The best Photoshop alternative on iPad

Posted by Campbell Bird on November 24th, 2015

Instagram and Lightroom are great and all, but sometimes people need to get extra creative with their image editing. Like, Photoshop creative.

If you're one of these people, take a look at our pick for the best mobile Photoshop experience on iPad.


The best

Pixelmator

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2014-10-24 :: Category: Game

$9.99

Pixelmator is a great choice for Photoshop-like tasks on the iPad, primarily because of how well-designed its interface is. Nothing gets in the way, and all of its functionality is just a tap or two away.

Italso gets bonus points for allowing users to create images from scratch and having layer functionality, making this pick easy to recommend.

Honorable Mentions

Polarr: Photo Filters & Editor

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2015-06-25 :: Category: Game

FREE!

Polarr is a great piece of editing software, and is made even greater by being free!

Its no nonsense functionality doesn't leave room for things like overlayed stickers, and it doesn't allow users to create their own images, but it is a very powerful and competent editor nonetheless.

Photoshop Express Photo Editor

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-10-09 :: Category: Game

FREE!

Photoshop Express makes this list because, well, we're talking about Photoshop.

Other than its name though, there are very few things that Photoshop Express offers that these other contenders don't. In fact, it's suite of tools is pretty sparse even if you purchase the premium features the app offers.

Pixlr - Photo Collages, Effect

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-11-14 :: Category: Game

FREE!

Pixlr is another free Photoshop-like, but it seems very tuned for casual users. The whole interface acts like a linear progression to social media posting, and lacks finish as evidenced by its ad support and "portrait-only" view mode.

That being said, Pixlr can make collages, edit photos, and put other neat effects on images much like its competitors on this list.

Were we looking in the wrong layer? Have a better Photoshop suggestion for iOS? Let us know in the comments!

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