18 essential photo editing apps

Here's a list of the best photo editing software so you can decide which suits your needs and budget.

Photoshop is the go-to photo editor, of course – so much so that the word has become verbified, like 'Hoover' or 'Google'.
This might give the impression that Adobe's photo editing software is the undisputed champion, but that all depends on what you use it for – for your purposes it may be a case of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Hone your Photoshop skills with these brilliant tutorials

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There are a wide range of very capable alternatives to Photoshop, as you will discover, but our list of the best photo editors is going to begin with with the ubiquitous Adobe application.

01. Photoshop CC

Photoshop is brilliant but not everyone is convinced by the subscription-only model

• Platform: Windows/Mac
• Price: From $29.99/£17.58 per month

The replacement for Photoshop CS6 surprised everyone by not being the expected Photoshop CS7 but 'Photoshop CC'. And surprise turned to consternation when it was revealed that the software would be solely available via the Creative Cloud subscription service.
Time has passed and anger has subsided - although a brief outage was a reminder of one of the concerns regarding the subscription model. Photoshop CC is head-bangingly brilliant, and has too many features to summarise in this small space - but here you can read a run-down of its 15 top features.
There's no doubt that the latest Photoshop is a hugely impressive photo editing application; probably the best out there. But it comes at a cost.

02. Pixlr

Pixlr's mobile photo editing software comes with more than 600 effects

• Platform: iOS, Android
• Price: Free

Pixlr claims to be "the most popular online photo editor in the world", which may have something to do with the fact that it's free. But it also boasts more than 600 effects, overlays, and borders and lets you do all the main things you'd expect from a photo editor, from cropping and re-sizing to removing red-eye and whitening teeth.
And if you're used to using Photoshop, then you'll find Pixlr's user interface easy to pick up quickly, as it's very similar.

03. Serif PhotoPlus X7

PhotoPlus X6 explicity sets out to recreate Photoshop's functionality

• Platform: Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP
• Price: $99.99/£79.99

Whilst Serif make inroads into the world of Mac photo editing with its new Affinity Photo (more on that below), this is for all things PC.
Of all the tools featured in this list, PhotoPlus X7 is perhaps the most direct competitor to Photoshop in terms of trying to replicate the different tools in Adobe's software for the PC at a lower price.
It's definitely a case of getting what you pay for. To be frank, the tool can be tricky for beginners to use, and lacks the slickness and reliability of its big-bucks competitor. But in the right hands it's possible to create quality work with PhotoPlus X7.

04. Acorn

Acorn's new update includes the addition of non-destructive filters

• Platform: Mac
• Price: $29.99/£19.99

Image editing software Acorn debuted back in 2007 and has provided hobbyists and artists on a budget with a great, affordable piece of photo editing software. Features include layer styles, non-destructive filters, curves and levels, blending modes and much more.
The latest version, Acorn 4, added improved speed, an enhanced UI and more. One of the most sought-after improvements was the addition of non-destructive filters, which includes includes a great interface to chain filters together to create unique effects. You can even save and modify your filters after you've closed and re-opened your Acorn image.

05. Photoshop Touch

Photoshop is a compelling option on mobile as well as desktop

• Platform: iOS, Android
• Price: $4.99/£3.99 (mobile); $9.99/£6.99 (tablet)

The Photoshop family continues to grow, with its latest addition bringing the formerly tablet-only Photoshop Touch to Apple and Android smartphones.
It's an effective re-imagining of Adobe's killer desktop app (see number 01 on this list), carrying over many of its most compelling features, including layers and adjustments.
The app is also bundled with 29 fonts for adding text to your photos, including Adobe Garamond Pro, Cooper Std Black, and Myriad Pro.

06. GIMP

GIMP is a popular open-source photo editing software

• Platform: Linux/Windows/Mac
• Price: Free

An open-source photo editor that debuted on Unix-based platforms, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Today it's available in versions for Linux, Windows, and Mac. GIMP offers a wide toolset - everything you're accustomed to is within easy reach, including painting tools, colour correction, cloning, selection, and enhancement.
The team that oversees development has worked hard to ensure compatibility too, so you'll be able to work with all the popular file formats without any trouble at all. You'll also find a very capable file manager built in, along similar lines to Adobe's Bridge.

07. Photoshop Elements 13

Somewhere inbetween Photoshop and Touch, Elements is a powerful standalone app

• Platform: Linux/Windows/Mac
• Price: £52.99

This is the basic alternative to Photoshop Creative Cloud (or CS), as reflected in its great Quick and Guided Edit modes, but don't think that means it lacks power under the hood. Also, unlike Photoshop CC, Elements doesn't require a subscription.
It's now in its thirteenth iteration, and new features include an easier way to merge photos together, a new crop suggestion tool, extra effects and a way to create a combined Facebook profile and cover photo.

08. Affinity Photo

• Platform: Mac
• Price: Free beta

As reported when it was first announced earlier this year, Serif isn't aiming to simply replicate Photoshop with Affinity Photo - the sibling to their vector, Illustrator-killer Affinity Designer.
This is not a bargain version either. The beta promises to be a high end software that claims to be faster than Photoshop and just as powerful.

09. Adobe Lightroom

• Platform: Windows/Mac
• Price: From £8.57pm

Adobe Lightroom allows you to have all your photography in one place, and organise, edit and share it from anywhere. Many creatives opt to use Lightroom as it can tackle the complex image management jobs Photoshop is not designed for, making light work of day-to-day enhancements and RAW files.
With Lightroom you can store images on your computer, iPad, iPhone or Android devices and even have photos from your phone go directly into Lightroom as you shoot them. Syncing takes care of itself, so when you make an edit or flag a favorite in one place, it’s automatically updated everywhere else.

Top 15 Best Video Editing Software for 2015

Gone are days when creating a short film or documentary was a task of technical expertise and one should be quite a professional to deal with editing and related tasks. Now, however, after dawn of all these revolutionary technologies and their day-to-day applications, video editing too has become an easy-to-accomplish task, if you know which video editors you should use. A huge number of video editing software available in industry — both paid and free —, it will be probably a tough task for you to choose one editing tool from the list and then to accomplish your editing task!

In this post, however, understanding this issue, we have prepared a list of top 15 video editing tools. We shall check out note-worthy features, supported platforms and pricing of each video editing tool that is listed.

1. AVS Video Editor

AVS Video Editor can be the first choice of yours when you are looking for an easy to use, professional-quality-rich & quick video editor for your Windows computers. AVS Video Editor, developed by Online Media Technologies, offers a number of notable features such as a huge amount of effects, support for Blu-ray videos, multilingual support, ability to share videos directly through platforms like Facebook, Flick and MySpace and useful features such as stabilization. Considering these, VPS Video Editor is one of the best video editing software for Windows.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: AVI, MP4, MKV, FLV, AMV, 3GP, MPG, DAT, VCD etc.
• Supported Output Formats: AVI, MP4, WMV, SWF, FLV, MPG etc.
• Price: All software from AVS is available as a bundle for $59, but you have an unlimited trial version.
• Key Features: HD Support, Non-destructive Editing, Single Video Track, Dual Audio track.
• 10% Discount Coupon: BEEB-YXKO-OM (Valid till 31 Aug, 2015)

2. Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is the video editing tools that has helped filmmakers to edit some of your favourite movies including The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Being a video editing software developed by Apple Inc, Final Cut Pro has a number of noticeable features such as an impressive user interface, quite useful keyboard shortcuts & lots more. So, if you afford video editing in your Mac, Final Cut Pro is the best video editor for Mac, we assure.

• Supported Platforms: Macintosh
• Supported Input Formats: Any video format that is compatible with QuickTime
• Supported Output Formats: Any video format that is compatible with QuickTime
• Price: $299
• Key Features: HD Support, Non-destructive editing, storyboard mode, up to 99 video tracks and 99 audio tracks

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3. Sony Vegas Movie Studio

If you want to create stunning videos without consuming that much system resources, Sony Vegas Movie Studio will, most probably, be the best tool for Windows PCs. Sony Vegas Movie Studio is actually the minimized version of Sony Vegas Pro and it is meant for passionate professionals, who would find the simple interface, variety of features along with support for additional elements such as transitions, text, video stabilization, realtime effects etc. Altogether, its features make Sony Vegas Movie Studio an all-in-one solution for professionals who do not want to spend much.

• Supported Platform: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: MP4, AVI, WAV, WMV, QuickTime, MPEG-4 etc.
• Supported Output Formats: AVI, MP4, MPEG-4, WMV, WAV etc.
• Price: $49.95 (Trial version is available)

Buy Now

4. Lightworks

We’ve seen different video editing softwares for different platforms, but Lightworks is the only video editor that does have support for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux. Some un-matchable features of Lightworks include dedicated & powerful support for background I/O, dedicated keyboard to enhance video editing experience, multi-cam editing as well as an impressive set of realtime effects that will come in handy when it comes to professional video editing. The list of features also includes dedicated web export option, background export, import and rendering etc.

• Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux
• Supported Input Formats: Almost Every Video Format including High Definition ones
• Supported Output Formats: Almost Every Video Format including High Definition ones
• Price: Lightworks is free to download, but it has a Pro version as well
• Key Features: HD Support, Non-destructive editing, storyboard mode, unlimited video tracks and audio tracks, Linear timecode display

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5. Sony Vegas Pro

Sony Vegas Pro can be called the BIG BROTHER of Sony Vegas Movie Studio, as it offers enhanced features and it will need you to pay more. Sony Vegas Pro brings a number of intuitive yet productive features such as powerful effects, support for iOS devices through corresponding application, stereoscopic 3D editing, enhanced audio control, support for 4K video, multi-track audio environment, impressive media management, DVD Layout and Design along with one option to preview what you have done. Of course, Sony Vegas Pro will be the best video editing software for those professionals who are ready to pay.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: AVI, MP4, WMV, WMA, OMA, OGG, AAF, AIF etc.
• Supported Output Formats: MP4, WAV, WMV, MVC, MP3 etc.
• Price: $599.95 (Trial version also available)
• Key Features: HD Support, Non-destructive editing, unlimited video & audio tracks, linear timecode display.

Buy Now

6. Cinelerra

Cinelerra is a video editing tool that lets Linux users edit videos in an intuitive manner that no previous experience is required. Written in C++, Cinelerra offers powerful features that are quite simplified by means of the simple UI it has. You can download Cinelerra for almost every Linux distribution and the tool will be quite useful, we bet. UI Cinelerra has three sections that help editors do their job neatly — Timeline, Viewer, Resource Window and Compositor.

• Supported Platforms: Linux
• Supported Input Formats: Almost every Video Format, including HD
• Supported Output Formats: Almost every video format, including HD
• Price: Free
• Key Features: High Definition Support, Non-destructive editing, Multi Track editing, unlimited video and audio tracks, linear timecode display.

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7. Pinnacle Studio

Pinnacle Studio is a widely used video editor available for Windows devices and it is a scaled-down version of a fully-fledged video editor from same developer. Through a number of impressive features, such as drag and drop editing of HD video, timeline-based editing up to 6 tracks, DVD authoring, title and overlay creation, free training, ability for adding sounds and music, collection of royalty-free tracks, a huge collection of transitions & effects, Pinnacle Studio has ensured top position when someone is looking for an effective video editing software for Windows.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: AVI, MVC, QuickTime, MKV, HDV etc.
• Supported Output Formats: DVD, MPEG-4, MP4, QuickTime, MKV and some device-based platforms
• Price: $59.95
• Key Features: High Definition Support, Non-destructive editing, Multi Track editing, unlimited video and audio tracks, linear timecode display.

Buy Now

8. Corel VideoStudio

Corel VideoStudio comes from the same family of CorelDraw, the popular graphics suite. Powered by 64-bit power, Corel VideoStudio is something great, as the tool makes creative video editing a simple task for everyone. Also, when you purchase the ultimate version, you can get features such as variable speed in video editing, easier ways to create overlays and titles, multi-monitor support, DSLR enlarged mode, stop-motion animation etc.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: Almost every video format including dedicated formats for devices like iPad, DSLRs and Smartphones
• Supported Output Formats: Almost every popular video format, including ability to export files as to be quite suitable in popular devices
• Price: $79.99
• Key Features: HD Support, Non-destructive editing, storyboard mode, 6 video tracks and 4 audio tracks, linear timecode display.

Buy Now

9. iMovie

Here comes iMovie, yet another popular and immensely used video editor for Macintosh devices, which comes from Apple Inc. Being a tool from Apple Inc, iMovie can help you deal with video editing even while you are using an iOS-based device — let that be your iPhone, iPod or iPad. Although iMovie has a tremendous number of features, some of those include truly impressive collection of transitions, drag-based interface, iMovie Theatre that lets you watch movies from your Apple TV, ability to fine tune clips etc.

• Supported Platforms: Macintosh and iOS
• Supported Input Formats: QuickTime compatible with HD support
• Supported Output Formats: QuickTime compatible with HD Support
• Price: $14.99
• Key Features: NDE, HD Support, 2 video tracks and 4 audio tracks, linear timecode display and storyboard mode.

Buy Now

10. Adobe Premier Pro

Adobe Premier Pro is an immensely-popular, timeline-based video editor that is available for Windows and Mac. In a condition that you are ready to spend, Adobe Premier Pro will be an awesome video editing tool, particularly when we consider features such as Integration with After Effects and Photoshop, top-notch video masking features, superb transitions etc.

• Supported Platforms: Windows, Mac and Cloud
• Supported Formats: Almost every popular video format
• Price: Different plans (individual and combo) are available through official site of Premier Pro
• Key Features: HD Support, Multi Track editing, storyboard mode, unlimited audio and video tracks, linear timecode display and NDE.

Buy Now

11. Pitivi

Pitivi is an open-source video editing software that is available for Linux-based devices and it offers an intuitive UI in a way that Pitivi can be your favorite in a few seconds. Although Pitivi offers more than enough features for all video editors, some of notable ones are simple yet effective video editing capabilities, hundreds of transitions, filters and effects, availability in multiple languages, precision-based video editing etc.

• Supported Platforms: Linux
• Supported Formats: Almost every modern video format
• Price: Free
• Key Features: HD Support, NDE, Multi Track editing, unlimited video and audio tracks, and linear timecode display.

Try Now

12. CyberLink PowerDirector

PowerDirector from CyberLink is a consumer-focused software for video editing, and it comes with a simple UI that is capable of allowing any user get accustomed with the tool in seconds. From Professional looking animations as well as slideshows to stunning videos, CyberLink PowerDirector has an option for you; you can keep editing even when you are away from PC because CyberLink has published Smartphone applications for this tool. Apart from a number of transitions that are built it, you can get more from DirectorZone as well.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Input Formats: FLV, AVI, 3GP, AVI, DAT, WMV, MPEG-4, MP4 etc
• Supported Output Formats: MVC, MPEG-4, MKV, WMV, QuickTime etc.
• Price: $74.99
• Key Features: High Definition support, NDE, 100 audio and video tracks, linear timecode display and storyboard mode.

13. Kdenlive

Kdenlive, built on MLT Framework, is a great solution when you are looking for an open-source video editing software that makes sense. Available for Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X, Kdenlive offers impressive features that are impressive when it comes to preparing stunning video results. Some other features of Kdenlive include rendering that you can pause according to your need, ability to apply special transition effects, multi-track editing feature etc.

• Supported Platforms: FreeBSD, Mac and Linux
• Supported Formats: MPEG2, MP4 and other popular video formats
• Price: Free
• Key Features: HD Support, storyboard mode, 2 video tracks and 4 audio tracks, linear timecode display, NDE.

14.  ivsEdits

If you are looking for the best free video editing software in market, for Windows PCs, ivsEdits will be one of the finer choices you can make. Through its simple User Interface, ivsEdits can impress almost every editor as far as he or she does not want to spend much on video editing solutions. Some notable features of ivsEdits are multiple live inputs, multi-camera editing, various video effects, realtime video I/O, hardware integration etc.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Formats: Most popular video formats
• Price: Free

Try Now

15. Windows Movie Maker

Although simple, Windows Movie Maker can come in handy if you want to create videos without using that much of system resources. Through its ultra-simple User Interface, Windows Movie Maker will help you add transitions, set up tracks and export the video into a Windows-compatible media format — things are simple enough, we hope.

• Supported Platforms: Windows
• Supported Formats: Any Windows-compatible media format
• Price: Free
• Key Features: HD Support, Storyboard Mode, 1 video track and 2 audio tracks, linear timecode display.

Introduction

Hello !!!

This my first blog post

Today I am going to show 8 tips to prank

8 Tips for Pranking

An office that pranks together, stays together. Thanks to the Internet, you have an endless toolbox at your fingertips to pull off the perfect joke.
If you're a newbie to the pranking world, don't worry — I've been at this for years. (My prank at age 5 almost got my grandfather arrested.)

Since day one on the job, Mashable Video Production Manager Evan Engel has been pulling pranks on me. So when he was out of the office for two weeks, I went in for the emotional long con. Here's what I learned.

Step 1: Do your research.

You already have a major advantage: You're sitting at the computer. Stalk your prey online (not creepy when you're in prank mode). For our stunt, we found out that Evan's lifelong dream was to meet Star Wars' Mark Hamill. He's even expressed his love to him on Twitter.
Find out who your co-worker follows on Twitter. What brands does she like on Facebook? What articles is he sharing? You'll find a pattern, and it will lead to great things. Hats off to those who pranked pre-Internet — they actually had to get to know people face-to-face. (Sounds awful.)

Step 2: Brainstorm realistic ideas.

If you watch this prank, that prank or — holy crap — this epic prank, you'll come up with jokes too elaborate and impossible to pull. It's a dark and disappointing place when you're inadequate by the rest of the Internet's standards (hi, trolls!).
Unless your office has a separate pranking budget (for the record, Mashable does not, but I think it would be an effective use of funding), you need to set realistic standards for the amount of time and money your prank will cost. The only cost for the Mark Hamill stunt was our time. However, we did spend about $20 on diversion tactics, but more about that later.

Step 3: Get everyone in on it.

Not just everyone in your office — get the whole Internet in on it. Reddit, for example, has an entire subreddit dedicated to pranking. Redditors love getting in on a good joke. And thanks to the web, big names are within your reach. Last year, we pranked another co-worker using Reddit and eventually got cofounder Alexis Ohanian in on it, too.
Exercise caution here. If your target is all over social media, you may spoil the surprise. Since some Mashable employees have tons of followers, we kept this prank inside the office to ensure the breadcrumb trail wouldn't lead back to Evan.

Step 4: Have a dress rehearsal.

We made a huge mistake that could have ruined the joke. We sent out a fake email that made it seem like our entertainment reporter was crowdsourcing questions to ask Mark Hamill when he came to the office. We wanted Evan to think the email went to the whole company, so we BCC'd him and few others in on the joke. But (*face palm*) you can't Reply All to BCC — something very basic we overlooked because we focused our attention elsewhere.
Luckily, we corrected this by sending out another email.

Moral of the story: A dry run will uncover tiny details that could spoil the whole prank.

Step 5: Create a red herring.

Evan and I prank each other a lot. So, he expected to return to something. The real Mark Hamill prank wouldn't have been believable had it stood alone. He was on high alert. So, we pulled something way more obvious first — we wrapped his desk in aluminum foil and used 500 square feet of plastic wrap on his chair. That cost $20, but it was worth it.

Step 6: Don't take it too far.

There is a fine line between the perfect prank and the prank that takes far too much time and draws attention to the fact you're not doing actual work. Even the most laid-back of employers hate this. For example, we wanted to have everyone pose for original photos and Photoshop in Mark Hamill, requiring our busy photo editor's time and skills. We got around this by claiming there was an embargo on the story and we weren't allowed to take photos and share them on social.
We did, however, sign a fake autograph (drawing inspiration from this signature and this signed photo):

However, since Evan is our video production manager, he would naturally expect his team to plan ahead and get an on-camera interview. We got around this by having our video producer send a complaint email to two other editors, claiming no one told her about Mark Hamill's visit until the last minute. She claimed that she was on another shoot, and had therefore missed it.

Step 8: Remember that the reveal is everything.

What was I supposed to do? Turn to Evan in two days and just say, "Oh, by the way, Mark Hamill was never here." No, it had to be bigger — like an article that will forever live on the web, even if there's a zombie apocalypse.
Every good prank has the perfect uncovering. And thanks to this beautiful thing called the Internet, your prank can also haunt the archives forever, inspiring other deviants around the world.
Just keep in mind that payback is a bitch, especially when in retaliation for a prank that targets one's mental state. That's why I'm buying a gas mask and relocating to an underground bunker in an undisclosed location.