Photoshopping for the perfect editing app

We tested four photo editing apps to help you pick the most reasonable and functional option.

Alex Mandanas and Imani McCormick

When capturing a perfect picture that will give your friends FOMO, it is critical to enhance and add effects to your photos. With the thousands of editing apps available it can be tough to figure out which are worth using.

We downloaded four apps to help you decide which will give your photos the most likes and comments on social media.

Photo Editor by Aviary
If you are on the move and want to quickly adjust the saturation of an image or get creative with a few filters, Aviary is perfect for you. Aviary’s simple functionality is appealling and comprised of all necessasry key features for photo editing. Although the app is free, there are an additonal number of in-app purchases for $0.99 just to get a few more items…those $0.99 add up fast. Nevertheless, Aviary makes it easy to upload directly to social media outlets whereas most apps require you to save the image then upload it. The app displays numerous facile tool options with high-quality features for low costs.

PicLab
PicLab allows its user to add text, edit, draw, and add stickers to photos. Unfavorably, the fonts presented are not alluring and lack in diversity. The editing element of the app is straight forward, but does not differ from other editing apps–it is similar to snapchat, without the 3D filters of course. The drawing capabilities lack purpose and diversity. Meanwhile, the sticker part of the app only offers cheesy and unattractive options. The app is frustrating to use because it is impossible to rescind work previously made. Not to mention, all final images have a PicLab watermark that can only be removed by an in-app purchase. PicLab is not comprehensive in the sense that app use requires multiple in-app purchases. Supposedly PicLab serves a purpose but doesn’t meet very high standards in any meaning of the phrase. There are better photo editing alternatives available in the app store.

Snapseed
Snapseed’s rich array of editing options tackles all the specifics any photo editor seeks. Images can be fine tuned to adjust saturation, contrast, shadowing and highlights, size, and brightness. Unlike most editing apps, Snapseed’s Brush Tool allows for the selection of details to edit particular areas. The different filter options enable users to add grain and change the contrast to create unique effects. However, Snapseed lacks some basic editing features such as red-eye removal, adding text, and clone-stamping. Nevertheless, this app’s easy to use features accomplish more than most.

VSCO

Flowers forever- This picture was edited with VSCO, using the P5 filter. VSCO captures the contrast between the flowers and their stems nicely, while also maintaining a straightforward and easy to use system.

VSCO is a fairly popular photo-editing app that comes equipped with not only an extensive array of filters and effects but with a social media element as well. The app has ten filter options, three of which are black and white. They vary in tone and mood but are not unique in any way. Users have the ability to change the specific photo elements such as contrast, brightness, temperature, and saturation. VSCO useful shadow and highlight editing component can make your photos look like it is summer year-round. Beyond the editing tools, the social media portion is entertaining. Overall VSCO is easy to navigate, an amusing social platform, and ideal for making photos flawless.

Our final ranking of the fabulous four from highest to lowest is Snapseed, VSCO, Aviary, and PicLab.