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For painters, the right photo editor is not necessarily the one with the most cinematic effects. It should make artwork scans and reference photos cleaner without destroying brush texture, color, or fine edges. It should also handle practical jobs such as removing glare, correcting perspective, preparing images for a website, and making a print-ready file.
Adobe Photoshop remains the most complete choice, but it is not the only sensible one. Affinity Photo 2 is the strongest subscription-free alternative, Lightroom is excellent for organizing and correcting reference photographs, and Krita is the better fit when editing leads into digital painting. The best choice depends on whether you are photographing finished work, preparing a portfolio, or painting directly on the computer.
Our top photo editors for artists
| Software | Best for | Why painters should consider it | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop | All-purpose artwork editing | Excellent layers, masking, retouching, compositing, and print preparation | Subscription cost and a steep learning curve |
| Affinity Photo 2 | Serious editing without a subscription | Strong RAW development, selections, adjustment layers, and large-document support | Fewer tutorials, plug-ins, and automated workflows than Photoshop |
| Adobe Lightroom Classic | Managing and correcting reference photos | Fast batch corrections, cataloging, cropping, and non-destructive color work | Not designed for complex layer-based retouching |
| Capture One | Professional camera RAW processing | Detailed color control and excellent tethered shooting for studio work | More expensive and specialized than most artists need |
| Krita | Digital painting and painted-over references | Natural brushes, stabilizers, layers, masks, and a painter-focused interface | Its photo-management and RAW workflows are less polished |
| Photopea | Occasional edits in a browser | Opens common Photoshop-style files and needs no desktop installation | Large files and privacy-sensitive work are less comfortable online |
Adobe Photoshop: best overall
Photoshop is the safest recommendation when an artist needs one application that can do nearly everything. It can correct a photograph of a painting, remove a distracting background, build a composite, prepare social-media crops, and produce a layered file for later revisions.
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Its layer masks and adjustment layers are particularly useful for artwork. You can brighten a dark corner with Curves without permanently changing the original pixels, or isolate a painting from its wall with a mask that can be refined later. The Spot Healing Brush and Clone Stamp are useful for removing dust from a scan, while the Perspective Crop tool can straighten a painting photographed at an angle.
Photoshop also has the broadest ecosystem of tutorials, plug-ins, actions, brushes, and color-management advice. That matters when a painter needs to solve an unusual problem rather than perform a basic crop.
A practical Photoshop workflow for photographing a painting
- Open the camera file and duplicate the background layer.
- Use Camera Raw Filter or the Camera Raw dialog to correct exposure, white balance, lens distortion, and highlights.
- Use Filter > Adaptive Wide Angle or Perspective Crop if the artwork was not photographed square-on.
- Create a Curves adjustment layer and compare the image with the original painting under neutral light.
- Remove dust and small distractions on a separate retouching layer.
- Save a layered PSD or TIFF, then export a separate JPEG or WebP for the website.
The important discipline is to keep the untouched camera file and the layered master. A compressed web export should never become the only copy of the artwork.
Affinity Photo 2: best Photoshop alternative
Affinity Photo 2 is the strongest choice for painters who want advanced raster editing but do not want to build their workflow around a subscription. It offers RAW development, adjustment layers, masks, selections, retouching tools, panoramas, HDR work, and support for large documents.
Its interface will feel familiar to anyone who has used Photoshop, though the terminology and panel arrangement differ. Affinity separates tasks into Personas, including Photo for general editing and Develop for RAW files. That separation is useful, but it can initially make simple jobs feel less direct.
Rank #2
Affinity is well suited to scanning paintings, cleaning paper backgrounds, assembling reference boards, and preparing high-resolution prints. Its weaknesses are mostly ecosystem-related: there are fewer third-party resources and fewer established studio workflows than Photoshop offers. For a solo painter, however, that may be a reasonable trade.
Lightroom Classic: best for a reference-photo library
Lightroom Classic is not a Photoshop replacement. It is a catalog and RAW-development tool first. Choose it when the main problem is managing hundreds or thousands of reference photographs rather than making complicated composites.
Lightroom’s strengths are speed and consistency. You can correct the white balance of a group of outdoor reference images, apply a camera profile, rate the best compositions, add keywords, and export several sizes without opening each file in a pixel editor.
The Tool Desk
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Use Lightroom for exposure, color, cropping, lens correction, and cataloging. Send an image to Photoshop or Affinity Photo when you need precise object removal, multiple layers, a collage, or a transparent background.
Rank #3
Capture One: best for controlled studio photography
Capture One is aimed at photographers who need highly controlled RAW processing and tethered shooting. It is worth considering if you regularly photograph paintings in a studio and want to inspect images on a large monitor while the camera is connected.
Its color tools are powerful, and its adjustment workflow can produce consistent results across a series of artwork photographs. That is valuable when a gallery website needs a group of paintings to look coherent.
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For an occasional scan or phone photograph, Capture One is probably more software than necessary. Its value becomes clearer when color accuracy, repeatable studio setup, and camera control are central to the job.
Krita: best when editing becomes painting
Krita is built for digital painting rather than conventional photo cataloging. It belongs on this list because many painters do not simply correct reference images: they draw over them, make studies, block in compositions, or combine photographed textures with painted layers.
Krita provides a broad brush engine, stabilizers, layer groups, masks, blending modes, assistants, and customizable workspaces. A traditional painter moving into digital studies may find its canvas-oriented design more natural than Photoshop’s retouching-first layout.
Rank #4
It is less convenient for cataloging a photo collection or performing a long sequence of camera RAW corrections. A practical combination is Lightroom or a phone app for sorting references, followed by Krita for studies and painted edits.
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Photopea: best for quick browser-based work
Photopea is useful when you need to open or alter a layered image on a computer where you cannot install software. It supports many familiar formats and provides layers, masks, selections, text, filters, and adjustment tools in a Photoshop-like layout.
It is suitable for a quick portfolio crop, a simple banner, or checking a PSD away from your main workstation. It is not my first choice for a large scan of an original painting, a confidential commission, or a color-critical print. Browser performance, screen calibration, and upload privacy all become relevant.
What painters should look for
RAW and scanner support
Camera RAW files contain more adjustment information than finished JPEGs. If you photograph paintings, check that the software supports your camera model. For scans, TIFF support and reliable handling of 16-bit files are more important than an impressive effects list.
Layers and masks
Layers let you separate the original artwork, color corrections, dust removal, signatures, borders, and text. Masks let you make those changes selectively. These features are more valuable for serious artwork documentation than one-click filters.
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A monitor that is too bright can make a painting photograph look washed out or cause you to darken a file unnecessarily. For print work, look for RGB and CMYK support, embedded ICC profiles, soft proofing, and export controls. No application can compensate fully for an uncalibrated display or poor lighting during photography.
Large files and memory use
A high-resolution scan can be several hundred megabytes before layers are added. More RAM and a fast SSD often improve the experience more than buying a feature-heavy application. Keep free disk space available for scratch files, previews, and backups.
Non-destructive editing
Adjustment layers, RAW settings, smart objects, and editable masks allow you to revisit decisions. If an editor forces you to permanently alter the only copy of a painting photograph, it is a poor choice for archival work.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose quickly
- Choose Photoshop if you want the broadest retouching, compositing, print, and plug-in ecosystem.
- Choose Affinity Photo 2 if you want serious editing with a subscription-free purchase.
- Choose Lightroom Classic if your biggest challenge is organizing and correcting reference photographs in batches.
- Choose Capture One if you photograph artwork tethered in a controlled studio and need advanced RAW color tools.
- Choose Krita if your workflow includes digital painting, painted studies, or extensive brushwork.
- Choose Photopea for occasional edits when installing desktop software is not practical.
File settings for paintings
| Purpose | Recommended starting point |
|---|---|
| Archival master | 16-bit TIFF or the editor’s layered native format; preserve the original RAW or scan |
| Use the printer or lab’s requested color profile and resolution; do not guess if they provide specifications | |
| Website portfolio | Convert a copy to sRGB, resize to the site’s display needs, and use JPEG or WebP with visible quality checked |
| Social media | Export a separate crop rather than repeatedly resizing the master file |
Do not judge color from a file that has been viewed under a warm household lamp. Compare the photograph with the original painting in neutral, consistent light, and keep a version history when the image will represent work for sale.
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Is Photoshop or Affinity Photo better for painters?
Photoshop is better if you need the largest plug-in ecosystem, extensive tutorials, advanced compositing, or a workflow shared with a professional studio. Affinity Photo 2 is a strong alternative for painters who want layers, masks, RAW development, and print preparation without a recurring subscription.
Can Lightroom edit photographs of paintings?
Yes. Lightroom is excellent for exposure, white balance, lens correction, cropping, keywording, and batch processing. It is less suitable for removing complex backgrounds, building layered composites, or making detailed pixel-level repairs.
What is the best free photo editor for an artist?
Krita is the best free choice when digital painting and brushwork are central. Photopea is convenient for occasional Photoshop-style edits in a browser. For detailed photo correction, either can work, but neither replaces the full cataloging and RAW workflow of a dedicated commercial application.
What file format should I save a painting photograph in?
Keep the original camera RAW or scan, then save an editable master as a layered file or TIFF. Export separate copies for print, websites, and social media. Avoid using a compressed JPEG as your only master.
The Bottom Line
Photoshop is the best all-rounder, Affinity Photo 2 is the best subscription-free alternative, and Lightroom Classic is the best companion for a large reference library. Choose Krita when the work moves from correcting photographs into digital painting. Whatever you use, preserve the original, work non-destructively, and export copies for each final purpose.
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