8 Apps to Improve Your Photo Game

One of the things we stress most on our Organisource team calls is the quality of photos you put out on Instagram. With the sheer amount of photos shared every single day (80 million per day!) it’s EXTREMELY important to stand out from the crowd.

One of the best ways to do this is by sharing high quality photos. Now this may sound like a daunting task - we’re not all professional photographers are we? BUT today software makes things a little easier on us. Outside of the amazing cameras on today’s smartphones, there are tons of apps out there that can help you amp up your instagram photos game for little to no cost but more importantly little to no photo editing skills.

We put together a list of some of our favorites to help you stand out from the crowd! Check them out below:

Afterlight 2 Afterlight 2 is a photo editing app that takes photo filtering to the next level. Their ever-growing library of natural filters amplifies Instagram’s existing suite of options, helping you add extra polish to your images. As an added bonus, the app even lets you create your own filters to give your photos a consistent style that’s different from anyone else; play with your image hue, saturation and lightness, and overlay textures and effects to achieve the exact look you want. This affordable app is $2.99 and is currently ranked #2 app in the iTunes Photo and Video category – and for good reason. The only downside we can find is that it’s limited to iOS only, so Android users will have to find another option.

Snapseed For Android users who can’t take advantage of Afterlight 2, you’re in luck. Snapseed is a free professional photo editor developed by but also available for iPhone and iPad. Complete with 29 filters and tools, Snapseed lets you personalise filters and save them to be used again later. You can also overlay a caption onto your photos using the 38 different text styles available on the app. While its features are vast, some users report having difficulty navigating to all of them, so if you’re going to download Snapseed, be prepared to spend a little time familiarising yourself with its menus and functionality.

Aviary Creative software giant Adobe is known for leading the photo editing space, so it’s no surprise their free image editing app, Aviary, is a hit with iOS and Android users alike. Aviary puts professional-grade photo editing features in the hands of Instagrammers everywhere. Their app is stocked with a variety of overlays, effects, frames, stickers, and more, allowing creatives to put their personal touch on their photos before posting. The coolest part of the app is their in-product tutorials; the app features a curated collection of beautiful photos, complete with step-by-step instructions users can follow to achieve those same effects. However, some users have expressed frustration with the in-app ads that promote other Adobe products. If you’re bothered by ads, you may want to seek out a paid, ad-free photo editor.

VSCO VSCO is an iOS and Android photo editing app designed for creatives, by creatives. Its features are similar to the other apps on this list – editing, filtering, frames, and more – but VSCO’s biggest differentiator is its minimal interface. If you’re a junkie for a clean, crisp, easy-to-use app, VSCO might be for you. However, a few users have reported technical glitches with uploading and sharing photos. Luckily, you can try out VSCO free for 7 days, giving you a chance to experience it for yourself. After that, VSCO is $19.99 per year.

Photoshop Express Adobe makes a second appearance on our list with Photoshop Express, a mobile-friendly, scaled-down version of their popular photo editing software, Photoshop. This iOS and Android app lets you edit photos, add text, play with image colours, watermark images, and create collages all in one place. Users also report it being easy to use if you’re already familiar with Adobe’s products. However, there’s a downside for non-Adobe users. The app is free, but to access premium features, you have to have a paid Adobe account and login. Even so, its free features are worth a download.

PicMonkey PicMonkey is an ideal solution for companies that want to add branded elements to their photos. The app lets you customise your color palette, store branded fonts, and keep your logo on file to overlay on images. One of the major downsides to PicMonkey when compared to others on this list is its price. PicMonkey is available for $5.99 per month for a basic plan and $9.99 per month for a pro plan, making it one of the more expensive options in this section of our guide. But the rave reviews from users may make it worthy of trying out. PicMonkey is available for iOS and Android, and is available on desktop via a Chrome extension.

Canva Canva is a social media image powerhouse that lets you create custom images for most major social platforms. For the most part, Canva is your average photo editing tool, but the app’s most unique quality is its beautiful graphs. For brands who want to create infographic-style graphics for social media posts, you can leverage Canva’s extensive and beautiful collection of flow charts, diagrams, maps, and more. The app also comes with a collection of stock photos you can use as a foundation for your Instagram posts. Canva has been available on iOS and web for a while, and just recently launched an Android version of the app. It’s free to access Canva’s basic features, but its major drawback is its price for bonus features. To collaborate with coworkers, upload custom fonts, and access other business-class features, Canva will cost $12.95 per month per team member.

Piktochart If you like the infographic features of Canva, you’re going to love Piktochart. This web-based app was designed exclusively for creating visuals like charts, graphs, and infographics. You can use Piktochart for Instagram posts, but can also leverage this platform to amp up your presentations, flyers, and more. While this app hits infographics out of the park, that’s where its functionality stops; if you’re looking for an all-in-one tool with infographic and photo editing abilities, you might want to consider another tool. Piktochart starts at $12.50 per month with discounts of up to 25% if you pay for an entire year.