Best Photo Editing Apps for Perfectly Framed Shots

Photography is an art of framing – selecting what to include within the confines of your image and what to exclude. While framing is primarily achieved through composition during the actual photo capture, photo editing apps can be valuable tools for refining and enhancing the framing of your shots. In this article, we’ll explore the best photo editing apps for achieving perfectly framed shots, whether you want to crop, straighten, or adjust the aspect ratio to create a more compelling composition.

1. Adobe Lightroom Mobile

Adobe Lightroom Mobile is a professional-grade photo editing app that offers extensive framing and cropping capabilities. Its ‘Crop & Rotate’ tool allows you to straighten and crop your photos with precision. It provides various aspect ratios and cropping guides, making it easy to achieve the perfect framing for your shots. Additionally, Lightroom Mobile offers a ‘Geometry’ tool that can correct perspective distortion, ensuring your images are well-framed and free from unwanted distortions.

2. Snapseed

Snapseed, developed by Google, is a versatile and user-friendly app that offers comprehensive cropping and framing options. Its ‘Crop’ tool provides various aspect ratios, including custom ratios, and allows you to straighten and rotate your photos. Snapseed also offers a ‘Perspective’ tool for correcting perspective distortion, ensuring your images have a well-framed and balanced composition.

3. VSCO

VSCO is known for its elegant and subtle filters, but it also provides essential framing and cropping tools. Its ‘Crop’ feature allows you to adjust the composition by cropping your photos to various aspect ratios. VSCO’s intuitive interface makes it easy to achieve the desired framing for your shots.

4. Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express is a user-friendly app that offers essential cropping and framing features. It includes a ‘Crop’ tool with various aspect ratios and a ‘Straighten’ tool for aligning your photos. Photoshop Express is perfect for quick and straightforward framing adjustments.

5. Darkroom

Darkroom is an iOS-exclusive app that provides advanced framing and cropping capabilities. It offers various aspect ratios and cropping guides, including the popular 4:5 ratio for Instagram. Darkroom’s ‘Crop’ tool allows for precise adjustments, and its ‘Perspective’ tool can correct perspective distortion to ensure your images are well-framed and balanced.

6. Afterlight 2

Afterlight 2 offers a range of framing and cropping tools alongside its other editing features. Its ‘Crop’ tool provides various aspect ratios and allows you to straighten and rotate your photos. The app also includes a ‘Frames’ feature that lets you add creative borders to enhance the framing of your shots.

7. Pixlr

Pixlr is a free and user-friendly app that offers essential framing and cropping options. Its ‘Crop’ tool provides various aspect ratios and allows for straightforward adjustments to your photo’s composition. Pixlr is ideal for quick and simple framing edits.

8. Polarr

Polarr is a versatile app that caters to both beginners and advanced users. It offers framing and cropping tools, including various aspect ratios and a ‘Straighten’ tool. Polarr’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to achieve well-framed compositions.

9. Canva

Canva is a popular graphic design app that offers extensive framing and cropping options. It provides various aspect ratios and templates for social media and print. Canva’s drag-and-drop interface allows for creative framing adjustments, making it suitable for both photography and graphic design projects.

10. Mextures

Mextures is unique in its approach to framing, offering creative tools to enhance the composition of your shots. Its ‘Frames’ feature allows you to add unique borders and overlays to your photos, adding a creative touch to your framing. Mextures is perfect for photographers looking to experiment with artistic framing.

Framing Techniques in Photography

Effective framing is about more than just cropping a photo; it’s about enhancing the composition to draw the viewer’s attention to the subject or create a specific mood. Here are some framing techniques to consider:

1. Rule of Thirds: Divide your image into nine equal parts using two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. Place your subject along these lines or at their intersections for a well-balanced composition.
2. Leading Lines: Use natural or man-made lines within your image, such as roads, fences, or rivers, to guide the viewer’s eye toward the subject.
3. Negative Space: Leave empty space around your subject to emphasize its importance and create a sense of isolation or minimalism.
4. Framing Within a Frame: Use elements within the scene, such as archways, windows, or branches, to frame your subject and draw attention to it.
5. Aspect Ratios: Experiment with different aspect ratios to create a specific mood or composition. Square ratios can create a sense of symmetry and balance, while wider ratios can emphasize the landscape or environment.

Conclusion

Achieving perfectly framed shots is an essential aspect of photography. While framing is primarily achieved during the photo capture process, photo editing apps can be valuable tools for refining and enhancing your compositions. Whether you need to crop, straighten, or adjust aspect ratios, the photo editing apps mentioned in this article provide the flexibility and precision needed to achieve the perfect framing for your shots. Remember that effective framing enhances the visual storytelling of your photos, guiding the viewer’s eye and creating a more compelling and impactful image.