The macOS operating system has been a staple of Apple computers since 2001 and over the years, users have come to rely upon it for its stability and accessibility.
While it may not be as robust as Windows in some areas, macOS does offer a wide range of features that make editing images easy.
Whether you’re an amateur photographer or a professional graphic designer, mastering the macOS image editing tools can help you take your visuals to the next level.
To get you started, here are 9 image editing tips for macOS users:
#1
Use Photos for basic editing tasks. The Photos app is included with every version of macOS and provides more than enough tools to handle basic edits like cropping, color correction and red-eye removal.
It also offers presetting options like black & white or sepia tone to give your photos a unique look without needing any additional software.
#2
Take advantage of built-in filters in iPhoto or Aperture. If you want to apply subtle changes to the photos without having to manually adjust sliders or click through multiple menus, consider using one of the built-in presets found in iPhoto or Aperture (Apple’s predecessor to Photos).
You can quickly select from dozens of effects that can instantly give your images a new life.
#3
Learn keyboard shortcuts for faster editing. To save time when performing common actions such as rotating, flipping, resizing or cropping an image, familiarize yourself with the available keyboard commands for each task.
This will allow you to execute them quickly without having to search through menus or mousing through menus and dialog boxes.
#4
Try Pixelmator for advanced edits and special effects. If you need advanced photo manipulation capabilities such as cloning, liquefying or adding creative filters and textures then Pixelmator is worth considering;
It’s an affordable alternative compared with Adobe Photoshop but still gives you many of the same features with a MacOS-friendly interface that makes tasks like masking easier than ever before.
#5
Export different versions of your file types with the Preview app. Preview is included on all Macs and allows you to quickly export your images into different formats (like JPEGs or PNGs), which can be used in other applications or uploaded online with ease;
What’s more, is that this tool has several settings that let you control file size and resolution, so your final product always looks its best no matter where it ends up being shared online or printed out on paper. Not to mention teaching how to add watermark to photos on Mac.
#6
Make use of manual adjustments for precise results. For specific corrections such as exposure levels, saturation, contrast, highlights, shadows, etc . take advantage of the Manual Adjustment feature within Photos;
This tool gives you complete control over how colors are tweaked, which makes it possible to achieve much higher quality results than those created by relying solely on automatic adjustments.
#7
Utilize ColorSync profiles for consistent colors across devices. ColorSync is Apple’s color management system that ensures colors appear consistently between different devices;
If you need to ensure colors stay consistent when printing out images from various machines, then this feature comes in handy by allowing users to set up profiles so colors remain true -to -life regardless if they’re seen on monitors or printed out onto paper.
#8
Experiment with third-party plugins/extensions to save time and add effects. Third-party plugins or extensions can help you perform tasks quickly or even create unique looks that can’t be replicated in any other way;
If you’re looking for an easy way to stand out from the crowd, consider experimenting with some of these tools that are available both in the Mac App Store as well as from independent software developers.
#9
Take advantage of custom layouts with Pages. Pages is a word processing program included on most Macs, and it offers advanced features such as templates, image import and embedding, text wrapping capabilities, and more;
This enables one to easily create custom layouts for your projects which can be printed out professionally or exported into different file formats (PDFs, HTML files, etc.) without having to learn complicated graphic design principles.