There are so many good editing apps out there. So, it can be difficult to know which one you should use to edit your photos and videos before uploading them to social media.
To take the pain out of trying them out one by one, we’ve compiled a list of the most popular free photo and video apps.
The first three are aimed at those who want to post professional-looking photos with all the bells and whistles. Then we take a look at two of the best video editors.
5 Good Editing Apps To Level Up Your Social Media Photos And Videos For Free
Snapseed
The free version of Snapseed has over 30 photo editing tools that enable you to edit your snaps like a pro.
But what makes Snapseed a really good editing app is it allows for non-destructive editing. This means you make edits to a photo in a separate layer so that both the edited and original images are saved.
This is handy because you can save this as a custom look (a good tip for Instagram photos as the best accounts are those with a uniform look and feel) and apply it to all other photos with a single tap.
Snapseed’s basic functions include features such as cropping or tuning to filters such as Drama, HDR Scape, Retrolux, Grain, or Grunge.
The portrait mode is a favorite among Instagram influencers. It can be used to smooth out skin and brighten eyes. You can also enjoy more advanced editing techniques like Bokeh with Snapseed’s lens blur tool.
Adobe Lightroom
The free version of Adobe Lightroom is not as powerful as the paid-for Adobe Lightroom, but there is still a lot you can do. This makes the app a favorite among aspiring pro photographers and those familiar with Photoshop.
If you’re new to the app, start with a preset that will do all the work for you. Lightroom even has an AI that can suggest presets for a specific photo.
Free Tools In Adobe Lightroom
- Presets that range from B&W to warm, cinematic, HDR, bright and dark
- Crop, straighten, rotate and flip
- Adjust light or color, texture, clarity or dehaze
- Sharpening and masking
- Lens corrections to fix distortions
- Discover with the Adobe Community where you can learn how other users edited their photographs and download free presets
While the app allows you to add keywords (metadata), it does not offer tools such as stickers, photo collages, templates, backgrounds, and other decorative elements that are now almost standard with other good editing apps.
Photoshop Camera
Another Adobe product, Photoshop Camera focuses on adding great filters and effects to your photos, even before you take a picture. It boasts tons of Insta-worthy filters and lenses inspired by your favorite influencers and artists.
AI-powered features help you choose the right lens for taking selfies, food, animal, or landscape shots as well as shooting the perfect portrait. New seasonal lenses and effects are added weekly, meaning there’s always something new to try out.
Lenses range from classy duotones to fun overlays such as lollipops or clouds. As with all good editing apps, you can adjust lens effects, color, lighting, and clarity automatically or manually by swiping across the photo for more precise control.
InShot
Called the InShot Video Editor, this app can in fact also edit your photos, making it a favorite with those posting Instagram Stories as well as TikTok and YouTube influencers and vloggers.
It has an easy-to-use interface and if you think you’ll be using the app on a regular basis, you have the option of one-off purchases or subscriptions to gain access to all filters and effects.
You can’t actually film a video using the app, but you can import a video and then edit it and add music to it from iTunes or the app’s own selection.
Top InShot Video Editing Tools
- Basic video editing and transitioning effects
- Trim and cut videos or split one video into several clips
- Merge video clips into one
- Combine and compress video without losing quality
- Crop out unwanted parts of the screen
- Extract audio from video
- Adjust the speed from 0.2x to 100x
- Rewind the clip
- Create photo slideshows
- Add movie style video filters and effects
- Add sound effects or voice over
- Music fade-out/-in feature
- Adjust video brightness, saturation, and contrast
Top InShot Photo Editing Tools
- Add text to photos choosing from a variety of fonts
- Add and edit text and stickers
- Choose from a number of backgrounds or upload your own photo as a background
- Create photo collages using any of the available collage layouts
PowerDirector Essential Video Editing App
Rated by PC Magazine as one of the best “enthusiast-level” video editors out there, PowerDirector really is a standout among good editing apps thanks to its rich features.
The app renders fast and the library of tools helps you easily create a compelling digital movie, complete with transitions, effects, and titles. The developers keep adding effects and improvements to stay ahead of what kind of features users demand of a video editor.
The video maker and editor help you create cinema-style movies, slow-motion videos, and video collages.
It can fix shaky cam footage and allows you to produce eye-catching intros using animated titles. You can also experiment with quirky audio effects.
PowerDirector offers all the usual editing tools, such as brightness, color, and saturation control. However, it also offers some pretty jaw-dropping effects and transitions that can be applied through simple drag & drop actions.
Level Up Your Social Media Posts With Photo Editing
Ready to add a professional look and feel to your photographs and videos? It could make all the difference to whether you go noticed or not on social media.
If you’re determined to become an Instagram legend, knowing how to take good pictures and then editing your photos and videos well will elevate a simple home-shot video or selfie to an inspirational, ultra-shareable piece of content.
That sums up our review of good editing apps you should try out. If you have a favorite that beats these, let us know!
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