5 photography apps you must have

While your camera is important, you'd be a terrible photographer without some essential apps. Many of these photo editing apps are well-known, but some unsung heroes deserve more recognition.

Table of Contents

• 1. Adobe Bridge
• 2. Nikon Image Space
• 3. Adobe Lightroom
• 4. Adobe Express
• 5. Unscripted

1. Adobe Bridge

Adobe Bridge is a favorite way to organize your photos on your computer. People use it for both smartphones and full-frame cameras. It makes deleting unwanted photos from your hard drive and device easier than manually deleting them via a touchscreen. Another benefit is that you can use star ratings to categorize your photos.

Adobe Bridge lets you reject photos before deleting them. Filters let you delete specific photos without touching anything else. It also lets you create custom workflows and works with Adobe apps like Photoshop .

2. Nikon Image Space

After years of using Fujifilm, many people go back to Nikon cameras. Then they go back to Nikon Image Space and remember how much they love the app. You can quickly transfer files from your camera to your smartphone, allowing for easy sharing on social media or simple editing.

While many people use Nikon’s version, every camera manufacturer has a similar app. The process usually involves signing up for an account and registering your camera. However, some work better than others, for example people have had fewer issues with Nikon Image Space than with Fujifilm’s equivalent.

3. Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom is not to be underestimated on a technical level. It is better than any other photo editing app, and since it is such an important part of many people’s photography and editing workflow, it was definitely worth mentioning on this list.

Lightroom Classic and CC are both great tools. Many people use CC primarily because it is available on desktop and mobile devices, meaning you can continue to make adjustments on the go. It is also easier to organize photos through albums and other features than CC.

While you do have to pay for Adobe Lightroom, it's worth every penny. Many people are happy to pay 10x the current price if they need to.

4. Adobe Express

Adobe Express is often overlooked in favor of Canva , but it’s unfair to ignore it entirely. It’s one of our favorite ways to resize images for social media, with ready-made templates for Pinterest and Instagram. Adobe Express has a variety of quick actions to help you build a more efficient workflow.

While I primarily use Adobe Express to prepare my images for sharing online, it’s also great for basic editing, especially on smartphone photos. It has a background removal feature, for example. You can even create images within the app, thanks to Adobe Firefly. It’s better than many of the alternatives.

Note : Adobe Express has a premium version, but the free version should do the job just fine for most people.

5. Unscripted

Unscripted was the first photo planning app that many people used, and to this day, they still haven’t found anything like it. It has a lot of useful features, like posing suggestions for portraits. A favorite feature is the Sun Tracker tool, which also tells you when the blue hour and golden hour are, so you can get the right lighting for your photos.

In addition to planning your photo shoot, Unscripted is a great tool for learning more about photography. The app has a number of resources, in addition to the option to create a photo gallery. Although it’s primarily aimed at professional photographers, amateurs will find Unscripted useful as well.

Choosing the right apps will help you become a better photographer. You can share your photos more easily, learn about your craft, and organize your photos better. You can use all of these tools with your smartphone and full-frame camera; they’re incredibly versatile.