for various devices to create custom tools and speed up workflow.
- File format support for JPEG (JFIF), GIF, PNG, TIFF and other special use formats, including the multi-resolution and multi-color-depth Windows icon files.
Available for: GNU/Linux, OS X, Windows
Price: Free
Fotor
Best free photo editor online for beginners
Free photo editor Fotor is a browser-based option with an interface that makes it easy for creatives, photographers, and marketers to edit photos. Unlike other web-based programs, Fotor is fast and won’t slow up your computer while using it.
Fotor makes advanced photo editing techniques achievable for less-technical people. You can easily apply filters, add effect, and edit images on the go. It’s intuitive and simple application helps you do more with your photos even without a background in photo editing and graphic design. Fotor is one of the best free photo editors out there, though for a small monthly fee you can upgrade to Pro for added features.
Features include:
- One click batch processing for Scenes, Effects, and Borders.
- State-of-the-art photo processing engine for adjusting exposure, brightness, contrast, white balance, and saturation, removing red eye, and more.
- Flexible text editing tool for adding text to any photo.
- Collage tool with over 80 templates and up to nine photos per collage.
- Batch resizing, renaming, and file format conversion.
- 100+ exclusive photo effects, 30+ photo frames, and 300+ custom stickers.
Available for: Web, iOS, Windows
Price: Free, ($4.99 per month for Pro)
Choosing a photo editing tool that works for your business
Now that you have a good understanding of the top paid and free photo editors out there, it’s time to get testing! If you don’t want to spend money on a photo editor, start with a free one or a free trial, then take it from there.
The important part is that you’re on the right path to improving your brand’s visual identity, selling more online, and making the most of your marketing efforts.
Conclusion
Photo editing is not something that can be ignored in ecommerce industry. There are many reasons for that. One of the key reasons is the engagement. By manually editing photos you can involve your clients into the process. This will be possibility to do with products, which you offer. But even if it’s just photos of products, when customers will feel more connected to an item they’re buying. It’s important as they are spending their hard earned money on something they really need.
Many of us use images without considering the technicalities and the value addition of its close look. Apart from sometimes being treated as an advertising support to generate customer interest, photographers need not worry about finding alternative ways for a better product display. Reviewing them with some of the best photo editing software for ecommerce will help you make sure that your images are up to customer expectations, and can showcase your skills.