Over the past few years, AI photo editors have become the new norm for digital creators everywhere, featuring futuristic tools to make your pixelated art as dynamic as you want it to be. Whereas high-quality photography used to require bulky camera equipment, access to a darkroom, and the training to utilize both, modern pixel-pushers can churn out incredible high-res shots with a premium smartphone and even smarter software on the backend.
Powered by advanced machine learning algorithms, the best AI photo editors turn the tedious tasks of yesteryear into automated processes, allowing both amateur and professional photographers to enhance and modify their digital imagery like never before. The software intelligently analyzes your pics and videos to improve colors, adjust the exposure, and remove unwanted objects with the click of a button. A variety of AI photo editors also let you apply unique filters that are easy to customize and edit — not to mention fun to play with. The end result? A more streamlined editing process, opening up endless possibilities to your artistic muse.
Best AI photo editor overall
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If there are two words that have long been synonymous with quality image manipulation, it’s Adobe Photoshop. This already-excellent software got a hefty upgrade with the recent addition of Generative Fill, powered by Adobe’s Firefly AI model. You may already be familiar with Adobe’s snazzy Content-Aware Fill feature, which lets you magically remove objects from your canvas, but Generative Fill takes things to a whole ‘nother level, allowing you to edit images with simple-yet-precise text prompts. For example, I generated the image above by simply typing “underground chicken racing” into the text prompt box. And I was not disappointed.
The recently added Remove Tool does just what you think it does, removing something from an image and then replacing it with AI-generated content to blend in. There are even Neural Filters to adjust a given subject’s facial expression and remove compression artifacts, with plenty of manual control on the backend for those AI-powered features. Together, you can use Generative Fill and Generative Expand to make substantial edits and/or additions – then fine-tune them with Photoshop’s robust set of editing tools. Long-story-short: when it comes to AI photo editors, Photoshop is tough to beat.
Best features:
Generative Fill allows you to edit content with simple text prompts, powered by Adobe Firefly
Best-in-class lighting adjustments, retouching, and color correction, including on-canvas gradient control
Allows you to add and/or remove objects from pictures with precision and ease
Pricing:
$22.99 per month (Photoshop + Adobe Express Premium + 100GB cloud storage)
$19.99 per month (Photoshop + Lightroom + 1TB cloud storage)
$59.99 per month (Photoshop + Adobe Express Premium + additional apps)
Best premium AI photo editor
It comes with a pretty hefty price tag unless you catch this software on sale, but the Skylum Luminar Neo AI photo editor offers a comprehensive software package that professional photographers are bound to appreciate. Outstanding features like Panorama Stitching, Magic Light, Focus Stacking, and Background Removal turn your outdoor landscape shots into awe-inspiring pieces of art. Accent AI, for example, can intelligently balance hue, saturation, highlights, contrast, and details with one simple slider. Portrait Bokeh makes your subject absolutely pop by softening up the background, modifying depth correction, and subtly retouching skin tones.
Best features:
Control up to a dozen adjustments to enhance, including tone, contrast, shadows, and color
Sky replacement makes it a cinch to swap out one sky background for another
Remove powerlines from an otherwise picturesque cityscape
Pricing:
$4.96 per month (billed $119 every two years)
$6.58 per month (billed $79 annually)
$14.95 per month (billed monthly)
$998 (one-time purchase)
Best Photoshop alternative
Billed as the “world’s first and most popular advanced online photo editor,” Pixlr has been in the game for a while, and its web-based software is only getting smarter. If you’re already familiar with Photoshop, you’ll feel right at home with Pixlr, which offers an impressive array of photo-editing options even in their free, ad-supported version. There are a variety of dedicated tools at your fingertips, starting with the Photoshop-esqe Pixlr Editor. You can manually adjust brightness, contrast, temperature, hue, saturation, and more; the Auto Adjust, Auto Pop, and Auto B&W features work well, too. The AI-powered Remove BG tool is a big selling point here; you even can remove the background on several images at the same time with Pixlr’s excellent cutout tools.
Best features:
The free version of this software — Pixlr Express — lets you access a variety of basic AI features, such as AI Generative Fill and AI Generative Expand
Remove Bg lets you remove backgrounds from product photos, eCommerce listings, selfies, and more, fine tuning the results with Pixlr’s detailed cutout tools
The AI Image Generator lets you create unique pictures simply by typing your ideas into the text box
Pricing:
Free (limited AI use)
$0.99 per month (ad-free, unlimited saves, 80 monthly AI credits)
$4.90 per month (ad-free, unlimited saves, 1,000 monthly AI credits)
$9.91 per month (ad-free, unlimited saves, 1,000 monthly AI credits, 5 premium seats)
Best AI photo editor for creative professionals
If you’re looking for a comprehensive photo and video-editing tool that’ll keep you on the bleeding edge of content creation, look no further than Canva. Whether you’re creating social media graphics, marketing posters, or event invitations, this user-friendly graphic design platform doesn’t have the same editing capabilities as other competitors on this list, but if you’re all about churning out marketable media, Canva comes with more than 20 AI-powered tools to help you get the job done (ex, Magic Eraser, Magic Grab, Magic Animate, Instant Presentations). For example, Beat Sync shortcuts the tedious process of prepping the perfect TikTok video by automatically matching up video clips to the rhythm of the music, and lengthening or shortening the audio as necessary.
Best features:
Background Remover and Video Background Remover let you do exactly those things, lickety-split
Add instant animation and watch your designs spring to life
Fix dark, blurry, and oversaturated photos with the Image Enhancer tool
Pricing:
Free (basic photo editor and AI-powered design tools; 5GB cloud storage)
$14.99 per month / $119 per year (unlimited access to premium templates and 20+ AI-powered tools; 1TB cloud storage)
Best mobile app for AI-generated images
Compatible with both Android and iOS devices, Vivid AI is a surprisingly robust AI photo editor you can access right from your phone, allowing you to instantly share your new creations on Instagram, X, and Facebook right from the app. While the free version of this app is chock full of fun features like Text to Image, AI Anime, AI Background, AI Scene, and AI Sky, some of the more dynamic tools are going to cost you a few bucks. For example, AI Headshot lets you transform ordinary selfies into high-quality, professionally retouched headshots, but it’ll cost you anywhere from $7.99 (20 unique headshots) to $26.99 (80 headshots) for the privilege. If you pony up for the premium subscription, however, you get watermark removal, unlimited artwork generation, and a 30 percent discount off that AI Headshot, along with a few other perks. Content creators of every ilk will want to give this app a gander.
Best features:
AI Headshot lets you transform ordinary selfies into high-quality headshots
Text to Image is a generative AI tool that turns your words into art — in a snap
As the name suggests, AI Anime turns you in cartoony anime character
Pricing:
Free (limited features)
$6.99 per week
$29.99 per year
